Welcome to Highlands United Church!

The breeze blows through my open window with the smell of warm earth and the feeling of ease. How many signs do you sense all around you that point you to the change of pace we call summertime?

I knew for sure that it was upon me when I came home from spending an evening with my brother and his partner around a fire in his back yard with the smell of smoke in my hair and a lightness in my step. Somehow I had slowed down a notch, and taken time to talk about the changes that come to us measured in years rather than just day to day.

Summertime is not just a season in the calendar and a tipping of the earth towards the sun. No, other things lean in these days and it is good to remember them all. Our bodies lean into hammocks and beach chairs, our home life leans into that chore that we just can’t seem to get to in the busyness of the rest of the year, our minds lean into a good summer read, and our hearts lean into each other.

I hope you have an opportunity to lean into summertime and feel restored by it. I think that is what the Creator had in mind for this season. I hope you spend time with people that you don’t see nearly enough and feel connected by it. I hope you get outside into the growing season and feel a part of a bigger life around you. I hope you slow down, even stop, for enough time that you reconnect with the soul that has brought you safely this far in your life.

In his book of reflections entitled “Embers,” Richard Wagamese says, “Remember to remember. This is what Old Man said to me one time. He was speaking of ceremony, of the act of bringing myself closer to the Creator, returning myself to innocence, my original power. Remember to remember. He meant for me, throughout my day, to recall that I’ve taken the time to pray, to give thanks, to ask for a return to humility. Remember to remember. When I do that, everyone and everything I encounter becomes the beneficiary. It’s a good teaching – as long as I remember.”

I hope you remember to remember this summertime, returning to your original power, and that it brings you closer to the Creator.

Grace and Peace, Will

Rev. Will Sparks
Lead Minister, Highlands United Church