Today’s piece is less about inspiration and more about connections.

Upon perusing websites of Unitarian Universalist churches in New Hampshire, where my maternal grandparents lived and now my mother and her family live, I came across the “First Sunday Speaker” series at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Concord, NH. Each month, a member of the congregation speaks about what brought them to be members of the church, and what they have learned on their spiritual journeys. I looked down the list, and noticed the name “Bob Soule.”

When I would visit my grandmother in Hopkinton, New Hampshire, I would often have tea with her neighbors, Bob and Dot Soule. I called them “Gunny and Bocky,” which is what their grandchildren called them. Sure enough, this is the same person! I never knew where Gunny and Bocky went to church, nor did I know that they once lived in Kenosha, Wisconsin, where they were founding members of the fellowship that is now the Bradford Community Church, Unitarian Universalist.

So today, I bring you a piece of history from an old friend.

It’s amazing, the connections there are between people.

Enjoy.

March 2005 Reflection for the First Sunday Speaker Series, Unitarian Universalist Church of Concord, NH

by Bob Soule

The story of how I came to be a Unitarian-Universalist can be told in six words — I was brought up a Unitarian.

Starting when I was about four-and-a-half, my family l ived across the street from the First Church in Roxbury, Unitarian. This church was founded in 1636 by Rev. John Eliot, Apostle to the Indians, who was also involved in starting Harvard College in 1636, and the Roxbury Latin School in 1645.

(Read on … )