In the Glazing Room.
Rev Kerry Mueller
If we are fortunate, we have a work place and a home place – but we also need “third places” where we can connect with others across all the lines that divide us. Come think about how spiritual endeavors help us create third places.
Courageous Change Lay Leader: Emily Quarles-Mowrer
Featured: UUSC Guest at Your Table Program
Guest at Your Table is the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee’s annual intergenerational program to raise support for and awareness about key human rights issues. This year’s theme for the Guest at Your Table program is “Now is the Time for Courageous Change.” The injustices and crises of the past year have emphasized the importance of our common goal – a world free from oppression, where all can realize their full human rights. Join us for a shared viewing (by video) of this year’s Guest at Your Table program to learn what UUSC partners are doing to address immediate injustices – as well as what they envision for the future. At this extraordinary moment in history, we think their stories will offer inspiration and guidance on the path toward justice.
Can We Say “Thank You” ?
Rev Dave Hunter
Meister Eckhart famously wrote: “If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.” But “thank you” is a two word phrase. The second word is “you”. Who is this “you” to whom we are giving thanks?
Interconnected Roots. Speaker: Emily Quarles-Mowrer
Our 7th Principle reminds us that reverence for life extends to all living things, even the things with lives very different from our own. New research indicates that the life of a forest is much more vibrant and interactive than we humans may have realized. John Muir said, “The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.”Join us as we rediscover the Universe through the lives of trees.
Save the date! On Tuesday, May 2nd we will reintroduce a Tuesday evening series of discussions for adults that was started prior to the COVID pandemic. These discussions are open to any adult with a curious mind who has a desire to discuss, debate and share their point of view on a wide and diverse variety of topics. Topics may cover ideas in a reading, an article, a piece of music, poem, or a short story–essentially, anything that is spiritually and/or intellectually nourishing, informative, and that fosters healthy connections with ourselves, our fellowship, the greater community, and the earth. The monthly topics will be chosen in advance.
Our lives have been just a bit more adventurous recently than we might have wished. We enjoyed the White Horse Village September Mystery Lunch, on a perfect September day, to a lovely restaurant in Chesapeake City, overlooking the canal. All went well until we prepared to leave – the transmission of the bus refused to engage. The mystery became when and how we would get home. A flurry of phone calls by management failed to produce a charter, so eventually they canceled the normal dinner bus route on campus and sent the smaller buses to collect us. People enjoyed shopping and the local bar, staff brought water and made sure no one needed medication, and we were home by eight. Then Dave – who walks everywhere and enjoys robust good health – experienced hip pain. He got a quick appointment and a script for physical therapy – right here on campus. In the course of the following week our freezer showed odd symptoms, melting the ice cream but keeping everything else solid. The ice cream turned out to be a leading indicator of a totally kaput fridge though it took several visits by maintenance, and eventually the supplier to figure that out. Meanwhile, a loaner fridge just showed up in our garage while we were out shopping, along with a note, and a phone message and finally a visit from Ryan, the maintenance genius. After the final diagnosis, Ryan appeared with a brand-new fridge. Before he left, Ryan dealt with a TV issue.
There are lessons here: first Gratitude. These are first world problems, and the solutions demonstrate a privileged life. We have reliable electricity. There are back-up buses and a supply of loaner fridges for emergencies. The team members at WHV go above and beyond to care for us, and we are appreciative. Tipping is strictly forbidden (for good reasons, and there is a special fund equitably distributed), but I expressed my thanks directly to the staff members and sent messages to their superiors. At this stage of my life, I am limited in what I can do, but I do what I can.
Second, Humility. After much struggling with the refrigerator, it became clear that the new model is just 3/8″ too wide for the space, so the loaner is now in the kitchen until things are resolved. Having the freezer on the top makes it awkward to get things out. We are not entitled to convenience. (Nevertheless, Ryan came by to say the replacement is on order and should arrive in two weeks.)
And third, Compassion. Our relationship with our team members is more than transactional. They take good care of us and we try to make this a good place to work. In community we look after each other.
I hope you read Linda’s presidential message, and take it to heart. WHV and UUFP and the US are all different sorts of communities, but they have much in common. To thrive as individuals and as communities we must act from compassion.
Blessings, Kerry
Euthanasia—curse or blessing? Lay Speaker: Jon Dreazen
Euthanasia—a term maligned and incorrectly used all too often. All it really means, from the Greek, is “good death”. But what are the implications if someone brings on their own demise by the use of various chemicals? Is it really suicide dressed up as euthanasia? And what if another person, let us say a doctor, administers the fatal dose? Is that really murder dressed up as euthanasia? I will speak to the views of various world religions as well as the UU stance on this critical issue. Please come prepared to discuss your own opinions on this challenging issue as time will be left for group commentary.
Outdoor Coffee Hour follows the service (weather permitting).
Blowing the Dust From One Another’s Eyes. Speaker: Rev Kerry Mueller
As a child in a Unitarian Sunday school, I learned about “freedom, reason and tolerance.” What do those values mean to us today as UU’s and as citizens?
Outdoor Coffee Hour follows the service (weather permitting).
The Past is Never Past. Guest Speaker: Gary Jackoway; Former Board President and Chair of the Worship Committee at the UUF of Newark. Currently attends Foothills UUF of Maryville, TN.
William Faulkner wrote, “The past is never dead; it’s not even past.” Gary Jackoway will speak about how the past affects our present and future, individually, as a society and as a religion.
Outdoor Potluck follows the service (weather permitting). Please bring something tasty to share.