A picture of Reverend Christine at the pulpit during her installation ceremony

The rush of the holidays are over. And there are a lot of things that myself, the staff and UUCP teams and committees said, “Oh, we’ll look at that after the holidays” or “We’ll explore that in the New Year. Well, guess what? We’re there. This time of the year is always exciting and daunting to me. It is a time of new possibilities, new initiatives, and often new (or remembered) self-care. But it can also be overwhelming.  

So this poem may be for you, those who just need a deep breath before continuing into all the possibilities. Or it may be for me. Either way, enjoy the worlds of Kathleen McTigue, excerpted from her Poem “Summer Sabbath.”  

Untether yourself from the engines of busyness, one by one laptop, desktop, wristwatch, scribbled lists, even the telephone, especially the one you carry everywhere, the little tyrant.

This will all feel unnatural but it’s not….

Instead, consider your life–who you love, and why, how blessed you are to be here, resting under a shower of birdsong, or what strange bright luck it is to be the owner, for a few years, of this beating heart, these wondering eyes, the ears into which the kingfisher spills her small chuckle as she dips across the water…

You are loved. Breathe. Be in awe.