Community…a circle of hands will open to receive us, eyes will light up as we enter, voices will celebrate with us whenever we come into our own power…A circle of healing. A circle of friends. Someplace where we can be free. ~ Starhawk

As late August blends into September, let us think of returning and belonging. The first Sunday worship service in September will be Water Communion, when we bring a small, precious offering of water from a source that sustained or delighted us during the summer. It is a time to gather and experience the power of community as we pour water into a communal vessel and feel the joy and be touched by the journeys of others. Listen intensely, for you are being softly called to this sacred time and ritual.

Starhawk, a keeper of wisdom, nestles her idea of community in longing for a place radiating with acceptance, perhaps a place we have never been. Recently, my musing about community led to the realization that even if we have stepped inside from time to time, it is an ever-changing place. New people arrive and we arrive anew. Perhaps recent experiences have shaped us, changed us, and we return with deeper understandings, a newly discovered piece of our identity, or a more open heart.