by WUUC | Mar 27, 2020 | Announcements
From the WUUC Worship Team
UU’s are a ”people of liberation.” We can profit from interpreting the many holidays that occur during the month of April through our UU traditions.
The Rev. Suzelle Lynch of the Unitarian Universalist Church West in Brookfield, Wisconsin writes, “Our freedom to find inspiration in many different sources is breathtaking and cherished… What it means is
that in our congregation, we are liberated from the tyranny of “one right path.” An atheist might share a hymnal with a person who believes in God as the “spirit of life,” and a humanist might drink coffee after
the service with someone who believes in reincarnation and the power of prayer. A person who finds great comfort in the teachings of Jesus might serve on the Board of Trustees with someone who maintains a steady practice of Buddhist meditation, or one single person might equally value both of these things.”
May you find inspiration in these ideas created from many traditions and sources.
Passover: “We are liberated together and liberation takes time.”
Easter: “Loss and defeat never have the last word. We can be liberated from hopelessness.”
Earth Day: “Saving the Earth is saving us. Our interdependence liberates us.”
Ramadan: “Make room for and remember what matters most. We are liberated from the material into the spiritual world.”
Additionally, in this time of stress caused by the unknown impacts that may be experienced from the COVID – 19 virus, may you experience moments of liberation from the isolation, anxiety and concern you may be feeling.
For spiritual materials on our monthly theme, go to https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MNPSZdlzlbmgcI4hLJ7q6MOOydoR8Q3c/view?usp=sharing
For spiritual materials on the Sacred Words supplement on Surrender, go to https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IJ4BtRkKNzJkKyXaBVUttgJIWCmGhk45/view?usp=sharing
by WUUC | Mar 27, 2020 | Announcements
By Donna Johnson
Being part of WUUC’s first online worship service on Sunday, March 8 was an amazing experience. On Wednesday afternoon, March 4, the health department recommended avoiding large in-person gatherings as a way of minimizing exposure to coronavirus. By Thursday, WUUC staff, worship team members, musicians, tech savvy people, and others were swinging into action:
? The previously planned service with its interactive and experiential components just wasn’t going to work in an on-line format, so we developed a new service that included Soul Matters resources for the themes of Wisdom, Courage, Persistence and Resilience and familiar hymns for
singing along at home.
? Staff and volunteers came to church on Saturday to develop and test a plan for setting up the pulpit area and the technology.
? The special music musicians, our new choir director, the chair of the minister search committee, stewardship leaders, and a stewardship testifier all agreed to show up in person on Sunday.
? All these people came to church early on Sunday (on the day we switched to daylight savings time no less), and because of all the planning and practice, the service came together beautifully.
? At 10 a.m. all of us at church were pleased-as-punch to see that members of the congregation were joining us from home.
? At the end of the service, the church crew applauded and virtually high-fived each other, and many of the people who joined from home stayed online to enjoy each other’s company in a virtual coffee hour.
Thank you to Bridget Laflin, Karen Hyams, Rachel Eddy, Mark Apland, Phil Archibald, Rebecca Guthrie, Kambria Tabor, Rob Katz, Lanny Commeree, Ava Priest, Kermit Sprang, Matt Smith, Terry Levitt, Lori Varosh, Rev. Diana Smith, and others who helped to make this service happen.
I am so grateful to be part of this community.
Donna Johnson
by WUUC | Feb 21, 2020 | Announcements
From the WUUC Worship Team
The March 2020 theme for worship, RE, and small groups at WUUC is: What Does It Mean to be a People of WISDOM? Our monthly themes and resource materials come from Soul Matters Sharing Circle, a network of Unitarian Universalist congregations. Following is a small sample of thoughts about wisdom:
Dictionaries give us definitions of wisdom saying that it involves knowing about veracity or truth. These are usually linked with action, especially achieving justice. When we read about wisdom, we see words such as enlightenment, understanding, sagacity, discernment, or insight – often as based on experience. Experience brings in the concept of self-transcendence and the matter of being reflected in, and reflective of, everything around us (recall the UU Seventh Principle of the interconnected web of all existence).
Wisdom does not mean being simply smart. According to author Louise Penny, wisdom involves being fully comfortable embracing and making statements such as: I’m sorry. I was wrong. I don’t know. I need help.
Some pertinent quotes:
— “Things are more integrated than they seem, they are better than they seem, and they are more mysterious than they seem; this is the vision that the wisdom traditions bequeath us.” – Huston Smith
— “[everything] is a microcosm representing in itself the entire all-inclusive universe.” – Alfred N. Whitehead
— “We speak of coming into the world. We didn’t. We came out of it…” – Alan Watts
— “So many people say that they have ‘fallen off the path.’ I say to them, ‘No, you didn’t fall off the path. This is all the path, and once you have begun to awaken, you can’t fall off the path. There’s no way. Where are you going to fall to? Are you going to make believe it never happened? You can forget for a moment, but what you think you have forgotten will keep coming back to you. So, do not be upset. Just go ahead and be worldly for a while.’” – Ram Dass
— “All the suffering, stress and addiction comes from not realizing you already are what you are looking for.” – Jon Kabat-Zinn
— “…. every being in the universe is universe-referent for its origin and destiny and its proper role in the great community of existence.” – Thomas Berry
Some worthwhile links related to wisdom (poetry, etc.):
https://www.uua.org/worship/words/opening/5449.shtml
https://www.unfoldinglight.net/reflections/tm75ebk9668x98fxcsbhrflm8gbgmj
For spiritual materials on our monthly theme, go to https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jHSi5u2KQYM2eqs65C-Nip8BpkKuPL2m/view?usp=sharing
For a Sacred Words supplement on Awakening go to https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YDUkuHY4p6yr_9fdVjQI3kc8bKewF28E/view?usp=sharing
