​Minister’s Musings: May Newsletter 2025

In a Unitarian Universalist context, a communion is an experience of fellowship and rapport
with an exchange of thoughts and feelings on a spiritual level. Two of our more important UU
communions are the Water Communion-to usher in the autumnal beginning of our program
year and the Flower Communion, to welcoming the spring and wrap up the bouquet of the
program year. In between and beyond these days, we might celebrate a bevy of other
communions. These important rituals help us to connect with one another and help us to make
sense of the world. Coming together in this way is particularly poignant right now in the
political landscape where fear and insecurity are a constant source of stress, grief, and anxiety
in many of our psyches. We come to UUCO to help us alleviate these societal pressures, to
encourage all to confront the ills of the days, and to collectively aim our energies towards
justice and transformation. On Sundays, rituals and other elements of worship help us
remember what is important, help us connect with one another, and help us to experience the
holy- the Love that is beyond ourselves, all with the intention of generating renewal, hope, and
good trouble.

This month, we have two communions back-to-back at UUCO. Our annual Flower Communion
will be led by Greg Johnson on May 4 th where you’ll be invited to bring a flower to give and then
receive a new-to-you flower in return. The following week, May 11, we will hold a Dirt
Communion and Milestones & Mother’s Day Celebration led by our youth in collaboration with
RE coordinator Wendy Pfrenger and myself. You are invited to bring a small amount of soil from
your property which will then be mingled in a communal pot used for planting on the UUCO
property. We hope to hold this service outside (weather permitting) with lots of music and
drumming and singing. We will also be honoring milestone moments in this service and have a
word of gratitude for those that mother us. Be sure to bring some dirt, a drum or noisemaker,
and if you prefer a comfy spot, bring a camp (lawn) chair. May 11 is also a potluck so we will be
having a grand gathering this day.

I find great meaning in these interactive and imaginative services. In Unitarian Universalism, we
believe that each person has wisdom and gifts to share with each other, the community, and
the world. These simple exchanges in the congregation help us to practice being in right
relationship and uplift our commitment to interdependence- what affects one, affects all. Our
communions are a celebration of beloved covenantal community, and I am grateful that we
make space for such expressions of the spirit and of wonder.
“We are each an artist”, said the poet, priest, and philosopher John O’Donohue, “We each
possess an imagination. Everyone, whether they like it or not, is involved in the construction of
the world.” At UUCO, our communions are an opportunity to imagine the kind of community
we wish to create: one that centers love.

In faith,
Rev. Sarah