by the Soul Matters Sharing Circle team There’s a natural, and important, go-getter quality to this month. After all, huge payoffs come when we keep our commitments. Maintaining loyalty to healthy habits not only lengthens our lives but enriches them. Faithfully following through on our relationship commitments allows us to fully realize ourselves as the interdependent creatures we are, as well as increases just about every metric of happiness, meaning and success out there. And keeping the promises we make to ourselves ultimately gives us the strength, groundedness and self-confidence needed to follow through on all those promises we make to those around us. Add it… by the Soul Matters Sharing Circle team Henri Nouwen, the treasured catholic teacher, activist and pastor, once described beloved community as “the place where the person you least want to live with always lives.” On its surface it seems to be a straightforward reminder not to expect perfection from the communities we join. And not to expect perfection from others. Indeed, it’s a plea to stick with those troublesome others. Forgive them. Accept them. Stay open to the whole of who they are, not just the caricatured sliver of them that makes it easy to write them off. Besides the obvious calls to commitment,… by the Journey to Asylum team Journey to Asylum is part of the UUSC’s Congregational Accompaniment Project for Asylum Seekers (CAPAS). Every month, the CAPAS congregations gather on Zoom to share lessons learned, resources, and support! It’s been a wonderful way to be in fellowship with UUs doing similar work. Some congregations are supporting individual asylum seekers in congregant homes, one congregation has a house on campus like ours, another is renting an apartment for their asylum seeker. One congregation is journeying with a mother and baby, most are hosting single individuals, and one congregation is supporting two unrelated asylum seekers…. Dear WUU Community, My parents had a mixed marriage—Democrat and Republican, that is. My mom, the more politically active of the two, used to do volunteer canvassing for local Democratic candidates in our neighborhood, while Dad read his Wall Street Journal editorials and grumped about the liberal policies he believed were bankrupting the country. For me, that was normal. My parents loved each other, and they disagreed on politics—a lot. And it was OK. They regularly joked about cancelling out each other’s vote. And it was OK. As we enter into our month of Beloved Community, I’m struck by how… Dear WUU Community, Happy New Year! I hope you all had a good and safe holiday season, as I did. With 2020 in our rearview mirror at last, I’m happy to share some hopeful new things shaping up here at WUU: First, our racial justice & inclusivity work is moving forward in a new way! You’ve probably heard me talk about a major new anti-oppression report from our UUA: Widening the Circle of Concern. Last month, our Program Council began studying the report’s many recommendations for congregations like ours that want to become more skillful at the work of diversity… by the Soul Matters Sharing Circle team Maybe our most important work is to re-imagine imagination. Imagination’s great gift is improvement. At least that is what we’re usually taught. The deep magic lies in the way it can reshape our reality. We are urged to imagine the world we dream of. A world with more justice. More peace. More love. From that, a mysterious magnetism arises, a magnetism that pulls our imperfect present into an improved future. Imagination moves us forward. It makes us better. Yet there’s a way in which this view of imagination impoverishes us. It steals the… It’s hard to believe that M and her children have been our guests for six months! We are so grateful for the outpouring of support that they have received from the congregation and the community. Although COVID has made it difficult for many to get to know the family, please know that your support means the world to them. M now describes us as her family, and feels such a sense of safety and hope. The Journey to Asylum program (JTA) has achieved a great deal since its start just a few months ago. At the beginning, our board moved… For my family and me, it’s an honor to be able to share some of our customs and traditions from Mexico. December is a very special month because it’s a month of love and forgiveness where we give and receive with family. I would go as far as to say that in the whole country we celebrate these holidays in similar ways with some adjustments according to the economic situation of each family. It is a month full of meaning for everybody. In Mexico, on December 12, we celebrate the day of the Virgin Guadalupe. On this day families begin… During the second half of the year, seven people became members of WUU. We will recognize them during this Sunday’s worship service at 10 am. Get to know our newest members by reading their bios below, and be sure to offer them a warm welcome to the community! Cynthia Bickey I’m a native West Virginian, and I still own our family business there, which my older son runs now. The business is coal-related, and I still serve as a consultant. My late husband (he died in 2014) and I were married almost 47 years, and we have four children: two… by the Soul Matters Sharing Circle team Don’t tell me to be calm when there are so many reasons to be angry… I didn’t say to be calm, said the wind, I said to breathe. We’re going to need a lot of air to make this hurricane together. – Rev. Lynn Unger, from her poem BreatheOften when stillness weaves its way into our discussions, it’s framed as a retreat strategy. A balm from the frantic and frequently wounding world. But as wise ones like Rev. Unger remind us, that’s not quite right. It’s less like a locked room that keeps all the enemies…
What Does It Mean To Be a People of Commitment?
What Does It Mean to Be a People of Beloved Community?
Journey to Asylum Program Update
Notes from the Minister February 1, 2021
Notes from the Minister
What Does It Mean to Be a People of Imagination?
Journey to Asylum – Six Month Update
Journey to Asylum: Mexico Holiday Traditions
Welcome, New Members!
What Does It Mean to Be a People of Stillness?
