2nd Sunday in Advent

CZ
Advent is the season of waiting. In the Christian year, it is the four Sundays before Christmas. Each Sunday there is a candle lit. They symbolize Love, Hope, Joy, and Peace. This week is about hope. The reading below found on the UUA Worship Web is about waiting and hope. What are we waiting for? What are we hoping for?
Season’s Blessings,
Cricket
We Are Waiting (a reading for Advent) By Leslie Takahashi

When used as a responsive reading, “We are waiting” is the congregational response.

This is the season of anticipation,
Of expecting, of hoping, of wanting.
This is the time of expecting the arrival of something–or someone.
We are waiting.

This is the time of living in darkness, in the hues of unknowing.
Of being quiet, of reflecting on a year almost past.
Waiting for a new beginning, for a closing or an end.
This is the time for digesting the lessons of days gone past, anticipating the future for which
We are waiting.

Waiting for a world which can know justice
Waiting for a lasting peace.
Waiting for the bridge to span the divides which separate us.
Waiting for a promise or a hope.
For all of this
We are waiting.

Chalica 2017 Day 6

CZ

For each day of Chalica we will offer activities, some are fun and some are more reflecting, a chalice lighting, and a meditation. Gather everyone together, light the chalice, and breathe into the principles with us each day.

Activities:

  • Volunteer as a family or make a plan to volunteer on a regular basis
  • Write a Holiday card for a veteran, person, at a nursing home, or a neighbor
  • Go for a walk and randomly compliment people you pass.
  • Write a journal entry about what peace means to you
  • Write a journal entry about what liberty means to you
  • Write a journal entry about what justice means to you
  • Read stories of injustice from around the world
  • Read about other holidays from around the world.

Chalice Lighting: (If you don’t have a chalice at home, remember that the point of a chalice is that it is a symbol so any candle will work.)

 A Spark of Hope By Melanie Davis

If ever there were a time for a candle in the darkness,
this would be it.
Using a spark of hope,
kindle the flame of love,
ignite the light of peace,
and feed the flame of justice.

 

Meditation: 
There are two meditations.

Beatitudes for Justice Builders by Lindi Ramsden

Children’s Christmas Sermon by Gary Kowalski

Here is a musical meditation as well. This is “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” by John & Yoko, The Plastic Ono Band with The Harlem Community Choir.

 

Season’s Blessings,
Cricket

Chalica 2017 Day 5

CZ

For each day of Chalica we will offer activities, some are fun and some are more reflecting, a chalice lighting, and a meditation. Gather everyone together, light the chalice, and breathe into the principles with us each day.

Activities:

  • Listen to a friend who needs to talk without offering advice.
  • Write a letter to someone in the legislature.
  • Find out how to get on the board at your church.
  • Find out when your City Council meets and plan to go to the next meeting.
  • Host a family meal and everyone gets to vote on what you will make.
  • Write a journal entry about what the democratic process means to you.
  • Watch a movie as a family, but everyone has to vote on what it’s going to be.

Chalice Lighting: (If you don’t have a chalice at home, remember that the point of a chalice is that it is a symbol so any candle will work.)

Reminder of the Inner Light By Gregory David Miller

This fire is a reminder of the light within us all;
the yearning for freedom,
the longing for truth,
the flame of intuition,
the torch of conscience.
We dedicate this service to the remembrance of this Holy Light.

 

Meditation:
There are two meditations. The second one is even fun for kids.

Give Voice to Mourning by Lindasusan Ulrich

The Great Pie-Rat Controversy by Naomi King

 

Here is a musical meditation as well. This is Dion’s “Abraham, Martin, and John” because it focuses on people who lived this principle.

 

Season’s Blessings,
Cricket

PS: Very sorry this is a day late.

Chalica 2017 Day 4

CZ

For each day of Chalica we will offer activities, some are fun and some are more reflecting, a chalice lighting, and a meditation. Gather everyone together, light the chalice, and breathe into the principles with us each day.

Activities:

  • Find answers to questions in your family question box or find the answer to a question you have wanted to learn for a long time.
  • Go the whole day without lying (no white lies, answer honestly when people ask how you are, no lies of convenience).
  • Unitarian Universalism is a very long name, and not many people know much about it. Create an elevator, or playground, speech so you can tell people what it means to be a UU in one minute or less.
  • Check out a podcast like The Pamphlet or The VUU to learn some history or about something going on in the UU movement at the moment.
  • Do a science experiment.
  • Write a journal entry with your thoughts on truth and meaning. What does it mean to search for them? What is a free and responsible search?
  • Walk a labyrinth or do a virtual labyrinth meditation

Chalice Lighting: (If you don’t have a chalice at home, remember that the point of a chalice is that it is a symbol so any candle will work.)

The Meaning of the Chalice By Martha Kirby Capo

For some, the chalice cup is a communion cup, freely offered to all who would seek the greater Truth. Others see the circle of fellowship in its embracing sides. The sacred hoop of its rim, the ambient energy cradled in its basin, the abiding, grounded strength of its pedestal: may all be lit by the fire of spiritual integrity; so too may we each be bathed in the glow of our shared Truth, multifaceted and radiant.

Meditation: Today there are two meditations.

Hide and Seek with God by Mary Anne Moore

Try to Love the Questions Themselves by Rainer Maria Rilke

Here is a Music Meditation for you. It is “I Know This Rose Will Open” performed by the Clarence High School Treble Choir

Season’s Blessings,

Cricket

Chalica 2017 Day Three

CZ

For each day of Chalica we will offer activities, some are fun and some are more reflecting, a chalice lighting, and a meditation. Gather everyone together, light the chalice, and breathe into the principles with us each day.

Activities:

  • Cook a meal you’ve never made before, especially one from another culture
  • Attend a lecture, visit a museum, or go to see a play. Discuss the event with someone around you.
  • Discuss your religious beliefs and how they have changed over the years.
  • Write a journal entry about acceptance and spiritual growth
  • Play a board game with family or friends that none of you have ever played before
  • Meditate on something from each of the Six Sources

Chalice Lighting: (If you don’t have a chalice at home, remember that the point of a chalice is that it is a symbol so any candle will work.)

Thirsty By Gregory Pelley

And so we gather, from the ebb and flow of our lives
Thirsty for connection to ourselves
Thirsty for connection to others
Thirsty for connection to the larger life.

As we light this chalice
May all who gather here be filled:
Filled with joy and hope
Filled with compassion and love

Here, may we be filled
So that we may pour ourselves out
into the world.

Meditation:
There are two meditations today one about building spiritual walls and one about choice.

Towers of Babel by George A. Tyger

Choice by Alex Kapitan

 

Here is a musical meditation as well. U2’s “Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” is about doubt, which is part of Acceptance and Spiritual Growth.

Season’s Blessings,
Cricket

Chalica 2017 Day Two

CZ

For each day of Chalica we will offer activities, some are fun and some are more reflecting, a chalice lighting, and a meditation. Gather everyone together, light the chalice, and breathe into the principles with us each day.

Activities:

  • Write a Letter to an elected official about an injustice
  • Pay for the person behind you in the drive-through line
  • “Want me to pick something up for you?” If you know someone is overwhelmed – perhaps by a new baby, family health issues, or something else – give them a call when you’re going out to the store. Ask if they’d like you to pick something up. We’ve been the beneficiaries of this random act of kindness, and it’s great.
  • Try to go the whole day without arguing with anyone
  • Go out to eat and tip the server double
  • Go to the store or mall with the family and stand outside and open the doors for people
  • Find a social justice cause and/or a new way to support it.
  • Educate yourself and your family on a social justice issue. These Youtube channels are a great way to start.
  • Write a journal entry about what Justice, Equity, and Compassion mean to you.
  • Write a poem about being kind.

Chalice Lighting: (If you don’t have a chalice at home, remember that the point of a chalice is that it is a symbol so any candle will work.)

Justice, Meaning, and Purpose By David Breeden

We light this chalice
remembering and honoring our own tradition
and celebrating the rich diversity of traditions among us.

As we search for justice, meaning, and purpose,
may we remember that justice, meaning, and purpose
live first in deeply listening to one another.

This chalice lighting was written for a multifaith gathering.

Meditation:
Our Meditation today is about Love. Focusing on love helps us to remember that each person is important.

May We Reach Out in Honesty and Love by Dennis McCarty

Here is a musical meditation as well. This is “Do What the Spirit Say Do” as performed by Sweet Honey in the Rock.

Season’s Blessings,
Cricket

Sunday, December 10, 2017: Extreme Practices

Robert

Prelude: Avanti – Corvus Corax
https://youtu.be/Zyu9ur8iX4g

Welcome: To learn more about being human – Erika A. Hewitt

Welcome to this morning, this day, and this opportunity to be together in community — which is a time of joy, comfort, and sometimes challenges. This Unitarian Universalist congregation is a place where we come to learn more about being human. We’re not here because we’ve figured out life’s questions, or because we think we’ve got it right, or even because we think we know what the questions are.

We come here to learn more about being in relationship together: how to listen, how to forgive, how to be vulnerable, and how to create trust and compassion in one another.

Let us move into worship, willing to be authentic with each other, honest within ourselves, and open to connection in all its forms.

Come, let us worship together.

Chalice lighting: Blessed is the fire that burns deep in the soul – Eric A Heller-Wagner

Blessed is the fire that burns deep in the soul. It is the flame of the human spirit touched into being by the mystery of life. It is the fire of reason; the fire of compassion; the fire of community; the fire of justice; the fire of faith. It is the fire of love burning deep in the human heart; the divine glow in every life.

Continue reading →

Chalica 2017 Day One 

CZ

For each day of Chalica we will offer activities, some are fun and some are more reflecting, a chalice lighting, and a meditation. Gather everyone together, light the chalice, and breathe into the principles with us each day.

Activities:

  • Watch a Christmas Carol. (Scrooge learns an important lesson)
  • Make “I am Thankful for you because” cards for your friends and family.
  • Make nice notes, cookies, or a small craft for your neighbors, especially the ones you don’t get along with.
  • Write in a journal what the first principle means to you.
  • Spend time with people you don’t usually get along with, those with different religions, political views, or cultural identities. Find things you like about them
  • Go serve at a homeless shelter
  • Donate toys, blankets, or clothes to a shelter (do it in person so you can see who you are helping).
  • Write an apology letter to someone you hurt this year.
  • Write a letter of forgiveness to someone who hurt you this year.

Chalice Lighting: (If you don’t have a chalice at home, remember that the point of a chalice is that it is a symbol so any candle will work.)

Love can transform the world By Maureen Killoran

Love is the aspiration, the spirit that moves and inspires this faith we share.
Rightly understood, love can nurture our spirits and transform the world.
May the flame of this chalice honor and embody the power and the blessing of the love we need, the love we give, the love we are challenged always to remember and to share.

Meditation:
Our Meditation today is about Love. Focusing on love helps us to remember that each person is important.

Psalm 23 for This Moment by Kevin Tarsa

Here is a musical meditation as well. “Perfect” by P!nk is about knowing that you have worth and others have worth. Enjoy.

Season’s Blessings,
Cricket

Chalica 2017

CZ

Chalica is a week-long celebration of our Unitarian Universalist Principles. The holiday first emerged in 2005 out of a wish to have a holiday organized around Unitarian Universalist values.

Chalica begins on the first Monday in December and lasts seven days. Each day, a chalice is lit and the day is spent reflecting on the meaning of that day’s principle and doing a good deed that honors that principle. Not all Unitarian Universalists celebrate Chalica, but it has a growing following. There is a Chalica Facebook page, blog, and many Chalica-themed videos on YouTube – from the UUA Website. 

This year we will share some activities and meditations everyday to help us all celebrate Chalica. 

Season’s Blessings, 

Cricket

Sunday, December 3, 2017: Revelation Is Not Sealed

LdeG

…the heretic, acquainted with loneliness, has nothing to offer but himself. He has no claim to present but that of his own soul, and its right to recognition. He is convinced that not through churches, or books, but men, does God speak His word and reveal His will. He does not deny that revelation has come to other men in earlier times, and that what they saw has become the precious tradition of a church, or the holy testimony of a Bible; but he insists that this “Revelation is not sealed; Answering unto man’s endeavor. Truth and right are still revealed.”

-John Haynes Holmes

Perhaps the greatest function of Unitarian Universalist congregations is the relief of the loneliness of the heretic. Lisa deGruyter will lead the service.

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 we will be learning UU songs at 10, and perhaps trying some singing meditation.

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. You may park on the south side of the building, which is marked reserved for the PWA.

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