“Yesterday’s executive order targeting refugees and Muslims is an affront to the core values of the United States. Our country has always been a beacon of liberty, and we should not now close our doors to people fleeing violence, hate, oppression, or persecution. All of the world’s major religions affirm the moral imperative to welcome the stranger. Unitarian Universalist congregations welcome individuals of all backgrounds and beliefs. I mourn with all of those whose hopes of a better future have been dashed due to the actions of President Trump.” -The Rev. Peter Morales, President of the Unitarian Universalist Association
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/01/27/us/politics/trump-syrian-refugees.html?_r=1&referer=http://m.facebook.com/
Sunday January 29, 2017
“Dance, when you’re broken open. Dance, if you’ve torn the bandage off. Dance in the middle of the fighting. Dance in your blood. Dance when you’re perfectly free.”
― Jalaluddin Rumi
Our youth and children will explore dance as a spiritual practice. The service will be fun and interactive.
We would love to have you come worship with us.
Our services are Sundays at 11 a.m. at the Progressive Women’s Association Event Center, 305 Washington Ave. in downtown Clarksburg, behind the Courthouse.
Our Religious Education/ Life Long Learning Class will meet at from 10am to 10:45 am with a coffee gathering before the service. More about 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.
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
Sunday January 22 2017: Our UU Presidents
Prelude: America (My Country ‘Tis of Thee) – Aretha Franklin 2009
A hymn from the first Unitarian hymnbook published in the brand new United States, in 1789, and noted as
Thanks for National Protection
O Come, let us sing to the Lord a new song,
And praise him to whom all our praises belong !
While we enter his temple with gladness and joy,
Let a psalm of thanksgiving our voices employ !
O come, to his name let us joyfully sing !
For the Lord is a great and omnipotent King ;
By his word were the heavens and the host of them made,
And of the round world the foundation he laid.
He stilleth the waves of the boisterous sea,
And the tumults of men, more outrageous than they :
Thy goodness, O Lord! let the people confess,
Whom wars do not waste, nor proud tyrants oppress,
And devoutly contemplate thy wonderful ways,
Thou who turnest the fierceness of men to thy praise !
Then our lands in due season shall yield their increase,
And the Lord give his people the blessings of peace.
Chalice Lighting: A Community of Faith by Judith L. Quarles
At this hour, in small towns and big cities, in single rooms and ornate sanctuaries, many of our sister Unitarian Universalist congregations are also lighting a flaming chalice.
As we light our chalice today, let us remember that we are part of a great community of faith.
May this dancing flame inspire us to fill our lives with the Unitarian Universalist ideals of love, justice and truth. Continue reading
Updated Service
“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.
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
West Fork Unitarian Universalists 