Connie's Challenge to You!  Seven Days of Gratitude

Here is my challenge to Boone UU for our Thanksgiving service next week. Each day for the next seven days, take a picture of something for which you are grateful. You may do one of several things: post your pictures to Facebook, on the Boone UU social events page, send them to me (greencr1983@gmail.com) or simply bring your phone or camera to the fellowship next week before the service and be prepared to share one or two of your pictures during the time when we share gratitudes in the service. If you don't make it to the magic 7, take as many pictures as you can.  - Connie Green

A Pagan Way of Making Meaning / Samhain 
As Unitarian Universalists, we draw from many sources, one of which is "Spiritual teachings of Earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature". For pagans, Samhain marks the halfway point between the Fall Equinox and the Winter Solstice. This is a sacred point in the year when we are gifted a time of introspection. It allows us to let go of what no longer serves us or what we have lost, it is an opportunity to look more deeply inward, and choose our paths with intention. This service will explore the importance of ritual in all of our lives, and how ritual is at the core of mindful practices which help us to set and maintain our intentions while enriching our lives with meaning. You are encouraged and invited to bring pictures or symbolic items representative of loved ones or ancestors to place on the altar (as we have done in the past for Dia de los Muertos). 
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