Time for All Ages (TFAA) and music are our Sunday sermons this summer. In July, our worship services center on the theme of WATER. Here is the TFAA story and music for reflection from Sunday, July 7, 2024. May their lessons resonate with your spirit.
Time For All Ages: Reflect on the Story
Book: Tale of the Sands
(Listen and watch the read aloud video below, or read the e-book online, free. It’s also available in print at your local library or bookseller.)
How can emptying your mind help you to see new possibilities?
How can we decide the waves we give?
Was there ever a time when your first judgment of a person or a situation was wrong? How did this affect your relationship or connection to the people around you? Do you know where this feeling originated from? How can you avoid this in the future? Forgive yourself and promise to be more flexible like waves in the water in the future.
Think about a time when your rigidity in a disagreement caused further conflict. When looking back, would being more flexible have improved the situation? How could you have been more flexible? In the future, try to be more flexible like the waves in the water.
Was there ever a time when your value system was tested? Did your heart and your mind not align in the same resolution? Have you ever had to re-evaluate your value system in order to more align with your heart? Let your heart bend and be flexible like the waves in the water.
As you move throughout your week, are there any ways you can make your heart and mind more flexible and open to change so that they are free to move with the force and the motion of the waves?
This month our worship services center around the theme of WATER. (For inspiration, enjoy this Peter Meyer song, “Water.”)
Our services, learning, and gatherings are geared to support your rest and nurture our sense of community this summer.
OUR SUMMER WORSHIP
Sunday worship services held at 11:45 am (Zoom link is available of our website’s home page):
Our services will have a noticeably different feel for the summer, with an intergenerational focus centering our services on Time for All Ages and music to guide our personal reflections and connections to the themes of the month (TFAA and music are our summer sermons). You’ll also notice that some of the music and readings will repeat throughout the month, offering us a chance to deepen our experience with them. Our Zoom tech may also look a little different as we offer simpler camera angles for the summer. We’ll also pause our potluck and popcorn after services in exchange for popsicles each Sunday. Our summer services allow us to allow Sundays to function with a slightly smaller worship team and volunteer team (allowing for varied travel schedules, summer school schedules, family needs, and the heat of the day) and offer more time for meaningful connections after the service.
JULY
Our worship services will explore the theme of WATER.
Our Wildflower band’s music theme for the month is “Happy” by Pharrell.
July 7 (blended): Story: Tale of the Sands – by Idries Shah. Do you resist changes? How have changes transformed you?
Join us for popsicles and conversation in the Community Room after service.
July 14 (on Zoom): Story “Rainbow in the Cloud” (Maya Angelou) How can you be a blessing in someone else’s life?
July 21 (blended): Guest Worship Leader Jesus Garcia, of The Herbal Action Project. Nature gives us tools for our healing. With garden herbs and water, Jesus Garcia will guide us in co-creating blessing water as a spiritual practice and a way to nurture our sense of community. We will also learn about the history of indigenous groups of Tejas that have been harvesting native botanicals through their lineage rites.
Join us for popsicles and conversation in the Community Room after service.
July 28 (blended): Story: Splashdance by Liz Starin. Community is more fun when we’re all included, and working together can make a positive change. How do we work together to ensure we’re all included?
After the worship service, we will have some creative water play for all ages. (If you are participating in the afternoon activity, we recommend wearing clothes that you don’t mind getting wet).
AUGUST
Our worship services will explore the theme of CARING AND SHARING. Our Wildflower band’s music theme for the month is “Rise Again” as performed by the Urban Voices Project. (Special Back to School celebration on August 18.)
And Save the date for the annual WATER COMMUNION held on Sunday, September 1.
SPIRITUAL FORMATION
OUR SUMMER CONGREGATIONAL-WIDE BOOK READING
Wildflower’s Spiritual Life team met for a half day retreat in the Community Room on Saturday, June 29, 2024, to begin to plan for Fall at Wildflower, as well as have time to nurture ourselves as staff and lay leaders of the congregation. It was a gathering of 15 people representing worship, adult religious education, membership, fun and fellowship, children and youth religious education, music, and the director’s teams. As part of our day, together, we worked on the spider web exercises in Chapter One of We Heal Together (and also in Practice One of the journal), mapping our community and our relationships as individuals, and then mapping Wildflower’s community and relationships as a congregation.
You Are Not Alone by Alphabet Rockers (picture book)
Both titles are available at your favorite online and local bookstores, the UUA bookstore, and the public library (including its Libby App). The We Heal Together journal is a free PDF download. These are what I call slow reads, meant to be savored and read as they nourish your spirit and sense of community.
OUR SUMMER ACTION: WATER
Keep our community hydrated. Be it unhoused neighbors, service and utilities workers, pets, elderly, family, or friends, a cold drink of water is a summer kindness. We encourage everyone to keep spare bottles of water to share with the people and pets in our community as needed. (Bonus: freeze a few bottles to give away so you can offer a cool drink during a hot day or night).
CYRE will be assembling care packages on July 7th, and asks the congregation to pick up a few packs, and then hand them out in the community during the week. Caring for our unhoused neighbors and others at risk for dehydration and isolation is a way for us to share that we are not alone and that we heal together.
Pick up trash whenever you are outside to help keep our rivers, lakes, and streams free of debris.
2nd Offering Recipients for the Third Quarter of 2024
In our work to support the community, we collect an offering for a non-profit who is making a difference in the world and who is in alignment with our values. The beneficiary of our 3rd quarter gifts (July, August, and September 2024) is Austin Youth River Watch. This organization transforms and inspires youth (including youth at Travis ECHS) through environmental education, community engagement, and adventure. There’s also a Wildflower serving on their board. We’ll be sharing ways that Wildflowers can engage with the organization, through service projects, and other community activities.
We also continue our summer at Wildflower focus on REST. How are you nurturing your spirit this summer?
This essay by Omid Safi, The Disease of Being Busy, is a meaningful, worthwhile read. In the essay he writes:
“In many Muslim cultures, when you want to ask them how they’re doing, you ask: in Arabic, Kayf haal-ik? or, in Persian, Haal-e shomaa chetoreh? How is your haal?
What is this haal that you inquire about? It is the transient state of one’s heart. In reality, we ask, “How is your heart doing at this very moment, at this breath?” When I ask, “How are you?” that is really what I want to know.
“I am not asking how many items are on your to-do list, nor asking how many items are in your inbox. I want to know how your heart is doing, at this very moment. Tell me. Tell me your heart is joyous, tell me your heart is aching, tell me your heart is sad, tell me your heart craves a human touch. Examine your own heart, explore your soul, and then tell me something about your heart and your soul.”
Omid Safi
I was grateful that I had taken some time off this week for rest; a few days without meetings or being tethered to my laptop or phone. As a result, when I asked a dear friend how they were doing, I had the capacity to fully listen, unrushed, to their heartfelt answer. Rest supports our ability to have a “ministry of presence” for ourselves and for those in our lives.
This summer, I hope we all have time to ask, and to be asked, “How are you? How is your heart doing?” and that we each have the time to listen, and to be listened to when questions are answered.
As a lay led congregation, we are all lay leaders in this community. In closing, I leave you with the wise words of the “Less is More: Keep Church Simple” by Rev. Susan Frederick Gray, Past UUA President:
“As leaders, be sure to spend as much time in worship, small groups, social gatherings, etc. as you do in meetings. Encourage one another to pay attention to meeting the spiritual needs of everyone, especially you — the leaders.”
Peace,
~ Simone
Simone Monique Barnes Director of Membership and Spiritual Life Wildflower UU Church, Austin TX
We’ve got a lot of healing and restoration to do as a congregation. That’s hard to do when operating in overdrive. It’s also hard to focus on nurturing our relationships as a community when we don’t have the time nor bandwidth to.
What does rest mean? Here’s some guiding words from the book Rest is Resistance: A Manifesto by Tricia Hersey. She says:
Rest must be practiced daily until it becomes our foundation.
Resting can look like:
Closing your eyes for ten minutes.
A longer shower in silence.
Meditating on the couch for twenty minutes.
Daydreaming by staring out of a window.
Sipping warm tea before bed in the dark.
Slow dancing with yourself to slow music.
Experiencing a Sound Bath or other sound healing.
A Sun Salutation.
A twenty-minute timed nap.
Praying. Crafting a small altar for your home.
A long, warm bath.
Taking regular breaks from social media.
Not immediately responding to texts and emails.
Deep listening to a full music album.
A meditative walk in nature.
Knitting, crocheting, sewing, and quilting.
Playing a musical instrument.
Deep eye contact.
Laughing intensely.
OUR SUMMER CONGREGATION-WIDE READING LIST
We Heal Together: Rituals and Practices for Building Community and Connection by Michelle Cassandra Johnson
You Are Not Alone by Alphabet Rockers (picture book)
Both titles are available at your favorite online and local bookstores, the UUA bookstore, and the public library (including its Libby App). These are slow reads, to be read a little at a time, process, journal, reflect, and discuss with others.
OUR SUMMER ACTION: WATER
In the month of June, CYRE will be collecting supplies for our unsheltered neighbors. In early July, children and youth will assemble the supplies into packets that the congregation can give out to those in need of care. Here is the list of supplies that we are collecting if you’re interested in contributing!
Keep our community hydrated. Be it unhoused neighbors, service and utilities workers, pets, elderly, family, or friends, a cool drink of water is a summer kindness. We encourage everyone to keep spare bottles of water to share with the people and pets in our community as needed. (Bonus: freeze a few bottles to give away so you can offer a cool drink during a hot day or night).
Pick up trash whenever you are outside to help keep our rivers, lakes, and streams free of debris.
OUR SUMMER WORSHIP
Sunday worship services held at 11:45 am (Zoom link is available of our website’s home page):
JUNE
Our worship services will explore the theme of JOY OF COMMUNITY.
Our Wildflower band’s music theme for the month is “Born this Way” by Lady Gaga (Orville Peck version).
June 2: “Higher Love” a celebration of Queer Joy! We welcomed back the Extragrams for a Drag Church Service. We’ll also read and be inspired by the picture book You Really, Truly Do Belong written by Gina Casazza and Illustrated by Lia Ampleva. With our potluck social in the Community Room, followed by our congregation’s annual meeting.
June 9 (on Zoom): “Part of the Whole.” What happens when we struggle to find our place in a community, to balance our individual journeys with the needs of the whole? Bettina Lehovec will lead us in an interactive lay-led service.
June 16 (blended): Flower Ceremony. Sometimes referred to as Flower Communion or Flower Festival, is an annual ritual that celebrates beauty, human uniqueness, diversity, and community. In this ceremony, everyone in the congregation brings a flower. We collectively bless the flowers, and they’re redistributed, with each person bringing home a different flower than the one they brought. Our flower ceremony coincides this year with the celebration week of Juneteenth. Joy is our human birthright and this month we celebrate the palpable joy felt in our Texas communities and beyond. We celebrate Black Joy as one of the beautiful flowers that makes our bouquet of Wildflowers complete.
June 23 (blended): Singing Bowl Sound Bath for the Summer Solstice. We celebrate this time of reflection, nourishment, and rest as guest worship leader Sandee Conroy aka the Singing Bowl Lady offers a chance to “be bowled” with a crystal singing bowl sound bath.
June 30 (on Zoom): The joy of our connection to the wider UU community, join us for a virtual watch party of the Sunday Worship Service of the UUA General Assembly (our denomination’s annual conference).
JULY AND AUGUST:
Our services will have a noticeably different feel for the summer, with an intergenerational focus centering our services on Time for All Ages and music to guide our personal reflections and connections to the themes of the month (TFAA and music are our summer sermons).
You’ll also notice that some of the music and readings will repeat throughout the month, offering us a chance to deepen our experience with them.
Our Zoom tech may also be a little different to accommodate for summer vacation and travel schedules, family needs, the heat of the day, and more importantly rest for the team.
While we love variety at Wildflower, to make that happen means the worship team, mostly filled by volunteers, has a lot of busy, ever-changing work to do every week. (Did you know that there are over 20 roles/tasks needed every Sunday to produce our blended services?) We want to be able to function with a slightly smaller team, so that they have a little space to relax and be fully present enjoying the worship services for themselves.
We’ll also pause our potluck and popcorn after services in exchange for popsicles and meaningful connections after Sunday services.
JULY: Our worship services will explore the theme of WATER. Our Wildflower band’s music theme for the month is “Happy” as performed by Pharrell. (Special water play after service on July 28.)
AUGUST: Our worship services will explore the theme of CARING AND SHARING. Our Wildflower band’s music theme for the month is “Rise Again” as performed by the Urban Voices Project. (Special Back to School celebration on August 18.)
And SAVE THE DATE for the annual WATER COMMUNION held on Sunday, September 1.
In closing, I leave you with the wise words of the author and Nap Ministry Bishop, Tricia Hersey:
“You were not just born to center your entire existence on work and labor. You were born to heal, to grow, to be of service to yourself and community, to practice, to experiment, to create, to have space, to dream, and to connect.”
Tricia Hersey
I hope as we refresh and rest that this summer yields deeper relationships within our congregation, and that our nurtured spirits allow us to collectively heal and grow as a community.
Peace,
~ Simone
Simone Monique Barnes Director of Membership and Spiritual Life Wildflower UU Church, Austin TX
This month our worship services explore the topic of CELEBRATION.
Celebrations are important because they give us opportunities to:
Appreciate ourselves
Appreciate those in our lives and in our community
Take note of how far we’ve come
Make memories
Reflect
Be present
Inspire others
Find community
Mark the passage of time
Join us for our upcoming Sunday worship services held at 11:45 am (Zoom link is available on our website’s home page) and other community gatherings in May.
Sunday, May 5th, 11:45 am, (hybrid): “Joy of Joy.” Wildflower’s mission is growing spiritually together, spreading love, justice, and joy! Join us as we celebrate World Laughter Day with Laughter Yoga and other joy practices. We will also celebrate welcoming our newest members of the congregation. Stay afterwards for our popcorn social in the Community Room. (Speaker: Simone Monique Barnes)
Wednesday, May 8th, 7 pm (on Zoom and Livestream)DRUUM Public Worship Service, “Choosing Joy! Living with Intentionality and Purpose.” Discover how a joyful heart can be your sanctuary, even when spirits are tested. A celebration of resilience, purpose, and the healing power of joy. (Guest Preacher: Rev Ali K.C. Bell, Director of Music: Saunder Choi, Liturgist: Rev. Carol Thomas Cissel.) Wildflower is one of the sponsoring congregations of this public worship of DRUUM (Diverse & Revolutionary UU Multicultural Ministries). For the Zoom link or Livestream, RSVP on DRUUM’s website https://www.druumm.org/events/
Sunday, May 12th, 11:45 am (on Zoom): “Celebrating Transformation on the Path” On this day, we look to Buddhist teachings and practices as a source of inspiration and celebration, as many Buddhists observe Buddha’s Birthday (also known as Vesak or Wesak) this month (Speaker: Sarah Riehl)
Sunday, May 19th, 11:45 am (hybrid): Milestone Sunday! On this day we gather together to celebrate the many milestones of our community, such as graduations, recipients of our scholarship program with Travis ECHS, career milestones, and much more. Want to share a milestone with the congregation? Complete this form. (Speaker: Simone Monique Barnes and others). Stay afterwards for our potluck (and bring your favorite dish, entree, or snack to share)
Sunday, May 26th, 11:45 am (hybrid): We celebrate joy with our guest preacher of the day, Rev. Krista Weber Huang
During our social hour after services on the 1st and 3rd Sundays in the Community Room, look for our new table talk conversation starters prompts, to help spark meaningful conversations on the theme of the day.
And, speaking of celebrating our community, our 2nd offerings this season will focus on deepening our connection and relationships with the youth, educators, and families of our neighborhood and the Travis ECHS community.
We will also have a special offering for DRUUM (Diverse & Revolutionary UU Multicultural Ministries), which we support as a congregation, which aids in their good work, public worship, and much needed good trouble in our world.
Lots to celebrate!
In closing, the vibrations are still resonating from last month’s service celebrating the music and message of Prince, which was so rich with the diverse gifts of the congregation and the community, with LOVE being our master plan (love, not dogma, policies, politics, nor anything else that divides us; only love), and amplified by the many other iterations of love that we uplifted in April, I leave you with these simple, yet wise words of the Purple One:
“Instead of hate, celebrate.”
Prince
In joyful celebration,
~ Simone
Simone Monique Barnes Director of Membership and Spiritual Life Wildflower UU Church, Austin TX
This month our worship services explore the topic of LOVE.
Love for ourselves, love for our friends, love for our animals, love for our family, love for our community, love for the earth. It’s all about love.
Join us for our upcoming Sunday worship services held at 11:45 am (Zoom link is available on our website’s home page):
April 7 (hybrid): “I am Loved.” Interreligious readings and musical reflections on love, including excerpts from the poem “You Are Who I Love” by Aracelis Girmay, and the song “Love My Life” by Robbie Williams. We’ll also read and be inspired by the picture book I love you because I love you by Muon Thi Van. (Speakers: Simone and lay leaders). Stay afterwards for our popcorn social in the Community Room.
April 14 (on Zoom): “A Sampling of Love.” In this lay-led service, we’ll hear from three different Wildflowers who will share their perspectives on different types of love and how that love has transformed them. (Speakers: Lay Led)
April 21st (hybrid): The Prince Mass: “Love is the Master Plan“ a worship service inspired by the music and message of Prince (Speaker: Simone. Special music by Goldie Pipes). Purple or Prince inspired outfits are encouraged. Stay afterwards for our festive potluck social in the Community Room.
April 28th (hybrid): “Love Poems for the Earth,” as we celebrate Earth Day and National Poetry Month (Speakers: Lay Led – Wild Earth Team)
During our social hour after services on the 1st and 3rd Sundays in the Community Room, look for our new table talk conversation starters prompts, to help spark meaningful conversations on the theme of the day.
Speaking of love, the covenant workshop is on Saturday, April 13, with in-person and virtual attendance options. (You may register here.) A “Covenant” is Latin for “come together” and means a “solemn agreement” or “promise from the heart.” Our covenant is one way for us to think about what Love-in-Action is and could be in our Wildflower community. Be a part of the discussion as we begin the first steps in the process of reviewing, reimagining, and rewriting our Wildflower covenant.
And, speaking of love-in-action, our 2nd offerings this season will focus on deepening our connection and relationships with the youth, educators, and families of our neighborhood and the Travis ECHS community.
And, wonderful news: our Wildflower High School Scholarship Program will reopen this spring, offering 3 scholarships for $2,000 each. (Eligibility: Travis ECHS students who are Dreamers, Refugees, or Asylum Seekers. Applications will be made available through the high school.)
Lots of love!
In closing, I leave you with the wise words of the activist Mel King:
“I believe that change is inevitable and possible. And that love is the question and the answer. As long as there are folks who understand the power of love, I’m definitely optimistic.”
Mel King
Love,
~ Simone
Simone Monique Barnes Director of Membership and Spiritual Life Wildflower UU Church, Austin TX
