Do you remember when you turned 15? I don’t think I can remember mine too well. I can’t remember when I turned 16 too well either. My family didn’t make a lot out of birthdays.

A quinceañera isn’t JUST a birthday. A quinceañera is a rare and wondrous thing that knits together family and spirituality, getting older and becoming our true selves. It is traditional to Latin American cultures for a young woman who is turning fifteen. But at its center it is marking the passage of time in a way that celebrates the person who is emerging into adulthood.

A quinceañera is a ritual and a party. It involves gifts and dancing, but also flowers and prayers. It is about acknowledging your culture, but also creating your own way of being in the world. Growing up is a thing that happens to everyone. A quinceañera is growing up on purpose.

We don’t always have occasions to celebrate passages of life. A congregation is a community where rituals for bridging these big moments in our life can happen.

This week, our very own Cecilia Gonzalez is celebrating her quinceañera with us at UUCC. Cecilia was part of our Coming of Age class this year, and her family has invited anyone from the congregation to come to the ceremony. I’m sure this isn’t the first ever quinceañera at a UU congregation, but it is the first I know of at UUCC!

The ceremony is at 1pm on Sunday, July 30. This is a chance to celebrate Cecilia and to mark this occasion of her stepping into the world as a young woman. So if you are able and interested to come and celebrate her, you would be most welcome!

Sometimes it is hard to tap into our spiritual selves or find time to nurture our creativity and intellectual curiosity. Here is a section that reflects on some nourishing materials from around the web and related media channels in order to get us thinking, get us feeling, and get us reflecting on the lives we are living in this big world. **Some Adult/Mature Themes May Appear in Links and Other Attached Material**

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Allan T. Georgia, MDiv, MTS, PhD

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