Note from Pastor Isa
One should be light like a bird, and not like a feather. — Paul Valéry
Our culture often condemns us to heaviness. The news media can weigh on our psyches with such force that life becomes a burden. Last night I dreamt that I had a … read more.
Taking the bus, which costs about a dime, after listening to Càntor, Ensamble de música antigua perform Vivaldi, Bach, Telemann, Handel and Hayden at the Gene Byron Museum, the woman in front of me turned around and we talked. We met at the reception after … read more.
Guest column by Elizabeth Skinner
Michael Nelson suggested I write a piece about how the Fellowship and its progressive faith and voice make a difference “way up north in Marysville.” He may have been thinking of a UU effect on the larger community, but my thoughts … read more.
The wonder of seeing all the candles shining in the darkness at our Christmas Eve service will lift me into this New Year with gratitude for the goodness that shines out from the life of our Fellowship. My mother felt that the service was … read more.
Maybe December is a month when we can slow down instead of speeding up. Do one less thing and not one more. Why not take a nap? Let memories drift like fat, lazy snowflakes across the landscape of your life.
Make a wish list that encourages … read more.
One celebrates their ancestors in Sweden on All Soul’s Day by putting votive candles on their graves. Halloween in Sweden is seen as a crass and commercial import from the states, but the ancient custom of honoring those you loved with light bonds with quiet … read more.
The good poem maintains a delicate balance between strangeness and familiarity. The author must make the familiar strange enough to be re-seen or re-felt by the reader. The truth is always a little strange because the conventional world has little interest in truth, and regularly … read more.
Kansas gay feather, those violet-purple spires, have begun to bloom on the roadside. Soon asters and goldenrod will shine across the prairie, summoning autumn. At our Fellowship Board retreat, which moved with gusto into the important issues that give our community forward momentum, I announced … read more.
On a perfect Swedish evening, on the beach of a perfect lake ringed by woods and meadows, a family arrives just as the red-gold of the lowering sun begins to shimmer on the water. The daughter and father move quickly into the lake and swim … read more.
A decade has passed since we sold our little house in Sweden. We left boxes of books, family pictures, bikes, and antiques with a friend. Stuff that we could not haul back to Kansas or simply toss. It’s time to sort through these belongings.
It makes … read more.
