We are going on an adventure this morning exploring what we have learned so far and what we will learn together going forward.

We come together for our annual tradition of ingathering by coming together to recount the meaning of water in our lives.  Some might bring water from places that have been meaningful, others might use the virtual water on-hand in the sanctuary, and together we draw our summer to a close.

Our nation owes a debt of gratitude for our very lives to migrant pickers.  On this Labor Day we learn about some of these vital workers who were erroneously labeled “deportees” several decades ago;  Rev. Amy preaches on the plight of the people who were nameless for so long.

Join Dan Matz this morning for a musical and story filled meditation.  We’ll explore how his views of life after death have changed following his experience in 2020 with a two month long hospital and rehab stay fighting covid.  Leave the service after practicing living in the present moment through listening to original music by Dan Matz written within the past two years.

In this service we will take a sincere and good-humored look at change over time. We will think about how we have changed and how these changes afford us openings to acknowledge what is different, and to find the wonderful space within us for new relationships and growth.

Joni Mitchell stated in her song, Woodstock, that we are stardust, we are golden, and that we’ve got to get ourselves back to the garden.  On the anniversary of the Woodstock festival Rev. Amy asks and explores what that means for us, getting back to the garden.

“What Did you Bring Me?” When somebody arrives back home they might hear that question. Rev. Amy unpacks the suitcase (No, really. Backpack, too.) with you so that we all see what we will be working on, together in this interim ministry.

Contemplate: think about; ponder. Commonly understood as an intellectual exercise. Contemplative: spiritually speaking, a practice of open presence in the world as-it-is. Grounded in the here-and-now with mind, heart and body open to the spirit of life, we are inspired to live in the world with the full wisdom of our being. Join us for a period of contemplative practice and sharing.

This morning we will appreciate our interior parts and their relationships as guides toward harmony with ourselves, each other, and the planet. Using embodiment as a pathway, we might reframe our inner parts from “the good, the bad, and the ugly,” to “the good, no bad, and the relational”.  

Bring your favorite necklace (malla), rosary, orbracelet with beads or stones. Carla will share images from her trip thru Nepal and facilitate prayers and chants thru beads—a practice common to many faiths. Repeating a sound (mantra) together in community can create peace within ourselves and harmony around the world.