TRANSCENDENCE
let us join together in community
Unitarian Universalists celebrate Water Communion in late summer, a ritual service marking the end of the summer and the return to community and the new UU program year. It is a beautiful way to come back together and reconnect with our community. The Water Communion can also bring powerful focus to honoring and feeling connected to the web of life that connects us all, just as all water on earth is connected in the seas and sky.
The day is tied to the end of summer and the start of the school year. Historically, it was held the Sunday after Labor Day (U.S.). With the earlier start of schools today, many UUs now observe Water Communion before Labor Day, on the 3rd or 4th Sunday of August.
so that we may
Feel gratitude for our planet and hear the call to care for its ecosystems (water is a human right, justice )
Renew our connection and commitment to our local and global community (sixth principle, generosity)
Experience the transforming awe found in embracing the interdependent web of life (seventh principle, interdependence)
Transcendence addresses our spiritual connection and dependence on the natural world and the interdependent web.
Proposed Objectives
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Feel gratitude for our planet; Hear the call to care for our eco-system
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Experience a sense of connection and our belonging and/or part in the Spirit of Life.
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Reflect on the renewal of life, possibility, and good, as seen in the stories of Easter, Passover, Holi.
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Encouragement to participate in justice projects
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Principle Seven | Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part
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Shared Values | Interdependence, Justice, Pluralism, Transformation
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Related Concepts | Earth Day, stewardship, renewal, Easter, good can prevail
Timing
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April
Connect & Reflect
rituals for friends & family
Follow-along video for those who don't have the opportunity to perform the water communion in community.
During the pandemic, I created this video for the congregation I served at that time, for those who couldn't attend the water communion in community. Much of the included material is from the Tapestry of Faith and Worship Web, as well as a few other online resources. Credit is included in the video when due, with much appreciation to the original creators. A special thanks to the UU San Mateo choir as well. Length: Approx. 15 minutes.
songs
Following are a few options that work well in a Water Communion service, small group worship, or to listen to at home. For a more comprehensive selection, see the UUA list of Songbooks and Hymnals, and the UUA List of Music for Online Worship. Please respect copyrights and contact individual artists directly for their permission. Besides legal requirements, we ask that you help support the artists.
STLT #175: We Celebrate the Web of Life
STLT #298: Wake Now My Senses
STLT #352: Find a Stillness
STJ#1067, Mother Earth, Beloved Garden
(calling dir, UU composer) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3E1nNBE812c
Spirit of Life
Blue Boat Home
Green Rising
Tom Chapin, Pretty Planet
Transcendence Playlist
Transcendence Playlist
Hymn 298 Wake Now My Senses
Find the Stillness #352
This Pretty Planet - Mornings with Papa Tom - Tom Chapin
Connect & Reflect
Who were the Transcendentalists? It's not this simple, but one quote I find useful:
'[The Transcendentalists] praised individualism, self-reliance, and racial and sexual equality. One of their most heretical beliefs was that an individual could attain sublime moments of grace by studying nature and becoming the mortal embodiment of God. The Transcendentalists believed that individuals could have a direct relationship with God without having to go through middlemen such as ministers or religious teachers.
Transcendentalism began as a religious movement within the Unitarian Church. Unlike the Puritans, who believed in original sin, a hostile world, and a predestined universe, the Unitarians believed that the world was basically good and that people could attain salvation through good works. Many Transcendentalists were practicing or former Unitarian ministers, including Emerson and Theodore Parker.
As the movement grew, it responded to the major national preoccupations of expansionism, industrialization, Abolition, women’s rights, and the Civil War. Like Dickinson, the Transcendentalists believed that the country’s new focus on profit was replacing personal craftsmanship and alienating people from their communities and natural surroundings. Transcendentalists sought to restore the vital connection between nature, people, and God.'
- Wendy Martin, The Cambridge Introduction to Emily Dickinson (2007)
