Desert Notes – November 14, 2024

Dear Ones,

It was wonderful to see so many new people in the Sanctuary last Sunday and to see so many members who hadn’t been here in awhile. We hope you’ll come back and find a way to get involved–that you’ll find this to be a place where your belonging is only based on your willingness to show up and be yourself. “What would it be like if you could trust, unequivocally, that you were valued here for the pieces of yourself that make you feel different, not despite those pieces. That in this space there was nothing about you that could make people reverse their welcome or reject you from the circle of belonging…” Alix Capitan. It’s my goal that this will feel like such a place. 

This doesn’t mean we can burn the house down, though, right? And it doesn’t mean we can do whatever we want without being mindful about our impact on each other. It does mean that you get to be you; your journey, your questions, your answers, your struggles and your successes are all welcome here. We have all arrived here by different paths, with different language for the holy and different ideas about the future and the work ahead of us. To belong together is to negotiate this future, to listen and offer and try things out together. Watch the Happenings posts every week for more opportunities to connect, to grow and to be a part of the necessary healing our world needs and the joy that is part of being alive and being in a community. Blessings this week as we navigate change and our shared future. –Rev. Sarah

-Rev. Sarah Oglesby-Dunegan