“Life Flows On in Endless Song”

This month witnesses transitions bearing fruit! We are enjoying our new interim music director, Chuck Grinnell, who brings energy and enthusiasm to this role. And goodness, does he love our church! Working with Chuck has been a delight, and I look forward to continued joy in collaboration. This month we experiment with singing two hymns regularly each Sunday. For May, we have selected “There’s a River Flowin’ in My Soul” by Rose Sanders and “Spirit of Life” by Carolyn McDade. Rose Sanders is a civil rights attorney, education activist, songwriter, and playwright living in Selma, Alabama. She was also Alabama's first African American woman judge. My favorite part of the song is when we sing that the river is “telling me that I’m somebody/ There’s a river, flowin in my soul.” What a gift it is to know, deep-down, that we are somebody worthy of love, that we are enough. And “Spirit of Life” is a beloved hymn in our congregations across the U.S. and Canada, written by songwriter and feminist social activist Carolyn McDade. Her hymn gives us the gift of language. The hymn invokes the holy that is in and around us, calling us to our best selves as individuals and as a congregation.

Our hope is that these hymns will flow in and out of your life each day, a reminder that you are somebody who belongs, who is loved, & who is a vital part of this church life. Our hope is that you take UUCFM with you throughout the week, that the music that follows you this month will remind you to come each Sunday to be renewed, recommitted to that which is of ultimate importance. And perhaps you will share a bit of this music and its messages with those around you. My partner Andy and I will carry you and this music with us when we go to Scotland on vacation for the last two weeks of May. Our emergency contact information will be available through the office should such an unfortunate occasion arise. There will be no studying, no email, no telephoning. Simply vacation. I will most certainly miss worshiping with you but trust you will enjoy our engaging speakers.

In faith and fellowship,
Rev. Allison