Greetings all:

I’m so grateful to everyone, especially the youth that joined us last Saturday to lend a hand in reorganizing the Religious Exploration spaces and supplies including the Youth Space. It was special and sweet to cohost the RE clean out event with Katie, our DRE from last year.

What makes you feel comfortable in a space? Do you prefer to sit in a chair, floor sit, move around, do small arts and crafts, or maybe a combination of all those things and more? We had you all in mind as we readied ourselves for the start of RE and are excited for our kick off events.

Ingathering is this Sunday the 14th. Do you have your small water container already filled from your summer adventures or even from your tap at home? Much of our drinking water in Seattle comes from the Cascade foothills, the Cedar and Tolt River Watersheds provide water for 1.6 million people, 70% of the people in the Seattle area.

Ingathering service on Sunday is a multigenerational service so children will stay upstairs through the service. There are busy bags at the greeting station for your children. There is a quiet space in the balcony and a new DRE Lounge just outside the northwest sanctuary doors! The DRE Lounge includes our children and family library as well as the attached nursery should you and your family need a break or sensory change during services.

We will have an empty cup decorating area in the back of the sanctuary. You and your family can decorate an empty cup and bring it forward when we do our water ceremony in solidarity with those without access to water.

After services RE will have a learning and activity booth featuring prayer flags. Tibetan prayer flags have a long and rich history in Tibetan culture, dating back over a thousand years. The tradition of hanging prayer flags is rooted in Buddhist philosophy, which holds that the wind can carry the prayers and mantras written on the flags to all beings, thus promoting peace, compassion, and goodwill. 

I hope to see you all at Ingathering as we embody our interconnectedness, bringing our water together to mark the start of our year.

With gratitude,
Leilani