Spring is in the air; the thermometer will show 50 degrees today! I can spot the emerging corners of my raised garden beds, helpless against the rising temps. And the brown grass peeks through the remaining snow piles, invisible only a day ago.

I know I am fooling myself to think that we are that close to spring; we have at least a month of winter weather remaining, despite what the calendar says of the Spring Equinox.

But, like the weather, UUCNC leadership is on the move these days. The Executive Board and other congregational leaders are envisioning, developing, and designing steps to become a bright beacon of hope in Chautauqua County. What Unitarian Universalism offers is important, and more relevant every day. In each community where UU churches are located, we make a difference. Our faith is a faith that saves lives: those who feel alienated from the religion of their childhoods, those whose gender identity or sexual orientation has been rejected, those who come with a hunger for justice and a place to ask the deep, and unpopular questions, families of all sorts who want a place to educate their children with ethics and morals: here, we gather together on this journey towards wholeness, community and Radical Love.

All are welcome here: those seeking to find meaning in their life, companions on the journey to make a difference in the world, and respite and healing, prayers and succor: All are welcome.

And what a better way to enter spring! Planning the gardens and planting the seeds of hope now that grow dreams into reality, envisioning a feast in a dining room for all souls longing to have their spiritual hunger and thirsts quenched.

Come, let us plan(t) our hopes for the future in the fertile ground that is March!

See you on Sunday!
Rev. Sally