Congregants share their favorite memories of the UU for the monthly theme of Holding History.

The opening words are Constellations of Our Lives, by Rev Karen G. Johnston.
Humans make maps of stars,
choosing some stars, ignoring others,
to project our imaginations onto the heavens.
These maps shift over time, across cultures.
Names change for the same assemblage of bright points:
Drinking Gourd, Big Dipper, Plough, Lost Hunters [1], Saptarishi [2].
Humans make constellations by connecting stars.
Humans make meaning by connecting stories:
story to story to narrative to story.
Some blaze bright, some are faint.
Most are backdrop to the great and mundane human unfolding.
Let us imagine the stories of our lives
as a starry universe above our heads.
As leaders of this congregation,
we are tasked and trusted
to draw constellations in this,
our beloved, small universe.
May the stories we connect
draw constellations
that reflect a shared ministry
that calls out the best in us.

Kindred, We Now Meet to Worship
Words: Thomas Snell
Music: Public domain hymn tune “Holy Manna”
Used with permission
Performed by Emily McKinney

Nocturne
From A Midsummer Night’s Dream
By Felix Mendelssohn
Public domain work
Performed by John Prescott and Eva Riebold

My Life Flows on in Endless Song
Words: Early Quaker song
Music: American gospel tune
Performed by the First Unitarian Church of Oakland (CA) Chancel Choir
Public domain

Minuets I and II
From Partita in B flat Major
By Johann Sebastian Bach
Public Domain work
Performed by Carter Meints

The closing words are Remembering That We Do Not Walk Alone, by Rev. Scott Tayler.

May we remember that we never walk out into the world alone.
We stand on the shoulders of brave and generous ones who have gone before.
We walk beside companions ready to catch us when we fall.
We hold memories of dear ones in our hearts, who keep us connected to our center. May we make this our most important work:
to remember that who we are does not end at the edges of our own skin.