The Wednesday Brown Bag Oct 3

Bring your brown bag lunch to the Common Room at noon, Wednesday Oct 3.
It's a chance to discuss, really, anything that's on your mind.
Our "default" topic for Oct 3 will be some short pieces in the UUWorld, Fall 2012, pp. 14-19.

The articles are:
"A Different Church,"
"Sitting and Writing,"
"Voices from the Margins,"
"Stitching It Together."

A Different Church

Our Rev. Gail Geisenhainer recounts a version of her story that she also told in the worship that she led at General Assembly 2006 in St. Louis. It was a powerful sermon -- and you can see it here. (Geisenhainer's portion begins at 49 minutes into the video.) She says:

"I expected the gray-haired ladies in the foyer to step back in fear. That would have been familiar. Instead, they stepped forward, offered me a bulletin, and a newsletter, and invited me to stay for coffee. It was so . . . odd! They never even flinched."

UU faces many challenges. We have a lot of work to do and changes to make. Yet here we have the essence of what we do well and can be proud of: unflinching acceptance. We don't always have unflinching acceptance of everyone -- but we do usually have unflinching acceptance of people that often have not been very well accepted elsewhere.

Geisenhainer goes on to mention the challenge that arose a few weeks later when a women spoke

"during Joys and Concerns that all homosexuals had AIDS; all homosexuals were deviants who could not be trusted with children, public health, or civil society. All homosexuals should be quarantined, packed off to work camps to provide useful labor of society and keep their filthy lifestyle and deadly diseases to themselves."

Geisenhainer then describes how the congregation engaged that crossroad -- not that week, but the next week. How did they engage their crossroad, and how is UUFG doing at engaging its?

Sitting and Writing

The article gives a brief description of two "Contemplation Practices" and two "Writing Practices."

Have you tried these? Will you try any of them?

If you have done these practices -- or practices similar to them -- why do you do so? What does it do?

If you have not tried practices like these, what do you imagine these practices do for those who do practice them?

Voices from the Margins

There are three short readings:

"I too am beautiful" by Kristen Harper
"Faith and belief" by Jackie Clement
"The Stars are dancing," by Om Prakash

In what ways do these speak to you?

Stitching It Together

Rev Jory Agate uses the metaphor of a quilt to describe Unitarian Universalism.

How does our individual quilting go? How does our collective quilting go?

The Wednesday Brown Bag Sep 26

Bring your brown bag lunch to the Common Room at noon, Wednesday Sep 26.
It's a chance to discuss, really, anything that's on your mind.
Our "default" topic for Sep 26 will be some short pieces in the UUWorld, Fall 2012, pp. 5-11.

The articles are:
"Learning to Trust,"
"Souls Bold Enough to Experiment,"
"Steps Toward a Nuclear-Free World," and
"A Spiritual Oasis."

LEARNING TO TRUST

UUA President Peter Morales reflects:

"It is a lot easier to love another person than it is to trust that person. . . . Love is wonderful,"

but it's not enough.

"Love has to act. To act, to create deep and enduring relationships in a family, a congregation, or a religious movement, our love must develop into mutual trust."

If UUs trusted each other more, then,

"We would discuss less and do more."

What does it take to develop trust?

"I can only trust you if I am willing to let go of some control. I can only trust you if I stop insisting on doing everything my way. We can only earn each other's trust if we take time to know one another."

Can we do it?

SOULS BOLD ENOUGH TO EXPERIMENT

See photos of the All Souls New London congregation.
See the All Souls New London website.
The UUA web site shows the New London, CT congregation as having 214 members. The article says they have 255 members. Their new space was once a car dealership.

What do you think of these ideas from what the New London, CT congregation does or has done?

- An "energy break" in the worship service, led by the youth, involving "hoisting a volleyball net and heaving a rainbow-colored beach ball to the seated congregation."

- "The congregation installed showers in their new building so that the homeless guests could bathe."

- Taking seriously the congregation's name, "All Souls New London," the people refer to themselves as "souls." "At the end of the service, the entire congregation stands and joins hands, and [Rev. Carolyn] Patierno leads a call and response: 'Who are we?' 'All Souls!' 'We are!' 'All Souls!'"

- A dozen years ago: "At annual meetings, we used to quibble over $50, $100 expenditures . . . Nobody trusted enough of the leader so we could do bold things." However:  "Over the past decade the congregation has developed a tradition of 'deep listening' and respect for their minister, their leadership, and each other."

- "All Souls adopted new, higher expectations for members. 'Members have to pledge, participate, and show up. You don't just come when you want to; you come.'"

STEPS TOWARD A NUCLEAR-FREE WORLD

In 1987, the Allen Ave UU Church, Portland, ME, declared itself a Nuclear Free Zone. For 25 years they've been working for a world free of nuclear weapons.

The Social Action Committee works with other organizations:
Peace Action Maine
Friends Committee on National Legislation
Physicians for Social Responsibility

The congregation has hosted regional meetings, has joined a teleconference with their US Senator, and formed teams that met with both their Senators, has letter-writing campaigns.

We mind find allies in the area using resources here:
Campaign for a Nuclear Free World.

What does this example tell us about how we can do Social Justice at UUFG?

A SPIRITUAL OASIS

What do you think of the look of the UU Congregation of Phoenix, AZ? (425 members).

The Wednesday Brown Bag Sep 19

Bring your brown bag lunch to the Common Room at noon, Wednesday Sep 19.
It's a chance to discuss, really, anything that's on your mind.
Our "default" topic for Sep 19 will be the articles on General Assembly in the UUWorld, Fall 2012, pp. 28-35, 12.

The articles are:
"Hold Up Those Lights" (read it online: click here)
"Road to a Different Future" (read it online: click here)
"Impressions of Justice General Assembly" (read it online: click here)

I posted my reflection on Justice GA 2012 on Lake Chalice: click here.

"Hold Up Those Lights"

The signal event of GA was the vigil at "Tent City" on the outskirts of Phoenix where nearly half a million have served time at one time or another over the last 19 years.

What thoughts and feelings came to you as you read the UUWorld's descriptions of Tent City?


Please view the PBS "Frontline" episode, "Lost in Detention": click here.


Speaking at the Tent City vigil on the night before the last day of GA, UUA President Peter Morales:

"echoes his own words from the opening night celebration, when he said that Justice GA was just one chapter in the struggle for migrants' rights. The 'true test,' he said, will be what UUs are doing three months from now and five years from now in their congregations and communities. Will they keep their candles lit back home?"

It's now been three months since Justice GA. Is the candle lit in Gainesville?

"Road to a Different Future" 

by Donald Skinner.

As you read this article, what are thoughts on the concept of "Justice GA"?

In addition to a "Justice GA", the Phoenix GA turned out to also be a "Youth GA." "There were twice as many youth -- 301 -- as at recent GAs." When we work on our Justice, we do attract Youth!

"Impressions of Justice General Assembly"

Which of these impressions impressed you? What do these insights into the ways people experienced GA 2012 tell us about how to "do church" here in Gainesville?

Buddhist Meditation: A Management Skill?

Interesting NPR Story This Morning: "Buddhist Meditation: A Management Skill?"

September 13, 2012

"A handful of executive MBA programs around the country — from Harvard to Michigan's Ross School of Business — are teaching students Buddhist meditation techniques. It's not necessarily about teaching spirituality, but focus. There's no way to quantify whether learning how to be centered during a stressful business meeting is balancing the bottom lines at companies. But students say slowing down does help them be more effective."

Listen to the 4-minute story: click here.

The blurb says "it's not necessarily about teaching spirituality" -- OK, but is it contingently about teaching spirituality? That is, it might, in fact, be about teaching spirituality even if it isn't necessarily about teaching spirituality. In my view, if it's about focus and being centered, then it is about spirituality.

The Wednesday Brown Bag Sep 12

Bring your brown bag lunch to the Common Room at noon, Wednesday Sep 12.
It's a chance to disuss, really, anything that's on your mind.
Our "default" topic for Sep 12 is the the article:
James Ford, "The Taste of Awakening," UUWorld, Fall 2012, pp. 26-27.

Read the article online here.

Ford describes an experience eating soup, looking into the bowl:

"As I looked, a cabbage leaf floated up to the surface. I was ecstatic, absolutely ecstatic. Then something magical happened. As I watched, I had this amazing sense of gratitude for that cabbage leaf. And I felt gratitude for my companions in this strange project to which I’d committed myself. Then I was aware of our neighbors in the city and of the city itself. I felt gratitude for them and the people of the state and the country and the globe. I felt a sense of joy wash through the cosmos itself."

Have you ever had an experience like that? What do you suppose happened?

Ford calls this sort of experience "awakening." He says:

"Awakening comes to us in the most unexpected ways, in the most unexpected times. It is a gift. It is always a gift. And it comes to us like being hit by a bus. There are many, many practices out there that claim to help. And here’s a little secret: too many of them do nothing. The Unitarian Universalist theologian James Luther Adams once wryly noted that “nothing sells like egoism wrapped in idealism.” Much of what passes for spiritual practice is just puffing up the ego, reinforcing and guarding it against any and all assault. And -- have no doubt in this matter -- a real spiritual practice plays rough with the ego."

What do you make of this?

Do you have experience with something that you would now say "passed for spiritual practice" but was really only protecting the ego?

What does he mean when he says, "a real spiritual practice plays rough with the ego"?

Ford goes on to offer advice to those beginning on the Zen path. "Diligence is important. . . . Just sitting once a week is not Zen practice." He cautions against the "distinct possibility of a dilettante practice, growing something with no roots and little chance of fruition." Yet he always encourages us to be forgiving with ourselves. When you find you aren't practicing enough, "just pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start again." Don't make resolutions far beyond what you can keep -- but, rather, make resolutions just slightly beyond what is comfortable. Stretch yourself -- but not too much at once, for starters.

What does this article make you think of Zen practice?

Would you say that Ford's advice about beginning the Zen path applies to any real spiritual practice (as opposed to the impostor spiritual practices that only puff up, reinforce, and guard the ego)? Does it apply to yours?

The Wednesday Brown Bag Sept 5

Bring your brown bag lunch to the Common Room at noon, Wednesday Sep 5.
It's a chance to disuss, really, anything that's on your mind.
Our "default" topic for Sep 5 is the the article:
Thandeka, "Obama's Relious Roots," UUWorld, Fall 2012, pp. 20-25.

Read the article online here, and the sidebar here.

The author is Rev. Thandeka: an African American woman, Unitarian Universalist theologian and congregational consultant. Formerly on the faculty at the UU seminary, Meadville Lombard, in Chicago, she leads the "We Love Beyond Belief" project.

"The project We Love Beyond Belief is designed to increase financial income and worship service attendance in your congregation through the enhanced use of music and words as a liturgical practice." Read more.

In "Obama's Religious Roots," Thandeka uses the case of the Barack Obama to discuss what happens to so many UU youth. Obama attended -- sporadically, apparently -- UU RE while he was growing up. What he got was "sampling":

"The story of Back Obama's childhood Unitarian Universalism appears to be a tale about religious sampling, little more."

Thus, in adulthood, Obama went the way that so many UU youth go:

"Nine out of ten of our young people leave us,...We're much better at attracting converts than we are at providing a lifelong home: Only 12 percent of th 161,500 members of our congregations say they were raised as Unitarian Universalists. In mainline Protestant denominations, by contrast, half the current members grew up within the tradition."

Why? "Emotional distance," says Thandeka, citing our Honolulu minister, Rev. Mike Young, who speaks of the

"uneasiness of really getting people involved across the age lines -- the demographic lines. The middle-aged folks are uneasy when dealing with the young adults and the young adults are uneasy when dealing with the kids....UU adults tend to be reserved, emotionally cautious, wary of 'spirituality.' Young people, however, are seeking emotional connections and a strong sense of identity with a group."

Solving the problem, says Thandeka, will require that UU adults:

• "feel this missing part of our life together"

and

• "be transformed by the experience."

Obama's path took him to congregation-based organizing work in Chicago. He was working with people of faith, yet as a religious "sampler" himself, he seemd aloof and removed. Obama became a Christian and a member of a UCC church because he saw/felt a need for "an unequivocal commitment to a particular community of faith." (Note: NOT a need for a specific BELIEF.)
With a commitment to a particular community of faith came:

"feelings of loyalty, family, love, embrace, care, nurture, endurance, and also heightened experiences of salvation while still on earth....Religious communities, he [Obama] now realized, are not just sources of wisdom for moral ideas; they are also healing vessels for the regeneration of broken emotional souls. 'The gospel songs, the happy feet, and the tears and shouts all spoke of a release, an acknowledgment and finally a channeling of those emotions.' Obama became a Christian because his emotional life was not only touched, but also transformed."

Unitarian Universalists, on the other hand,

"keep our individual spiritual needs at arms length from the collective needs of our congregational life."

We UUs are proud of our critical thinking and our engagement with social justice. These virtues, however, do not require emotional distance. Indeed, Obama found that the emotional transformation of his UCC religious experience -- in Obama's own words:

"did not require me to suspend critical thinking, disengage from the battle for economic and social justice, or otherwise retreat from the world that I knew and loved."

We don't need to dampen our mind to open our heart.
Thandeka tells the story of being at a Youth Con:

"One by one the teens stood up and talked about their feelings. They disclosed stories of abuse, of being racially profiled at school, about being the unwanted child, stories about not feeling loved, appreciated, or adored by the people who were supposed to love them. Some of the teens cried as they spoke. The teens held and comforted one another. And at the end of each story, we said together, 'We hear you and hold you in our hearts.'"

Does UUFG provide enough opportunity for emotional connection and transformation?