living our principles

Sunday January 8, 2017

CZ

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.

Continue reading →

UUs support Standing Rock Sioux in water protection action

CZ

She [Karen Van Fossan] has three recommendations for UUs everywhere who want to join the fight to protect the sacred lands and water rights of the Standing Rock Sioux.

  1. Raise awareness of the struggle among UUs wherever you are.
  2. Encourage UUs to travel to Standing Rock, if they can, to bear witness and take the story back home.
  3. Build solidarity at home—wherever home is for you—and organize actions to stop the pipeline.

 

http://www.uuworld.org/articles/standing-rock?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=oct3

 

Remember that no matter how small your voice may be, it is still a voice.

Namaste,
Cricket

 

 

Sunday September 11, 2016

CZ

Cricket Hall will lead us in a service about the 4th Principle which is a free and responsible search for truth and meaning.

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 be 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.

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 to The Unitarian Universalist Church of Greater Bridgeport

A White Privilege Wake-Up Call | Call And Response

CZ

http://callandresponse.blogs.uua.org/a-white-privilege-wake-up-call/
There is a question embedded in this article.
“How can racism possibly be dismantled until white people, lots and lots of white people, understand it as an unfair system, get in touch with the subtle stories and stereotypes that play in their heads, and see themselves not as good or bad but as players in the system?”

This was a big discussion in one of my classes last semester at seminary. We have to see the privilege and then work towards equality.

Namaste,
Cricket