Like all of us, I really miss the singing – though, personally, I can’t carry a tune in a bucket! It’s not just the hymns’ flowing music and inspiring words, it’s also that they are so much more beautiful, and meaningful, when we sing them together.  Maybe there’s a deeper meaning in that.

To pretend, please turn to hymn 118 in your grey hymnals, for the spiritual “This Little Light of Mine.” How wonderful it would be to bring all our voices together again, to radiate ever more brightly with love, justice, and compassion, against the shadows of social injustice! Now turn to hymn 1064 in the teal hymnal, and the wonderful “Blue Boat Home.” We, too, now find ourselves on a special journey, “far away from the rolling ocean,” as we chart a new course for the future. Please grab an oar; we’re sure to get there smoothly if everyone pulls together! That includes sharing, when called, the names of those members of the Congregation who you believe would best serve on the Settled Minister Search Committee; that’s a key reference point to guide our journey. And, as with any journey, we need adequate provisions to stay strong and hold our course, which means generous pledging from our “ship’s companions, all we kindred souls.”  Note we’re now at less than half of what we need, though there is still time to give! Like the “great winds urging (us) on,” your pledges will enable our mission, our spiritual growth, our music and song, and, of course, our UU youth.   

Together we will get there, but it will take us all to stay the course, with steady strokes, clear vision, and ever renewed commitment.