A Phoenix Rises...

Sacred space is artistic space.  Centered around shared community values, our sanctuary is place for vision, creativity, transformation, and expression.  Each month, the sanctuary changes a bit, connected to a monthly theme.  February's 'big idea' is: Embodying Resilience.

If you attended worship this month, you may have noticed a new art piece at the front of our sanctuary. Inspired by our theme of resilience, I designed this work to bring color into the space—even as winter wraps the world outside in white.

Lifting up a rainbow of color felt like an act of resilience in itself: choosing, in cold and snow and in a season when light is only beginning to return, to hold fast to what brightens our lives, brings us joy, and calls us to share that light with one another.

It mattered to me that this piece widen the circle of love beyond the romantic—and often commercial—framing of Valentine’s Day. I wanted to lift up a love that includes those targeted by hatred and othering, and honors those who, in the coldest times and places, continue to tend and grow the light.

I sought a symbol strong enough to hold both struggle and hope. Across many religious and spiritual traditions, the phoenix appears as a sacred, magical being that bridges the mortal and the divine. Linked in ancient Egypt to the sun and eternal life, embodying sacred fire and renewal in Greco-Roman myth, and symbolizing harmony and spiritual power in Eastern traditions, the phoenix has long represented transformation.

Born in flame and reborn through magic, the phoenix embodies strength forged through trial. Its fire is not merely destructive but alchemical—turning suffering into wisdom and weakness into power. It speaks to divine resilience and the enduring strength of the soul to rise again, radiant and renewed.

At the heart of this phoenix is the source of enduring strength: faith. Its core holds our congregational adaptation of the flaming chalice, the central symbol of Unitarian Universalism. Originating during World War II as a marker of safe havens for those fleeing Nazi persecution, the chalice’s flame has come to represent hope, conscience, and the sacred spark within every person. Today it stands as an emblem of shared faith—a gathered community bound by love, justice, and mutual care, finding meaning not in creed, but in the collective act of kindling light together.

May these wings of hope and this heart of faith remind us that resilience is not solitary, but shared.
May we carry its light into a world that aches for justice, meeting fear with courage and division with love.
And may we leave this place willing to be the fire, tending hope, choosing compassion, and working together to bend the world toward wholeness.

With love and gratitude,
Darcie

PS - If you are interested in building fellowship through the arts I would love to connect with you and get inspired about what we can create together!