Church Building Remains Temporarily Closed
The church building will remain temporarily closed to all until further notice except church staff, facilities chair and vendors, Board members, the Assistant Treasurer, and those involved in the production of electronic Sunday services.
Exceptions by the Board of Trustees will be made on a "one off" basis for restrictive opening.
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Rev's Reflections
Rabbit holes can be fun. Let me take you down one, with the hopes that you’ll find it interesting.
This morning I read about how 20th century mystic Thomas Merton helped resuscitate interest in a religious sect that by the 1940’s had been all but forgotten.
The United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing, also known as the “Shaking Quakers,” and later simply the “Shakers,” were led by a charismatic woman, called Mother Ann Lee. She believed that she herself was the second human incarnation of God, that God is equally masculine and feminine. She extolled the doctrines of pacifism, celibacy, and equality among sexes, races and classes as her adherents lived in community with shared resources. In other words, she was a separatist, feminist, anti-war communist.
Sounds kind of unlikely in America during its early days from just before the Revolution, doesn’t it? But by the beginning of the Civil War, there were as many as 9,000 Shakers living in 17 communities from Maine to Kentucky, including here in Northeast Ohio. Yes. Shaker Heights got its name from one of those communities.
Shakers believed that work was an expression of God, a mechanism for gaining spiritual strength, and that even though they were separate from what they called “the world” (all those non-Shakers) they were compelled to do what was right in the world. In Kentucky, as they sold their seeds, produce and furniture, they also quietly bought slaves and set them free in the north. Once war broke out between the states, they started slowly dying off, unable to recruit converts during tumultuous times. Obviously, they were procreating.
As I said, they’d been all but forgotten by everyone, except those of us who happened to live near their historic communities. That’s where Merton comes into the story. He discovered them when he joined a Trappist monastery in Kentucky not far from their Pleasant Hill Community.
Meanwhile, Edward and Faith Andrews were beginning to research what would become a series of books about Lee and the Shakers, and the religious tenets that led them to become great ancestors of minimalist modern design in America.
They wrote:
When Mother Ann told her people to put their hands to work and their hearts to God, she knew it would be from the laborings of worship that they would get the strength needed for physical labor. How true this was, is realized when we read the intimate diaries and journals of her followers: dances and song were recreations. Though these exercises were often extravagant and highly emotional, they were surely not, as sometimes charged, the illumination of ignorant minds. This very exuberance was evidence of an afflatus great enough to sustain and continually inspire the institution.
If you’re like me, you have no idea what afflatus means. It’s defined as inspiration, or an impelling mental force acting from within.
Can you imagine being so inspired by your recreation and your work that you are exuberant about it? In normal times, living out in what they called “the world,” I find it a lot easier to be enthusiastic about everything I do. There’s joy in accomplishing something with a group of people, whether it’s cooking, building something, singing, dancing or celebrating our shared values. But doing it alone, connected only by electronic transmissions through the computer screen? I’m a little less likely to be exuberant.
Here’s something you may not know about Shakers: They were very different from the Amish. The Shakers were great innovators and early adopters of technology. They used every tool they could to make their finely crafted architecture, furniture and textiles. They built power tools that allowed mass production.
I find myself wondering how they would be responding to our current situation. Each community, I imagine, would be taking advantage of all the technology available to keep in touch with each other. At the same time, they’d probably be thrilled that they didn’t have to interact with the outside world.
For a million reasons I could never be a Shaker. But there’s something inspiring in the way they lived. Perhaps inspiration can come from within, if we too just keep doing the work and finding pleasure and satisfaction in it.
May the new year, for each of us, be a time of finding joy in the work we can do, and the fun we can have. Even if we have to keep doing it over the internet for a while.
In Peace,
Rev Denis
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Upcoming RE Events
SOCIAL JUSTICE PROJECTS
The foodbank at Old South Church needs volunteers. Especially strong backs on Thursdays when deliveries happen. If you would like to help, please contact Halcyon.
If you would like to participate in Geauga SOGI (Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity) Support Network, please contact Minna Zelch or email geaugasogi@gmail.com. Geauga SOGI Support Network was started by a group of people including Minna and August Zelch. Their mission statement is: Working together with individuals, families, friends, and the Geauga community to embrace Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. We support each other through collaboration, education, and advocacy. You do NOT have to live in Geauga to participate.
GATHERINGS
FIRST WEDNESDAY NIGHT: 1st Wednesday every month 6:00pm on Zoom
CIRCLE OF MOM: 3rd Thursday every month 6:30pm on Zoom
I can’t supply the chocolate or the flowers, but we can still come together for conversation. I will send everyone a link before the gathering each month.
SPIRITUALITY OF ART: 3rd Saturday every month at noon on Zoom
Gather any art supplies, it can be as simple as a pen and a piece of paper, it could be what you are knitting, sewing, sculpting or whatever. We will connect on Zoom and create art in our own space together. We can still talk and share and listen to music or just share the moment in quiet. I will send everyone a link before the gathering each month.
PERSONAL NOTE
Due to the radical changes in our world, I just want to let everyone know that if you need someone to talk to, give me a call. I will listen if you need. I will joke if you need. I will share if you need. My phone number is 440-708-4596
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ESUUC
Social Justice Zoom Café
Zoom Café to take up 1619 Project
Beginning in February, Black History Month, the East Shore Social Justice Zoom Café will be leading a Discussion Workshop on the 1619 Project. The 1619 Project is a collection of historical and analytical articles as well as poetry, and photography documenting the lives of African-Americans from 1619 to the present.
1619 is the year the first Africans were brought to the American British colonies as slaves.
The Workshop explores how African-American history, begun in slavery, has shaped the lives of generations up to the present and how African Americans have shaped life for ALL Americans, including how they have shaped and influenced our democracy.
Please consider joining this Zoom Café Workshop every first and third Tuesday of each month, from 7-8:30 p.m., beginning February 2. If you are interested, please sign up by emailing Ron Prosek, Chair of the Social Justice Council @ rprosek@earthlink.net. Materials will then be emailed to you in preparation for the workshops.
Black History Month is a good time for us to deepen our understanding of the African-American experience that impacts so much of contemporary American life. Please join us in February.
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Hello all,
The current listserv software that we have been using has not, unfortunately, aged well, and requires a great deal of manual maintenance and management. We are in the process of moving all of our church's listserv groups to Google Groups.
In fact, many of you have already had your other groups (e.g., Social Justice, Our Sisters' Keepers) moved. In fact, this listserv, the main East Shore group, is the last to make this transition. It is the largest, and will require the most work to move.
I am working with Ken Schmidt, and I will be importing all of your email addresses to the new group. You should receive an automated message when this is completed for your individual email address, with the new group's information. Once you have received that message, please start sending all future messages for the main East Shore group to esuuc@googlegroups.com.
This existing listserv at eastshore.org will be disabled after January 31st, 2021.
Thank you for your help and patience with us as we make this transition!
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BEVERAGES
&
BANTER
on Zoom
January Gatherings
Tuesday, Jan 5 @ 4:00 pm
Saturday, Jan 9 @ 12:00 pm
Wednesday, Jan 13 @ 7:00 pm
Friday, Jan 15 @ 10:00 am
Tuesday Jan, 19 @ 10:00 am
Friday, Jan 22 @ 2:00 pm
Wednesday, Jan 27 @ 7:00 pm
Saturday, Jan 30 @ 12:00 pm
FebruaryGatherings
Thursday, Feb 4 @ 2:00 pm
Saturday, Feb 6 @ 10:00 am
Wednesday, Feb 10 @ 7:00 pm
Tuesday, Feb 16 @ 2:00 pm
Friday, Feb 19 @ 10:00 am
Wednesday, Feb 24 @ 4:00 pm
Saturday, Feb 27 @ 12:00 pm
The dates and times of Beverages and Banter gatherings via zoom are subject to change or cancellation. We do the best we can to schedule in advance, but due to the limitations of our Zoom accounts, and the preference that must be given to committee work, changes may be necessary.
Links to the Zoom meetings will be sent out via listserv a few days prior and just before each gathering. If you need a link, please contact Rev Denis, minister@eastshore.org |
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January Loose Offerings
 The January loose collection will be shared with HandsOn NEO in conjunction with the Homeless Stand Down. East Shore has assisted the Homeless Stand Down for several years. HandsOn NEO offers a variety of volunteer projects that connect community needs with volunteers' time and interests. These projects range from dog-walking at a humane society, to GED tutoring, sorting at the Cleveland Food Bank, tax preparation, and many other activities. Through this network of individuals, the organization builds the capacity of area nonprofits, schools and municipal agencies. www.handsonneo.org.
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Both audio and written sermons are available online. To access go to 
