by WUUC | Nov 28, 2021 | Announcements
Mahjongg or mah-jongg is a tile-based game that was developed in the 19th century in China, and it has now spread to WUUC!
Several folks have seriously come on board and taken the steps to learn. Beginners are becoming routine players at a fine pace. We are having a great time in offering our brains this colorful and suspenseful alternative to the usual demands of a day’s thinking. Will anyone catch Mahjongg Fever? Probably, but it only helps. It can’t hurt.
Our regular weekly meeting is set for Mondays from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. listed as 1:30 p.m. just in case we need the extra time to pack up the tiles and all equipment. Beginners are welcome. Anyone who has never played before will be given individual special time. Contact Blue with questions or interest in joining in by texting 413-768-9120, or email azforte@gmail.com
by WUUC | Nov 28, 2021 | Announcements
Hi, my name is Justin Gertler. When I was a very young child, in elementary school, I remember participating in the March of Dimes Walkathon to raise funds to improve the health of mothers and babies. It was so long ago that I don’t remember how I got involved in that worthy cause … I only remember walking for miles and miles for what seemed like forever, and I felt proud every step of the way.
Fast forward 20 years and I was looking for new opportunities to help out in the community when I came across the Community Services for the Blind and Partially Sighted, which worked with individuals, families and communities to restore, maintain and enhance the independence and well-being of people with impaired vision, and specialized in working with age-related vision loss. I am not even sure if they are still around, but at the time they partnered me with an elderly lady named Dorothy who lived alone in an apartment in Seattle. I remember visiting with her, helping her read her mail, pay her bills, balance her bank statement, and lots of talking, since she was all alone most of the time. It was truly a special time.
My next adventure was Team Captain for the American Cancer Society Relay for Life event https://www.cancer.org/involved/fundraise/relay-for-life.html. “At Relay For Life events teams camp out overnight and take turns walking or running around a track or path at a local high school, park, or fairground to raise funds for the fight against cancer. Events are up to 24 hours long, and because cancer never sleeps, each team is asked to have at least one participant on the track at all times.” I was involved with this cause for many years and have wonderful memories of these overnight events, walking the tracks after midnight with luminaria lighting the way.
More recently I have helped at Friends of Youth https://www.friendsofyouth.org/, setting up the sleeping areas for homeless youth, and serving meals. I then shifted from working with youth, to helping the elderly through Eastside Friends of Seniors https://eastsidefriendsofseniors.org/ and also the Full Life Care https://www.fulllifecare.org/services/elderfriends/ programs. In addition to providing rides when needed, I was also partnered with folks whom I checked in on via phone calls and visits, and in some cases bringing groceries and helping with other needs. Not only did I feel that I was providing an important service in the community, but I also developed wonderful friendships along the way.
I have also been very fortunate to volunteer with WUUC’s Cares and Concerns Committee, United Way, and Domestic Violence Services of Snohomish County https://dvs-snoco.org/ . Last week I signed up to volunteer with the International Rescue Committee and am very excited to start! https://www.rescue.org/united-states/seattle-wa
Please take a moment to checkout these excellent programs, or look online at other options to find one that is meaningful to you and one which you may want to volunteer for! https://www.volunteermatch.org/
by WUUC | Nov 28, 2021 | Announcements
This past week, I was honored to help lead our first trial run of a multi-platform service at WUUC, in preparation for our in-person gathering in early December. I was humbled and in awe of the commitment, dedication, work, thought and care that was put into this service and continues to be put into the work of creating worship services.
The commitment of WUUC to provide quality worship services to everyone, whether attending online or in person, makes my heart swell with pride in this community.
Each multi-platform worship service requires a team of around 20 people to make it successful, and the coordination of all of those people and moving parts is no small feat. I am immensely grateful to everyone who has committed to creating an inclusive and safe environment in which we can all enjoy worship together.
There have been lots of growing pains as we work through the many, many details of offering multi-platform worship, and I am grateful for the grace and patience that you have shown (and I’m sure will continue to show). Thank you all.
(And I can’t wait to gather in person with you soon!)
by WUUC | Nov 28, 2021 | Announcements
Maywood Hills school is very appreciative of our efforts to help ensure that kids have enough to eat on weekends, when school meals aren’t available. Thanks to so many WUUCies, we’ve been supplying enough for 15 students. Pretty impressive!
Our support for the school will continue, and there are two changes in the way we organize the program. With our return to in-person services (with remote option) we’ll move our donation drops into the church. The baskets are located across from the kitchen and are marked for the different categories we collect. You’re invited to drop off your donations on Sundays or other times when you are in the building. If you need to leave something in the drop-off shed, please contact me! I won’t be checking it frequently after Dec. 5, 2021.
You’ll see another change when we pack the supplies for January. Since we support so many students, the school finds it easier to work with bags and boxes organized by category rather than by student. So all the milk goes together, all the granola bars, etc. It’s easier for us, too, because we’re packing 10 groups instead of 15 bags.
We continue to use the inventory found here and I update it occasionally through the month. Many, many thanks for your ongoing support!!
As always, contact me, Grace Simons, or John Hartman with questions or concerns.
by WUUC | Nov 28, 2021 | Announcements
PWR Regional Assembly is that inspirational, radically inclusive, beyond-the-congregation UU community we’ve missed. Feb. 4-6, we can engage fully, wherever we are. Whether onsite at the Hyatt along the bay in San Diego, or online in the comfort of our own homes, we will have opportunities for connection in small groups, inspirational worship, transformative learning, and just plain community fun. Join in the community
by WUUC | Nov 27, 2021 | Announcements
Compiled by Linda Sherry
Worship Support Specialist
Each month WUUC explores a different theme brought to us through Soul Matters. We explore these themes in Worship, in small groups and in casual conversation. Here are a few thoughts to ponder as you consider December’s theme:
Opening to Joy
Maybe Joy is elusive for a reason.
Maybe it’s slippery in order to help us understand
that it was put here to fly.
Or better yet: To be flung!
To be passed, not possessed.
To be spread between you and me,
between the ones who received its gift
and the ones that have been looking for its treasure
for a very long time.
Maybe it’s a beautiful and elegant contagion,
over which we have more control than we think.
If only we share it.
If only we notice that joy is not ours to keep,
but ours to give.
Maybe joy opens us
as much as we open to it.
Maybe that’s the way light leaks into our world.
—Poet unknown, printed in Soul Matters Dec 2021
The high value put upon every minute of time, the idea of hurry-hurry as the most important objective of living, is unquestionably the most dangerous enemy of joy… –Hermann Hesse
Even a wounded world is feeding us. Even a wounded world holds us, giving us moments of wonder and joy. I choose joy over despair. Not because I have my head in the sand, but because joy is what the earth gives me daily and I must return the gift. –Robin Wall Kimmerer
We must risk delight. We can do without pleasure, but not delight. Not enjoyment. We must have the stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthless furnace of this world. To make injustice the only measure of our attention is to praise the Devil. –Jack Gilbert, from A Brief for the Defense
I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy.
–Rabindranath Tagore
I always just thought if you see somebody without a smile, give’em yours! –Dolly Parton
Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.
–Thich Nhat Hanh
Find the December Soul Matters packet here.
