I have been thinking lately about the meaning of our congregation as an entity that changes over time and is nourished by the love, work, generosity, and creativity of those who are no longer with us. Two recent conversations within Leadership brought this to my mind. At our Leadership Retreat in September, Bill Conrod asked for a tally of how we first found out about the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Grand Valley. Two congregants who have since passed away were named as the connecting points to our congregation for a few people in Leadership. At our October Board meeting we started the meeting with the question “When did you first feel like you belonged at UUCGV?”

     Two other congregants who have since died were mentioned as integral to that first moment of belonging for a couple of Board members. These two conversations brought to my mind an image of our congregation as an evolving tapestry, with threads continuing in the tapestry from those who are no longer with us. Other threads in the tapestry come from children who grow up in the congregation and bring that experience into their adult lives. Ideally, this tapestry also enriches our world and touches the lives of those outside of our congregation.

     Monte and I first joined the tapestry of UUCGV almost 15 years ago. The time has seemed to fly by in a flash. The fact that children who were waist high have now graduated high school is a reminder to me of how much time has truly passed. In my mind, two of our biggest accomplishments in the past 15 years have been finding a settled minister whom we love and works together with us skillfully; and finding a home, a building that we own, that is situated in an ideal location for community outreach.

     In addition to these concrete “accomplishments,” there also have been countless precious moments that have touched each of us in different ways. Each one of us may have a story about a sermon or musical performance that touched us, a discussion in adult RE that changed our perspective, a transcendent moment as participating with other UUs in serving a meal at the soup kitchen or participating with other UUs in a march or rally.
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     What kind of love, work, generosity, and creativity does each of us wish to put forward to shape the tapestry of our congregation into the future? What do we want our congregation to look like 15 years from now when the children in our congregation will be adults? What do we hope to have given these children by the time they are grown? How can our tapestry more fully enrich the world and touch the lives of those outside of our congregation? What impact do we want our congregation to have made in the Grand Valley community by the time 15 years have passed?
 
- Elizabeth High

     Alone, I traverse the path that meanders between the rivers. The land is narrowing and will soon come to a point. The sun is high in the sky and hot upon my skin. The path leads into the woods, and as the trees close in around me I enter a world of shadow. Light flickers down from above, at the mercy of the leaves’ dance with the wind. The air becomes damp and cool. I sit, still, as my eyes adjust to my surroundings. Otherworld surroundings. Being still, I watch, only my eyes moving. I listen. I tune in to my environment, immediacy, awakening my inner wilderness. Birdsong and the flow of the water, the depth of shadow. Each tree with its own attitude, reaching for the light. Friends, teach me to just be.
 
    With a renewed sense of belonging I move along. The path leads out of the woods into bright sunlight, intrusive, blinding. I pull my hat lower. Soon the river appears on my left, blue with flashes of silver though the water is muddied. The sound of rushing water grows louder and louder until I reach the crescendo where the rivers meet – crashing and roiling, swirling together to continue as One.
 
     These words follow a recent encounter with the Out-of-Doors. I took a little trip to Connected Lakes State Park. The confluence of the Gunnison River Diversion and the Colorado River is on the west side of the Park. I need to get out more. These outings into nature arouse the song of my soul. When I revel in the beauty of nature it reminds me to pay attention. It reminds me to treat every act as a ceremony – that every moment is sacred. It teaches me that, despite life’s travails, it is a blessing to walk this Earthly path as a human being.
 
     A couple weeks ago Elizabeth and I went on an adventure to (almost) Ridgeway. We visited the Dennis Weaver Memorial Park. Elizabeth unloaded my wheelchair from the vehicle and we set off. A few hundred feet down the path is a monumental pile of boulders and an enormous sculpture of an eagle in flight. The path circles around the monument – the four directions are marked and honored. There is a pile of various sized stones (prayer stones) and all are invited to create a cairn. All are invited to partake in ceremony. As I circled the monument I spiraled inward, awakening my inner wilderness. I became grounded in this place, cognizant of my place on this sacred path that I walk as a human being. The ceremony enhanced my experience as we continued down the path along the Uncompahgre River. My senses were heightened. Everything spoke to me. Beauty surrounded me. My soul was singing – how great it is to be a human being! O! The glorious pine tree – with two symmetrical branches growing upward from one trunk, V for victory. The graceful osprey cavorting with sky, circling around us to perch above the river. The school of large fish spied from the bridge over the river. My extraordinary fortune to be on this path with such an exquisite, delightful companion.
 
~ Monte High,  UUCGV Journey to a Green Sanctuary