As the days grow shorter and I spend more time indoors and at home, I like to take time to reflect on the past year. I am always filled with gratitude for my family and friends, and for my Chalice community. It is a time for celebration and renewed hope for a just and generous world.

As a native of the Northeast, I look for new traditions to celebrate this time of year. Instead of going for a toboggan ride down the hill at Rob’s farm behind my boyhood home and traipsing through the woods to cut down an evergreen to bring into the house, I now go to the beach to watch the sunset on the winter solstice and bring in a bough of pyracantha with its bright red berries and green leaves to decorate my home. And okay, I still do put up a few lights to brighten the evenings. No matter how you celebrate, I wish you a very happy holiday season.

We are well on our way to making our “Powering the Future” campaign for solar panels and technology hardware a success. The goal is almost in reach. Because of our grants, your donation will be doubled! Please give generously to these much needed capital improvements to our facility. The solar panels will be a big step in our quest to become a “Green Sanctuary”. Green Sanctuary is a UUA program whose mission is to provide structure, leadership and support, in broad collaboration, for the UU faith community to engage in an ambitious environmental and climate justice movement that seeks to live fully our seventh and eighth principles and achieve our vision of a sustainable and just world for all. You can find out more at https://www.uua.org/environment/green-sanctuary. We have a team of Chalice members working on this and they could use your help. If interested, please contact chaliceuucgreen@gmail.com.

Inspire, connect, act.

Blessings,
Tom Carlstrom, Board President