This week’s service is Part I in what will be a series of reflections on the topic of sustainability, leading to, I hope, a greater understanding by all of us about how to practice sustainability in different areas of our lives. I want to begin with individual, personal sustainability. That is, what sustains you? What motivates you enough, especially in these dark times, to get you out of bed in the morning? A great cup of coffee? Music? Flowers? Sunshine? i have found all of these helpful to me when I am searching for something that will sustain me at least through the upcoming day. But, what sustains us at a deeper level? Whatever that is should be strong enough to build up our resilience to whatever may happen to us during the day, the week, the month, the year! If we become good practitioners of the art of sustainability, our ability to bounce back from the inevitable blows of life should get stronger and more flexible. In addition to resilience, religion plays a part in sustaining us — at least, I believe that it should!