“We are cups, constantly and quietly being filled. The trick is, knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out.” Ray Bradbury
In case you missed today, January 8th, the whole serve is here.
Updated Service
Sunday January 8, 2017
Prelude: Willow by Heather Jinmaku
Welcome: Do Not Be Alone Right Now By Karen G. Johnston
Do not be alone right now. Gather together.
Gathering together grows courage: in ourselves and in others who see the numbers swelling. It is a small thing, but right now it is an important thing.
Great sources of wisdom remind us: just because you cannot stem the tide of all hate, it is still right to do the thing you can do. These things add up: your one thing & my one thing; his one thing & their one thing & her one thing. Together it becomes a BIG thing.
Do not be alone right now. Any liberation—all liberation—is collective liberation. My freedom is bound with yours and yours with mine. Inextricably.
Let us together cast our lots doing this BIG thing: bending the moral arc of the universe towards justice.
Chalice Lighting: Global Chalice Lighting for November 2016 from
Chapter 1, Tao Te Ching, written by Lao-tzu
Modified from a translation by S. Mitchell
Unitarian Universalists Hong Kong (www.uuhk.org)
The tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao;
The name that can be named is not the eternal Name.
The unnamable is the eternally real.
Naming is the origin of all particular things.
Free from desire, you realize the mystery.
Caught in desire, you see only the manifestations.
Yet mystery and manifestations arise from the same source.
This source is called Mystery.
Mystery within Mystery,
The gateway to all understanding.
Perhaps we need to be a little less polite …
We struggle to find the best ways to show out fellow human beings that they are worthy of dignity and respect. In this article a German discusses how Americans are often too polite when it comes to dismantling hatred and oppression. With the recent changes in the political realm, we need to pay attention to the lessons of history. When answering the call of love, we need to be more firm. We are to be there for the defense of others.
Namaste,
Cricket
For the Beginning of the New Year
What are your New Year’s Resolutions? What should our New Year’s Resolutions as a church be? How can we be better and stronger in the New Year? How can we continue to be a beacon and a refuge? How can we reach out and touch our community in a better way? In other words, can we better live up to our mission statement in the coming year? How can you help? What are you willing to do?
I hope you have a beautiful and blessed new year full of love and light.
Namaste,
Cricket
As a New Year Begins By Kate Lore
2016
2016 hasn’t been perfect, but we have had a good year.
We have celebrated historical figures from UU history. We even had special guest Carol Sroczynski who interviewed Mother Jones, played by Patience Deweese. Special thanks to them and the members (Shelia and Jim Rye) of the Morgantown West Virginia Unitarian Universalist Fellowship who provided our music for that day. 
Some thoughts on the end of 2016
I have been thinking a lot about 2016. It is almost over. This article talks about the lessons we have learned to carry with us into 2017. “2016 was a bad year for too many people around the world: We can’t just wait, commiserate, post rueful memes, and hope that the next year will be better. We all have to go out and make it so.
2017 is coming, whether we want it to or not. Will it be better?
That’s up to us.”
Here is to a new year where we live up to our own expectations and make change.
Namaste,
Cricket
Happy Kwanzaa
”There is no way to understand and appreciate the meaning and message of Kwanzaa without understanding and appreciating its profound and pervasive concern with values. In fact. Kwanzaa’s reason for existence, its length of seven days, its core focus and its foundation are all rooted in its concern with values. Kwanzaa inherits this value concern and focus from Kawaida, the African philosophical framework in which it was created. Kawaida philosophy is a communitarian African philosophy which is an ongoing synthesis of the best of African thought and practice in constant exchange with the world.”
There are seven days and seven principles of Kwanzaa.
Here is a devotional for Kwanzaa.
A PRAYER FOR KWANZAA
A Prayer For Kwanzaa
A Prayer For Kwanzaa
Prayer
O come all you faithful, rejoicing and victorious,
Come, let us embrace the mystery in the spirit of life, as we celebrate the goodness of Kwanzaa and the the African American
heritage.
Come and give thanks for companions on the journey in the struggle for freedom and justice.
Our roots in the soil and soul of Mother Africa reach far and wide.
Creator of all, lead us to be true to our nature with respect and dignity for life, from conception to its natural end at death.
Bless and keep us in solidarity one to another.
Ache.
About the Author
Have a Blessed Day,
Cricket
Sunday January 1, 2017
Brunch! New Year’s Brunch! Potluck New Year’s Brunch!
We want to start off 2017 right, by having a potluck brunch. Come and join us for good fellowship and food. We will have a small devotion provided by Cricket. We will start at 10:30 AM.
Our services are Sundays (usually at 11 a.m.) at the Progressive Women’s Association Event Center, 305 Washington Ave. in downtown Clarksburg, behind the Courthouse. More about us.
Children are welcome.
The building is wheelchair accessible, with an accessible restroom.
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
Merry Christmas
Today is Christmas. It is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. You can read the full story here.
It is a day of celebration. It is also a day to remember how lucky we are and how we need to help others in the world. Christmas is a reminder for us to be a light in the world.
I have included a devotion for today.
Namaste,
Cricket
NOW THE WORK OF CHRISTMAS BEGINS
Now the Work of Christmas Begins
Now the Work of Christmas Begins
Affirmation
When the song of the angels is stilled,
when the star in the sky is gone,
when the kings and princes are home,
when the shepherds are back with their flocks,
the work of Christmas begins:
to find the lost,
to heal the broken,
to feed the hungry,
to release the prisoner,
to rebuild the nations,
to bring peace among the people,
to make music in the heart.
Please note that this piece may not be used in any performance or distribution that involves compensation.
Source: “The Mood of Christmas and Other Celebrations”
About the Author
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Author, philosopher, theologian, educator, and civil rights leader.
The Hanukkah-Christmas convergence couldn’t be more symbolic of the light we must embrace – The Washington Post
“And now is a good time to live up to that promise, to light a candle in the darkness.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/the-hanukkah-christmas-convergence-couldnt-be-more-symbolic-of-the-light-we-must-embrace/2016/12/22/00e05a58-c866-11e6-85b5-76616a33048d_story.html?utm_term=.96b585179472
I really enjoyed this article and hope you do too. Let the light within us all shine brightly.
Namaste,
Cricket
West Fork Unitarian Universalists 