Closing Words

For those who asked, below you will find the closing words from the service leader for August 16, Nancy Hardt.

To close, I would like to share something inspired by a reading I contributed in May by Dana Worsnop  called I want to Be with People. You may recall some of these verses of hers:

I want to be in a beloved community where I don’t have to think like everyone else to be loved, to be eligible for salvation.

I want to be with people who see in me goodness and dignity, who also see my failings and foibles, and who still love me…

Well, I now submit for your consideration Nancy’s UU Version of I want to be with People.

I want to be with people…

…Who may not be sure there is a god, but are firmly committed to social justice for all the earth’s people

…Who love wild things, and find there is a spirit in all forms of earthly matter

…Who face their own health issues while worrying deeply about the struggles of others

…Who embrace our trans members and attempt or even succeed with correct usage of their preferred pronouns

…Who sew masks for first responders

…Who are concerned for children going back to school, even though their child is learning from home or they don’t even have children

…Who donate to the high school food pantry so teens don’t go to class on an empty stomach

…Who love cats, who love dogs, and who support the feral and the temporarily homeless ones

…Who can’t wait to get out in nature’s beauty on giant tricycles, kayaks, horses, inner tubes, and perhaps their own two feet

…Who chop celery for our community turkey dinner, providing more volunteers than any other church

…Who provide an attorney for Latino neighbors being mistreated by their landlord

…Who write letters to the editor, not shying away from controversy

…Who share their recipes for spinach quiche, blueberry cornbread, and deviled eggs

…Who think the Beatles, Barbara Streisand and Simon and Garfunkel have something to offer to our worship services

…Who admire my first flowers even though their gardens are more expertly tended, larger, and more productive

…Who watch romcoms with me on movie nights while discreetly rolling their eyes, because, in fact, they prefer sci-fi

…Who laugh at other people’s jokes while claiming they are not very good themselves at joke telling

…Who make me knishes, teach me Yiddish, and celebrate my attempts at bagel making

…Who create a contest of finding humor in trash picked up on a well- traveled highway in Ellijay

…Who give each other therapeutic hugs

I want to be with people like you…

*With these lighthearted words, we extinguish our Chalice

Thank you for joining us today. Go in peace.

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