Church Building Remains Temporarily Closed
The church building will remain temporarily closed to all due to the Covid-19 pandemic 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
WARNING: This is one of those reflections that rambles, like a journal entry!
Lately, in different venues and among very different “kinds” of people, I’ve been hearing many slight variations on one statement:
Human beings have a need to know that there are groups of people of lower social worth than the group they belong to themselves, and to thus feel superiority.
I hate to say it, but yes. That certainly does appear to be true most of the time. A corollary to that truism that has proven to be true — in my humble experience — 100% of the time is that when a group that has been oppressed gets power, they fall into the trap of oppressing groups they deem to be of lower social worth, especially if the social order has reversed and their former oppressors are on in a in lower strata.
That’s why I think so many are afraid to face racism, and other “isms.” They have this sinking feeling that the tables will turn and they’ll be treated as badly as they treated others.
Left to our own devices, without input from others in the context of the Beloved Community, we’re a lot more likely to seek vengeance than reconciliation.
Rev. King believed that Beloved Community UU’s possible, a world in which poverty, hunger and homelessness are not tolerated because of shared ideas of human decency; a world where conflict is resolved through reconciliation, and friendship prevails over war.
While that sounds lofty, Henri Nouwen was more down to earth, once describing Beloved Community as “the place there the person you least want to live with always lives.... that person is always in your community somewhere ... [and] in the eyes of others, you may be that person.”
It’s not easy, this business of facing who we are, taking respomsibility for making the world we want to see. Audre Lorde, a Black lesbian womanist explained it in a poem published in 1973. Since Feb 18 is the 87th anniversary of her birth, I thought I’d share it with you.
Who Said It Was Simple, by Audre Lorde
There are so many roots to the tree of anger
that sometimes the branches shatter
before they bear.
Sitting in Nedicks
the women rally before they march
discussing the problematic girls
they hire to make them free.
An almost white counterman passes
a waiting brother to serve them first
and the ladies neither notice nor reject
the slighter pleasures of their slavery.
But I who am bound by my mirror
as well as my bed
see causes in colour
as well as sex
and sit here wondering
which me will survive
all these liberations.
We could just wallow in the hopelessness of it all, resigning ourselves to the idea that our nature is to put ourselves above others every chance we get. But Ms. Lorde’s poem, for me, is affirmation of our greatest gift: our capacity for self reflection, which we do best in relationship with others, where they can reflect back what they see. They can show us when we are the person they least want to live with, and how to turn ourselves around.
I know we all want to be better, to treat others better, and the inspiration for all that self-improvement is love. I know it because every single time I officiate the marriage of a couple, they both say that other makes them want to be a better person.
Through all this thinking about Beloved Community this month, I think I’ve reached my own working definition: it’s where, through bad examples, cautionary tales and loving inspiration, we make each other want to be better people, so that all parts of each of us are liberated.
In Peace,
Rev Denis
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Upcoming RE Events
CLASSES
February
- Tuesday 16 – Project 1619 at 7:00 pm
- Thursday 18 – Circle of Mom
- Saturday 20 – Art of Spirituality
- Sunday 21 – Zoom class at 12 noon
- Tuesday 23 – Tuesday Theme Class at 7:00 pm
- Sunday 28 – Zoom class at 12 noon
- Sunday 28 – Developing Our Faith Team Meeting at 1 pm
Church Events – Everything will be on Zoom until future notice
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.
THEME TUESDAY:
Last Tuesday of the month at 7:00-8:30 pm
This is an adult class 16 years and up. We will be discussing that month’s theme and explore how it is a part of our spiritual lives. Please let Halcyon know you would like to participate so she can send any materials for each class.
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. -Halcyon
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BEVERAGES
&
BANTER
February Gatherings
- 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 email 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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February Loose Offerings
UU SCHOLARSHIP FUND
Half of our loose offerings in February are shared with our Scholarship Fund, which supports particip ation in UU related programs and events. For instance, it could provide financial aid for pastoral care training or for facilitator training for Our Whole Lives/Sexuality and Our Faith (OWL). It can also provide help to attend national or regional events, including the UUA General Assembly in Rhode Island (June 24-28), and the Central East Region Summer Institute (July 12-18). Summer Institute is being held near Pittsburgh this year. It is a family friendly UU camp of more than 600 UUs from around the district and beyond.
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