winter solstice

Sunday, December 18, 2022: Joy to the World

LdeG

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground
Let righteousness its glories show
As far as love is found
Far as the love is found,
Far as the love is found,
Far as, far as, the love is found.

In these dark times, there will be singing. We will gather to light a candle and look forward to the return of light. Lisa deGruyter will lead a service honoring ancient traditions. Please bring a candle to add to the altar.

Please Join us for Worship.

Our services are Sundays at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time on ZOOM and in person at the Progressive Women’s Association Event Center, 305 Washington Ave. in downtown Clarksburg, behind the Courthouse. If you wish to join on ZOOM, please contact us for logon information. A coffee hour, a time for discussion and socializing (including ZOOM participants), follows from the end of the service until 12:00 noon. More about us. If you prefer not to be seen, video is optional. If you would like to participate, please email westforkuu@gmail.com for details and a link, or for help with using ZOOM.

If you are a regular attendee, we have added you to our Google Group if we had an email address. If you have not gotten a group email already, please email westforkuu@gmail.com so that we can add you to the group, which we will be using for staying in touch with each other during this time. Public announcements will continue to be posted here on the website and on our Facebook page and Twitter account, as usual.

Email westforkuu@gmail.com or use our contact form for more information or write to us at PO Box 523, Clarksburg WV 26302

Sunday, February 20, 2022: Solitude

Robert

Not all people are called to be hermits, but all people need enough silence and solitude in their lives to enable the deep inner voice of their own true self to be heard at least occasionally.

— Thomas Merton (modified slightly)

Each of us needs to make space for the “still small voice” of our own true self. Robert Helfer will lead the service.

Please Join us for Worship.

We are forgoing meeting in person during the coronavirus epidemic, meeting on Zoom. We share music, readings, and hymns on our usual presentation slides, have a story and a talk, and share joys and sorrows, as well as a virtual “coffee hour” discussion starting at 10:30, with the service at 11. If you prefer not to be seen, video is optional. If you would like to participate, please email westforkuu@gmail.com for details and a link, or for help with using ZOOM.

If you are a regular attendee, we have added you to our Google Group if we had an email address. If you have not gotten a group email already, please email westforkuu@gmail.com so that we can add you to the group, which we will be using for staying in touch with each other during this time. Public announcements will continue to be posted here on the website and on our Facebook page and Twitter account, as usual.

Email westforkuu@gmail.com or use our contact form for more information or write to us at PO Box 523, Clarksburg WV 26302

Sunday, December 19, 2021: Joy to the World

LdeG

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground
Let righteousness its glories show
As far as love is found
Far as the love is found,
Far as the love is found,
Far as, far as, the love is found.

In these dark times, there will be singing. In the darkest time of another dark year, we will gather to light a candle and look forward to the return of light. Lisa deGruyter will lead a service honoring ancient traditions.

Please Join us for Worship.

We are forgoing meeting in person during the coronavirus epidemic, meeting on Zoom. We share music, readings, and hymns on our usual presentation slides, have a story and a talk, and share joys and sorrows, as well as a virtual “coffee hour” discussion starting at 10:30, with the service at 11. If you prefer not to be seen, video is optional. If you would like to participate, please email westforkuu@gmail.com for details and a link, or for help with using ZOOM.

If you are a regular attendee, we have added you to our Google Group if we had an email address. If you have not gotten a group email already, please email westforkuu@gmail.com so that we can add you to the group, which we will be using for staying in touch with each other during this time. Public announcements will continue to be posted here on the website and on our Facebook page and Twitter account, as usual.

Email westforkuu@gmail.com or use our contact form for more information or write to us at PO Box 523, Clarksburg WV 26302

Sunday, December 20, 2020: People Look East

LdeG

People look east, the time is near
For the crowning of the year
Make your house fair as you are able
Strike the harp and set the table

In these dark times, there will be singing. In the darkest time of a dark year, we will gather to light a candle and look forward to the return of light. Lisa deGruyter will lead a service honoring ancient traditions.

Please Join us for Worship.

We are forgoing meeting in person during the coronavirus epidemic, meeting on Zoom. We share music, readings, and hymns on our usual presentation slides, have a story and a talk, and share joys and sorrows, as well as a virtual “coffee hour” discussion starting at 10:30, with the service at 11. If you prefer not to be seen, video is optional. If you would like to participate, please email westforkuu@gmail.com for details and a link, or for help with using ZOOM.

If you are a regular attendee, we have added you to our Google Group if we had an email address. If you have not gotten a group email already, please email westforkuu@gmail.com so that we can add you to the group, which we will be using for staying in touch with each other during this time. Public announcements will continue to be posted here on the website and on our Facebook page and Twitter account, as usual.

Email westforkuu@gmail.com or use our contact form for more information or write to us at PO Box 523, Clarksburg WV 26302

Blessed Yule Evening with UUFM

CZ

Celebrate Yule with songs and guided meditation.

Friday, December 22 at 6 pm at the UUFM (Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Morgantown).  Our theme is coming out of the dark and welcoming back the light.

We ask that participants bring with them a story of the darkness, whether it be a literal story about something memorable that happened in the dark, or perhaps metaphorically of coming out of a physical or emotional darkness, which they will be asked to share as part of the ritual.  Afterwards, we plan a potluck meal, so please bring something yummy to share.  We will have traditional Yule foods as well as wassail.

The fellowship is located at 429 Warrick Avenue, Morgantown, WV.  Hope to see you there.

Season’s Blessings,

Cricket

Happy Yule

CZ

Today is the Winter Solstice! Hope you have a beautiful day!

If you are looking for ways to celebrate here are some ways for you to do that. I also found some ideas to do with children here.

 Here is a devotional for today:

Winter Solstice Meditation By Christine C Robinson

We join our hearts and minds together in a time of meditation or prayer; spoken, silent, sung, and shared. It is a precious time, and all precious times want preparation, so I invite you to settle yourself in a straight posture, both feet grounded on the floor, to take a deep breath, hold it until you notice your need to breathe out, and relax. I invite you to close your eyes, for vision is the single most energy intensive activity of our brains.

These next few days are the days of the Winter Solstice, a time when those who are very attentive to the skies note that the sun, which has relentlessly moved southward on the horizon since last June, seems to pause on its journey before beginning to climb northwards to center again. Solstice is a time of pause. So…pause. Breathe. Relax. Rest. Be at peace.

Spirit of winter rest, help us to enjoy your peace in this quiet place. 
Remind us to pause during this season. 
Grant us awareness, keep our gratitude fresh each day. 
May the songs in our heart be blessings and insights to us and to others 
and may compassion always shine forth from the depths of our hearts.

I hope you have a blessed solstice.

Namaste,

Cricket

Sunday December 18, 2016

CZ

Prelude: What Night is This? vocals, keyboards, adaption- Katerina El Haj
guitar- Jay Myerson – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATDVDGlc7oc

Welcome:

This is the Solstice,
the still point of the sun,
its cups and midnight,
the year’s threshold
and unlocking, where
the past lets go of and
becomes the future;
the place of caught breath,
the door of a vanished
house left ajar.

Margaret Atwood

Song: Gathered Here

Chalice Lighting:  In the Bleak and Cold Winter By Cynthia Landrum
In the bleak and cold winter,
We gather ourselves in
To light the fire to warm our spirits,
To kindle the flame of love and hope.

Song: The Principles Song (to the tune of Do Re Mi):
One, each person is important.
Two, be kind in all you do.
Three, we’re free to learn together.
Four, and search for what is true.
Five, all people have a voice.
Six, build a fair and peaceful world.
Seven, we care for Earth’s lifeboat.
That will bring us back to me and UU.

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