October 29, 2025
“No one is finally dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away,
until the clock wound up dies down, until the wine she made has
finished its ferment, until the crop they planted is harvested.
The span of someone’s life is only the core of their actual existence.”
~Terry Pratchett (Reaper Man)
Dear Ones,
As I sit down to write this morning, the weather (cool and wet) and the trees (turning away from their summer green) finally meet my autumnal expectations. Just in time for Christian feasts of Halloween, All Saints Day (Nov. 1), and All Souls Day (Nov. 2), also celebrated as ancient pagan festival of Samhain (Oct 31-Nov. 1), and the popular Hispanic Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead, Nov. 1 & 2). It’s a time of year, in many cultures, to consider our place in the wider span of the human community–to remember our dead and to appreciate the sweetness in their lives and our own.
This strikes me as a good place to begin November’s focus (following the monthly Soul Matters themes, as we do) on nurturing gratitude. Today, I am grateful, not only for the ripples left in my world by the people I’ve lost, but also for my own life and yours–for the works we are winding up that will continue moving after we are still, for the crops we are planting and the processes we will start but perhaps never see to their conclusion. The span of my life, the span of yours, the span of our time together–none of these lifespans contain the total meaning and goodness of who we are and what we create. Perhaps the gratitude we nurture together this November will itself be endless and inextinguishable.
Yours in the rippling and the gratitude,
Rev. Denise
RevDenise@gnuuc.org
P.S. Yesterday, at the monthly meeting of the group of progressive Nashville clergy of which I’m a member, we discussed possible responses to the food crisis currently facing so many of our neighbors as a result of the discontinuation of SNAP funding. We noted that organizations like Second Harvest are often best served by gifts of cash, and I am glad to learn that GNUUC’s Share the Plate partner for November is Second Harvest. AND, my colleagues and I committed ourselves also to gathering specific food items that Second Harvest has communicated a need for. (Sometimes, we can get better deals at grocery stores as individuals.) On behalf of our congregations, we each committed to collecting one of the items from the most-needed list. GNUUC’s contribution will be PASTA. We will have a collection box in the Social Area throughout November & deliver donations weekly/biweekly to Second Harvest. (Please do not bring other items–just pasta!) I hope you will participate in this interfaith effort by picking up a few extra packages of pasta with your shopping.