Several years ago, in the first summer of the pandemic, we were trying to cope with the realization of a long road ahead of us, the unknowns at at every turn, the fear and sadness. Together we were building a daily practice of centering and giving thanks. This passage, written one August morning, reminds me of the never-ending need for that practice:

“How does a morning look and feel to you, where you are? And how do you know? Do you check a weather report first, or go outside? Do you gather resignation as you get out of bed, or catalogue current pains, or give thanks for a new day? Have you imagined or tried dedicating your first breaths to goodness or compassion?

Or saying a morning prayer as the first thing? Daily practice is about orienting and turning to the day aiming toward love. It involves taking in — being present to – more than assumptions and judgements we carry from yesterday. Taking in the sky, the clouds and trees, the sunlight and shadows, birds, flowers, insects, the fact of the earth. Being present to the realities of human limitations, our own and others, while at the same time remembering the immensity of time and space of which each and every life is one small part. Acknowledging, remembering, the possibilities for love (which contains justice and compassion and joy.) Reverence is a good word to describe this process of remembering, orienting and turning.

We begin in reverence for the day and for all it brings – everything welcome and not welcome, everything we think we know and all we do not. With thanks each breath that enters the body. With thanks for the hazy morning sky and the sun coming over the trees once more. With thanks for a chance to let love hold us and move through us for one more day.

May we breathe in and breathe out and bow to the morning, and to Life.”

I am so grateful for all the time and effort that has gone into making these Weekly Announcements what they are today – integrated into the website, easily readable on phones and other hand-held devices, convenient for folks who first simply need to know what, when and where. These have been beautiful updates, and have received lots of compliments And, I’ve heard from some of you that you miss a “newsletter” which you could read all the way through, which includes a broad look at the life of the Fellowship and UUism in general. I think we can have both, and should.

I’ve had conversations with a few people about a monthly publication which is more like a journal than a newsletter. Instead of including announcements about events, which the Weekly Announcements do very well, this journal would focus on ideas – our theologies, our philosophies of religion and religious exploration, our newly articulated shared values, our stories, our local and international partners, our own religious and spiritual commitments, and more.

I’m ready and willing to start this publication this month. I’d be happy to hear from any of you who might like to help – as writers, editors, planners, etc. I’d be happy to know if you have ideas for a name for such a publication. Please connect with me if you do.

Meanwhile, here in the depth of summertime, I encourage you to stop and be amazed by the bounty of our Willamette Valley home, if you aren’t already doing that every day. Amidst the swirling of politics and cultures, the changing Earth and climate, the too many details and the too few deep connections, help yourself pause to rest and see or feel or consider a larger view, a Life which is so much more than our own thoughts and experience. And in that pause, count a few blessings, and send blessings on to others.

See you Sunday — Jill