RE Voices, December 2025

December 2025

This year, Mother Nature decided to welcome us to December with proper wintry weather for once.  It always amazes me how the weather works in Massachusetts.  I grew up in Michigan, where a winter storm came in with weather that was the same for miles around.  We’d get the same amount of snow at 9 Mile road that they did at 16 Mile or in downtown Detroit at 5 Mile.  It feels strange to me that the northwest edge of Worcester has such different weather conditions than we do in Grafton, and that Framingham’s weather is totally different again.  

Our theme for the month of December is hope.  Hope is very appropriate for December.  In many Christian religious traditions, the four weeks before Christmas are celebrated as Advent, which is a time of watchful anticipation and hope--waiting for both the prophesied Christ-child and the second coming of Christ at the end of time.  It is one of several candle holidays that are celebrated in or near December each year.  This year the first Sunday in Advent was November 30th.  Another candle holiday is, of course, Hanukkah, which we will be honoring at our December 14th service, and which will begin at sundown that evening.  There will be a Grafton town celebration of Hanukkah on December 19th starting at 5:15 p.m. which will be sponsored in part by Beth Tikvah and Rev. Daniel will be taking part as well.  This will be followed by a community supper at UUSGU. 

Also on December 14th we’ll be having a holiday cookie potluck during Fellowship Hour.  Everyone is encouraged to bring their favorite holiday cookie or candy to share.  There will be index cards available so that everyone can label their treats whether they are gluten free, nut free, dairy free, or whatever.

Our Winter Solstice spirited multi-gen service this year is actually ON the Solstice for once.  Join us for the story of the Holly King and the Oak King, some music featuring light as symbol of hope, and a little light tree decorating as we build a paper chain with our hopes for the holiday season and the New Year.

Last Week in RE

During our RE lesson this past Sunday, the children (and adults) made Christmas ornaments to accompany the gift cards that we are collecting to give to the residents of Crescent Manor.  Everyone had tons of fun making the ornaments, as you can see.

This Weekend at UUSGU

It’s the big weekend--Grafton Celebrates the Holidays!  We’ll begin with service and RE as usual.  We’ll be having a one-room schoolhouse lesson about the Christian Christmas story in The Big Classroom. After you pick your children up from RE, instead of Fellowship hour, join us in various locations about the building for the Holiday Faire.  Lunch will be available for purchase in the Fellowship Hall and there will be a free kids’ crafting table set up right outside my office.  The Youth Group will be taking family holiday pictures in their Winter Wonderland photo booth (for a fee).  We will have a number of different artists and artisans offering their wares, as well.  At 2:00 p.m. join us upstairs for a Holiday Handbell concert and reading of A Visit from St. Nicholas.  Grafton Celebrates the Holidays will finish up at UUSGU around 3:30--just in time to head over to the Common for some caroling with the Grafton Girl Scouts and the arrival of the jolly gentleman himself, riding on a fire truck.

Singers and Actors Wanted…

…for our Winter Solstice service!  We will need a Holly King and an Oak King, people to represent winter and summer, and a narrator.  Children and youth are both welcome to participate.  Depending on who is interested, the players other than the narrator may have no lines or only a few.  Additionally, we’d like a few children to help teach the adults a song at the service, which we’ll begin learning this week.