"The Merging of Waters"
Katie Lawson, minister at Foxborough Universalist Church
I spent yesterday properly: on the tip of Cape Cod alternately floating on gentle waves and sunning on the beach like a contented sea lion. Having arrived only last week from Minnesota to begin a ministry at Foxborough Universalist Church and lying there on the edge of the Atlantic, I felt like a drop of water that had made it to the sea. Beginning this ministry I am quite aware of what is unknown - about the Church, about the community, about what joys and challenges are ahead of all of us - but I draw strength from the certainty that I will tumble into companionable waters.
Unitarian Universalist congregations begin each church year with a service dedicated to "The Merging of Waters". That Sunday, each family or individual brings forward water collected from their respective summers - from ponds, from oceans, from hoses out back, from hospital rooms. These waters, variously fresh, salty, polluted, and chlorinated, are poured into a single tureen and blessed. Each year, therefore, we begin with this simple reminder that our lives are continually running into and through each other - that we are all drops in a mighty ocean.
Being a part of the same great body presents us with challenges (my toxins inevitably pollute your water), but it also has the power to ease suffering and transform the world.
The love that holds us in common is a balm, and if we can hold together, stay in conversation, and return to love, we can heal the world. The motion of water, after all, changes the obstacles it encounters. Water working in rivulets, rivers, and thundering waves polish rough stone and round sharp corners while also supporting life.
As we look toward the Democratic and Republican conventions next week, we may find we have to meditate or pray on the truth of our interdependence frequently. The nature of politics can cloud this focus by emphasizing differences over commonalities, and it can become difficult to remember and accept that we are bound to one another. My hope is that in the weeks ahead, we each find ways to remind ourselves to live out of love so that we can continue to soften the hard edges of this world. I invite you to come and participate in the Merging of the Waters at Foxborough Universalist (9/7/08) and look forward to meeting you.
