MESSAGE FROM YOUR MINISTER

Dear Holy Ones,
 
Beauty might seem like an odd theological and spiritual theme at first, but it’s an important one. From the daily news to our own self image, I think ugliness can all too easily dominate our landscape.  Perhaps because of this, I have been especially aware of noticing beauty in recent days as I think about constructing the month’s sermons, worship services, and resources for taking church home with you.
 
Over the Memorial Day weekend, I had a few fabulous snapshots of beauty. You know those times when life is beautiful, the world is beautiful, and you just forget about everything else for a few moments and live inside the experience of the activity, the view, the artwork, or the company and your heart revels in everythingisokness. 
 
Snapshot - Saturday afternoon, May 25. My almost 5 year old nephew riding his scooter in the driveway.  As things cooked on the grill and friends and family sat around the table, my nephew mastered the art of riding his scooter.  Some older children showed him how and after a few off balance attempts, he got the hang of it and spent the next two hours pushing himself along the length of the driveway.  It was everything being a child could be wrapped up in one moment. Mastering a skill, having fun, being the center of attention, even laughing when he went a bit to fast and crashed into my sister-in-law. In an instant I saw my own childhood flash before my eyes, and seemingly all at once felt the wind of every time I rode a bike, smelled every smell of grass from backyard to little league field, and tasted every burger and hotdog and ice cream cone.  Being alive was a child on a scooter in summer, safe, carefree, and surrounded by love. Beautiful.
 
Snapshot - Sunday evening, May 26.  I went for a walk along Quincy Shore Drive and Wollaston Beach.  The salty smell of the sea breeze, no matter where I’ve encountered it, has always stopped me in my tracks. I inhale deeply and it’s as if the salt air could fill me up so that I’d float away like a balloon, up up and away.  The soft light clouds seemed to form a wall at the horizon line and people all around me rollerblading, and sunbathing, and fishing, and playing music at top volume from the car stereo and lining up into the street at the clam shack all melded into one feeling that forms the perfect summer day at the beach.  All at once I am encapsulated in an emotional and sensory cocoon of every boardwalk, and sunburn, and fried clam, and bodysurfing, and boat ride, and sandcastle I’ve ever experienced. Beautiful.
 
Snapshot - Monday afternoon, May 27.  I am driving along narrow and winding New England backroad on the way to a cookout.  The car windows are open, Bruce Springsteen is playing on the stereo, and I have food to share in a cooler in the backseat.  Overhead the trees on the side of the road make a covered bridge of the leaves on outstretched branches.  Sunlight streams through cracks in roof casting a pattern of sunbeams and shadows across stone walls, wooden rail fences, front porches, gardens, and the front walls of houses built before America was born.   I remember how my father taught me that all leaves are not green and I see once again he was right as I take in  the yellows and the lime and blue-green, and gray-green, and green yellow on the side of the road.  The sky is blue when it peeks through the canopy, every so often I pass a barn or a horse or a Memorial Day American flag and I am almost sad this drive won’t go on for hours.  Beautiful.
 
Yes, there is much ugliness in the world, but we are also surrounded by beauty. May we notice it more often and may we remember to be its ambassadors.
 
Beautifully,
Rev. Tony
 

Rev. Tony would love to hear your feedback. Give him a call (508-344-3668), send him a letter, or fill out this online form. 

Message From Your Board 

Greetings beloved members of Hopedale Unitarian Parish!
As this church year draws to an end I want to reflect on the journey we have been on and on my role as a Board chairperson. As to the journey we have shared- it has been an adventure- with lots of ups and downs, and some twists and turns. In the end, though, I believe we have all arrived safe and sound, maybe a little wiser and ready to take a deep breath; and, perhaps- ready to bask in the warm sun for a while as we prepare for what's next. 
 
I have one deep question that I am working on answering for myself and would love to hear from all of you- that is, 'What did we learn?'. What do we know now, about ourselves and our faith and our community, that we did not know a year or two ago. Of the many things I have learned from my time in leadership at HUP, I know self care and good communication are at the top of the list for being a Board member. It was also all about listening, trying to understand and finding the best way to get work done while holding the spirit of this congregation in mind when making tough decisions.
 
Throughout my time in leadership I have been reminded that we do not need to think alike to love alike. I am aware of our differences and seek to understand better where and why we can be so similar and yet so divided in some ways. I joined this UU church to be part of the change I hope to see in the world. I want to see our world, our community and our congregation continue to evolve, grow and learn from the past. I want to be instrumental in shifting the community towards greater understanding and inclusion in a rapidly changing world. I want us to move forward, not backwards. I want us to have a sense of possibility, not complacency; a sense of hope and confidence, not anxiety. But I can only work on these things for myself, leading by example; and hope that others want to join me because they are going there too.
 
It has been an honor to serve on the Board and it has been a joy to be a part of the team of people who make this church possible. It is hard for me to step away but it is time to work on the details again, getting the kitchen cleaned up; and hopefully plan for a new stove. It is also time to start a new project, one where I can be part of the solution to bridging the racial divisions in our community. I hope that by educating myself and others on what it means to be truly welcoming, present to the experiences of those who we see as different from us and understanding how I can be a good person and still be racist, that a space will be created for more equity and justice right here in Hopedale.
 
I am excited for our work with Rev. Cook and I am also grateful for what we learned from our time with Rev. Tony. Professional ministry is a hard job and it is the work of the congregation and the minister to understand and support one another with common goals, respect and compassion. The path ahead is wide open, let's embrace the possibilities and keep our dreams alive.
 
Blessed Be
Michele LaReau-Alves, outgoing Board Chair
 
 

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• MINDFULNESS PRACTICE, Sundays at 3:00 PM
• ACOA MEETING, Mondays at 7:00 PM

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