Joy as a form of Resistance

CZ

This podcast is from December 22, 2016, brought to you from the Church of the Larger Fellowship. 

Joy is a great thing. When people tty to take away our joy, it is a powerful thing to celebrate joy. What little things bring joy to your life? How can you celebrate joy?

[The VUU] 164: Joy as a Form of Resistance

https://media.blubrry.com/clfvuu_latest/www.questformeaning.org/podcasts/vuu/latest/vuu164.mp3 via @PodcastAddict
Namaste,

Cricket

PS: There’s some Santa business here, so little ears might not want to listen.
Image from  https://www.theodysseyonline.com/choose-joy-feeling

Meditation Monday 

CZ

​Our Monday Meditation is “Benediction for the Heavy Heart” by UUA staff member Mason Bolton. It reads:

“Good morning. I missed your ‘good’
because a plane, because a truck, because
a gun, because a cop, because a government,
because a people suffering, because too many
people suffering, because war, because famine,
because some mornings it is so hard
to rise, to wake, to be a self.

There is a pause here. There is a deliberate
cessation. I want a cessation to the noise
in my head, to the ache in the collective
heart of this world. When I was young
this seemed possible. . . .

I want your mornings ‘good,’ your evenings ‘good,’
all the late nights and sunrises and afternoons
and moments pressed against the ticking
glass of your life ‘good.’

Breathe. For yourself. For each other. Let
us breathe in when others cannot. When we
can do nothing else. Let us stretch ourselves
open to embrace our friends, extend
our bodies outward to anyone willing to meet us
and even those we think may not be willing. Let us
hold each other for this moment. For this
blink of human existence.”

Read this and other meditations in the new Skinner House Books title “To Wake, To Rise: Meditations on Justice and Resilience” available at inSpirit: The UU Book and Gift Shop http://tinyurl.com/ybsj9f49

Sunday, September 17, 2017

CZ

“Tell me the facts and I’ll learn. Tell me the truth and I’ll believe. But tell me a story and it will live in heart forever.” – Native American Proverb

 

Our services are Sundays at 11 a.m.  at the Progressive Women’s Association Uptown Event Center, 305 Washington Ave. in downtown Clarksburg, behind the Courthouse. There are classes for children and adults 10 to 10:45 am, and a coffee gathering before the service. More about us.

This Sunday, Cricket will give a lesson entitled, “Tell Me a Story: storytelling as a spiritual practice”

dalailama storytelling.jpg

We would love to have you come worship with 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.

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

Namaste,
Cricket

Image Credit: Dalai Lama picture from http://www.ideachampions.com/weblogs/archives/2015/11/post_140.shtml

Sunday, September 10, 2017

LdeG

“The Principles are not dogma or doctrine, but rather a guide for those of us who choose to join and participate in Unitarian Universalist religious communities.” – Rev. Barbara Wells ten Hove

Our services are Sundays at 11 a.m.  at the Progressive Women’s Association Uptown Event Center, 305 Washington Ave. in downtown Clarksburg, behind the Courthouse. There are classes for children and adults 10 to 10:45 am, and a coffee gathering before the service. More about us.

Due to unforeseen circumstances (mostly good ones), Lisa will be doing the previously announced service on Good Humor on October 8. This Sunday, John Hall will give a lesson about the history of the seven principles.

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

You can park in the lots on either side of the building; they are marked private, but are available on Sundays.

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

Image Credit: Designed by Rev. Ian W. Riddell
Graphic Interpretation by Kimberly Debus

Sunday, September 3, 2017: French Creek Wildlife Center

Robert

We have Spiritual Outings on the first Sunday of each month during the summer. This month, we will gather at the West Virginia State Wildlife Center at French Creek at 11 a.m. for a short service, followed by a potluck picnic, conversation, and visiting the animals.

Please email westforkuu@gmail.com if you would like to carpool.

We would love to have you come worship with us.

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

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

Sunday August 27, 2016

CZ

“Until one has loved an animal a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.” – Anatole France

Our services are Sundays at 11 a.m.  at the Progressive Women’s Association Uptown Event Center, 305 Washington Ave. in downtown Clarksburg, behind the Courthouse. There are classes for children and adults 10 to 10:45 am, and a coffee gathering before the service. More about us.

This Sunday, Cricket Hall will give a lesson about the comforting ability of pets.

We would love to have you come worship with 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.

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

Namaste, 

Cricket

PS: Those are my kittens in the picture. 

Charlottesville, the Soul Sickness in America, and a Call to a Moral Vision

Robert

“We met the enemy, and he is us. We met the friend, and he is us. That is the secret that will win the ultimate victory, if anything will. And this is our way. Looking inward, and reaching out a hand and acting. Heart with heart, and hand in hand, we will build a community of hope and possibility.”

Read the full text of James Ishmael Ford’s sermon, “A STATE OF EMERGENCY: Charlottesville, the Soul Sickness in America, and a Call to a Moral Vision”, at Orange Coast Unitarian Universalist Church, Costa Mesa, California:

www.patheos.com/blogs/monkeymind/2017/08/state-emergency-charlottesville-soul-sickness-america-call-moral-vision.html

Sunday, August 20, 2017

CZ

“The Principles are not dogma or doctrine, but rather a guide for those of us who choose to join and participate in Unitarian Universalist religious communities.” – Rev. Barbara Wells ten Hove

Our services are Sundays at 11 a.m.  at the Progressive Women’s Association Uptown Event Center, 305 Washington Ave. in downtown Clarksburg, behind the Courthouse. There are classes for children and adults 10 to 10:45 am, and a coffee gathering before the service. More about us.

This Sunday, John Hall will give a lesson about the history of the seven principles.

We would love to have you come worship with 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.

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

Namaste,
Cricket

Image Credit: Designed by Rev. Ian W. Riddell
Graphic Interpretation by Kimberly Debus

On this difficult morning …

CZ

As we read the reports and watch the news about Charlottesville, may we remember that we are not alone.  As our hearts break and we are faced with the reality that we have not come nearly as far as we need to, may we speak out. As others defend or explain away the problems facing our nation and our world, may we continue to encourage them to wake up. As we wonder if our ideals and expectations are doomed to fail, may remember that none of us are free until all of us are free. May we continue to answer the call of love and fight for the lives that need us most. May our voices continue to rise until they are heard above the hate.

May it Be,
Amen

We Answer the Call of Love By Julia Corbett-Hemeyer

In the face of hate,
We answer the call of love.
In the face of exclusion,
We answer the call of inclusion.
In the face of homophobia,
We answer the call of LGBTQ rights.
In the face of racism,
We answer of justice for all races.
In the face of xenophobia,
We answer the call of pluralism.
In the face of misogyny,
We answer the call of women’s rights.
In the face of demagoguery,
We answer the call of reason.
In the face of religious intolerance,
We answer the call of diversity.
In the face of narrow nationalism,
We answer the call of global community.
In the face of bigotry,
We answer the call of open-mindedness.
In the face of despair,
We answer the call of hope.

As Unitarian Universalists, we answer the call of love —
now more than ever.