I is for Immersion.
like snow the Lord is all there is
when all there is is snow
when the soul is all there is
I have been repeating these words, from the Chuvash poet Gennady Aygi, to myself in recent days. (Take a few minutes and memorize them while you’re on a walk.) There is something all-consuming, all-encompassing about snow in our New England landscape that has a spiritual resonance for me. I don’t mean a light dusting – I mean the several feet we’ve all been dealing with.
With certain art, and certain food, and certain music, you can’t just try a little. To really get it, you need a lot! You need immersion.
A whole museum of Mark Rothkos on the wall. The entire album of Joni Mitchell’s Blue, played without skipping a song.
Last Monday, as the blizzard was winding down, to clear the driveway, I had to shovel in several layers, digging out a top layer first, and then a softer middle section, then a thin strip of ice at the bottom, like a multi-layered wedding cake.
Snow invites us deeper and deeper. To a place or time, maybe, “when all there is is snow/ when the soul is all there is.” We can carry that state around with us. Quiet. Serious. Joyful.
This March, which will begin (and probably end) immersed in snow, you’re invited to bring your whole self to life with us at First Parish.
Sign up for our Lenten Retreat with yoga, spiritual autobiography, and mending.
Come to the next Hearth and Hope, our new intergenerational casual service based in storytelling and song, with a free dinner afterwards.
And then there’s Lunar New Year, a trip to UUUM in Boston, an amazing concert…all before Holy Week! March is a busy month at FPL. You don’t have to do it all (in fact, we wouldn’t recommend that).
But do find the three or four services and programs that speak to you. And dive in. There are new people to get to know, new gifts and needs being shared, new opportunities to come together to make the world a better place.
With love,
Nate and Kit
