Water. This has certainly been the year for it. The first six months brought us a record breaking amount — over 30 inches. This summer I spent a great deal of time trying to control the water in my house — keeping it out (tarping the roof, digging drainage around the basement windows), keeping it confined (new water pipes in from the street and throughout the house), keeping it flowing (new wastewater lines going out). Let me assure you, water is slippery stuff, and anyone who tries to control it might as well pee into the wind!

This summer I also began learning how to sail. Sailing is likewise about controlling water, especially in trying to keep it out of the boat, and keeping me in the boat and out of the water! The experience is growing on me and maybe by next summer I’ll feel confident enough to call myself a sailor.

It has been a summer of working hard, and playing hard. The sweat has poured off me, and hopefully a few excess pounds as well. I’ve enjoyed swimming at the fitness club pool, and taking time to notice the rainbows that form in the mist above the jacuzzi. Iced coffee and lemonade have been the thirst-quenching drinks of choice.

Mindful of the value of water, we celebrate our lives in three popular ceremonies at church. Our Joys and Sorrows ritual with a bowl of water and stones reminds us of our dependency upon water, and upon each other — “Consciously choosing to join together in fluid community to depend on one another for some form of spiritual renewal.” The annual water ceremony is a dramatic recreation of those words when we pour together into one bowl samples of water we collected over the summer from places we visited. This water is then purified and used for child dedications throughout the year, symbolically blessing the child and uniting us all into the nurturing of the child’s life and spirit.

Fire. They say water and fire don’t mix, yet we have a found ways to symbolize our faith in both the flaming chalice and in water. We need both, just as we cannot depend solely on one sacred text or one prophet for complete enlightenment or guidance, so too, we cannot be described by only one symbol. Indeed, the other two “elements” — earth and air — are also symbolically represented in our sanctuary by the stones and mobile.

So summer draws to a close. The beach towels are put away, plants begin to dry up, and Super-soakers are replaced with schoolbooks. If you have a thirst for spiritual exploration, for a loving community, for social justice work, for a cup of hot coffee and rousing discussion, then come gather around the flame and the spiritual waters. Welcome home.

H. Lee Richards
Unitarian Universalist Church of Athens and Sheshequin
Athens, PA