Called to the Sea: An Invitation to Water Communion
When I was discerning my next ministry, my mentor kept telling me she could sense I was being “called to the sea.” She said she was reminded of sea turtles whose inner compass is so in tune with earth’s magnetic field that, across vast expanses of ocean, they always find their way home. She wasn’t wrong (may we all be blessed to have people in our lives who see us and help us see ourselves).
I’ve always loved the ocean, and as much as I came to appreciate the wild beauty of the Pacific Ocean off of the Oregon coast, I am, in my heart, an east coast girl—a child of the Atlantic. When I visited last winter, I walked out to the Derby Wharf Light Station with a few members of the search team, and knew I was home. When I left Portland, this mentor gifted me with a planter adorned with symbols of the sea (including a sea turtle) as well as a small silver lighthouse. I keep them on my desk in my office as a reminder of my calling to make Salem my home and serve this community in partnership with all of you and as a reminder of the beloved people who have helped me find my way here. You are always welcome to stop by my office and visit these tokens when you’re in need of a guiding light.
I know I am not unique in being called to the sea. There is something deep within us, something primal and sacred, that draws us to the water. Some might call it a survival instinct, but I think it’s spiritual as well as physical. “Water: voice of grief, cry of love, in the flowing tear. Water: vehicle and idiom, of all the inner voyaging that keeps us alive,” poet John O’Donohue writes in his beautiful blessing “In Praise of Water.”
So it will be a particular joy to welcome all of you home on September 7th by celebrating water communion, in this city so shaped by its maritime history. We will come together to share our summer adventures both near and far and honor the waters and winds that carried us home again. Theo and I are planning some special ways to involve the kids as well—activities and rituals that will let them know our love will buoy them as they set sail in the world and that they will always have a home to return to here.
So this is your long-winded reminder to bring some water with you to service on September 7th. It can be from a summer trip, a place that’s special to you, rain collected in your garden, or even your kitchen tap! I’m sure more than a few of us will bring back water from our upcoming church trip to Star Island. It is simply a way to represent our individual journeys and how they come together to make up the collective life force of this congregation.
Whether you descend from generations of First Church congregants who have called this community home for nearly 400 years, or are visiting us for the first time, we will be delighted to see you. There is a reason your internal compass pointed you here. Let’s welcome one another home and discover the work that is ours to do together this year.
In faith,
Rev. Danielle
