August 2015 - Arlington Unitarian Universalist Church

Arlington Unitarian Universalist Church
2001 California Lane
Arlington, Texas 76015
817-460-6481
[email protected]
http://arlingtonuu.org/
Kaleidoscope
August, 2015
CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF UNITARIAN UNIVERSALISM IN ARLINGTON
Sunday
August 2
10:00 a.m. Sunday School Gang (adult RE): History of
Christianity; Coffee CUUPS in the library (p 6)
11:00 a.m. Rev. Larry Brumfield speaks on “Healthcare at
Bethesda“
RE: Celebrating Lughnasa Making Harvest Cookies
12:30 p.m. Finance Committee Meeting
Sunday
Hour
August 9
10:00 a.m. Big Questions Forum, led by Keven Holt; Coffee
in the library
11:00 a.m. “In Celebration of Texas” -- Larry Heath and
Barry Hansen: Texas in story and song (p 6)
RE: Making Paper Butterflies
12:30 p.m. Board Meeting
Sunday
August 16
10:00 a.m. Sunday School Gang: “Dead Sea Scrolls”; Coffee
Hour in the library
11:00 a.m. Joni Martin: “Vulnerable Communities and How to
Build Them”
RE: All the Colors of the World Drawing
12:30 p.m. Building and Grounds Use Committee meets
Saturday
August 22
8:00 a.m.
Sunday
August 23
7:30 a.m. Early Bird Tai Chi Chuan and Qi Gong
8:30 a.m. Breakfast Club
10:00 a.m. The Spectrum of Consciousness and Expanding It:
host Gregory Ellis; Coffee Hour in the library
11:00 a.m. Joe Swanson, ACLU Community Organizer: “How
Religious Liberty Intersects with Civil Rights”
RE: How We Contribute – Rock Painting
Saturday
August 29
8:00 a.m.
Sunday
August 30
7:30 a.m.
8:30 a.m.
10:00 a.m.
11:00 a.m.
Early Bird Tai Chi Chuan and Qi Gong
Early Bird Tai Chi Chuan and Qi Gong
Early Bird Tai Chi Chuan and Qi Gong
Breakfast Club
Planning session for 50th anniversary all invited
Lea Worcester: “Reclaiming Communion”
RE: Helping Our Forest Friends Nature Trivia
12:30 p.m. Monthly Potluck Luncheon
For more information about UU visit the north Texas cluster website at
http://www.ntuuc.org/ and the national UUA website at http://www.uua.org/
Pledging: It costs $43 per pledging unit per month to sustain the Arlington UU Church.
Breakfast Club
The Arlington UU Breakfast Club meets from
8:30 a.m. to 9:45 a.m. the last two Sundays of the
month. Locations will vary. We meet at church and
carpool to a restaurant nearby.
Early Bird Tai Chi Chuan and Qi Gong
The last two Saturdays and Sundays of each
month we meet at the Arlington UU Church at
2001 California Lane. Practice runs from 8:00
a.m. to 9:00 a.m. Saturdays and 7:30 a.m. to
8:30 a.m. Sundays. We'll be practicing
Standing Qi Gong (Chi Kung) followed by
moving Qi Gong in the form of Closet and
Traveling Tai Chi and the First Section of the
108 Long Form. These are fundamental to the
entirety of traditional Yang Clan Tai Chi
Chuan. Both beginners and invested students
benefit.
Worth a Look by Barry Hansen
Lone Star, A History of Texas and the Texans by
T. R. Fehrenbach
In the spirit of the Aug 9 program you may be
wondering what is a good book on Texas history
and its people? I'm glad you asked. The very best
book is Lone Star, A History of Texas and the
Texans by T. R. Fehrenbach, 725 pages. Published
by Tess Press, 1968, reprinted and updated
several times. Not a current historian's look back
or “revision” of history but a review using
contemporary sources of the time. Reports,
stories, warts, high points and low points,
triumphs and abuses as observed and chronicled
at the time. The 1968 the first edition was so
well received that PBS/Channel 13 made an 8-part
documentary out of it (I have a copy). Four years
later the Dallas and Tarrant County Jr Colleges
created one of their first college credit “telecourses” from it of which this student received
an A+. I rarely read long books and rarely read a
book twice. I have re-read this one several times
and am currently reading it again. There are
plenty of good books on Texas history but this is
the best. Still in print, new and used at Half Price
books, Amazon, Barnes and Noble and local college
book stores.
“Happy Birthday UU” by Barry Hansen
•Herman Melville, writer (August 1)
•George Ticknor, literary scholar (August 1)
•Charles Bulfinch, architect (August 8)
•Charles Francis Adams, statesman, author
(August 18)
•Ray Bradbury, science fiction writer (August
22)
•Bret Harte, western writer (August 25)
•Hannibal Hamlin, Lincoln's first vice-president
(August 27)
•Jones Very, poet, essayist, mystic (August 28)
•Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr, writer, humorist,
physician, teacher (August 29)
AUUC Mission Statement — Our mission is to provide a nourishing environment:
• In which liberal religious thought and spiritual growth are encouraged; where doubt is welcome
and free choice is the rule
• In which we will be motivated to contribute to the betterment of all life
• In which we will teach and promote all of the other Unitarian Universalist values, embodied in
the Seven Principles
2
Our Natural World – Plants of the AUUC
Our church is blessed by having nearly three acres
of land including an acre of natural woodland. This
land has been preserved and nurtured by us since
we first acquired it in the late 1960s, nearly 50
years ago. As is true of any healthy piece of land,
it includes numerous species of plants. This column
will feature some among them from time to time.
Convolvulus is a genus of more than 200 species of
flowering plants in the bindweed family,
Convolvulaceae, with a cosmopolitan distribution.
Common names include bindweed and morning
glory, both names shared with other closely
related genera. They are annual or perennial
herbaceous vines and a few shrubs. The leaves are
spirally arranged, and the flowers trumpet-shaped,
mostly white or pink, but blue, violet, purple or
yellow in some species. Many of the species are
problematic weeds, which can swamp other more
valuable plants by climbing over them, but some
are also cultivated for their attractive flowers.
Some species are globally threatened. Convolvulus
species are used as food plants by the larvae of
some butterflies. While not common on the church
grounds, bindweed can be seen occasionally in
better-watered areas, no doubt introduced by
birds. The most likely place to see it is in the
foundation flower bed next to the parking lot or
along the west fence, climbing on shrubs.
3
Roses are woody perennials of the genus Rosa,
within the family Rosaceae. There are over 100
species and thousands of cultivars. They form a
group of plants that can be erect shrubs,
climbing or trailing with stems that are often
armed with sharp prickles. Flowers vary in size
and shape and are usually large and showy, in
colors ranging from white through yellows and
reds. Most species are native to Asia, with
smaller numbers native to Europe, North
America, and northwest Africa. Species,
cultivars and hybrids are all widely grown for
their beauty and often are fragrant. The
aggregate fruit of the rose is a berry-like
structure called a rose hip. Rose hips of some
species, especially the dog rose (Rosa canina)
and rugosa rose (Rosa rugosa), are very rich in
vitamin C, among the richest sources of any
plant. The hips are eaten by fruit-eating birds
such as thrushes and waxwings, which then
disperse the seeds in their droppings. Some
birds, particularly finches, also eat the seeds.
Rose thorns are actually prickles – outgrowths
of the epidermis. Despite the presence of
prickles, roses are frequently browsed by deer.
A few species of roses have only vestigial
prickles that have no points. On the church
grounds we enjoy a large number of roses of
varying kinds and colors, planted over many
years.
Meet Ray Bradbury
"Write a short story every week. It's not
possible to write 52 bad short stories in a
row.“
"And what, you ask, does writing teach
us? First and foremost, it reminds us that we
are alive and that it is gift and a privilege, not
a right.... So while our art cannot, as we wish it
could, save us from wars, privation, envy,
greed, old age, or death, it can revitalize us
amidst it all.“
"There are worse crimes than burning books.
One of them is not reading them.“
"You don't have to burn books to destroy a
culture.“
"You’ve got to jump off cliffs all the time and
build your wings on the way down.“
"Stuff your eyes with wonder, live as if you'd
drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It's
more fantastic than any dream made or paid
for in factories.“
"Why would you clone people when you can go to
bed with them and make a baby? C'mon it's
stupid.“
"I have three rules to live by. One, get your
work done. If that doesn't work, shut up and
drink your gin. And when all else fails, run like
hell!“
"Every morning I jump out of bed and step on a
landmine. The landmine is me. After the
explosion, I spent the rest of the day putting
the pieces together."
UUism is a creedless
religion — our deeds
speak louder than our
words — and so it may
be easier to understand
UUism as a living faith by
noting the individuals who
have been associated with
UUism.
Ray Bradbury (1920-2012) is often claimed as
a Unitarian Universalist, though the claim has
been challenged. Rather than post a biography
of this brilliant writer, one of the seminal
figures in 20th century science fiction, it
seems more informative to present a group of
his best-known quotations, gleaned from an
article in The Week.
"Do you know why teachers use me? Because I
speak in tongues. I write metaphors. Every one
of my stories is a metaphor you can
remember."
"I have never listened to anyone who criticized
my taste in space travel, sideshows, or gorillas.
When this occurs, I pack up my dinosaurs and
leave the room."
"I sometimes get up at night when I can't
sleep and walk down into my library and open
one of my books and read a paragraph and say,
'My God, did I write that?'"
"I was not predicting the future, I was trying
to prevent it."
"We must move into the universe. Mankind
must save itself. We must escape the danger
of war and politics. We must become
astronauts and go out into the universe and
discover the God in ourselves."
"I don't think the robots are taking over. I
think the men who play with toys have taken
over. And if we don't take the toys out of
their hands, we're fools."
"There is no future for e-books, because they
are not books. E-books smell like burned fuel.“
"I don't need an alarm clock. My ideas wake
me.“
"You must stay drunk on writing so reality
cannot destroy you.“
4
Religious Education (RE): – Ann Rodriguez
The “Dog Days” of summer: it’s hot and bright,
the garden is boasting a huge variety of lovely
veggies, fruits and flowers. The days are
steadily growing shorter, and school will begun
again soon. As the season changes, we look at
this opportunity to collect our thoughts and
consider how much we are a part of the world
and how “each person is important.”
This month the children and I will be talking
about and learning just how we fit into this big
place we live in, how much each person, animal,
insect, and plant matters, and how much we
contribute. Our environment is precious; and
we appreciate and support our beautiful
ecosystem. We will make Harvest Cookies
with (some) garden ingredients, make paper
butterflies, paint rocks and investigate the
colors around us, plus see how nature changes
to accommodate the season’s changes.
With five Sundays this August, this is a big
month of fun!
Poetry Page: Gertrud Kolmar (1894-1943)
Gertrud Kolmar is the pen name of Gertrud
Käthe Chodziesner. She is considered one of
the finest poets in the German language, and
some say the finest woman poet in German.
The Woman Poet (tr. from the original German)
You hold me now completely in your hands.
My heart beats like a frightened little bird's
Against your palm. Take heed! You do not think
A person lives within the page you thumb.
To you this book is paper, cloth, and ink,
Some binding thread and glue, and thus is dumb,
And cannot touch you (though the gaze be great
That seeks you from the printed marks inside),
And is an object with an object's fate.
And yet it has been veiled like a bride,
Adorned with gems, made ready to be loved,
Who asks you bashfully to change your mind,
To wake yourself, and feel, and to be moved.
But still she trembles, whispering to the wind:
"This shall not be." And smiles as if she knew.
Yet she must hope. A woman always tries,
Her very life is but a single "You . . ."
Events Coordinator Column
Welcome August! With almost every day
booked with activities at our church, it has
been wonderful to see our calendar so full.
This month our visitors number several groups
utilizing the Grove, including a hand-fasting,
our regular weekly classes, and the return of a
few who took respite during early summer.
Our new updated Building and Grounds Policy
is (at this writing) almost in place, which
means less headache and questions about who
is responsible for what. Better contact
information will be implemented plus a new fee
schedule. This easy-to-understand document
is a blessing for all concerned and will make
activities run smoother.
If you or someone you know is interested in
renting space for their event/activity/class,
please call or e-mail the church. This message
will be passed to me, and I will respond within
24-36 hours.
Thank you, Ann Rodriguez
With her black flowers and her painted eyes,
With silver chains and silks of spangled blue.
She knew more beauty when a child and free,
But now forgets the better words she knew.
A man is so much cleverer than we,
Conversing with himself of truth and lie,
Of death and spring and iron-work and time.
But I say "you" and always "you and I."
This book is but a girl's dress in rhyme,
Which can be rich and red, or poor and pale,
Which may be wrinkled, but with gentle hands,
And only may be torn by loving nails.
So then, to tell my story, here I stand.
The dress's tint, though bleached in bitter lye,
Has not all washed away. It still is real.
I call then with a thin, ethereal cry.
You hear me speak. But do you hear me feel?
5
In Celebration of Texas
What to expect at the Aug 9, 11am service:
“In Celebration of Texas”. From the opening
words to the final song Larry Heath and Barry
Hansen will be singing the praises of Texas in
story and song (mostly song). We will all be
singing Texas hymns and have a Texas
meditation. Larry and Barry will present
dueling musical Texas “suites”. It will be “loud
and proud” in the sanctuary. The speakers will
be in western apparel (including hats and
boots) and you are encouraged to dress in
western wear as well. Expect to have a good
time.
Coffee CUUPS
On the first Sunday of each month, coffee
hour refreshments are provided by our
chapter of CUUPS (Covenant of Unitarian
Universalist Pagans) as one of their several
contributions to the congregation as a whole.
All members of CUUPS, in addition to being
active members of the Continental CUUPS
organization, are active members of AUUC.
The purposes of our CUUPS chapter include:
•Enabling networking among Pagan-identified
UUs, providing outreach of Unitarian
Universalism to the broader Pagan community
•Providing educational materials on Paganism
for AUUC and the general public
•Promoting inter-faith dialog and encouraging
the development of worship materials based
on earth- and nature-centered religious and
spiritual perspectives
•Encouraging greater use of music, dance,
visual arts, poetry, story, and creative ritual in
Unitarian Universalist worship and celebration
•Encouraging the development of
theo/thealogical and liturgical materials based
on Pagan and Earth-centered religions and
spiritual perspectives
•Providing an AUUC support group for visiting
Pagan-identified religious professionals and
students
•Fostering healing relationships with our
mother the Earth and all her children
•Providing a place or places for gathering and
for worship.
AUUC Board, Committees, CUUPS 2015-2016
Wonder who does what in our church? Would you like
to find a committee that you can join? Or (alas) want
to know who to complain to when something goes
wrong? Below is the answer – a list of officers,
committees, and organizations within the church. Not
listed are the many other people who contribute by
playing the piano for Sunday services, taking out the
trash, making coffee, repairing the windows – the list
goes on. To everyone, thank you for your generous
contributions of skills, effort, and time!
Lea Worcester
Board of Trustees
President – Lea Worcester; Past President – Barry
Hansen; Vice President – John Blair; Secretary –
Doreen Kaszak; Treasurer – Larry Heath; Trustees
at Large – Zak Kaszak, Phyllis Gillette, Keven Holt
Regular Committees
Finance Committee: John Blair (Chair), Larry Heath,
Joyce Rury, Phyllis Gillette, Zak Kaszak
Membership Committee: Phyllis Gillette
Building & Grounds Committee: Steve Lotz (Chair),
Barry Hansen, Harriet Irby, Chris Whitcomb, Randi
Knight; Ann Rodriguez
Religious Education: Ann Rodriguez
Publicity Committee: John Blair, Keven Holt
Program Committee: Barry Hansen, John Blair, Keven
Holt, Tu Le Tesoro, Naren Jackson
Social Justice & Environmental Concerns Committee:
Worship Committee: Lea Worcester, Phyllis Gillette
Events Coordination: Ann Rodriguez
Special Committee
CUUPS (Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans):
Tu Le Tesoro (Chair), Susan Bair (Secretary), Lisa
Rivers (Treasurer), Ann Jones-Rodriguez, Phyllis
Gillette, John Blair, Lea Worcester, Patrica Flynn,
Sandra Martin, Chad Martin, Joe Tesoro, Troy Young
6
UUA News: Mexican Man Leaves Denver UU
Church Sanctuary After Nine Months
Arturo Hernández García , the 42-year-old
Mexican, who for the past nine months has been
living in the basement of a Denver church to avoid
deportation, received a letter from immigration
officials telling him he is no longer an
enforcement priority. "It's not over," García ,
who claimed sanctuary in October at the First
Unitarian Society, said Tuesday of the battle
that lies ahead of him. García says he looks
forward to sleeping in his own bed at his family's
home and getting back to his flooring work as
soon as possible. "I like this country," García said.
"I have lived in Colorado for 16 years. It's the
country of my daughters. It's the land of
opportunity.“ His first order of business outside
of the sanctuary was a walk around the block with
his wife and two daughters. García said he plans
to be outside as much as possible over the next
few days. García's story became a focal point in
the immigration debate after drawing the
attention of national media outlets and for his
embodiment of the highly charged issue. A group
of Denver activists and religious leaders
petitioned high-ranking U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement officials in a Washington,
D.C., meeting to review García's case last month.
On June 22, a week after their meeting, García's
petition to the government for relief, after
roughly six denied attempts, was recognized.
García finally opened the doors to his adopted
church home on Tuesday cautiously re-entered
the outside world. He struggled to describe his
elation. "Literally thousands of people have been
giving small donations over the last nine months,"
said Jennifer Piper, of the American Friends
Service Committee. García came to the attention
of immigration officers in 2010 after an
altercation at a job site where he and his crew
were laying floor tile, he says. He was arrested
and later found innocent of charges in the
encounter, but ICE nevertheless issued an order
of deportation. García entered the United
States in 1999 and married his wife Ana, 40.
The couple had two girls, Mariana, 16, and
Andrea, 10. García remained in the United
States after his visa expired. His wife's father
is a citizen and her mother has legal permanent
resident status. The couple has unsuccessfully
petitioned the government to allow him to stay.
While García's reprieve is seen as a victory to
Denver immigration activists, it could have much
broader impacts. "It provides immigrants rights
advocates with a concrete example of how
community organizing and mobilization can have
a meaningful impact," said César Cuauhtémoc
García Hernández, a visiting professor at the
University of Denver's law school who focuses
on how immigration law and criminal law
intersect. Immigration attorney Laura Lichter,
who represents García, said at a morning news
conference announcing the end of her client's
sanctuary that the letter doesn't mean the
struggle is over. "Arturo didn't get a get-outof-jail-free card," Lichter said. "He does not
get a free pass.“ As for the future, García says
he just wants to get home.
Jesse Paul, Denver Post
Cell phones should be turned off during the service.
Food in the Sanctuary: So we can all enjoy a snack and fellowship afterwards, please do not bring food into
the sanctuary during services and forums.
Facilities Use Policy:: Permission must be obtained prior to use from the church board or, at minimum, the
church president. The fee is $15 per hour with one hour minimum, unless another rate or free use is agreed
upon by the AUUC Board prior to use. Copies of the policy are available upon request.
New Members Welcome: Membership in the Arlington UU Church is open to everyone 12 or older who is in
sympathy with our purpose and principles. If you wish to join us, you need only sign a membership form in the
presence of an officer of the Church or the Membership Chair. Active (voting) members must be at least 16
and additionally make a financial contribution of record during the year prior to, and be on the roster at least
60 days prior to, any congregational business meeting at which they wish to vote.
Church Newsletter Editor: John Blair, 817-265-3429, [email protected]
7
Pagan News (submitted by Tu Le)
Are Covens Obsolete?
Are covens obsolete? No way! But there is also a
role for the larger organizations, such as CUUPS.
This question was recently considered on the
CUUPS-L electronic mailing list as part of an
ongoing discussion, one of many on the mail list,
about the role of CUUPS in the pagan community
and its relationship to other parts of that
community such as Wiccan traditions. Many points
were made about the benefits of covens. One
person, who uses the net-name HarmonyFB,
commented that "the function of the coven and the
function of the umbrella group are two very
different things." She went on to list counseling,
support, and helping each other to "learn difficult
lessons" as examples of things that can be done in
the intimate trust of a coven setting but not in a
larger open group like a CUUPS chapter. David
Burwasser asserted that pagans do not have the
same need for larger organizations that other
religions do. He pointed to pagan festivals and
pagan anti-discrimination groups as examples of
pagans gaining the benefits of larger groups
without giving up the benefits of covens. Several
people pointed out that covens, with normally up to
about a dozen people, are a good size for energy
raising and for direct contact with the divine, but
that larger groups were less suited to these
activities. Several writers suggested that some
religious and community roles could not be
performed as well by a small group like a coven.
Examples given were social, supportive, and caring
roles, as well as providing for the teaching of
children. A CUUPS chapter is a good place to do
that, with the additional resources of a local UUA
congregation available as well. Some mentioned the
value of festivals in performing some of those
communal functions. The strong role of CUUPS in
the larger pagan community was a controversial
topic for me. I thought some people might be being
overly partisan. But as Jerrie Hildebrand pointed
out, leaders of other pagan organizations often ask
her, in her role as a CUUPS representative to an
inter-tradition organization, "how we have been
able to retire over $15,000 worth of debt in less
than a year! How we have kept a consistent
membership number. How we foster chapters and
much more. How do we produce fairly on-time
newsletters." Although covens may have developed
partly as a way to hide magical and religious
8
activities from oppressive authorities, the
pagans on CUUPS-L believe they are still valuable
today. The discussion was fruitful. I believe we
make better choices after thoughtful
discussions, on the internet, at pagan gatherings
and in our local CUUPS groups.
(by Robert Echlin)