Hello, sun in my face.
Hello, you who make the morning
dear star, that just happens
to be where you are in the universe
to keep us from ever-darkness,
to ease us with warm touching,
to hold us in the great hands of light–
good morning, good morning, good morning.
Watch, now, how I start the day
in happiness, in kindness.
(Mary Oliver, an excerpt from her Poem, “Why I Wake Early)

As our life together apart continues during the time of Covid 19, Kairos-Milwaukie remains connected by the many threads of our common life:

• Weekly worship and daily prayer
• Member Care Team calls and personal emails
• Newsletters and weekly congregational emails
• Outdoor Green Team meetings and socially distanced all-church work days
• Monthly Theology on Tap gatherings
• Generous giving to the church and to our mission partners
• Kairos Circle Facebook group

Here is another way to be part of an intentional joining of hearts and minds during these long, beautiful summer days:

• The Green Team invites you to join them in reading “Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants,” by Robin Wall Kimmerer.
• The Theology on Tap group invites you to join them in reading “My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies,” by Resmaa Menakem. We’ll be discussing the first two chapters at our July 21 zoom gathering,
• And a newly forming social justice group invites you to join in reading “How to Be an Anti-Racist,” by Ibram X. Kendi. Stay tuned for details of an August or September discussion gathering.

Then too, I encourage you to take some time for rest because, in the words of Thich Nhat Hanh “When we take good care of ourselves, we help everyone… we become a reservoir of joy and freshness."

Peace and freshness to you as we continue to move forward - apart in body, together in spirit.