Rev. Lori On Savoring the Last Days of Summer as We Shift Into Autumn
This reflection was originally published on this date in the Friday Flyer.
Hello Good People,
Enjoy these last days of summer. Time is changing once again. We move from lazy, hazy days of summer back to church time. Parents will be sending their kiddos back to school if they have not already. Time changes for them for sure. I invite you to contemplate your need for sabbath this next coming year as you recalibrate yourself this fall and this new church year!
I am encouraging you (and myself) to make time for your spirit and your health. Both of which are completely entangled. Another piece of this is nurturing yourself is being in community. We will have additional programming to nourish your souls and will be growing fellowship opportunities. Time will shift again both in chronology and in content for which I am looking forward.
This is the week to nourish and relax, however, and I thoroughly encourage to you to do that.
For reflection. Read aloud and in your head Reflect on what word or phrase lifts up for you Ask that that word or those words have to tell you right now in your life Carry that word or phrase with you into the week ahead!:
August lingers on the windowsill,
But the light has started to shift.
Calendars fill with new plans,
And the air hums with alarms again.
As we trade in slow sunsets, shorts, and beach walks for long pants, and sweaters, organ music for coffee and cookies in the Parish Hall, committee/ministry meetings, neighbor greetings.
We open our hearts again to community.
Summer fading, but not quite gone,
And summer time, sweet and slow, shifting to busy time that requires extra effort to make it to sacred time.
Still, as the busyness returns, remember to reflect on the gifts of creation. The water that you touched and that touched you this summer.
Remember the ways that the slowness fed you.
Remember the beauty of nature and the many ways your experienced it, through birds on your windowsill, feet on grass, or a walk on the beach. Reminders, as you hurry on, that summer never fully leaves.
My best wishes for you!
Peace and Blessings,
Rev Lori Whittemore
(she, her, hers)
Unitarian Universalist Church of Saco Biddeford