The longest day of the year is the day of the Sun’s fullest strength, a time when we celebrate both His brightness and the first moment of release and turning toward the restful darkness of winter. At First Unitarian, Midsummer’s duality of joy and release toward change is the ideal time to honor our complex feelings during this time of great transition in our Church’s life. Midsummer is also the season of First Fruits: those first drops of delicious summertime that fall from their trees, vines, and bushes so bravely. This Sunday, Circle of Oak, First Unitarian’s Pagan interest group, along with Worship Associate E.N. Hill, and Amanda Smith will lead us in celebrating Midsummer with a Fruit Communion, a ritual that embraces a shared tradition of sacred feasting which connects faiths of Christian and Pagan ancestry. To feast on the first fruits of summer together, we will use the words of modern Pagan tradition that are a prayer for all creatures of the Earth: “May you never hunger. May you never thirst. Blessed Be.”