This is a beautiful time of year. It’s a time where the blessings in our life have a chance to become more obvious. We get a chance to see what has been right in front of us for many seasons perhaps, but unnoticed, less obvious. This morning it is obvious. We have beautiful flowers, beautiful people, beautiful music. We are literally surrounded this morning with blessings. Every Sunday morning, during the invocation I attempt to remind us all of this. What is a blessing? My definition of a blessing is a sense that this day was meant for you. It means you belong in this day, in your life. There’s a spot waiting for you. Sometimes that spot feels tough or it’s a joy – either way it’s waiting just for you. That sense of wanting you, waiting for you, guiding you, and yes, embracing you is the promise of a blessing on this day.

In my experience, Unitarians love Wildflowers. We love natural, open spaces, places where wildness can grow. It doesn’t mean these flowers were put there intentionally. Sometimes they are planted by loving hands, but sometimes the wind scatters seed and they end up where they end up, and they grow the best they can.

This seems true for some of us. We may feel scattered by the wind – we’ve ended up where we’ve ended up, and we do our best to grow. It can be a challenge to receive the blessings that are right in front of us, in the spot we’ve ended up. It can be a challenge to let ourselves feel joy, to give up the chase. To get over the feeling that there’s something better out there.

There are so many times that we steal from ourselves. We rob ourselves from being able to receive the blessings that are meant for us, by insisting that it must be someplace else. It takes a lot of trust to receive the blessings that come our way, because most of them are not within our control. They are blown by the wind, or sometimes given to us directly by loving hands. We don’t do anything to earn it or deserve it. They just come to us.

We have this ritual of flower communion in America because of Maja Capek who received this ritual from her husband Norman. As a widow, she gave this gift to American congregations, and this church has received that gift.

It is my favorite part of this ritual that we all come through these doors at the beginning of service with one flower or a collection of flowers, and we leave with a different one. This is the most poignant part of the ritual. We come into this sanctuary with what we bring with us from the world. We come with our family histories, our religious histories, our hopes and our struggles. We come with who we think we are, and what life is all about. We offer that perspective to the congregation, and in return we receive something from someone else. We leave this place changed in some way. This is the essence of our unique faith, our Unitarian and Univeralist tradition.

We don’t come here for confirmation of what we already believe. We come to be changed. We come because we want to keep growing. We come here because this is a place that likes wildflowers, like us. We come here to develop the trust that we can receive our life, and develop the courage to take the right steps. We come here to discern and discover blessings, the ones that are right in front of us, but easily missed.

I have been your minister nearly a year now. I came to town July 1, and I’ve been reflecting on the blessings I’ve received by being here. I’ve been thinking of the blessings you’ve given, the ones I hope I received, the ones I hope I didn’t miss. It has been a great blessing to be here with you this year…to receive all of your wonderful enthusiasm and vision.

Often in church we talk a lot about giving. Giving time, giving money. The blessing of giving is only true to the extent we can also receive. We have to open ourselves to receive. We may receive something that is unexpected. It may not be exactly what we anticipated. But the promise still stands if we develop the eyes and the heart to see it. This day has been waiting for you. This day has been waiting especially for you. Let us receive it with gladness.