Author: Robert

Sunday, 26 February, 2023: On Love and Loving

Robert
Love is an action, Never simply a feeling. -- Bell Hooks

To begin by always thinking of love as an action rather than a feeling is one way in which anyone using the word in this manner automatically assumes accountability and responsibility. We are often taught we have no control over our “feelings.” Yet most of us accept that we choose our actions, that intention and will inform what we do. We also accept that our actions have consequences. … If we were constantly remembering that love is as love does, we would not use the word in a manner that devalues and degrades its meaning.

— Bell Hooks, All About Love (2000)

“On Love and Loving,” Phoebe Durst will lead this week’s service as an exploration of the work of love and how this work can be a building block of a spiritual practice.

Please Join Us for Worship.

Our services are Sundays at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time on ZOOM and in person at the Progressive Women’s Association Event Center, 305 Washington Ave. in downtown Clarksburg, behind the Courthouse. If you wish to join on ZOOM, please contact us for logon information. A coffee hour, a time for discussion and socializing (including ZOOM participants), follows from the end of the service until 12:00 noon. More about us. 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 ZOOM.

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

Sunday, 19 February, 2023: Weighing Principles

Robert

The good thing about principles is that they make life easy. I have heard it said that when someone bases his life on principle, 99 percent of his decisions are already made.

— Dave Ramsey, Total Money Makeover

But will principles always lead us to good decisions? Are there never conflicts? If there are conflicts, how do we resolve them? Robert Helfer will lead the service.

Please Join Us for Worship.

Our services are Sundays at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time on ZOOM and in person at the Progressive Women’s Association Event Center, 305 Washington Ave. in downtown Clarksburg, behind the Courthouse. If you wish to join on ZOOM, please contact us for logon information. A coffee hour, a time for discussion and socializing (including ZOOM participants), follows from the end of the service until 12:00 noon. More about us. 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 ZOOM.

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

Sunday, January 29, 2023: Personal Centering Practices

Robert

This Sunday, Phoebe Durst will present a service on “Exploring Personal Centering Practices.” We will also have some time to share our own experiences with centering.

Please Join us for Worship.

Our services are Sundays at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time on ZOOM and in person at the Progressive Women’s Association Event Center, 305 Washington Ave. in downtown Clarksburg, behind the Courthouse. If you wish to join on ZOOM, please contact us for logon information. A coffee hour, a time for discussion and socializing (including ZOOM participants), follows from the end of the service until 12:00 noon. More about us. If you prefer not to be seen, video is optional. If you would like to participate on ZOOM, please email westforkuu@gmail.com for details and a link, or for help with using ZOOM.

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

Sunday, 20 November 2022: Seven Pillars of Wisdom?

Robert

Wisdom has built her house;
she has set up its seven pillars.
She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine;
she has also set her table.
She has sent out her servants, and she calls
from the highest point of the city,
“Let all who are simple come to my house!”

— Proverbs 9:1-4 (New International Version)

Unitarian Universalist congregations affirm and promote seven Principles, which we hold as strong values and moral guides. We live out these Principles within a “living tradition” of wisdom and spirituality, drawn from sources as diverse as science, poetry, scripture, and personal experience. Robert Helfer will lead the service.

Please join us for Worship:

Our services are Sundays at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time on ZOOM and in person at the Progressive Women’s Association Event Center, 305 Washington Ave. in downtown Clarksburg, behind the Courthouse. If you wish to join on ZOOM, please contact us for logon information. A coffee hour, a time for discussion and socializing (including ZOOM participants), follows from the end of the service until 12:00 noon. More about us.

Classes and worship are replaced by Spiritual Outings on the first Sunday of each month during the summer, with brief worship, a potluck picnic, and outdoor activities. The schedule is in the sidebar.

We would love to have you come worship with us.

Children are welcome.  There is childcare and an activity for young children during the service.

The building is wheelchair accessible, with an accessible restroom.

Map

The schedule for the current adult religious education class is here.

Email westforkuu@gmail.com or use our contact form for more information

or write to us at PO Box 523, Clarksburg WV 26302

Daylight Saving Time ends (November 6, 2022)

Robert

Sundial

Daylight Saving Time ENDS tomorrow, Sunday, November 6, 2022, when 2:00 a.m. is mysteriously revealed to be a repeat of 1:00 a.m., and we all have to relive that hour.  But an extra hour of sleep might not be a bad thing.

Remember to set your clocks back one hour tonight so you’re not an hour early tomorrow morning! The coffee won’t even be ready yet!

Death of Michael Servetus

Robert

On this date, 27 October 1553, Michael Servetus, physician and theologian, was burned at the stake in Geneva, Switzerland, for the crime of rejecting the doctrine of the Trinity. He was the first European to describe pulmonary circulation. The description, unnoticed by any of the heretic hunters who examined Servetus’ books, was hidden in the book that Calvin ordered to be burned along with Servetus himself.

A full description of Servetus’ trial and execution can be found in Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone, Out of the Flames: The Remarkable Story of a Fearless Scholar, a Fatal Heresy, and One of the Rarest Books in the World, or Roland H. Bainton, Hunted Heretic: The Life and Death of Michael Servetus, 1511-1553.

Read more here.

Sunday, 30 October 2022: The Veil

Robert

There was a Door to which I found no Key;
There was a Veil past which I could not see:
Some little talk awhile of ME and THEE
There seemed — and then no more of THEE and ME.

— Edward FitzGerald, translation of a poem attributed to Omar Khayyam

We are told that there are certain times of the year when the veil between the world of the living and that of the dead becomes thinner. The end of October — the time of Diwali, Halloween, Samhain, All Saints Day, All Souls Day, Día de los Muertes — is one such time. This Sunday we will reflect on this veil and its thinning. Robert Helfer will lead the service.

This is a time to remember those who have passed from our lives, and for this reason, we create an altar, a table of remembrance, to help us feel the presence of those we miss. Please bring a momento that connects you to a person whose memory is dear to you — a photograph or some other object — for display on our table of remembrance.

Please join us for Worship:

Our services are Sundays at 10:30 a.m.  at the Progressive Women’s Association Event Center, 305 Washington Ave. in downtown Clarksburg, behind the Courthouse. A coffee hour, a time for discussion and socializing, will follow from the end of the service until 12:00 noon. More about us.

Classes and worship are replaced by Spiritual Outings on the first Sunday of each month during the summer, with brief worship, a potluck picnic, and outdoor activities. The schedule is in the sidebar.

We would love to have you come worship with us.

Children are welcome.  There is childcare and an activity for young children during the service.

The building is wheelchair accessible, with an accessible restroom.

Map

The schedule for the current adult religious education class is here.

Email westforkuu@gmail.com or use our contact form for more information

or write to us at PO Box 523, Clarksburg WV 26302

Sunday, October 2, 2022: West Virginia State Wildlife Center, French Creek

Robert

Elk at French Creek

Elk at French Creek

We have Spiritual Outings on the first Sunday of each month during the summer. For this year’s sixth outing, we will gather for a celebration of summer, nature, and fellowship on Sunday, October 2, at the West Virginia State Wildlife Center at French Creek.

Please note that unlike most of the parks we visit, the Wildlife Center charges an admission fee from April 1 through October 31. Make sure you have cash to pay at the gate.

Adults 16 and over: $4
Children 6-15: $2
Children 5 and under: Free

We will meet at 11 a.m. in the picnic area near the elk enclosure for a short service followed by a potluck picnic, conversation, and walking. Bring food to share if you are able and wish to share; otherwise, just bring food for yourself and share our company.

During this time of continuing covid-19 pandemic we are following current CDC guidelines (see https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/communication/guidance.html).  We request that anyone who is not fully vaccinated practice appropriate social distancing and wear a mask except when eating. Although fully vaccinated people are safe without masks for themselves and for unvaccinated people, we recommend that fully vaccinated people also practice appropriate social distancing and wear a mask except when eating.

We would love to have you come worship with us.

For a map, please use this link: https://goo.gl/maps/2DgtJDkMYHN2

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

Red Spotted Newt

Red Spotted Newt

Sunday, 18 September 2022: NO SERVICE

Robert

Due to scheduling conflicts this weekend, there will be no in-person or ZOOM service at WFUU on Sunday, 18 September 2022.

Regular Sunday services will resume at 10:30 a.m. on 25 September 2022. Have a wonderful weekend.

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

A note on the image: On 18 September 1961, Dag Hammarskjöld, second Secretary-General of the United Nations, died when the airplane he was in crashed in what was then Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia). He was traveling to negotiate a cease-fire in a conflict in the Republic of the Congo.

Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Matthew 5:9

Sunday, September 4, 2022: Ferguson Memorial Park, Shinnston

Robert
Ferguson Memorial Park, Shinnston
Ferguson Memorial Park, Shinnston

We have Spiritual Outings on the first Sunday of each month during the summer. For this year’s third outing, we will gather for a celebration of summer on Sunday, September 4, at Ferguson Memorial Park in Shinnston

We will meet at 11 a.m. in the picnic area for a short service followed by a potluck picnic, conversation, and walking. Bring food to share if you are able and wish to share; otherwise, just bring food for yourself and share our company.   [Note that there is a fee if you chose to use the pool.]

During this time of continuing covid-19 pandemic we are following current CDC guidelines (see https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/participate-in-activities.html). Fully vaccinated people are safe without masks for themselves and for unvaccinated people.  If you are not vaccinated you should wear a mask and practice appropriate social distancing.

We would love to have you come worship with us.

For a map, please use this link: goo.gl/maps/enAartS4VNE2

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