Author: CZ

Partners with Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival

CZ

I am excited to announce a new council of UU clergy and leaders from across the country, co-chaired by the Revs. Beth Johnson and Abhi Janamanchi, and gathered to support justice organizing with our partners at the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival. I am so grateful to each council member for their commitment to moving organizing forward during this pandemic.

Learn more about council leadership online and get details on how to participate in upcoming digital mass meetings on April 30 and May 28. I look forward to being with all of you as we join our voices to say that everyone has a right to live!

Here is the article on UUA.org

Photo credit

Sunday, May 3, 2020

CZ

Those who stand at the threshold of life always waiting for the right time to change are like the person who stands at the bank of a river waiting for the water to pass so they can cross on dry land. – Joseph B. Wirthlin

This Sunday, Cricket is going to lead a UU History service that will focus on those who crossed thresholds.

We are forgoing meeting in person during the coronavirus epidemic. We share music, readings, and hymns, on our usual presentation slides, have a story and a talk, and share joys and sorrows, as well as a virtual “coffee hour” discussion, starting at 10:30, with the service at 11. If you prefer not to be seen, video is optional. If you would like to participate, please email westforkuu@gmail.com for details and a link, or for help with using Skype.

If you are a regular attendee, we have added you to our Google Group if we had an email address. If you have not gotten a group email already, please email westforkuu@gmail.com so that we can add you to the group, which we will be using for staying in touch with each other during this time. Public announcements will continue to be posted here on the website and on our Facebook page and Twitter account, as usual.

Email westforkuu@gmail.com or use our contact form for more information or write to us at PO Box 523, Clarksburg WV 26302

AN UPDATE ON GENERAL ASSEMBLY 2020

CZ

“A 100% virtual GA comes at a time when many UU congregations have embraced virtual meetings and virtual Sunday services. Although this pandemic has been challenging for many, a silver lining is that UUs are adapting to and seeing the value of incorporating technology into their religious lives. With so many UUs already online, this year’s GA could well be our highest-attended Unitarian Universalist gathering in history! It will be accessible to a more diverse and global audience. It will  also help reduce our carbon footprint, which aligns with our commitment to care for the earth and environment.”

More here – https://www.uua.org/pressroom/press-releases/woyaya-general-assembly-update

UU Lent 2020 – Day 46 – Rejoice

CZ

We don’t live into our redemption very much, or get to win the fight over death. Jesus’ resurrection is a symbol and a promise that we are redeemed and that death’s dominion is not the final word. On Easter the Deep Magic breaks through. We proclaim and sing that love’s redeeming work is done — and then get back to that very work. – Sarah C Stewart

All my life through, the new sights of Nature made me rejoice like a child. – Marie Curie

I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. – George Bernard Shaw

Brave men rejoice in adversity, just as brave soldiers triumph in war. – Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Alleluia! by Jeanne Lloyd

The Easter Egg We Need by Anne S. Howard

https://youtu.be/NrmhRoS-XE4

https://youtu.be/_Zv6dxVOn1A

UU Lent 2020 – Day 45 – Anticipation

CZ

Anticipation is the electricity of childhood. – Jason Kotecki

I like to compare the holiday season with the way a child listens to a favorite story. The pleasure is in the familiar way the story begins, the anticipation of familiar turns it takes, the familiar moments of suspense, and the familiar climax and ending. – Fred Rogers

Long intros are cool because there’s a little bit of anticipation, you know? – Miranda Lambert

Radical Expectations by Robin Tanner

Meditation on Planting by David Snedden

https://youtu.be/EYIK9Fa1NPE

UU Lent 2020 – Day 44 – Gratitude

CZ

Gratitude is a powerful catalyst for happiness. It’s the spark that lights a fire of joy in your soul. – Amy Collette

The discipline of gratitude is the explicit effort to acknowledge that all I am and have is given to me as a gift of love, a gift to be celebrated with joy. – Henri Nouwen

Silent gratitude isn’t much use to anyone. – Gertrude Stein

We learned about gratitude and humility – that so many people had a hand in our success, from the teachers who inspired us to the janitors who kept our school clean… and we were taught to value everyone’s contribution and treat everyone with respect. – Michelle Obama

A Thanksgiving for the Elements by Eric Williams

Blessed Curses, Cursed Blessings by Becky Brooks

UU Lent 2020 – Day 43 – Transcend

CZ

According to Merriam Webster, transcend means 1) to rise above or extend notably beyond ordinary limits, 2) to outstrip or outdo in some attribute, quality, or power, 3) to be prior to, beyond, and above (the universe or material existence), 4) to triumph over the negative or restrictive aspects of

Prayer: Revel in the Mystery by Antonia Bell-Delgado

May we find the courage to revel in the experience of the mystery. 
May we approach the unknown with excitement (even if we can only muster a tiny bit).
May we celebrate the curiosity that leads to searching.
May we meet ourselves along the way and love us, unapologetically.

Amen.

Prayer for When Words Fail by Leslie Takahashi

Calling by Nancy Shaffer

https://youtu.be/-LdNrXaoT24

Passover Blessings

CZ

Passover this year lasts from sundown on April 8, 2020 to sundown on April 16, 2020.

The eight-day festival of Passover is celebrated in the early spring, from the 15th through the 22nd of the Hebrew month of Nissan, April 8 – April 16, 2020. Passover (Pesach) commemorates the emancipation of the Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt. Pesach is observed by avoiding leaven, and highlighted by the Seder meals that include four cups of wine, eating matzah and bitter herbs, and retelling the story of the Exodus.

In Hebrew it is known as Pesach (which means “to pass over”), because G‑d passed over the Jewish homes when killing the Egyptian firstborn on the very first Passover eve. – from Chabad.org

Ready by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat

Passover by Kathleen McTigue

Image Creator: Joel S Fishman Image Credit: Getty Images/Photo Researchers RM

Liberation Meditations: Your Liberation Is on the Line

CZ

The truth is, however, that the oppressed are not “marginals,” are not people living “outside” society. They have always been “inside”—inside the structure which made them “beings for others.” The solution is not to “integrate” them into the structure of oppression, but to transform that structure so that they can become “beings for themselves.”  – Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed

Your Liberation Is on the Line by Rev. angel Kyodo williams