June is the final month of our church year. And as with any turn of a calendar cycle, it’s a perfect time to take stock of what matters most to us. Our Soul Matters theme this month is “Delight.”
In the Hebrew scriptures, the word delight most often appears in two contexts:
First is delight in the ways of being that define the community – the traditions, the sacred texts, the precepts of God. And second is delight in relationships – a parent’s delight in a child, an individual’s delight in God, God’s delight in the people of Israel, the psalmist’s delight in in the faithful saints around him.
It is these same two contexts that come to my mind when I consider my own sources of delight. I take delight in that which defines us as Unitarian Universalists: Our history, our values and principles, traditions such as Flower Communion, and our work in the larger world. And I take delight in my relationships – with my family, with you as individuals and a church community, with others in our Unitarian Universalist Association.
As most of you know by now, Virginia, Addy, and I will be moving to Cincinnati this summer, where I will be serving St. John’s Unitarian Universalist Church as their interim minister. I am certain we will find new delights there. But the delight found here at Tree of Life – in each of you and in the community that has been built and sustained here – is special. I will continue to cherish it. My final day in the Tree of Life pulpit will June 18th, and I will be available for appointments and pastoral care through July 2nd.
What brings you delight? Do you delight in the ways of being that define us as Unitarian Universalists? Do you delight in your relationships with others? How can you celebrate and honor those delights in this new church year?
In faith,
Rev Jenn Gracen minister@treeoflifeuu.org