Some envision time as a circle or spiral, but I can’t help thinking of the New Year as a 90-degree turn towards something new and promising. The New Year signifies a welcome end to the frenzy of the holidays, and guides us to a quieter time for reflection, friends, and families. I’m accustomed to long, cold winters with lots of snow and have appreciated the song Find a Stillness in the Singing the Living Tradition hymn book. It promises that we will find true harmony as we embrace silence, stillness, and the essence of winter.

As the religious education program flows into the new year and the meeting time for RE classes change, I hope we can all remember, in the depths of change, to seek harmony—not with a conciliatory attitude of “go along to get along,” but in the sense of making, singing, and hearing something beautiful and dynamic. This meditative song also says that if we seek the stillness, silence, and essence we will flower or grow in spirit. My New Year’s wish is for this to be true for all and especially for the children and youth. There is a card in the Tarot deck of the magician with one arm pointing to the sky and one pointing to the earth. The magician is the connection or conduit between the possibility or reality of

Heaven (consciousness, self-awareness, love, God…) and the experience of this life on earth. Parents can act as the conduit for their children—helping them establish roots and caring relationships in a religious community and yet urging them to expand their thinking and experiences of what might lie beyond themselves and beyond this existence. You are indeed the resident theologians for your children. This might intimidate some and yet come naturally to others. Perhaps the extra time at church will allow you to attend Forum, talk with other parents about nurturing spirituality in children, or simply find a still and quiet space for reflection and prayer.

Let’s turn the corner together toward something promising, harmonious, and energetic. Happy New Year!

Benette Sherman
Interim DRE

Dates to Remember
January 3: No RE classes; childcare will be available.

January 10: “RE Switch.” All RE classes, except YRUU, will meet from 10-11 a.m. YRUU meets at 11 a.m.

January 17: No RE (Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday weekend).

January 24: Special Friends program begins.

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