Dear friends,

April is upon us! May this note find you well.

I look forward to gathering in-person and on Zoom this Sunday. It’s a special one. Here’s why:

When I moved to New Haven, CT, to begin grad school, I attended the Unitarian Society of New Haven and made it my church home until I began working as an intern and, eventually, ordained Minister. This congregation (USNH) had an annual service in celebration of multigenerational community that I fell in love with, and hoped to someday have a congregation that I could bring it to.

The service begins with the Mary Oliver poem “The Summer Day,” which ends with the line – what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? And is made up of short reflections from the congregation – one per generation – beginning with the youngest and ending with the eldest.

Now in my third year with you here at A2U2, with a congregation full of elder wisdom and teeming with the energy of youngsters, this year felt like the perfect time to introduce this service. I reached out to leaders at USNH and they were delighted to know we’d be celebrating a Wild and Precious Life Sunday! If you like it, perhaps it will become a cherished new tradition. So I’ll be with you on Sunday, but the wisdom will come from your peers in the form of reflections by those ages 5 through 91.

Being rooted in an intergenerational community of shared values is one of the deepest delights of my life. Just this week it was my privilege to hold hands at the bedside of an elder, and watch two of our elementary schoolers sing, dance, and act in a musical. The work of ministry is cradle to grave. It asks, through all ages and stages, where is life emerging now? What does love do now?

Our life, together, is the answer to those questions. May it touch your heart as deeply as it does mine.

In faith, with joy,

Rev. Tara