Insight and Invitation

September 2026

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Dear Ones,

What a gift it is to have a time of sabbatical. AND – what a gift it is to return and to connect with so many of you over the last month. I look forward to gathering with you and with others who will join us in the Meetinghouse. What a grand reunion on Sunday September 13^th at 10am with a cookout to follow. I am excited to know we will be together as we face both the challenges and the celebrations of life in the year(s) to come. Plus, I offer deep gratitude to all of you who stepped up in my absence and held our beloved community together. Each of you holds the magic to what makes FPNUU great – so thank you for continuing to make this place and its people a priority.

Our overarching worship theme for 2026-2027 is Tending to Our Roots. Together we will explore our rootedness individually and collectively – plus the roots of our ancestors and the learnings we can glean from root systems of all kinds. What a joy to sit in Norris Reservation with Amanda Adams a few weeks back, looking out at the water and the trees and other vegetation, listening to the birdsong and imagine together the many angles we want to explore with all of you. The energy of that generative conversation continues to hold us as we plan and prepare for worship and religious exploration this Fall.

What is most important to you about your roots?

How have your roots influenced you/your life?

Are there any ways you or your people have been uprooted? What are the learnings you hold from that experience?

Zuli making a new friend on the steps of my Dad's childhood home

In early June I travelled to my father’s hometown in Central New York State. It has been well over 20 years since I visited, and I felt a yearning during sabbatical to remedy that. I have so many fond memories of Norwich from our family’s frequent visits there during my childhood. I remember one particular summer, probably when I was around 10 years old, I stayed a week with my grandparents while my parents went to a conference. I loved that experience both for the individual time and attention with my grandmother and grandfather as well as spending time in a neighborhood with sidewalks and a community pool at the end of the street and so many children to play with. I could even walk or bike to the library! What an experience to return to that town and to walk those sidewalks some 40 years later.

Driving through the windy hillside roads to visit Norwich and Cortland and Ithaca gave me a lot of time to ponder the influence of that landscape on my father and my ancestors. I visited with two of my cousins who still live in that area and enjoyed learning about their lives and their memories of my mom and dad. I continue to ponder the influence that place had upon my dad and his ministry as well as the life path he took that led him to leave.

Where did your family put down roots?

How has that place/that land shaped who you are today?

Soon and very soon we will begin gathering again. As the rhythm of life switches from end of summer to beginning of Fall, notice how this shift affects you. I know for me when the pace of life speeds up, I need to create a bit more space for slowing down, staying grounded and remembering to breathe. And, as several great climate writers I follow have been reminding me, our every inhale and exhale are only possible because of the miraculous work of plants who transform our carbon dioxide into glucose (sugar) and release back to us precious oxygen. We exist and thrive only through mutuality. Tending to our roots helps us all flourish.

With hopeful anticipation,

Reverend Susan

Things I am loving on:

So many beloved icons of American History have died recently and are being celebrated. I was struck by the number of billboard celebrations of Dolly Parton I saw on my drive to the Jersey Shore on Sunday. I invite you to watch this animated video accompanying the voice of Wendell Berry, a Kentucky poet & farmer, who died on 8/31 at the age of 92. The enormous influence of Southern artists on our national identity is heartening.

This anthem by Lissa Schneckenburger, arranged by Andrea Ramsey and performed by The Vancouver Youth Choir, really struck a chord for me – I feel it sums up the moment we are living through and the inspiration to keep us going.

Are you familiar with the artwork of Yayoi Kusama? I believe I first experienced her whimsical polka dot landscape in a ticketed room at the ICA in Boston. The artist and fashion designer died recently and I have learned so much more about her life, her struggles with mental illness and her great impact on the art world. Check out this video detailing her life, work and influence.