Rev. Mary Mackenzie was a lifelong Truth student, independent in her thinking and faithful in finding her own path. Ever graceful and gracious, she responded to those little unplanned occurrences in life with a sense of humor and an unflustered demeanor. Mary found her spiritual home at Unity Church of Clearwater in September of 2010. She was appointed to fulfill an incomplete term on the UCC Board from 2015 – 2017. Mary was then installed as the Minister of Pastoral Services in November of 2021.
As one who delighted in the metamorphosis of the monarch butterfly, Mary was responsible for lovingly creating the butterfly garden outside the old Peace Chapel, which she felt was a welcoming place for winged thoughts. For years, she tended to monarch caterpillars through their hatching into butterflies just as she tended to her own spiritual unfoldment. During Hurricane Irma, she rode out the storm in her home in Pinellas Park and had to move the caterpillar crate to her kitchen sink when the storm worsened. She had prepared with a supply of milkweed on hand for the caterpillars. Once hatched, though, she nourished the butterflies with sugar water on cotton balls because they could not be safely released during the storm. While she enjoyed life in recent years at Freedom Square, she greatly missed tending to her monarchs.
“What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly.” – Richard Bach
Also, as a horticulturist, Mary enjoyed volunteering with the City of Pinellas Park where she maintained Clock Tower Park on Park Boulevard and 49th Street for about five years. There she planted new shrubs and tended to them regularly, watering, weeding and praying for their growth. The new flowering shrubs had all been grown from cuttings from friends’ gardens which required her to carry water bottles back and forth. Her dedication to this beautiful public space was recognized and honored by Bay News 9 and through numerous annual Volunteer Appreciation Banquets.
As we remember our Beloved “Mary Mac”, as she was known, let us acknowledge the fullness of her heart always through this prayer she so lovingly shared.
Let the rain come and wash away
the ancient grudges, the bitter hatreds
held and nurtured over generations.
Let the rain wash away the memory
of the hurt, the neglect.
Then let the sun come out and
fill the sky with rainbows.
Let the warmth of the sun heal us
wherever we are broken.
Let it burn away the fog so that
we can see each other clearly.
So that we can see beyond labels,
beyond accents, gender or skin color.
Let the warmth and brightness
of the sun melt our selfishness.
So that we can share the joys and
feel the sorrows of our neighbors.
And let the light of the sun
be so strong that we will see all
people as our neighbors.
Let the earth, nourished by rain,
bring forth flowers
to surround us with beauty.
And let the mountains teach our hearts
to reach upward to heaven.
Amen
“A Prayer for the World” by Rabbi Harold Kushner – 2003