Beathe in and breathe out. Make it a really long exhale. Did you know that the exhale is when you absorb oxygen? The exhale is when you recharge?

Beginning September 16, I am out of the pulpit for part 2 of my sabbatical, a twelve-week exhale. As you can see from the Sermon Schedule, the Worship Team has gathered an exciting list of speakers to inspire you while I am away. The calendar is full of learning and justice making opportunities, social events and fundraisers. Our office staff is back up to fighting weight with Aaron Leventman as our administrator and Jenifer Kaplan as our bookkeeper. I will continue to track with our Bridges Pastoral Care Team throughout the Sabbatical and will to be available in event of life crises. Cynthia Kelley, Steven Mead or Aaron Leventman can help if you have questions. You are in good hands.

And what am I going to do during my long exhale? Many things. I will be dipping into some of the lovely things Santa Fe and UU Santa Fe offer that I can’t quite shoehorn into my usual schedule. I plan to connect with colleagues, worship at neighboring congregations, read a tall stack of books and take a meditation class. There’s a certain amount of ‘housekeeping’ that I would like to get done. And there are three small collaborative projects I am working on for the spring: a social justice workshop for middle school youth, a public conversation with an interfaith group of women and an ecotheology lecture series. It promises to be a rich and restorative three months. I’ll be back for the winter holidays.

​Blessings, Rev. Gail

The Ancient Mariner, thirsty, is surrounded by water he cannot drink. A deadly irony. There is; however, a more insidious fate than this, that of being "knee deep in the river and not a drop to drink"—water that we can drink, but don't―being thirsty for life and to be unaware that what we crave is all around us for the taking.

Sometimes our vision is masked by grief, or poverty―either of our circumstances or our spirit. Sometimes it's inattentiveness. Oftentimes it is disconnection from our deepest self, from the giftedness of life or from needs greater than our own.

But I am here to remind you that There's a River Flowing Through Us—both in our individual lives and our collective UU Santa Fe Community.

This knowing state of "oneness" and flow is a state of grace. A state I observe that most of us drift in and out of. With these words, I am calling you to grace—to the understanding that we are not here to believe something, but to be part of everything. That our emerging Unitarian Universalist identity calls us to partake of that which we crave most—to just bend down, cup your hands and drink from the river that flows through us.

The sacred is within relationships—to ourselves, to life, to others. From pulpit to playground we call you to right relationship—through our worship, our small groups, our commitment to learning, to social action—these are the tools we use to listen to our deepest self, open to life's gifts and serve needs greater than our own.

So, take a drink.  See you on the playground.