What a special night we spent on June 21, inside the Musée d’Orsay for the Fête de la Musique, Paris’ tribute to the longest night of the year. Kurt Masur, 82, director of the National Orchestra or France, led an incredible performance accented by the Radio France choir and readings by Marianne Pousseur. Moving from the sublime to the outrageous, Jim and I walked home with our neighbor Tim as various rock music versions pounded on street corners. The summer solstice across France offers a time for everyone to dance and chant,  no matter our musical tastes.

The morning after found us up and moving to the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Paris for the final monthly service of the year. Rev. Iva Fiserova of the Religious Society of Czech Unitarians led the solstice service, focusing on our need to rescue the earth. She quoted N. Scott Momaday in her final responsive reading:

You see, I am alive. I am alive

I stand in good relation to the earth

I stand in good relation to the gods

I stand in good relaiton to all that is beautiful

You see, I am alive. I am alive……

Blessed be from Paris