Last Sunday as we kicked-off the new year and our annual spiritual theme, “Join the Journey!” At the end of the sermon, we introduced the metaphor of the baskets filled with nourishment that we carry with us as we travel the peaks and valleys of the journey of life and faith together. (You can view the whole sermon here) 

When we see baskets, we see evidence of culture and art and identity, the weaving techniques passed down from one generation to the next over thousands of years. The oldest woven artifact from Oregon is a strand of braided sagebrush from the Paisley Caves from 12,000 years ago, and evidence of baskets dates back over 8,000 years.

Baskets were one of the earliest containers for transporting food, clothing, and precious items, which people brought with them on a day’s journey or on epic journeys across land and sea. They are beautiful and functional. They help us get from one point to another and to survive barren or difficult moments and to flourish in times of plenty. 

Here are some spiritual reflection questions for the week ahead:

• What might be considered the beautiful container of your faith as an individual, and our collective faith as a community?

• What would you place in your basket? What nourishes you? What are the spiritual tools that help to sustain you on the twists and turns of the journey?

• What do you do to replenish the provisions in your basket when it seems empty? What practice of sharing do you have when the provisions are plentiful?

We are embarking on the journey of another year together as a community of faith. As I shared last Sunday, one of your partners and mine on the journey are the dedicated staff members who work on behalf of our congregation and all its ministries and programs on Sundays and throughout the week. Our shared ministries are a collective task of traveling the peaks and valleys of our faith, of our city, and of our country together.

Let me share the words I offered for the Closing Ritual we shared on Sunday as fodder for your reflection about what nourishing elements you hope to carry with you through life.

Closing Ritual: “A Basket for the Journey”

Let me call forth some of my and your partners on the journey, for this is a collective task of traveling the peaks and valleys together. I have a basket up here on the chancel for the journey. Let’s fill it with some of the spiritual tools and sustenance we may need to move towards the destination of the beloved community. 

Jen Thomas (membership engagement) has brought a loaf of bread, because it all starts with a radical welcome and hospitality.

Dana Buhl (social justice) has a UU the Vote letter, because we carry our values out into the world.

Tom Disrud (ministry) has a first aid kit, because we offer care and comfort along the way.  

Kathryn Estey (administration) has a book about the first decades of our church, because we carry the stories of our ancestors with us. 

Leah Ongiri (learning community) has crayons, because this is a journey of innovation and creativity.

Garrett Bond (music) has a compass, because we know we need to be reoriented from time to time.

Jason Chapman (facilities & tech) has a candle, representing the spark of divinity in each of us.

Danielle Garrett (ministry) has a rock, to remind us of what is permanent and what we can count on. 

Joe O’Donnell (music) has a magnifying glass, because a spirit of curiosity is our ever-present companion.

Isabella Utrecht (accounting & database) has a finger labyrinth – a symbol of the journey itself, and a reminder that our collective spiritual practices will lift us up and help us reach for moments of clarity on the journey.

And I’ll add one last item on behalf of all of you – the members and volunteers of our church – a packet of seeds, with a prayer that we grow in spirit, community, and impact on the journey.

May it be so! Amen. Blessed Be. 

In faith,

Rev. Alison