Editor: Steve Botts, stbotts@texas.net
Nosotros, las congregaciones miembros de la Asociación UU, convenimos en afirmar y formentar el valor y la dignidad propria de cada persona.
President
Mary Grace Ketner
Secretary
Vicki Lee Mattern
Treasurer
Nancy White
At Large Member
Sonya Graham
At Large member
Peter Van Dusen
Operations & Maintenance Committee Coordinator
John Bradshaw, Patrick Shearer
Member Services Committee Coordinators
Clem Chow, Jeff Ketner
Program Committee Coordinators
Henry Halff, Stephanie Shearer
CUUC Website Manager
Margaret Batschelet
One of you relayed a comment from a UU man who said "if you want prescriptive religion, go be Catholic." He might as well have said "Go to any religious conservative group. They will tell you what to do."
Although this comment was a private jibe to a friend, I repeat it because it raises important issues. The man who made the comment understood that UUs are not looking to establish one absolute religious authority in our life. When it comes to spiritual or theological matters, we are skeptical and even critical of anyone who claims to have "the" truth.
Some describe the UU tradition as a "do it yourself approach." We "do it ourselves" individually, but also participate in a community of seekers. Even do-it yourselfers look for guidance and the resources to get the job done. Just ask Lowe's or Home Depot.
Our UU religion is not without prescription, nor should it be. Although we don't expect God's literal instructions to be revealed to us by the bible, by a pope or other religious authorities, we do look to our tradition to offer us guidance in facing the ultimate concerns of our lives. Our congregations do not expect their ministers to deliver "the" answers, but we do expect ministers and other leaders to make significant contributions to the religious life of the congregation. All of us who would participate and hope to influence our congregations, do so by making proposals (prescriptions), requests, and challenges within a democratic process. Often a leader's greatest influence comes when she remembers and repeats with good timing, something that a member or members have previously recognized as sacred.
Perhaps the most common UU prescription is to question. We encourage questioning of authority, and we question normative statements of reality, not to avoid reality but to gain a greater sense of it. Questions help us to gain a greater awareness of truth. We put faith in the individual to come up with the answers that are best for her, and we recognize that individuals must be free to question.
We apply this faith to all life, but especially matters of religion. The impossible task of the religious person is to understand, experience and articulate what might be called spiritual or divine reality. I call that task impossible, because it can not be finished. The eternal or infinite realm is never fully grasped by our concepts or practices. James Luther Adams put it this way; "revelation is never completed."
The recognition of the imperfection of our religious endeavors is at the core of what makes us religious liberals. Therefore we "prescribe" a degree of humility and tolerance in matters of religion! This prescription in no way stops us looking for guidance or from making other prescriptions. Good prescriptions must stand the test of examination and discussion. We prescribe and we question because we seek greater understanding, peace and integrity. I thank you who are reading this column, and encourage (prescribe) your continued participation in the continuance of our liberal religious community and its free and responsible search for truth and meaning.
We, collectively, shape the programs of this church. In doing so, we implicitly or explicitly, shape the church¹s destiny. We decide what the church is out to do for the congregation and for humanity. I face this decision whenever I¹m in the pulpit. For me, the decision often comes down to what Ranger Doug of Riders in the Sky calls "the easy way," or "The Cowboy Way." The Cowboy Way is, of course, the way that is difficult, uncomfortable and unpleasant, but right.
My Cowboy Way is the one that makes us a community of great love and, at the same time, a community of great intellectual, emotional and spiritual ferment.
By great love, I mean not the easy-way love that extends only to those with common beliefs and values, but rather the Cowboy-Way love that embraces folks of all beliefs, especially those at odds with our own. For only when our community is united in a love that transcends particular beliefs and values can we sincerely pursue truth.
By great ferment I mean not the easy way of propping up our own beliefs with hollow rationalizations, declaring consensus when consensus does not and need not exist, or taking those with whom we disagree at their extreme worst. Rather, I mean honest, Cowboy-Way efforts at empathy, that ability to partake of the thoughts and feelings of others, especially those that seem most at odds with us. I mean a dedication to harmonizing diverse views rather than trying to wipe out or marginalize (I can't believe I just used that term) views offensive to most of us.
What does all this mean for CUUC's programs?
First, it means keeping the pulpit open. We need to seek out not just the Thomas Friedmans and Maureen O'Dowds, but also the Kathleen Parkers and George Wills. We need people who can speak with passion and intelligence about views that aren't popular among us. When we can't put these people in the pulpit, we need to do the very best we can to put their views before the congregation.
Second, we need to find ways of making sure that members and prospective members who don't tow the standard UU line have voices in the church. Sharing services are a good way to do this if the participants are chosen with care. I'm hoping to have a diverse and divisive lineup for our service in January on Gay and Lesbian Issues.
Third, we need to avoid sermons that are didactic or presumptuous, or that start with the assumption the congregation is of one mind on a topic. Rather, we need sermons that offer the best of all sides of a topic. We need sermons that try to harmonize different views and discordant feelings without silencing any of them. For example, a sermon about the death penalty should not be about how to stop the death penalty but rather about the real function of the death penalty in society and how that purpose can be properly fulfilled. It is hard to write such sermons and harder to listen to them, but such sermons are the way to transformation through worship, and transformation never comes easy.
Fourth, we need to encourage the kind of adult programs that address diversity of beliefs, programs such as Engaging Our Theological Diversity. The sessions that I attended of this program were marvelous. We heard a wide diversity of views on the day's topic. Consensus was never sought, nor was it ever achieved. We all had the opportunity to find new ways of dealing with the issues raised in the program.
When I reflect on what this church has given me in the ten or so years that I've been a member, one the many gifts that occurs to me is the means to change, to grow, to question whatever assumptions have guided my thinking. Because I've been able to talk frankly with many of you, and because you've spoken frankly with me, I'm a far different man than I was ten years ago. I hope for the same growth in my next decade. I can't say that the process is comfortable, but the Cowboy Way never is. Indeed, the church that fails to challenge or engage its congregation simply for the sake of their comfort has, in a very deep sense, failed that congregation.
Spend Christmas Eve at CUUC. Bring a dessert (to be served after the service). Also, bring some stories, songs, readings, poems, and the like. They can be either of your own making or that of others. They should reflect the spirit of the season. Musical instruments, including voice and CD, will be particularly welcome. We will be put the service together on the spot, something like the first Christmas.
Henry Halff is a lifelong Unitarian. He has been a member of CUUC since 1994. He has served on the Board of Trustees as an at-large trustee and as President. He has also chaired the Member Services Committee. He currently serves the church as co-chair of the Programs Committee, Canvass Chair, member of the Nominating Committee, Service Auction Director, and member of the Membership Committee. He participates in the Men's Group, the Social Action Committee, and the Worship Committee. His ambitions for the church are to see it thrive and grow as a force for good in the world, as a center for all manner of spiritual thinking, and as a source of support for its members. In his services, he strives for spirituality, participatory worship, intergenerational appeal, and personal growth. His greatest love is his wife, Jean. His passions are competitive swimming, Texas music, and beer. His burdens, borne willingly, are the church and his 90-year old father. He occasionally finds time for research and development in the area of instructional uses of computers.
Glenna will conduct an exercise in letting go of disapointments, failures and negative emotions.
Glenna Jones-Kachtik holds a BS in Elementary Education (grades 1-8); having graduated from Texas A&I (now A&M). She has taught in the public and private schools n grades 2 through 7. She was children's librarian at Butt Holdsworth Memorial Library in Kerrville for 5 years and put on some great puppet shows and plays during that time. She is also a registered massage therapist.
Reflections on the nature of emotion: our masculine and feminine tendencies. In his September service, The Yin of Emotion, Phil presented the power of allowing emotion. Appropriate to the intentionality of the New Year, "Yang of Emotion" will discuss our power to choose our experience within a context of balance, nature and flow.
Phil Schulman serves CUUC p/t as minister. He graduated from Thomas Starr King School of the Ministry in "89 and pursued a community ministry for 12 years developing peer support communities. He served previoulsy as minister of St John UU Fellowship in the Virgin Islands, and has extensive experience as a counselor, advocate, and peace and human rights activist.
Steve will talk about positive and negative atheism, theism, mysticism, and other ways of looking at God or ultimate reality.
Steven Botts is a teacher, a sometime poet, and occasional writer of stories. He has done a number of services at CUUC, mostly on religion or religious history. He is a longtime member of the worship committee and is also the newsletter editor for CUUC.
A panel of four speakers will share their thoughts on place of Gays and Lesbians in the church community.
Last month, we wrapped up Hinduism. We learned many things, and it culminated in a wonderful soup lunch. The children made images of "God" -- their thoughts of what a changing God (Brahma,Rama & Siva) looked like, sandpaper rangoli designs, and diwali lights. We also participated in the Bread Communion by launching Guest At Your Table '05. Vicki Mattern and Phil helped us with the skit on short notice and we appreciated it.
This month, we are talking about Guest At Your Table issues. On the first Sunday, we talked about the right to clean water. We learned that over 3/4 of the earth is covered in water and of that only 1% of that water is fresh -- of that 1%, only 1/100th is available for human use. Of that 1/100, 70% of that water is used for agricultural purposes (mainly big agri-business), 22% is used in industry -- which leaves only 8% to be used domestically by the 6.4 billion people on the earth. We also talked about the fact that water is becoming more and more privatized -- and that some of these private companies were charging a days salary for a single bucket of water in some of our 3rd world countries. We did a neat experiment to show the 3/4, 1/100 and 8%. It was very interesting.
We worked on a quilt for the ABC Quilt Project. It is a "Cheater's Quilt" -- meaning that the top was done and we "tied" the front to the backing. We wish to thank Joan Bradshaw for all her help and for finishing the quilt. The ABC Quilt Project is for babies born with AIDS or other life threatening diseases.
This coming week, we will be making cards for shut-ins and talking about a living wage. We will also be choosing what animal our $10 will go for to Heifer International. There will be no Sunday service on 12/25 and no RE Classes, RE or rather I will be doing the service on 1/1/05.
The second week in January we will begin a study of Buddhism.
I wish each and every one of you a blessed season, peace, happiness, tranquility and health. May all the dreams that you dream come true and all of your holidays be just the beginning of a prosperous 2006. Merry Christmas, Happy Yule -- whatever it is you believe, may you have the best. I look forward to 2006 with your children.
Shalom, Blessed Be
Glenna Jones-Kachtik
DRE/CUUC
"If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other." Mother Teresa
Peace on Earth ~ Goodwill to men . . .
The parental covenant group will not meet in December.
Members of the Care Committee welcome your phone calls during this Holiday Season, should you so desire, regarding personal illnesses, hospitilizations or concerns. Marilyn DeKing 299-4005, Joan Bradshaw 341-8506 or Patty Gullick (check church directory).
The Woman's Support Group will meet at the church at 7 p.m. on the following dates:
January 9th and January 23rd
Everyone is encouraged to bring and take free magazines. The trial location is the coffee foyer. Bring as many as you can, take as many Experimental Magazine Exchange as you wish, no charges, no paperwork.Givers should obliterate addresses and takers who might put them in public places should check that that has been done. It is proposed to get rid of leftovers at least once each year during Garage Sale.
Discovering What We Know: Celebrating 20 Years of UU Women's Wisdom Feb. 24-26, 2006 Doral Tesoro Hotel & Golf Club, Fort Worth, Texas
Celebrating 20 years of UU women's wisdom is both a reason for pride and a reason to laugh. We can be proud that our district's women have nurtured this conference for two decades. And we can laugh because 20 years is such a small segment of our SWUUW timeline! Women in the Southwest UU District have been contributing mightily for decades.
We have so many stories, and so much to learn from each other. Our celebration of wisdom will include favorite workshops and vendors, great entertainment, and general sessions, plus new activities guaranteed for a rich experience.
As Keynote Speaker, Rosemary Matson has agreed to lead our celebration of wisdom. Rosemary has stayed involved in UU women's issues since the tumultuous '70s, and will inspire us with stories of accomplishment over obstacles.
We will weave in stories from our local heroines, and welcome your contributions. Our weekend together will be a salute to our past, a time to strengthen our present, and a toast to our future. Join us at this pinpoint in our long and strong SWUUW timeline.
The Doral Tesoro offers an ideal setting for our conference. We can spread out over more than 18,000 square feet of meeting and conference space, luxuriate in our contemporary guest rooms and suites, and enjoy the manicured grounds surrounding the hotel and golf course. Take advantage of Early Bird registration through Jan. 7, 2006, with fees of only $100 per attendee, and $75 for maidens ages 12-17.
Registration packets will arrive at your church soon, or you can register at http://www.swuuw.com.
All parents and those with an interest in children are welcome to join the PCG. The group meets for one hour after church on the third Sunday of each month for the purpose of getting to know each other better. By creating an open, supportive, nurturing environment, we promote and facilitate spiritual growth and mutual, interactive care for one another. We follow the typical covenant group rituals - opening words, a question everyone answers briefly for the purpose of transitioning to the group experience, discussion of a topic, and a closing question and words to send us on our way. Discussion topics vary from month to month. This summer we also went swimming on the Guadalupe River in Kerrville and explored Natural Bridge Caverns. In addition to regular meetings and family activities, as a covenant group we committed to providing a service to the church and to the community. PCG prepared and led the worship service of 8/28/05 and hosted a group of young people away from their families at one of our church picnics.
The Women's Support Group is open to women and friends of the church. We meet every 2 weeks, on a Monday night at the church, starting at 7 p.m. and usually finishing before 9 p.m. Each woman usually talks for about 10 minutes about anything she wishes. However, you don't have to talk if you would rather not. What is divulged is kept confidential unless otherwise stated. It is a great way to get to know the women in the church on a more personal level in a safe environment. We invite you to come and join us and let us get to know you.
The Cuuc men's group meets every other Sunday from 6:30 - 8:30 P.M. The current schedule is 9/25,10/9,10/23. All CUUC men or visitors are welcome to join us.
Group leadership rotates from meeting to meeting. The leader for each meeting is also the host, and he is responsible for furnishing snacks and drinks.
We usually start off meetings with a clearing, in which each member is allowed to talk about recent events in his life, if he wishes to, for as long as he sees fit. Next, the facilitator introduces the topic for the evening. This may involve a short reading - a poem, an article or other text. The subject could be just about anything that the facilitator would like the group to address: What's going on at CUUC, religion, economics science, health, family, friendship, etc.
Around 8:30, we wind things up by deciding who is going to facilitate the next meeting, declare this one finished, clean up, and leave.
The Remarkable Film Group consists of members and friends of CUUC who gather each month to view one feature film and discuss it afterward. Everyone is welcome to attend. The films are usually shown at church at 6 PM on the third Sunday of each month. Films are shown in a series. The attendees select the theme and content of each series normally compose of four films of a common theme, directed by the same person or featuring a specific actor or actress. Past film series have carried such themes as Women Messiahs or include films directed by John Sayles or those featuring Peter Sellers. Current leaders of the group are Clem and Joyce Chow. Any questions about this group may be directed to Clem or Joyce.
Not everyone knows this, but Santa is subject to seasonal affective disorder. Combined with the stress inherent in getting things ready for his Christmas Eve ride, this sometimes causes him to have loud, angry outbursts directed at his helpers over the smallest things. Here's how it went one Christmas Eve:
The head elf came to Santa and said "Sir, we have all the toys assembled. packed in your bag, and loaded on the sleigh. What would you like us to do now?"
To which Santa replied "Why don't you just shove 'em up your pointy little ear!"
The head elf was not at all disturbed; he had seen this many times before, so he just quietly went about the business of getting things ready.
Then Rudolph came and said "Santa all the reindeer are hitched up and ready to go. What should we do now?"
Santa came back with " Why don't you just run 'em up your ugly red nose!"
Rudolph sighed "Just like every other year," and trotted off to tell the other reindeer that Santa would be ready shortly.
Then a little angel, who was new to Santa's staff came running up and said "Santa, the Christmas tree is all decorated and the lights are all on. What should I do now?
And that's why there's a little angel at the top of the Christmas tree.
A Sunday school teacher had passed out the crayons and asked the children to make drawings of the first Christmas. As she examined the kids' work, she found herself a bit puzzled by one little girl's pictures.
"Well, Suzie," she said, "this is very nice. Here's Mary holding the baby Jesus, here's Joseph, and I see the three wise men, but who's this big fat man?"
"Oh, that's Round John," said Suzie.
"Huh?" from the teacher.
"Oh, you know- Like in the song, Round John Virgin."
The teacher considered explaining virginity to Suzie, thought better of it and went to see how Jimmy was doing. She had Mary holding baby Jesus standing next to Joseph by an airplane with a pyramid drawn on the side. Next to the door was a man in uniform.
"That's an interesting picture, Karen," she said, "But why the airplane?
"That's the flight to Egypt," said Karen.
"Ok," said the teacher, But who's the man standing by the door?
"Why that's Pontius, the pilot."
If you'd like to receive the e-mail version of this newsletter every month, send a message to Steve Botts, the newsletter editor.