This post by our director of religious education Katy Carpman originally appeared as an article in our October Emersonian.  Do you know the story of our wonderful Gathering Place sculpture by Texas artist Robert Byron Gotschall? Belle Johnson and Jane Joseph, with the input of Carol Groppe, commissioned this powerful piece in memory of Belle’s husband Richard and Jane’s daughter Jana. Can you name all the symbols and their faiths? (They’re listed below, and we’ve got a new bookmark near the sculpture if you’d like to share it with others!) Over the next two months in Sunday School, in our worship services, and in the 10 AM Sacred Texts Adult Ed sessions we will concentrate on the faith traditions represented by our chalice, concentrating on some of the heresies and turning points of our Unitarian and Universalist histories. October is also a great month to serve our local and global community—on October 19th and 25th Rebuild Together Houston has home repair and painting opportunities for ages six and up, and bring the whole family to our annual UNICEF Carnival on October 26th to support children’s health and education around the world.  If you’d like to volunteer to run a booth at the UNICEF Carnival, our digital sign-up is up at http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0a4eaca62fab9-unicef3 or you can stop by the Gathering Place for a paper sign-up. Together we learn, we serve, and we celebrate!  The symbols around the outside, clockwise from the top left, are Judaism’s Star of David, Christianity’s cross,  Islam’s star and crescent, Hinduism’s aum, Shinto’s Torii Gate, and the Buddhist wheel of law.