Congregation Unitarian Universalist
A Summer Solstice
June 21, 2008
Musical Prelude: Opening Words: A reading for Individual Voices
Invocation of the Four Directions:
Lighting the Chalice:
To rediscover the wondrous gift of free religious community;
To renew our faith in the holiness, goodness, and beauty of life;
To reaffirm the way of the open mind and full heart;
To rekindle the flame of memory and hope; and
To reclaim the vision of earth made fair, with all her people one.
Summertime
East: Welcome East, the power of air, of dawn, of Spring, of new beginnings. We welcome your return with your fresh breezes and flowers bursting forth. Let our imaginations soar like the eagle. Inspire our thoughts as we dream of a bright future and plant the seeds of hope.
South: Welcome South, the power of fire and summer. Bring back the strength of the sun, but temper it with lifegiving rain. Help us to put our dreams for a better world into action. Give us strength and courage like the lion.
West: Welcome West, the power of water and evening. We are grateful for cool evenings and rains that keep our land green and help seeds to grow. We are grateful for loving families and the time we share with them each day.
North: Welcome North, Power of the Earth, winter and midnight. As we wake from our winter dreams and burst forth into spring, keepus grounded in the earth. Help us remember to walk gently on the earth and treat her with kindness, for she is our mother.
We come to this time and this place
Musical Prelude:
Prayer:
( followed by a moment of silent meditation)
Joys and Concerns: (We throw a small stone into this bowl filled with water, to symbolize our thoughts, which move in circular rings eternally, like concentric waves.)
Story for All Ages: (the children go to Religious Education at the end of the story and the adults sing "Spirit of Life" )
Hymn:: First Reading: "Summer Meditation" Unitarian minister Robert T. Weston
Now blows the wind with soft, relaxing warmth.
The sun beats down. The schools are out.
Children swarm in the playgrounds and the streets, and eager city folk, vacation-bound, crowd the broad highways.
The lakes and seashores lose their solitude
And all the world seems turned to carnival.
What of ourselves? There could be, now, deep peace, a time for soul searching.
We might turn to examine our own lives, to sort and probe our tendencies of thought,
To sift the true from false in the things of doubt,
The beautiful from ugliness unmarked.
The sun beats down; it is a time for pause.
Even the trees seem resting for a time as if to meditate and gather strength for the more strenuous times that lie ahead.
And shall not we? Here's the unfinished clay, half-moulded, that still waits on us.
To think what we have been and as we are
Still yet have to become.
Discussion Theme: Summer Solstice (Copyright Congregation Unitarian Universalist of Puerto Rico Domestic Non-Profit Corporation #6268 )
*Closing circle of hands: (Holding hands or link arms as you read the closing words together)
Extinguish Chalice:
*Hymn: STLT # 72 Has Summer Come Now, Dawning
In the quietness of this place and in the Spirit of this Community in which we share and find strength let us pray. Prayer cannot bring water to parched land, not stop a roaring flood, nor mend a broken bridge, nor rebuild a ruined city, but prayer can water an arid soul, change the tide toward rightness, mend a broken heart and rebuild a weaken will. Let us pray.
We invite you to share your joys and concerns since our last meeting
# 123 (STLT)
"Spirit of Life" by Carolyn McDade (adapted)
Spirit of Life, come unto us,
Sing in our hearts all the stirrings of compassion.
Blow in the wind, rise in the sea;
Move in our hands, giving life the shape of justice.
Roots hold us close; wings set us free;
Spirit of Life, come to us, come to me.
Second Reading: Womb of Stars by Joy Atkinson
The womb of stars embraces us: remnants of their fiery furnaces pulse through our veins.
We are of the stars, the dust of the explosions cast across space.
We are of the earth: we breathe and live in the breath of ancient plants and beasts.
Their cells nourish the soil; we build our communities ofon their harvest of gifts.
Our fingers trace the curves carved in clay and stone by forebears unknown to us.
We are a part of the great circle of humanity gathered around the fire, the hearth, the altar.
We gather anew this day to celebrate our common heritage.
May we recall in gratude all that has given us birth.
And now we extinguish our chalice but not:
The warmth of community,
The light of hope, hope for change that brings new blessings into our lives and the lives of those around us continues to burn brightly, we carry hope in our hearts until we are together again.The spirit of gratitude,
Or
The fire of commitment and shared compassion of this community.
Go now in Peace
Go now in Peace, Go now in Peace,
May the Love of God surround you
Everywhere, everywhere, You may go