If, recognizing the interdependence of all life, we strive to build community, the strength we gather will be our salvation... If we join spirits as brothers and sisters, the pain of our aloneness will be lessened, and that does matter. — Marjorie Bowens-Wheatley

In the opening to our workshop we sang "As Tranquil Streams," a hymn written to celebrate the relationship between the Unitarians and the Universalists before our consolidation. Do we, as a Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations, live up to the promise recorded in its words? Consider these key phrases from the hymn:

• free from the bonds that bind the mind to narrow thought
• free from a social code that fails to serve the cause of human need
• a freedom that reveres the past, but trusts the dawning future more

Reflect on the meaning of the song today, in your journal or with a trusted conversation partner.