Dear Friends; I had planned to write about the wonderful visit we’ve had with our partner church minister, Biro Mihaly and his charming wife, Elizabeth.

Dear Friends, Last winter Christopher Reeve told me about an exciting film project on which he was working. It’s the inspiring story of Brooke Ellison who was struck by a car on her way home from school, on the first day of seventh grade.

Dear Friends, On the Sunday following the tragedy of September 11, I read Pablo Neruda’s poem ‘Keeping Quiet,’ which was sent to me by one of our members.  I’ve used it at several 9/11 memorial services since:

Dear Friends, The summer Olympics provided inspiring entertainment. There were some surprises, some poignant moments, some problems with judges, and a marathon runner pushed off stride by a spectator gone mad.

Dear Friends, We just got back from our week at Chautauqua; it went well, in spite of the rain.

Dear Friends; “And on the seventh day God rested from all his work which he had done.”

Dear Friends, In 1987 Ronald Reagan stood at the infamous Berlin wall and said, “Mr.Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” That, of course, is precisely what Gorbachev had set out to do. As president of the Soviet Union he introduced perestroika and glasnost: openness and candor.

Dear Friends, Photography, is in the news. Not just those photos. I recall Jeanne Kimball, a long-time member, showing me a photograph her grandfather took of Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg.

Dear Friends, Sometimes everything seems to click-to go just right. That’s the way this year’s Coming of Age trip to Boston, Lexington and Concord felt. Everything clicked. I want to tell you about it.

Dear Friends, We were looking forward to a visit from our Partner Church friends, but plans have changed. The minister, Mihaly, (pronounced me’-high) his wife, Elizabeth, and a young couple from their congregation, Gizeke (pronounced giz’-ee-kay) and Istvan were scheduled to come to Westport in early May.