Greetings Dear Ones!

November signals a month of transition for many. From Halloween on through to the new year, the days fly by. Our calendars fill up with holiday preparations: shopping, baking, decorating, party planning. Outdoors, the gardens get cleaned up, tucked in safely against damaging frost and freezing temps. We know the storms that traverse frozen Lake Erie after January will gift us with several feet of snow.

As a child I looked forward to this exciting time of year. My large family celebrated Thanksgiving with grandparents who lived nearby. Great aunts and uncles joined in as well. So much food! So many people! So much noisy laughter!

But when I was the mother of two young children, November began an annual moral marathon: how might I develop my children’s sense of generosity? How do I make November and December more about counting blessings rather than piles of gifts?

As an adult, (and with grandchildren to spoil!) I look to my faith, my congregation, friends and family to keep the messages of “MORE! MORE! MORE!” at bay. I work to stay centered on the dual messages of LOVE and SERVICE that Unitarian Universalism calls me to. Prayer and meditation help me stay centered in the values of the heart. I try to focus on the gift of presence (versus presents) by scheduling evenings to play games, and taking walks in the snowy woods instead.

How do you navigate the season to focus on your morals and values, staying centered on living the soul-filled life? Where do you struggle? How can we help each other? How do you celebrate?

Let’s begin the conversation, shall we?

In Faith,
Rev. Sally