Slideshow image

Dear UU Shenandoah Members and Friends,

Yesterday, the Walk for Peace monks completed their walk to the Lincoln Memorial, to spread their message of peace across our nation and world. I'm feeling inspired and grounded by their ministry, dedicated to all of us. I hope you are, too.
 
Earlier this week, I watched the final sermon of a dear friend and fellow UU minister and chaplain, Sue Magidson. Sue's sermon was about prayer. In her typical tender and slow style, she shared about her journey from being raised UU by atheist parents without anything resembling prayer, to following her inner desire to create a daily prayer practice. I found her sermon very accessible and yet deeply moving, in the way that "good bread" often is. You can tell during Sue's sermon that she is already feeling the impact of her third and final bout with cancer. She passed away on January 2nd, 2026. May her memory ever be for a blessing.


 
If you don't choose to watch Sue's sermon, or even if you do, here's a shorter and more immediate entry into the practice of prayer:
 
Praying, by Mary Oliver
 
It doesn't have to be
the blue iris, it could be
weeds in a vacant lot, or a few
small stones; just
pay attention, then patch
 
a few words together and don't try
to make them elaborate, this isn't
a contest but the doorway
 
into thanks, and a silence in which
another voice may speak.
 
Whether you find yourself waking in the morning, making your bed, drinking water, and writing down, "Today will be my peaceful day," as the venerable monks encourage us to do, or whether you sit for a while with your cup of coffee and admire the beauty of the natural world, I hope you'll join me in beginning your day in a meditative way. It just might change your life - and it just might ripple out and change the lives of those around you - and that, friends, just might change the world.
 
If you'd like to share your morning practice with me, or tell me about your meditation or prayer life, I'd love to hear about it. Email me to set up a phone call or in person visit.
 
With Peace, and a Grateful Heart,
Rev. Lauren
 
PS: The Walk for Peace official facebook page is here, and the official website is here, if you'd like to learn more.
Minister's Musings
Minister's Musings