“Mabon: Celebrating the Web of the Harvest” is the title of Sunday’s program, Sept. 20, as the Pagosa Unitarian Universalist (UU) Fellowship celebrates Mabon, the autumn equinox in the Northern Hemisphere.
At this time of equal day and night, we gather together to ground and center ourselves, reflecting upon our deep connection with the earth, giving thanks for the season’s bounty and for one other.
As we honor interdependence, our theme of the month, Michael Demchak, a lay minister grounded in Pagan practice, will lead the service in the spirit of the harvest with a potluck to follow. We come together with love and gratitude in our hearts as we give thanks and prepare for the darker days ahead.
Demchak is the current president and chairperson of the Pagosa UU Fellowship’s steering committee and Sunday service planning team.
Demchak was raised on the East Coast with UU roots. After moving to Denver with his family in 1976, he attended the Mile High Church of Religious Science. As an adult he became active in a Pagan group, and from that experience Demchak co-created many circles as a Pagan priest in the Living Earth Church, which he helped establish. Demchak has been a Pagosa Springs resident since 2017.
Our Sunday services and programs begin at 10:30 a.m. most Sunday mornings. The Pagosa UU Fellowship is located in the Greenbrier Plaza, Unit B-15, 301 N. Pagosa Blvd. on the north side facing Pagosa Peak.
Our Community Hub hosts various groups and meetings throughout the month, and we invite you to peruse PagosaUU.org for more information.
Qi Gong meets weekly on Mondays at 1 p.m. This group practice is open to all.
The Wise and Wakeful Circle is an open, facilitated group for mindfulness, sharing and deepening with others, and is held the second and fourth Saturdays at 10 a.m.
The long-standing Tara Pagosa Meditation Group will resume Oct. 4 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Love, compassion, joy and equanimity is how the facilitator frames this practice. The following will provide further information, especially if you are a newer participant or wish to begin a meditation practice.
Learn meditation and the purpose of meditation. Just bring a kind heart and an open mind. We can even help you to find those. Newcomers are always welcome.
Diminish pain, conflict and anxiety through patience, kindness and compassion. Learn how training in love and compassion can help you to relax your mind, become a better person, and make you happier and more attractive while doing so.
Simple, yet profound, these beautiful, authentic practices help us to recognize the vast world of extraordinary subtlety lying just beneath the surface of our narrow, preoccupied and fearful existence. Learn to appreciate the exquisite interdependence of life, and restore joy and wonder in your world. Although these are traditional Buddhist practices, you do not have to be Buddhist to benefit from them. All are welcome.
Meditation is reviewed and practiced every week so that newcomers can learn comfortably alongside regulars. Practice is followed by a short talk and discussion.
We are currently working our way through Lama Migmar’s book “The Wisdom Gone Beyond, Teachings on the Heart Sutra.”
Can’t attend in person? Join us on Zoom. Please email us to be added to our meditation email list. It is led by a certified meditation instructor and authorized Dharma teacher with more than 20 years’ experience.
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