Neighbor Water

So I didn't go to church today... but I am reading Rebecca Parker's book Blessing The World... and for no real reason, as I read her proposal that we should tithe, we should enforce a day of rest into our lives and we should go on a shamanistic journey, at least those of us who can afford it... I got a crazy idea...

In many Unitarian Universalist congregations it is traditional to begin the church year with a 'gathering of water' from the families in the congregation. Folks bring water from their travels... sometimes from exotic places like Russia or France... or from a summer camp or a canoe trip.

But I'd rather propose a different tradition. Instead of having the water in a water communion come from YOUR summer, what if it instead came from a NEIGHBOR'S house? Each member of the congregation is asked to knock on the door of a neighbor, introduce themselves and ask for a cup of water. The water communion would then be a celebration of the community, and the collected "neighbor water" would be diverse, rather than based on one's ability to pay for a vacation.

I am a big fan of blessing hands with this collected water... teachers, musicians, etc.