Minister’s Message

Dear Friends,

Within the frame of our Soul Matters monthly theme of “Awe,” I invite you to consider this bit of poetic wisdom from G.K. Chesterton:

“Here dies another day
During which I have had eyes, ears, hands
And the great world round me;
And with tomorrow begins another.
Why am I allowed two?”

It is with awe that I contemplate my own daily existence. So much could easily snuff it out, as many of us who have lost loved ones know with intense pain and longing. A gene, exposure to a toxin, a fatal disease, a random accident—nothing in my control, nothing in my desire. Just like that—and my life could end. I celebrate my gratitude for the joys of my life—for my family and my children, for my work, for my place in community. In them, I find the strength to grow my spirit more compassionately and more deeply connected. I celebrate also my anger at injustice, my sorrow at mistreatment, my confusion at the cruelties with we human beings treat each other. In them, I find the impulse to grow my spirit more compassionately and more deeply connected.

And may all of you search out and sit within the awesome gift of life that invites us all to feel the joys and the sorrows that enable you to grow your spirit more compassionately and more deeply connected, as you remember, today and every day, that you are loved, you are worthy, you are welcome, and you are needed.

Blessings, Rev. Rita