I sure wish that I could have the children at First Universalist lead or help me lead what I'm going to share with you this morning because they are very familiar with the ritual. I'm going to talk with you about our ritual of sharing joys and concerns in religious education classes and children's chapels, all the way from preschool all the way up through senior high, usually right after we light the chalice, we take time to share what's in our hearts. And each class has their own way of doing this. Our our kids who have been in second through fifth grade children's chapel will recognize this face of water. When we share our joys and concerns in children's chapel we will choose a stone to represent what we have shared...and we'll drop it into that jar and we say that that water is a symbol of the community that our joy and concern is being held by. When I meet when I meet in an adult group that I get to be in with my Wellspring folks, we use this beautiful bowl filled with sand and we light a candle for each joy or concern that we share and we plant it in there and then they burn down while we're having the rest of our time together. The sixth graders have a really creative way of sharing their joys and concerns that I want to share with you. They have these battery operated candles, and when they get their turn with the remote, they share their joy or concern and they change the color to match something that symbolizes kind of the feeling of what they're sharing with the group. Now, we do this to get reconnected, but there's kind of a deeper reason to it, as well. As Unitarian Universalists, we have faith in the saving potential of our relationships with one another. We believe we are what we've got, and our religion recognizes that we're we're all connected In this giant web, and what happens to one of us, affects all of us So, only by caring for one another will any of us get to live in a just and compassionate world. In our church, we share our questions, our struggles, our hopes and our doubts, our joys and concerns so we can practice listening to ourselves and to one another, and so we can support one another in living good and meaningful lives. Now I have experienced and seen firsthand, and probably you have too, something kind of magical that happens when we share our joys and concerns. When we say them out loud, to someone who listens really well, our joys, expand and get bigger, and our sorrows get a little bit smaller, even if just a little. And that to me is proof that this is what we are built to do. I think that sharing what's in our hearts with people we trust is what our DNA has designed us to do. Life is complicated and challenging. And sometimes we feel angry or sad or lonely or bored. And sometimes bad things happen that we can't do anything to fix. But we can turn to one another and share what we feel. And we can listen to how others feel to help make their joy bigger or their sorrow smaller. And as we listen, we learn what we need, we learn what they need, we begin to have a deeper understanding of what the world needs and how we may be part of sort of making it just a better place for everyone. Sharing what's going on inside of us is brave and sometimes hard and always holy. It can be done in person, it can be done on the phone, it can be done over Zoom. Kids, maybe you can help your family by finding some tools around the house, to use in your own family ritual, something as simple as a jar of water. Maybe a few special stones that you find out on your walk can be a tradition that you bring home. When we're in unfamiliar territory, these familiar simple deep rituals have extra power. So bring it on home, my people and we'll be with you in spirit. Transcribed by https://otter.ai