Thoreau said, “Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other’s eyes for an instant?” When Robin Wall Kimmerer spoke recently at Greenfield High School, sponsored by the Nolumbeka Project, she taught us how to look through two eyes—the eyes of indigenous wisdom and the eyes of science. Robin is “a mother, scientist, decorated professor, and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation.” She is the author of Braiding Sweetgrass, and since hearing her talk I have been trying on the two eyes of seeing in many contexts. She told us, it’s not about blending the two ..read more

Sermon delivered by Joshua Wachtel, Community Coordinator, on July 12, 2022 Welcome Greenwood Campers, Counselors. Greg,thank you for all your work and for being here. Welcome to members of our community, from Village Church and West Cummington Church, as well as other guests. My name is Josh Wachtel. I’ve been involved with this church since 2013 and recently became Community Coordinator. Today I’d like to talk to you about why this church matters to me; and also why I think church matters, or can matter, to individuals and to a community. In this day, churches around here, and in many parts ..read more

I love these lines from the poet Rilke: Once again the birds lift up the sky That to our shoulders was too heavy. When we are weighted down by the unthinkable domination of war, the basic life force of Earth brings us back. Right now is the “just yet” time of new green on the branches. Right now is the time of staring into the yellow trumpet of daffodils and remarking on their miracle. We belong to the Earth. We are not just on the Earth, we are of the Earth. The Hilltowns are a place of knowing this, and living it. The weight of war is too much, too unthinkable to the human spirit. It goes ag ..read more

This chalice is a beacon for the beloved community we are building. May this be a time of strengthening. May you feel held in this place of spiritual friendship. There is a love that holds all like a golden river. And so we take a breath together and feel that shared river. We prepare a sacred place for the light. Words of wisdom that were ever said on this planet reverberate still. We prepare a place for each person’s unique way of knowing to be valued here. Your whole self is welcome. This chalice is a beacon for the beloved community we are building. May this be a time of strengthening. May ..read more

We’ve been through so much this summer, including welcoming the return of Greenwood Music Camp with five consecutive services in July and August, a full Friday Night Cafe season (including a July 2nd Contra Dance!), and hosting two art installations as part of the Cultural District public arts project. This Sunday’s Service on the Hill felt like a culmination of all these wonderful efforts. It was a true joy to be back in the presence of Stephen Philbrick after his leave of absence and hear his sermon, to enjoy all the music and Sarah’s weaving of history and other themes, and to welcome past ..read more

It was wonderful to host the return of Greenwood Music Camp in July and August 2022 after a hiatus during the first two years of the pandemic. Enjoy the following videos performed at the closing service on Sunday, August 7. If you couldn’t make it for any of the services, we hope you’ll join us next summer! (Thanks to Boris Wolfson for making and sharing these recordings with us!) Oseh Shalom, Greenwood Music Camp, conducted by Gregory Hayes. Camp Greenwood conducted by Gregory Hayes ..read more

I just got off the phone with Gwen Johnson in Letcher County, Kentucky. Some of you may remember her joining online some Sundays this past year at the Village Church services. We met through Hands Across the Hills and have become lifelong friends. Her area is hardest hit by the recent floods. At the Hemphill Community Center she is distributing help to people not helped by FEMA and the Red Cross.The teacher of the chi gong class that I attend here in Shelburne Falls, David Eade, donated all the fees he got this month to this work.  Gwen Johnson received the money this ..read more

“Music opens the avenues to the soul which must be kept open all the time.” This is one of the passages from the book Greenwood: This Other Eden by Joseph Schaaf that I shared in a sermon to celebrate Greenwood Music Camp’s presence. We had the extraordinary privilege of hearing Greenwood musicians during five weeks of services this summer. The final service, August 7th, was basically all-music! Greg Hayes is organist and choir director, and is well-known for his work with the Village Church’s annual Handel’s Messiah Sing. Whether Greg is conducting the weekly anthem, or accompanying the hymns ..read more

Wherever we go, people are talking about the shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde. Sometimes we sense also a feeling of not being able to have one more conversation. Have you had times of heartache and helplessness, of wanting to do something and not knowing what? Poet Anne Yeomans created a poem with the names and ages of the children in Texas, including Eliahana, Layla, Uziyah, Xavier. I held her poem and read each name, then touched their faces in the newspaper report. Something to do. May 25th on the second anniversary of the murder of George Floyd there were standouts in twelve locations ..read more

We are with you right now as you prepare for the hospital. Our image is that as each of us adds our hearts’ love for you, we surround you with a white donut of light that gets thicker and thicker with each wish, with each prayer.   While you are preparing to enter anaesthetic, you are remembered. We are holding a space for you and we are there as you wake up. As you go home and have your first nap, we are guarding you, too. It’s a guarding and honoring and accompaniment all at once.  ..read more