As Unitarian Universalists, one of our primary “texts” for theological understanding is lived experience. In other words, we agree with Paula D’arcy’s insight that “God (or Meaning) comes to us disguised as our life.” From deeper questions about the history of Thanksgiving Day, and of indigenous ways of noticing how we are related, we’ll consider practices of observation that can help us search for meaning and sustain us.
Sunday, December 17th, 4:00pm to 6:00 pm in the Social Hall
Join Anya and Jema and friends for hot drinks and cozy crafts and conversation. Bring cookies to share, if you like! An optional walk through the neighborhood to look at Christmas Lights will follow. All are welcome.
We meet monthly on the 3rd Sunday in the afternoon. Join LGBTQ+ folx and allies for social gatherings centered on queer issues and themes. We understand the importance of queer community, and our goal is to provide a safe space where people can find that sense of belonging right here in Corvallis. Questions: connect@uucorvallis.org
The Spiritual Practices Adult RE workshop has wrapped until April. Thanks to all who participated – we learned a lot together!
Check out the RE new page to see our book recommendations for your personal lectionary and some of our art journaling commitments for practice.
We recently completed Part 1 of the Adult RE Spiritual Practices workshop and it was a true delight!
In our time together, we discussed and defined spiritual practice, explored how to pray (even if the G-word makes you itchy), experienced various forms of meditation, mindful walking and eating, tried our hand at the ancient practice of devotional reading called lectio divina, and practiced art journaling our commitments to daily-ish spiritual practice that we will work on individually until we come together for Part 2 of this series in April.
Several of you have expressed interest in attending this workshop during the day so that you don’t have to drive at night. If you would like to see a round of the Spiritual Practices workshop offered on Mondays at 9:30 AM, email me (dre@uucorvallis.org). If enough people are interested, we’ll launch a day-time workshop in February.
As a gift from our Spiritual Practices graduates to the wider Fellowship, we offer this list of book recommendations that you might choose to add to your own personal lectionary. If you don’t have a personal lectionary, or don’t even know what that means, you should consider joining the next round of the Spiritual Practices workshop!
Meditations of the Heart by Howard Thurman recommended by Sherri Argyres
Love Poems from God by Ana Huang, Eden O’Neill, Ghassan Zeineddine recommended by Sherri Argyres
Heart to Heart by the Dalai Lama and Patrick McDonnell recommended by Bonnie Morihara
Rilke’s Book of Hours: Love Poems to God by Anita Barrows & Macy recommended by Rebecca Bedell
Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl recommended by Heather Thomas
Untamed by Glennon Doyle recommended by Heather Thomas
Beauty by John O’donohue recommended by Jay Coffman
A Religion of One’s Own: A Guide to Creating a Personal Spirituality in a Secular World by Thomas Moore recommended by Skyla King-Christison
An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith by Barbara Brown Taylor recommended by Skyla King-Christison
The Power of Ritual: Turning Everyday Activities into Soulful Practices by Casper ter Kuile recommended by Diane Weisner
Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good by adrienne maree brown recommended by Anya Ballinger
Torah Journeys: The Inner Path to the Promised Land by Rabbi Shefa Gold recommended by Melinda Sayavedra
Adult Coming of Age is returning to UUFC on Monday evenings, January 8th-February 12, from 5:30 to 7 in Room 7. Unitarian Universalism requires you to be an active participant in building your own identity, a task that sometimes requires letting go or “unlearning” painful lessons from our past. What does it mean to “be you?” What role does your community and lived experience play in constructing a religious identity that matches your unique journey? Together, we’ll explore these topics and more. All are welcome. Pre-registration at bit.ly/AdultCoA is requested.
This time of year can be a lot for the ritual keepers known as parents. To honor all you do, we’d like to offer you a break! Drop off school-aged children in the social hall from 1-4 on December 28th. We’ll have a thank you card writing workshop (with helpers for those who haven’t mastered the pen yet), make snacks, and settle in for a movie while you take a few hours to recover from the holiday hustle. To make the most of the thank you card workshop, please send your child with a list of specific people & gifts for which to offer thanks. Pre-registration is requested at bit.ly/postholidaybreak
Just in time for holiday gift-giving, we introduce the official UUFC Merch Shop! This virtual storefront allows you to customize a wide assortment of apparel and accessories to show your UUFC pride. We’ve tested the merch from a variety of providers, and this family-owned, PNW-based company has the highest quality custom merch that I’ve found AND gives a percentage of every sale back to the Fellowship! Their delivery time is 2-3 weeks, so give yourself a lot of lead time, but know that you’re getting a better, more durable product for the wait. Want your group or special event at the Fellowship to have merch? Contact Skyla to get your team’s logo set up in our shop!
Our UUFC Holiday Fair is Saturday, December 2 from 9:00–2:00. Exquisite gifts by 20 local artisans! Greenery swags and centerpieces, baked goods, and a cafe are also featured. Tell your friends and neighbors. Don’t miss it!
More helpers needed. Most shifts are just 2 hours. It’s so satisfying to work with others for this annual fundraiser. We especially need furniture movers (before & after), kitchen work party participants (before), and at-home bakers (before). Sign up for these and other volunteer activities at https://uucorvallis.org/holiday-fair/
Thank you to Laura Craig and Lynn Evans for their work clearing leaves off the Fellowship lawn. Thank you to Kathy Kopczynski for taking on a leadership role in Fellowship communications.
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.