When Wayne Meyer asked if I'd be willing to write the "Word from the Woods" column for this issue of the Unigram, one of several things he suggested might make a good column was my relationship with this congregation. What came to my mind was the request that had gone out earlier, as a part of this year's pledge drive, for people in the congregation to reflect on "what this church means to me." My first thought when I had seen the earlier request was "I'd like to do that!" My second thought was almost simultaneous with the first: "Darned if I want it used for fund raising!"

So...Life has now presented me with a second opportunity to address that topic, and since we have signed our pledge cards, the "used for fund raising" component has disappeared. Oh, joy!
I discovered our church in the woods when I came to Muncie as a new faculty member in the Philosophy and Religious Studies Department at BSU in 1980. I never actually "signed the book," but I did hang around for a time. Then I married and moved to Randolph County and helped found the East Central Indiana Mindfulness Sangha (Buddhist). We met on Sunday mornings and I became a "UU drop out."

Fast-forward to 2001. When my late husband Mike died, you all lit a candle in his memory. I can't really express how I felt about that, and still feel. I hadn't been a part of the congregation for over 15 years, and he never had, and yet...you honored his passing. When I moved back into Muncie, it wasn't long before I found my way back to the woods and to the beloved community that is this church.

Since then, I've attended services here, shared meals, bought a great piece of art at the art auction, memorialized Mike, remarried, spoken from the pulpit, been part of a dinner group that spun off from a dinner discussion group and has endured for over 20 years now, watched critters in the woods, signed the book, and come to know you better. I have found here a place where I can be who I am, without apology. With Thomas' sabbatical, you have given me an opportunity to be among you in a new way. I am honored and eager to minister with and to you.