Envy, enlightenment and laundry

Oooo, I can be so wickedly jealous sometimes. I WISH I was finishing up an exhausting visit at the ICUUW. Just like Lizard Eater. I wish I was fighting with flights and making my way home. I'm green. Envy.

Instead I'm here, holding down one of the forts. Coming down with something that makes my head throb and swim, not quite knowing what to do for children's worship today except take dayquil and just go. Calling in sick isn't really an option. Calling in with a whole bunch of plans that someone else will have to try to throw together seems so unkind. It's all good. I love service time with children. Even squirrely boys who would rather be silly than pray. It's their own version of praying.

But, still. I wish I'd been there with my sister-UU-women. One thing I really wish I'd heard was Gini Courter's closing at the ICUUW. She shared it in her blog post today. (welcome to my blogroll Gini, you rock) If you haven't read it/don't want to read it let me share what it means to me. We have a moral obligation to be here, to do this, to create these interconnected ministries that serve and provide a safe home for beloved souls.

Even if the beloved souls wiggle during prayers. Or talk in the kitchen while a group is trying to have a worship service in the fellowship hall. Or sometimes forget to be gentle to each other. All souls means, well, all souls.

Our service today was on the theme "We are the ones we've been waiting for" We had readings from one of my favorite UU musicians, Dr. Ysaye Barnwell, well we read the lyrics to the song "We Are..." from "Sweet Honey in the Rock" --Dr. Barnwell's lyrics. And I taught them a song I learned someplace, my oldest son and I sat at the table last week, him trying to teach it to me from fuzzy memory, me fumbling, and then Andrea Learner sent me a youtube link in response to a call out on the LREDA list. The kids learned it and liked the song enough that a middle schooler told me he want's to make a rock remix out of it. Lyrics are "we are the rising sun, we are the change, we are the ones we've been waiting for and we are dawning". Fit right in with our theme.

So even though I'm not flying home from an enlightening conference. Even though I'm just here, home, running ministry for children, youth and families. Even thougth I'm the mom of one of the members of the Youth Minstry Working Group, waiting for my son to come home inspired and hauling a whole suitcase of dirty laundry. Even though this is my time in the trenches while my UU sisters float home on wings of enlightnement, there is no place I'd rather be. This is holy work, holy ground, holy prayers puncutated by giggling and shoving. This is good stuff. And I wouldn't trade it for the world.