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First Unitarian Universalist
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First Unitarian Universalist
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I’ve been thinking about time and space lately. Perhaps the long drive across the country to get here is my inspiration. As my travel plans were adjusted by changing circumstance, I thought about a phrase I have heard used in both golf and billiards, “There’s a lot of green between here and there.” Grass and felt are the green substances referred to, and neither was apparent on my drive. Rather, fallow fields and orchards, frozen earth at rest, a full moon in a bright clear sky, then wind and rain and snow, all served to remind me that there is a lot of something between where we are and where we want to be.
I was disappointed in myself for not being able to get to Detroit when I had hoped to, and as it became increasingly clear that I couldn’t travel as fast as I’d hoped, I spent time in review.
Mostly, I did everything as right as I could! It took longer to get out of town for real reasons, then the car could not climb as fast as I hoped, and wind became an invisible obstacle – just like most of our confounding obstacles, can’t be seen, but sure is tiring!
The end of each day offered a new beginning, a chance to note where I had hoped to be in comparison to where I ended up – a new starting point.
I think church is a lot like that. We have hopes and expectations, we set goals and then reality comes along and makes adjustments. If we look at each day as a new starting point then we have a way to respond to disappointment. I learned a few things about myself during this move, and in the same way we learn about ourselves as we go through time in our church community. Some of the lessons are the same:
It is okay to ask for, and accept, help.
It’s always better to have a friend.
Just because we got rid of some big things doesn’t mean the rest will fit well. In moving that is material possessions, in the rest of life it is often a different kind of baggage. It is great to know that people want you to show up.
There are countless tangents, some of which need to be explored. All the things we miss in our travels are things we can look forward to seeing next time; we can’t do everything at once.
My mission was to get to Detroit before January 7th. At first, I set this specific goal, which became impractical. The new mission was to get here safely and as soon as possible. Now I am here! I learned a few things from disappointing myself and have made notes for future reference. What more could we ask of ourselves? May we treat our time together as precious, set our expectations high, and move forward knowing that a good goal is a flexible goal, and each day we start with fresh enthusiasm.
Our next discussion will be February 4th at 1:00 P.M. The book selection is On Beauty by Zaidie Smith. Our selection for March 4 is Caucasia by Dancy Sienna and on April 8th our selection is Female Chauvinist Pig: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture by Ariel Levy. We ask that you read the book in preparation for the discussion and that you bring a snack to share.
The Entertainment Book Fundraiser is officially closed resulting in the church budget receiving $198.00. Thank you to all the church members, relatives, neighbors, and friends who bought books to enjoy and give as presents.
I am planning a winter clothing sale along with Valentine thing in a few weeks during coffee hour. Also, hope to have another play fundraiser in April. Thanks to all who bought tickets to the January play.
~ Margaret Beck
First UU has a revised constitution and by-laws as of 12/17/06. Thank you to all who have worked on this for the past year and a half. Many of you gave suggestions and recommendations to improve upon the various drafts. We can, with patience and a good spirit, work together to accomplish good things for our beloved church. A copy of the revised documents will be available on the web and also for distribution at church in the near future. A special thanks to Earl Harvey, Mary Lou Malone and Glenn Maxwell for their patience and input.
We still have the unfinished business of preparing a Policy and Procedures Manual to help clarify and streamline the work of the church. I am again asking for suggestions and information on what is currently in place on committee structures and policies and guidelines. The plan is to compile what currently exists and to highlight what areas we need to complete. This work needs to be done by every committee, officer, paid and unpaid staff and everyone in between. Please give me what information you have so it can be put together in a written manual for distribution to anyone who needs it.
Happy New Year to everyone at First Church and let's keep the positive progress and good ideas rolling.
~ Sally Borden, Board Member Responsible for Membership
Calling all writers! If you have poems, short stories or other original short written works that you would like to share, you are invited to participate in the program for Women's Alliance on January 17, 2007. Lunch is at Noon. The program will begin at 1:00PM. Please contact Alma King to be included in the program. To make reservations for the luncheon call the church office at 313-833-9107 or Eiko Takemoto. The deadline for reservations is January 15th. The membership fee for the Women’s Alliance is $25.00.
Interfaith Dialogs will take place on Sunday, January 21 at 2:00 pm. At the December Dialogs, we talked about Paganism and Patriarchy. To the question "Is there ecumenicalism in Islam?" The short answer is yes.
New topics for consideration are:
Margaret will find statistics on numbers practicing religions in different countries. Why is that spiritual? This was in reference to knowledge of the complexity of the ecosystem and the world.
Donna Walker recommends church members see Hurricane on the Bayou playing at the Imax Theaters at the Detroit Science Center and the Henry Ford Museum. This enchanting movie is more about the wetlands than it is about hurricanes. Show times are listed in local newspapers.
Helga Herz sends best regards to all and wishes everyone a wonderful New Year.
Edna and Aid Koss send best wishes and thanks to all who have sent cards.
Both cards will be on the bulletin board in McCollester Hall.
Mark your calendars for March 30-31 for the annual conference to be held in Grand Rapids. The keynote speaker will be Gini Courter, UUA Moderator. Registration brochures and forms will be mailed to the congregations in January.
A Quiz For People Who Know Everything
1) What famous North American landmark is constantly moving backward?
2) Of all vegetables, only two can live to produce on their own for several
growing seasons. All other vegetables must be replanted every year. What are
the only two perennial vegetables?
3) What fruit has its seeds on the outside?
4) In many liquor stores, you can buy pear brandy, with a real pear inside the
bottle. The pear is whole and ripe, and the bottle is genuine; it hasn't been
cut in any way. How did the pear get inside the bottle?
5) Only three words in standard English begin with the letters "dw."
They are all common. Name two of them.
6) There are fourteen punctuation marks in English grammar. Can you name half
of them?
7) Where are the lakes that are referred to in the "Los Angeles Lakers?"
8) It's the only vegetable or fruit that is never sold frozen, canned, processed,
cooked, or in any other form but fresh. What is it?
9) Name six or more things that you can wear on your feet that begin with the
letter "S."
Answers To Quiz
1) Niagara Falls. The rim is worn down about two and a half feet each year because
of the millions of gallons of water that rush over it every minute.
2) Asparagus and rhubarb.
3) Strawberry.
4) The pear grew inside the bottle. The bottles are placed over pear buds when
they are small, and are wired in place on the tree. The bottle is left in place
for the whole growing season. When the pears are ripe, they are snipped off
at the stems.
5) Dwarf, dwell, and dwindle.
6) Period, comma, colon, semicolon, dash, hyphen, apostrophe, question mark,
exclamation point, quotation marks, brackets, parenthesis, braces, and ellipses.
7) In Minnesota. The team was originally known as the Minneapolis Lakers and
kept the name when they moved west.
8) Lettuce.
9) Shoes, socks, sandals, sneakers, slippers, skis, snowshoes, stockings.
Well, now you know! Feel any smarter?
