Dear People’s people,

In a recent church meeting, planning an upcoming event, I said, “someone will need to figure out how to rent a chocolate fountain.” Immediately, someone responded, “Oh, I have one. My sister-in-law and I share one.” Some households have shared custody arrangements for chocolate fountains, I learned. (In related news, I suggest you attend church in person on February 14 – we’re going to have a party after the service to celebrate Diane Melvin’s 25 years of service as the Director of Religious Education.)

During several recent check-ins with People’s people moving across town, I shared, “Do you need any boxes?” My spouse works in a restaurant where dozens of large boxes of food are delivered each week. The boxes are generally sturdy and it is good to give them more use before recycling. I sometimes forget that not every household has access to all the boxes they could ever need. The next time you move or otherwise need boxes, let me know and I will ask my husband to bring home boxes for you to have.

It is in these small moments of mutuality and interdependence that community is built. As my friend, the Rev. Rachael Hayes, who serves the First Unitarian Universalist Church of San Antonio, likes to remind me, “To be interdependent means we must, sometimes, depend.” For me, it is easier to offer support than ask for it, but I am trying to depend on others a bit more. As Bill Withers sings in ‘Lean on Me,’ which we will all be singing in the service on November 8, ‘No one can fill those of your needs that you won’t let show.’

As we move into seasons of gratitude and generosity, may we depend on one another.

See you soon,

Rachel