Songs of Our Parents

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Religious Education for children and youth happens during worship on Sundays. Children and youth arrive in the Sanctuary for the just a little bit and welcome in Sunday with a story and song. Then, they attend their own programs in the Education building. Learn more here!

If you don’t have a chalice, but want to light one, check out our Making a Chalice at Home page.

In person services are followed by coffee hour.

Sermon Audio

Sermon Text

Grace Colton

Good Morning I am Grace Colton, my pronouns are she/her, and I’m a member of this church.  

I grew up in a home that had lots of music in it. Classical, and popular music of 1960s – 80s, jazz, folk, movie soundtracks, and musicals. Some one of the six people in my family was often singing, playing trumpet, recorder, bassoon, sax or piano in our home. It was our mother who shared her joy of music with me and my 3 siblings. Oh, Dad liked to sing. I remember John Phillip Sousa’s 76 Trombones and Pete Seeger’s Low Bridge were favorites of his. But Mom impressed us with the level of her skill, passion and joy for music.  

Our mother, named Elizabeth Miller Colton Harrington,  trained as a concert pianist for 2 years as a young woman. The story is that she found it to be a lonely experience because of all the time rehearsing and practicing took. She also was asked too many times to perform at her parents’ parties. Instead of becoming a professional pianist, she became a social worker and community activist. She was passionate about those too. Eventually, she was recognized for her community initiatives with a citizen of the year award from my hometown. While growing up in my parents house, all 4 of her children would hear her playing for the pleasure of it. She was also in our Unitarian Universalist church choir in Hartford, CT.  

For years all us would hear her singing and/or playing while we did our homework in our rooms. I was never bothered by the sound. Upon hearing her in the other room, visiting friends of ours would pause, listen, and say “Is that an album playing?”.  We’d smile and say “That’s my Mom!” Hearing her singing and playing piano resulted in my being able to recognize many classical tunes when I hear them. I can’t tell you very many of their names though! We learned the best children’s songs from singing with her.  

There were occasional family sing a longs when we were young. We all wanted to turn pages for her while she played for those. When she played just for fun – we volunteered to turn her pages and were jealous of anyone else who did. I’m not sure she really needed us to turn her pages. She filled in as pianist for some high school summer musicals and at least one concert when her youngest was in high school. I’m willing to bet she subbed a few times for the piano player at church too. I was in Religious Education at the time, so I can’t be sure. 

All 4 of us children admired her piano and vocal skills and were inspired by her. We all have music in our lives to this day. I always think of her when I’m singing – here in the choir or in my barbershop chorus. She’s with me still even though she died in the mid-1990s. I’m still recognizing classical tunes from back then and learning their names.  

In the late 1980’s she began to compose. She had been thinking about doing it for a while. She tape recorded herself and  composed on the fly, working things out as she went. The 8 recordings we have are a window onto her process. Composing was an expression of herself. It was also a kind of therapy. She had health issues that made getting out and about hard. The tape recordings she left us were never made into sheet music until recently. My brother and I worked with a transcriber to get the recordings turned into a digital and printable format. Both can exist for future generations of our family. A key motivation for transcribing her recordings was – I wanted the sheet music. For me, it is a physical manifestation of her skill and love of music. As the sheet music was that we turned for her as children.  

I won an ESUC auction item that Eric, our Music Director contributed  – he would do something musically that the winner chose. I asked him to play a 1993 piece that my mother composed. Her children named it simply “Meditation #3 by EMC Harrington”. I hope you enjoy it! 

Testimonial

I’ve been invited to speak with you about why I became a member of East Shore, and why I continue my membership for going on 16 years.

Before East Shore I had almost zero church experience, other than attending a few weddings.  I’d spent most of my adult life in “protect and provide” mode for our family. I had a long career in the world of telecommunications and software technology.  In that world, values are rarely considered or discussed. We focused all of our conversations on pragmatic goals and challenges.  In that very materialist setting, I often felt like my deeper needs were not being met.

At East Shore, I was impressed by our minister’s invitation to live one’s life according to well-considered values, and not strictly focusing on material gain.

Over time, East Shore’s programs and the UU values have become a new foundation for my life.  Values influence how I judge my own actions and decisions, values influence who I spend my time with, and values influence how I choose to spend my time, money and efforts.

Sometimes it has felt good and comforting to ‘Side with Love’ here at East Shore, but it hasn’t always been an easy path.  Sometimes I have had to confront things about myself… that expose gaps in my own understanding or in my application of principles.  When I am struggling, I have been supported by fellow travelers here who are willing to dive deeply into important matters with me.  By participating in East Shore programs and friendships, I’ve been able to satisfy many yearnings that hadn’t been easy to get met in the outer world of material culture.

So, to summarize, what attracted me to join East Shore was the opportunity for values-based living. It’s in the water here.

What keeps me at East Shore is what I call its “magical force multiplier effect.”  Let me explain…  By participating at East Shore, I’ve been able to achieve much more than I would be able to on my own. East Shore has provided me with so many opportunities to stretch myself, to offer service to others, and to maintain friendships based on deeper sharing and understanding.

Let’s take service projects: What would have seemed unattainable if I were striving on my own is made easy because we are all pulling together. Opportunities to teach, learn, serve, sing and create abound here.  All I have to do is say, “sure, I’ll try that” and miraculously, I find myself on a team of equally committed friends, involved in doing things that are greater than any of us as individuals, and with much greater impact than if we each had tried to work alone under our own steam. Maybe that should be called the “power of collaboration,” or “empowerment through community.” Whatever we call this magical force multiplier, it is real and it feels good and purposeful and effective.

I don’t want to dwell too much on what specific activities I choose to get involved with at East Shore.  All I will share is that frequently I’m surprised at how far East Shore has propelled me: … tutoring English learners, teaching K-3 classes, leading a mural-painting project, sheltering homeless men, singing in our mighty choir…  Each member of our community chooses their own pathway and the activities that are meaningful to them. What makes it work is that we are doing it together.

I share the hope that Reverend Maria Christina spoke of last Sunday.  The hope that this next year will bring a sense of abundance to our community. That each of us will choose to exercise our skills, our creativity and our talents to help build a renewed vision of our church as a place of justice, spirituality and personal growth.  That each of us will pledge fully to support East Shore’s success, in the absolute knowledge that many others among us are equally committed and generous, whatever their means.

East Shore needs and deserves such abundant thinking. That will be good for all of our souls. That will keep our collective spirit flourishing.  I am committed to that vision, and I invite you to put aside any doubts and to jump on board with both feet.  Come in, the water is nice. Immerse your whole selves into our collective project to promote justice, community, spirituality and love here at East Shore.

Rev. Maria Christina welcomes us each Sunday with these words: “May you find here room for your spirit to be refreshed and nourished; May you find joy and meaning while doing the work of creating and strengthening this Beloved Community, our shared spiritual home.”  My deepest hope for our church is that everyone will accept her invitation.