Essential
As many of you are very aware, there is a lot of talk in the news about the “opening” of churches. What does that mean for OCUUC? It will mean a lot of things. First, you need to understand that OCUUC will use federal, state, and municipal guidelines as a bare minimum. We will also be following the dictates of science and Love in making our decisions. As I mentioned recently in a service, we will not gather for Sunday…
Compassion
Compassion is our theme this month. I learned the distinction between empathy and compassion from reading our Soul Matters materials. “Compassion (to suffer with) is an innate part of human response to suffering, which is comprised of a three-part experience of noticing another’s pain, feeling with another (empathy), and responding in some way.” So, compassion is feeling with and then acting on alleviating suffering. It’s the action part that makes compassion different. When I read that it made me even…
Join the Choir
Music has saved my life many times. It gave me a voice when I was a painfully shy child. It’s given me companionship when I’ve felt alone. It connects me to my spiritual path. And it brings me peace and joy when sometimes very little else will. I wonder if music or other art forms have been saving your life lately, with the pandemic weighing heavily on all of us. What can we do as a church community to provide…
From our Interim President
I somehow thought retirement would look something different than this. Oh well. As my friend Sheri has told me, “We make plans; God laughs”. May has been quite busy as we deal with all the end of year activity compounded by the open questions of when and how and if we can re-open for whatever the new normal looks like. PUG has met to talk about these issues with no clear resolution yet. We know it won’t be soon and…
Standing on the Threshold
We are on the threshold of a new era; of new ways of doing church, of being with people. Will we go back to the “old way?” Perhaps, but not in the near future. This new era is teaching us all sorts of things: that when push comes to shove, the vast majority of people are kind and doing what they can to help their fellow humans; that we humans need to be with one another; that we are truly…
Exploring Thresholds
This month we will explore Thresholds in all our Religious Education classes. PreK-7th will focus on Thresholds as the boundaries between our place of shelter and the outside in session one. What do we welcome in? What are thresholds good at keeping out? Take a look at the first hymn in our gray hymnal, Singing the Living Tradition— “May Nothing Evil Cross this Door”—this hymn talks about shelter from the storm, making our space sacred, peaceful and joyful. In session…
Creating Meaningful Worship
Despite the pain and isolation of the quarantine, and the ominous reality of a worldwide pandemic over our heads, your church musicians are flourishing under the challenge of quarantine. Twelve of them, including two youth, performed for our biannual (but first-ever online) Music Under the Stars concert. 15 singers participated in our first virtual choir piece, “Sanctuary,” and even more are participating with our next one, which will be out in a few weeks. And every Sunday, your musicians are…
Liberation
We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. While King meant this to describe the justice issues of our times, it has a broader truth to it. He’s speaking about our interdependence. During this time of self-quarantining, we are finding that liberation or freedom isn’t just about “whatever I want to do.” Rather, it’s liberating ourselves from the illusion…
We are Liberated Together
Our monthly theme for April is Liberation. Wow, has that taken on a whole new meaning for us in these days of “shelter in place?” Our worlds have shrunk to the size of essential services and there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight. I don’t know about you, but I suspect we may have some feelings in common. I’m cycling through feeling fine, to anger at the way our Federal government is handling this crisis, to fear about…
Bringing a Glimmer of Hope
We are living in unprecedented times. I’m sure you’ve seen and read news stories about people singing together from their balconies, or neighbors enjoying front yard concerts, or famous artists (and not-so-famous ones too) broadcasting live from their living rooms. Take a moment to reflect on how music is helping everyone manage their emotions and bringing a glimmer of hope and joy to humanity. I’m one of the lucky musicians since my church job and teaching jobs did not go…
Navigating Our Way
What a difference a month makes. I just reread what I wrote for last month’s Reach article and there was, of course, no mention of a Covid-19 worldwide pandemic. Until three weeks ago, I, and I imagine many of you, were blissfully unaware this virus would erupt to the extent it has here at home. Reverend Sian and the Staff, the Board of Trustees, and so many other members of our wonderful OCUUC community have all jumped in to work…
Wisdom
As Unitarian Universalists, we draw upon six sources of wisdom. If you look at that list, you might think (like I sometimes joke) that we have everything in there, but the kitchen sink! But you might point out, that there might be some contradictions among these sources. For example, if we draw from wisdom of world religions, what if our own experience differs from what has been written down in those venerable faith traditions? If you want to know if something…