Activity time: 10 minutes

Materials for Activity

• Copies of Singing the Journey for all participants
• Copies of Taking It Home
• Optional: A piano or a recorded version of the song "We Are... " recorded by Sweet Honey in the Rock

Preparation for Activity

• Prepare copies of Taking It Home.
• Optional: Arrange for musical accompaniment.

Description of Activity

Relight the chalice. Invite a couple of volunteers to share brief reflections from the journaling exercise about their beliefs, feelings, and actions in response to today's workshop. Wrap up the sharing after five minutes.

Close with the song, "We Are... " by Ysaye Maria Barnwell.

Share the following background: The words and music of "We Are... " are written by Ysaye Maria Barnwell, founding member of the singing group Sweet Honey in the Rock. This song is meant to convey that no matter what our race, culture or ethnicity, each one of us has been called into being and are the sum total of all who came before. In Barnwell's words, "Each and every one of us stands atop a lineage that has had at its core, mothers and fathers and teachers and dreamers and shamans and healers and builders and warriors and thinkers and, and, and... so in spite of our uniqueness, we come from and share every experience that human kind has ever had. In this way, we are one."

Invite participants to rise in body or spirit and sing "We Are... ," Hymn 1051 in Singing the Journey.

Invite a participant to extinguish the chalice and distribute copies of Taking It Home.

Including All Participants

An invitation to "rise in body or spirit" accommodates participants of all physical abilities.