“Our listening creates a sanctuary for the homeless parts within another person.”—Rachel Naomi Remen

I’ve been on retreat, friends, taking refreshment that I might remain open, and increasingly so, to what needs to be heard, to what you are speaking in your various ways. Tomorrow evening, I depart for a visit with my family and friends in Buffalo. But you will be in good hands Sunday. The Worship Team has prepared a service highlighting how our participation in fair trade here in Mankato assists others to create the sanctuaries they need and desire in their home countries and villages. May this be an occasion to remember that human beings, along with the plants and animals and rocks and clouds, are part of the interdependent web of all existence. May our actions show we are of the web, a part of it and never apart from it.

As we continue thinking with our Soul Matters theme of “Sanctuary” this week, I invite you to consider a spiritual practice of creating, in your daily life, sanctuary for others. Here is what the practice involves: There’s a beautiful UU children’s story called “The Umbrella Sanctuary.” Its message is for kids and adults alike. In it, the umbrella represents the many ways others offer us sanctuary from the storms of life as well as the many ways we can pass on that shelter to others. The story also gently reminds us that we overlook opportunities to offer shelter and sanctuary every day. If our attention is awakened, we notice that all around us people are “wet with rain.”

So, I invite you to use the story to wake up your attention and seek out opportunities to offer people “your umbrella.” Perhaps you can even keep an actual umbrella nearby (it will come in handy, too, on these rainy days!), as a reminder and meditative token of all times someone has noticed you in need and how your gratitude for that calls you to keep an eye out for those often subtle (and not-so-subtle) signs that someone else needs the gift of human shelter. Here’s the link to the story: https://www.uua.org/worship/words/story/umbrella-sanctuary

I look forward to hearing your stories as you open to noticing the needs of others and allowing yourself to be a sanctuary. And I pray a beautiful week for you, sheltering each other from the storms of life as you can.

Blessings and best wishes, Rita