When it is determined that worship services should be canceled by the President of the Board and Rev. Fees, notification will be made on the church voice mail recording and on the church website (www.uuberks.org) and facebook page facebook.com/fuubc/ by 8:00AM on the affected Sunday morning.
February’s theme:Resilience
What Does It Mean To Be a People of Resiliency
Things seem like they’re spinning out of control. We can respond to this state of affairs with fear, aggression, and selfishness, or we can respond out of trust in our vast, open, basically good mind, which is timelessly aware, yet empty of imputed meanings. How we respond will determine the way the world will go. As citizens of our world, we can help things go in the direction of wisdom, caring, and compassion.
— Pema Chodron
I am finding the need for a lot of practices and resources to keep my spirit courageous, hopeful, and resilient. I mean, the world is on fire, isn’t it?! Spinning out of control! Rollbacks of environmental protections, the ongoing assaults on people of color, including travel bans, the continued erosion of reproductive rights, corruption. And then add to that the major and minor hurts and losses in one’s own life. It’s a lot to handle.
So I keep returning to basics–to what can help me hold onto my vision of wisdom, caring, and compassion for myself and others. For me, right now, these basics include 30 minutes of yoga every day, walking for 45 minutes 3-5 times a week, using nasal rinse daily, at least 8 hours of sleep every night, daily writing, regular meals and quality time with my partner, snuggling with my cat, staying connected to family and friends, and time to read just for fun. They also include limiting my exposure to Facebook and the 24/7 news cycle, limiting my sugar and caffeine intake, resisting the urge to overwork and overfunction. These are both partial lists, and some of these items sure don’t sound very glamorous. But what I do and what I don’t do (even some of those seemingly mundane habits) matter enormously to my spiritual, emotional, and physical well-being.
This month as we explore the theme of resiliency, I wonder, what is on your list of resiliency habits?
Yours in a spirit of resiliency and hope,
Rev. Sandra
There is a love
From Your Director of Music
In this month where we can be bombarded by conversation hearts and chocolates – I’m reminded that while valentines day can get stuck on one kind of love the ancient Greeks identified 8 different types of love. I’m also reminded that unconditional love, affectionate love, love of self, familiar love, enduring love, and playful love can all help us strengthen our resiliency. For yes while I can tell myself “I can do it” I can also remind myself “I don’t have to do it alone.”
Rev. Dr. Parker wrote “There is a love holding me/us. There is a love holding all that I/we love. There is a love holding all. I/We rest in this love.” One of the ways I find deeper love and I can say those “I/We can do it” affirmations a little stronger is to sing the song that Beth Norton wrote these words for.
6 Hymns that also strengthen and spring me back to life:
6 Just As Long As I Have Breath
123 Spirit Of Life
398 I Know This Rose Will Open
1002 Comfort Me
1013 Open My Heart
1009 Meditation On Breathing
How we hang in there
From Your Director of Religious Education
The word resilience is made from the Latin word re meaning “back” and saliens “the beginning, the starting point, the heart of the thing”. So to be resilient is to return to the heart of ourselves. That returning? It’s a journey, a motion. So how do we stay moving and come back to the heart of it all? One way we can ask that is what do we hold onto in hard times? Another question would be how do we hold on, or move through or….. how do we hang in there in the hard times?
My UU colleague up in Montpelier Vermont, Liza Earle-Centers, explains it this way:
When we care for our body and spirit we can be resilient. So let’s review for our bodies, on a daily basis we have to:
1) Eat (mostly healthy) food 2) Drink water 3) Breathe fresh air 4) move 5) play 6) sleep
These are healthy body practices.
What are the things we can do for our spirit to keep our spirits strong on a daily basis? We need healthy spiritual practices! What can those be? Well the difference between healthy body practices and spiritual practices are that while everyone eats, drinks, and sleeps, spiritual practices are more unique for each person.
Here are a few to try out. Maybe try one everyday for a week, maybe keep it going for the month! Maybe if you have a regular spiritual practice try a short new one for a week and see what happens. I would love to hear how we feel after our practice tryout:
Everyday
Hang on to time to sing
Hang on to time to sit quietly
Hang on to time to make some art
Hang on to time to be thankful (gratitude jar is one way to do this)
Hang on to time to look out your window and find one magnificent thing
Yours in Faith and in Hanging in there,
Ebee Bromley
Two resources to find what works best for you to hang onto:
Faithful Practices: Everyday ways to feed your spirit ed. By UU minister Rev Erik Wikstrom
Everyday Spiritual practices: Simple Pathways for enriching your life ed. By UU minister Scott Alexander.
Or videos from SacredSkills.org the Fulfilling Service: Resources to Create Sacred Spaces and Experiences
by nadine j. smet-weiss
spiritual director
sitting here with my breath i am reminded
of the heart at the heart of each being
infinitesimal spark of light
hidden in each and every form
unfolding through the eons
becoming unending
appears to falter
mystery moves
spark ignites
anew
life
This month the Board would like to express there gratitude to:
Dennis Williams and Carol Orts for your continued dedication to our membership committee
Brian Kammerer for stepping up to lead our food bank.
When asked about their class background, most people in the United States describe themselves as middle class. Doctors, hourly workers, Ivy League graduates alike do this. Yet our different backgrounds offer different points of view and reference, and among UUs we are often reluctant to share or acknowledge these differences. Today we’ll share stories of class as a way to make space for more ways of being in our faith community.
Children’s Programming:
RE Theme this week: This month we’re exploring the many ways our UU faith invites us to become “a people of Resilience.” To get at that, our sessions are each built around four key things we “hold on to” in order to make it through hard times This week we focus on the idea that In Hard Times We Hold Onto Each Other
Seedlings: in nursery
Sprouts: Exploring holding onto each other through hearing a story about Valentines day and Making Valentines.
Saplings: Exploring Holding onto each other as we hear the story “Love” from Matt de la Peña.
Youth Group: As we start this month of resiliency – we recognize we can’t be resilient without each other’s help. To put it another way we recognize the importance of the interdependent web (principle 7). This week we embark on exploring Islam and it’s focus to battle pride and self-centeredness.
Volunteers: Ushers: Judy Aubrey and Carol Gonzalez Greeters: Karen Nierle Coffee Crew: Group 6- Mike and Carla Mannix, Delite Hawk, Cathleen Brown, Joanne Koehler, and Cyndi Dimovitz SJ Table: Carol O. Audio/Visual: Mike M.
Have you seen our new website? Check it out at UUBerks.org
The Welcoming Congregation team will host a workshop focusing on transgender inclusion in congregations entitled Introduction to a beloved Community: Welcome as a spiritual practice on Feb 2 2020 in the sanctuary at noon. It will run for 45 minutes with audience discussion Please sign up on the sheet on Gerber room bulletin board.
Join us on Monday February 3rd, @ 7:00pm for a time of reflection and sharing about our UU Principles. This is NOT a UU exclusive gathering – all are welcome. Contact Jane Rohrbach (windowsjmr@comcast.net) or Nadine Smet-Weiss (njw1258@hotmail.com) for further information.
Sun., Feb. 9 – Noon in the Sanctuary Church members are invited to come to this “listening session” to share their thoughts and feelings, express concerns, or ask questions related to recent actions to remove members.
Sunday, Feb. 23, Noon-2pm Paula Cole Jones will introduce the concept of a Community of Communities and guide us in looking at a new, collaborative way to engage with each other in discussion and decision-making. If we focus on the well-being of Communities, will we develop a more inclusive culture? Are there other ways to engage in democratic process? What might it look like for our Principles to be in action, while integrating the 8th Principle of building Beloved Community? Please join us on February 23rd as we explore these questions together.
Join in reading and reflecting on the award-winning book, An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz. This narrative upends myths and misinformation, reconsiders the U.S. origin story taught in most schools, and presents US history through the experiences and perspectives of indigenous peoples.
Sign up for the workshop on the church bulletin board or by contacting the church office. This program is being hosted by UU Berks ADORE (A Dialogue on Race & Ethnicity, formerly the Racial Justice Education Team).
General Assembly 2020 is being held in Providence, RI, June 24-28. Members and youth are encouraged to attend. Anyone may attend. Our congregation will also have 4 assigned delegates, who will be authorized to vote on business matters and whose registration will be funded by the Orts UU Scholarship Fund.
General Assembly is the annual gathering of Unitarian Universalists for conducting business of the Association, exploring the theological underpinnings of our faith, and leaning fully into our mission and principles. Please join us Wednesday, June 24 through Sunday, June 28, 2020 in Providence, Rhode Island for this 5-day immersive experience themed Rooted, Inspired & Ready! Join your faith family at inspirational worship services, informative workshops and a bustling exhibit hall. We anticipate that 4,500+ UUs will gather for this unforgettable experience and leave with renewed energy and innovative ideas for congregational and community engagement.
Registration is Now Open! Registration is now open at uua.org/ga/registration. Full-time registration is $400 for adults, $250 for high school youth and retired and candidate ministers, $150 for off-site registrants. Early bird registration is now through March 15, 2020. Rates increase on March 16th.
NEW! Registration Payment Plan Prefer smaller payments over a longer period of time? We’ve designed a payment plan just for you. When you register, simply click “payment plan” when prompted and, for as little as $50 down, you can spread out the balance of your registration over several months. Registration must be paid in full on or before February 29, 2020. Register for General Assembly Now!
The UUA is committed to the goal of making GA accessible to as many attendees as possible. Go to uua.org/ga to learn about scholarships to support participation – particularly of those from marginalized groups – and volunteer opportunities (work in exchange for registration). The UUA is committed to addressing the inclusion of all people, whatever their abilities might be, in all GA activities. Beyond the physical accessibility of the facilities we use – ramps, captioning, seating cut-outs, etc.- we endeavor to take the next step: to truly welcome people with disabilities into every facet of GA.
Housing Opens March 2 at 9:00 a.m. Eastern In addition to a variety of nearby hotels, attendees will also be able to book dormitory-style accommodations at two local universities. Also, UUs from local congregations will serve as host families for Home Hospitality, which is B&B style accommodations. Make your hotel reservation beginning March 2 at 9:00 a.m. Eastern. For more information, visit uua.org/ga/travel.
You can learn more about GA here: https://www.uua.org/ga. If we have enough participation, we will look into vans and/or sharing rides. Meanwhile, if you are interested, please add your name to the bulletin board sign up sheet, or contact the church office at office@uuberks.org
