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Daily Practice: A Weekly Reminder 11/19/2023

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In March 2020, when the COVID pandemic required us to radically alter our family and community connections, at the Fellowship we undertook a daily practice of cultivating inner nobility and steadiness. The needs and aims were many: including to help decrease worry and anxiety, to increase our ability to acknowledge and accept new ways of doing things, to encourage ourselves and each other to recognize different ways of staying connected, to help ourselves and each other find courage and strength when we felt too fragile or unbalanced. Of course things have changed since March 2020 – at the very least we are no longer in the midst of the global pandemic. Yet in some ways things have not changed – we are certainly still in the midst of global change – physically, socially, emotionally, and more. To practice cultivating inner nobility and steadiness remains a high calling, and a daily opportunity. Is the world we are living in any less challenging than it was in 2020? It doesn’t feel that way. Inner nobility and steadiness have never been more important than now.

What is inner nobility? Here are some ideas: It is the ability to consider the well-being of others in the same way we consider our own well-being. Or, love your neighbor as yourself. It is a capacity to not take everything personally, and to understand ourselves as irrevocably part of a wide and deep network of relations. It is the ability to approach others with loving kindness first. And how do we practice steadiness? Remember what it feels like to be in a boat which rocks. The first instinct is not to tell someone to “stop rocking the boat!”; the first instinct is to add more hand-holds, or rearrange one’s body to move with the rocking. That is, to quickly see the way things are, and adjust in all possible ways.

May we continue to learn, may we continue to practice – may we continue to cultivate inner nobility and steadiness.

Democracy Action Team 11/19 at 11:45 AM

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Sunday, 11/9 at 11:45am

All are invited. Help protect democracy! Meet or catch up with others who are doing this work. We’ll share information about: what we all have accomplished in the last few election cycles, how letter writing makes a difference, and key issue campaigns of the year: Ranked Choice Voting (on Oregon’s ballot) and the Freedom to Vote Act. Join us in the Sanctuary following the Sunday Service.

“Transgender Day of Remembrance”

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Gender and Sexual Diversity Justice Team: Michelle Shouse, Patricia Parcells, Becca Bedell, Rachel Kohler, Rev. Jill McAllister

In Unitarian Universalism, freedom means the freedom of each individual to claim their own identity – to not be defined by others or social norms. Transgender people find this freedom hard to come by in most places – indeed many parts of our wider community are dangerous for trans folks. How can we as a congregation help provide more safety and support for all? 

Living outdoors during Oregon winter is tough!

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Another way you can help support the work of the Daytime Drop-In Center is by donating clothing:

-Men’s pants in sizes 32, 34, 36 preferably

-Men’s/Women’s – warm fleece tops, hoodies, pants, and vests

-Men’s/Women’s -outerwear jackets, especially rain gear and rain-proof hats

-Women’s underwear

-6 – 9 Blankets

-Gloves (we have enough socks, beanies, scarves, men’s underwear)

Drop off items in the UUFC foyer in the large white container with pictures of warm clothing on front or contact Roberta Smith robertasmith2@gmail.com

No Thanksgiving Event

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It seems folks have other plans and priorities this year, so the Fellowship is not hosting a Thanksgiving Day meal or gathering. If you are interested inviting others to share some of the day with you at your home, or to go for a walk together, or other activity, please let Rev. Jill McA know – minister@uucorvallis.org.

Thank You! 11/12

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Thank You.

Thank you to Betty Shelley for offering a class on garbage and trash awareness and management (at the services auction), and for all who participated, who can help raise the awareness of all of us.

2023 UUFC Men’s Retreat – Recap

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In its first off-site meeting since the pandemic, 22 UUFC men met at the Menucha Conference Center Nov. 3-5 to share stories and deep feelings about their lives. Through the lens of engagement, attendees spoke of connecting and disconnecting with others and the lifelong events that had impact on those choices. We met in small and large groups, sang songs, shared our own music and poetry, and spent time in the beautiful Columbia Gorge consolidating our insights and emotions. The UUFC men’s group welcomes all who identify as men and continues to meet weekly, in person at noon on the first Sunday of each month and via Zoom on other Sundays. Contact Jerry Buthmann for details.

Holiday Fair Volunteers Needed 12/2

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Holiday Fair Volunteers. It takes a UUFC village to put on a successful Holiday Fair. We need greenery makers, furniture movers, bakers, greeters, and cashiers. Won’t you volunteer a few hours of your time?

MORE Holiday Fair Help Needed!

2-3 hour shifts.

  • Greenery makers – 11/29: 12 MORE. 11/30: 6 MORE
  • Furniture Moving – 12/1: 7 MORE. 12/2: 11 MORE
  • At-Home Bakers – by 12/1: 10 MORE
  • UUFC Kitchen Bakers – 11/30: 5 MORE. 12/1: 5 MORE
  • Greeters/Floaters – 12/2: 7 MORE
  • Cashiers: 12/2: 13 MORE

Sign Up to Volunteer!

Daily Practice: A Weekly Reminder 11/12/2023

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In our hymnal, Singing the Living Tradition, reading #468, by George Odell, is this: “We need one another when we mourn and would be comforted. We need one another when we are in trouble and afraid. We need one another when we are in despair, in temptation, and need to be recalled to our best selves again. We need one another when we would accomplish some great purpose and cannot do it alone. We need one another in the hour of success, when we look for someone to share our triumphs. We need one another in the hour of defeat, when with encouragement we might endure, and stand again. We need one another when we come to die, and would have gentle hands prepare us for the journey. All our lives we are in need, and others are in need of us.”

This is a beautiful description of interdependence! If, as we considered last Sunday, we need to acknowledge more fully the facts of our deep and complex biological interdependence, we also need to understand our social interdependence as well. We are, biologically, “wired for connection,” and this need informs and affects how we relate to other people. If we strongly value interdependence, then we also value learning how to live more interdependently. After generations of the veneration of individuality as the highest value, and now recognizing the damage that veneration has caused to the social ties which support us all, it is important begin to take the well-being of the whole community into account as much as the well-being of each individual.

This is the truth at the heart of the South African / Zulu philosophy of Ubuntu: “I am a person through other persons. My humanity is tied to yours. I am because we are.” This week for daily practice, consider listing, reciting, cataloging each day the ways in which your humanity depends on others. (Not just your life, but your humanity). Consider being intentional about practicing interdependence. Re-read the piece by George Odell several times, and see if it helps you in this practice. Then let’s share what we learn.

“Tending Our Grief, Opening to Gratitude”

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Rev. Jill McAllister and Susan Sanford

As strange as it may sound, grieving does not necessarily come to us naturally. And, culturally for most of us, it has not been well-modeled or taught. We need each other in order to learn how to tend to our grief, to practice, and to learn to carry it. When we can’t tend to our grief, our capacity for joy and happiness is too often diminished. What can we learn, and how can we help each other?