Hello UUCC members and friends,

We’ve arrived on the doorstep of autumn, a season which holds some of our most spectacularly beautiful days, but also one that is tinged with sadness as the daylight retreats and winter’s cold begins to encroach upon us. One of my favorite autumnal hymns is #53 “I Walk the Unfrequented Road”, which has a wonderful Southern Harmony tune carrying the words of Unitarian minister and author Frederick Lucian Hosmer, who served as minister of our congregation from 1878-1892. Here are Hosmer’s words, which are a celebration of the independent human spirit and of the beauty of autumn:

I walk the unfrequented road with open eye and ear;

I watch afield the farmer load the bounty of the year.

I filch the fruit of no one’s toil — no trespasser am I —

and yet I reap from every soil and from the boundless sky.

I gather where I did not sow, and bend the mystic sheaf,

the amber air, the river’s flow, the rustle of the leaf.

A beauty springtime never knew haunts all the quiet ways,

and sweeter shines the landscape through its veil of autumn haze.

I face the hills, the streams, the wood, and feel with all akin;

my heart expands; their fortitude and peace and joy flow in.

A big thank you to our choir members, to Karin Tooley, Aaron Burkle, Ghani Harris and Fire Force Reggae, and everyone else who has played a part in providing music in our recent services. More great musical moments are coming in October – come join me at church this Sunday to experience them for yourself!

I wish you all a healthy and happy October and I look forward to seeing you soon!

In peace,
Mike
Michael Carney
Music Director, UU Congregation of Cleveland