Message from Rev. Telos

 

Why I Wake Early 

Hello, sun in my face.
Hello, you who make the morning
and spread it over the fields
and into the faces of the tulips
and the nodding morning glories,
and into the windows of, even, the
miserable and crotchety–

best preacher that ever was,
dear star, that just happens
to be where you are in the universe
to keep us from ever-darkness,
to ease us with warm touching,
to hold us in the great hands of light–
good morning, good morning, good morning.

Watch, now, how I start the day
in happiness, in kindness.

Dear ones,  

After what feels like days of grey skies and rain, we will have sunshine and blue sky again. The green shoots have grown stronger and there are irises freely coming up, and if we have planted window boxes or hanging baskets, the fragile petals and greenery will bless us with bright colors. 

We held our Annual Meeting and celebrated the work of so many this past year. We honored Ron Niswander for his dedicated years of service as our Treasurer! And to Barbara W. for her service on our Board, leading our Parish Council meetings and sharing her ideas and thoughts. To others who served on Nominating and as Auditor. And many hands (heads and hearts) make light work! I am grateful for your openness to considering calling me as your settled minister. As I finish my fifth year, gratitude and inspiration live in me to serve this dear congregation. 

And we have events to look forward to in June! We will hold our Flower Communion Service on Sunday, June 8; Honor Fathers and Fatherhood on June 15, Celebrate our Religious Exploration and Youth on June 22, and Share more Expressions of who we are on our last Sunday, June 29.  On Friday, June 13, we will host another BAILA Community Supper at 5:30 PM, sharing guidance around safety and support across faith communities. Looking to the following week, our NAACP Windham Co. Chapter will be hosting a Juneteenth Celebration on Thursday, June 19 at 5 PM on The Commons! Musician Samirah Evans and her band will be performing, students who won our BIPOC Heroes contest will speak, and we will recall the history of Juneteenth – commemorating the end of slavery in the US, voices for freedom continue to ring out. Then on Friday, June 20, Daniel K. and Sharon L. with Phil Bloch on violin will offer a Summer Solstice Concert and Dance on our lawn – Potluck at 5 PM and Music begins at 6 PM!  The following Saturday, June 28th at 2PM, we will host the Community Pride Service – a celebration of music, word and reflections! Our offering will support Out In the Open whose mission is Building rural LGBTQ+ community, visibility, knowledge and power.  Tom B.  and Eva G. will gather a community choir at 12:30 PM to learn songs before the service. In these uncertain, challenging times, when protections are disintegrating and violence has grown, it is even more vital to celebrate and support our GLBTQ+ community members, to hear our voices and strengthen solidarity. And the work continues to support our BIPOC community, and anyone who is marginalized and being targeted or forgotten. So may we gather to dance and sing in June to celebrate the beginning of Summer, may we remember and honor histories and herstories of ancestors, support our neighbors and each other in all the ways that are needed. Let us find joy in daily moments, reach out to people we know and have yet to meet, and know that we are co-creating a community together where everyone is truly welcome, seen and known. 

Blessings, Rev. Telos