Our One Common Wild and Precious Life

Acts 2:42-47 and “The Summer Day” By Mary Oliver

April 26, 2026

Rev. Nicole M. Lamarche

Good morning again and welcome. Thank you for being here. Thank you for the privilege of your time. I invite you now as you are moved to take some deeper breaths with me, leaving our to do lists behind for a time. As you are moved, I invite you to join me in a spirit of prayer from Psalm 19. God of many names and expressions, who is love, the energy in us and between us, the ground of being, come to us however we will hear it today and let us be open. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

In a clump of people of conscience moving up Baseline toward the end of our interfaith walk for peace and dignity last month, I walked and sang alongside Rabbi Fred Greene. Boulder isn’t that big and over the years, I have gotten to know most of the faith leaders who have worked on justice things. But most of the clergy I know, are those who have worked on supporting immigrants, LGBTQ rights, gun safety and ending gun violence, those who are engaged in climate action, working toward a livable wage and those sorts of things. Each thing I have been engaged in, worked on or co-created has connected me to others in the County who care about that too and it has been inspiring to remember how many incredible people there are in Boulder County. Being here in Boulder for over 7 years, as you know, I have been involved in many things, some things that you have led, some that I have led, some that Jackie has led, some that we have led together and some things that we have gotten behind something someone else was leading.

But in some of our efforts, there has been a disconnect because of a lack of a place to contain our connection. With certain things, it was impossible to try and speak collectively as people of faith or people who care, so we have done our best with op-eds and getting people to sign or collaborating on vigils and getting people to come.

The different events have been sort of a filter. Who shows up and who doesn’t has said a lot. Like we noticed who wasn’t in the room when some of us invited all faith leaders in the area to come to Rocky Mountain Equality. That was very interesting to see who came to that and who didn’t. And we noticed who was, who came, who said yes, who cared about the common good, even when there wasn’t perfect overlap in convictions.

And we noticed who wasn’t in the room when some of us invited all faith leaders in the area to come to a Know Your Rights Training at the Jewish Community Center. And we noticed who was in the room, who came, who said yes.

So not knowing Rabbi Greene that well but having been invited to share something for part of the Interfaith March, I got to the end of where I planned to walk and said to him, “I think this year is the year!” “This is the year to launch an Interfaith Clergy Council of Boulder.” We kept walking. He smiled. He agreed and said others had share similar thoughts with him.

And you know, as I drove home, I decided that I wanted to do something. It should happen, that it would happen, that we were going to do something, to build something in this year of so much tearing down.

On Easter we explored how maybe the Universe/God/our Greater Love is asking us to seek answers in community. In a time when many are trapped in the old pattern of looking for an individual to save us, I wondered if our savior this time is us. I asked us whether the way out of this mess isn’t an individual but us as a community, caring about the group, the common good, , the big sacred us.

As we explored on Easter Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and it was empty and the savior she thought she would find, was no longer present in body. And what she found instead was her heart, her wisdom, her own fierceness. And then she went to the men and turned their hearts toward the Good, toward God and then later building the movement that was growing. That’s what we read here in the Book of Acts, a movement grows, we see the beginning of things really taking off, of them really figuring out what it looks like to put their lives together in common- to care beyond what worked for them as individuals- that was the game changer, what shifted the energy to something exponential, beyond what any of them could ever do on their own. Scholars like Emerson B. Powery point out that it wasn’t merely a spiritual hope, it was material, “even to the point of financial commitments; giving proceeds from sold possessions to any (among them) who had need.”

Their support of one another was in sharing wisdom in teaching and learning, being in fellowship and having fun, sharing life, sharing meals together, sharing support that is both spiritual and material- prayers and maybe prayer shawls and giving financially to the group to ensure everyone is cared for, putting their gifts together, in order to unlock something different, something bigger, something new, something beyond their individual preferences or needs.

Rabbi Greene said I could call him Fred and we met over Zoom to get to know one another and to plan and then we strategized about how to get as many people around the table as we could. We invited our colleagues to share in the leadership and then we set a date and leapt. And this last Tuesday a big, fascinating group of us came together! And it was a bit messy, awkward at times and also marvelous.

I left thinking how important it is to keep letting go of needing things to some idea of perfect, before we try, before we risk for what we hope for, before we take a chance for the common good.

This poem from Mary Oliver is one perhaps that will be read at my funeral. I love it so much! I winced hearing it at the beginning of a commercial recently. They didn’t even give her attribution. Then I saw the commercial again and they had at least added her name. Because it’s a most powerful question for us. And you can see I added one word in the title of my sermon because I think it might our call this year and maybe in the years ahead. What will we do with our one common wild and precious life? What will we do with the life gifted to us, the parts we share, that parts that are us, all of us?

In this country in my lifetime at least, the culture has been all about you- pursuing your individual needs, what lights your heart up, what do you want? I wonder if the invitation for this time and for the time ahead is what is good for us? For the common? For the beautiful imperfect group that we are- putting our hearts and hopes together even when it is scary and awkward.

There was a moment in our gathering when an evangelical leader asked if a Trumper would be welcome around our table. Well, the idea is, if we are in for the covenant, yes! There was a moment when a Jewish leader shared they would not come if anyone tried to save them, that to them Jesus was not God. And the person reminded us that there was huge disagreement in the Jewish community right now and that even among their own tradition things were challenging for even them to get together. It was clear that the discomfort some felt from all of these statements was just the messiness needed to move us forward. What kind of gathering could this be? It moved us, not just forward, but deeper. I am curious about what will come next.

It was just the beginning.

It’s good to remember that we do not need to know everything we do not do things perfectly to do things meaningfully, together we have the answers, when we dare to put our lot and our life in common, inside these walls and beyond them, when we take risks for caring outside our individual comfort, shifting the energy to something exponential, beyond what any of us could ever do on our own.

All we need to know now is how to pay attention! Yes! What we have here is holy. Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon? Things go by fast!

So what is our plan? What should we with your one wild and precious life that we share together? And knowing that many of the best things do not happen with individuals, but, knowing that it’s what we do together, what if this is a time to take risks for community, for the common good, for the group, for the sacred, imperfect us? The messy marvelous what we do together! with. So what if the question for us now in 2026 is this: What will we do with our one common wild and precious life?

Communal Reflection

What is your vision for our common life?

What will we do with our one common wild and precious life?

May it be so. Amen.