The Soul Matters theme for the month of May is STORY. Stories is a fabulous theme and I’m looking forward to exploring it in the pulpit and in our small groups. I’ve loved hearing and reading stories since I was a child. As I grew older, I fell in love with telling stories, too. My favorite games are all based on collaborative storytelling. The science fiction character, the Doctor, says, “We are all stories in the end.” And they are right– we ARE all stories. Life is stories. Religion is stories. And telling our stories, sharing our stories, listening to one another’s stories is a sacred act. It is the oldest form of learning and worship we have. There is great power in stories.

This Sunday, our worship service will be all about “Our Stories.” I hope you join us for it. If you do, be ready to share a story. There will be time in the service when we will be invited to share a six word story about who we are, what we believe, or what we hope for. Just six words. A mini memoir, the shortest of stories. Do you remember the first time you discovered Unitarian Universalism? How about the first time you walked into the UUC sanctuary? Perhaps you have a tale from when you first realized why you were here, what your purpose was. If you have a story like that, I’d love to hear it. If you have a great story like that, maybe you would like to share it. If so, let me know. This Sunday or another Sunday might be your chance to tell it.

Next week, my dear friend and great colleague, the Rev. Kimberley Debus will be our guest in the UUC pulpit. And she’ll be sharing stories about some of our Unitarian Universalist forbears. The Sunday after that, May 16th, we’ll be holding a hybrid service from the front lawn of UUC. A Chalice Carnival with fun, spiritual activities for all ages. We are still planning it– but whatever it turns out to be, it will be a fabulous story. And the week after, on May 23rd, our Sunday service will be celebration and acknowledgement of the life stories of those we’ve lost in the last year or so. Many of us have lost loved ones– family, friends, neighbors in this time of isolation and pandemic. Many memorial services were either postponed or held in smaller, more intimate ways. During our service that Sunday, there will be time to remember those we are grieving, and I hope, time to tell some of their stories, too. Stories are one of the ways our loved ones live on– and one of the ways we heal when they are gone.

I hope to see you this Saturday for our May Day celebration, or at one of our Sunday services this month. If none of those work for you, and you want to tell me a story about someone or something important, then let me know. I’ll make the time. I’d love to hear the story you need or want to share.

Cooperatively,

Rev. Craig