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After the Feast
November 29, 2020, at 10:00 a.m. (Online Only at facebook.com/uurockford)
Rev. Marlene Walker
What do we say and do after the feast? After we have said “thanks” and offered up gratitude what do we do next? What comes after the feast?
Happy Birthday to: Jim Parrish (11/24), Linda Sandquist (11/25), Rebecca Cole (11/25), Ryan Vyborny (11/25), Teresa Wilmot (11/27), Tom Little (11/28), Vince Verkuilen (11/29), Judy Gustafson (11/29), Dave Brown (11/30), Ann Marie Marshall (11/30), & Peggy Menze (12/01)!
Share the Plate with Rahab’s Daughters “Human trafficking is everywhere. So we are too. Human trafficking doesn’t start with kidnapping and end with a rescue. It starts with society turning a blind eye. It lasts long after the survivor gets away. That’s where we come in. Through education, outreach, and awareness building, our team shines a light on this $63 billion industry. Through working with hospitals and first responders, we help people escape trafficking. And through compassionate rehab, we help them remake their lives.” For more information click here. Click here to donate.
Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5662364814 Meeting ID: 566 236 4814
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Care and Choices at the End of Life: A gift to yourself and
your family
Presented by Northern Illinois Compassion and Choices
Log on to an interactive and informative (zoom) get-together to discuss
resources to make your end-of-life planning meaningful and less stressful for
you. Advanced planning also helps friends and family advocate for your
wishes when you may not be able to request or decline care.
We will be using resources from www.compassionandchoices.org if you
would like a sneak peek.
Bring questions, concerns, and any thoughts on what gives value to your
life. Then join us for practical tips, new insights, and a forum to address what
often isn’t discussed easily: how to die well on your own terms.
Wednesday, December 2, 7-8:00 pm Zoom ID: 337-267-3668
The First UU Rockford Annual Winter
Pandemic On-Line Auction / Marketplace / Art Fair
The Catalog is now open for View Only.
Need a Holiday Gift? The On-Line Sale starts Nov 28
You must register as a bidder to view the catalog.
Shutdown Auction – On-line Bidding runs from Nov. 28 through Dec. 9
There are a wide variety of items to bid on. Yoga and meditation classes, delivered dinners, breads, pies, candies, gift baskets, golf outings, garden outings, shopping services. Yes, there even is a “sermon”.
Pandemic Art Fair – Fixed price sales run from Nov. 28 to Jan. 5
38 one of a kind Art items by 13 professional and amateur artists. Paintings, jewelry, knits, woodworks.
Buy it now, get it now.
Sunday Covid Cocktail Concert Series
Four Sundays in January. Four professional musicians will stream concerts to your computer or your TV. At 5:00 pm so that you can pour a glass of wine and enjoy it before dinner. Buy tickets now, we will send you access.
UU Annual MELD Donation Collection (with a 2020 twist) We are collecting items to be donated to Rockford MELD again this year. Rockford MELD, a non-profit social service agency, started in 1981. The organization provides programs and services for young parents and their children in the Rockford community. MELD offers emergency shelter and housing, parenting information, life and job skills training, support, resources, and prevention education.
This year, you can follow the link below to an Amazon wish list that contains items that the women have requested. You can choose to purchase as many items from the list as you’d like by adding them to your cart. When choosing your shipping address, select Terry Lynch’s Gift Registry Address. Then proceed with your payment method as usual. The selected items will be shipped to the person at MELD that is coordinating the donations. We hope this twist on our traditional donation collection at the church will be just as successful as years past. Questions can be directed to Lindsay Dunn, Director of Religious Education. Thank you so much for your support!
Ideally, gifts would be received by Friday, December 18. Thank you!
Communication to Bridge the Gap
A few weeks ago, I shared some quotes from Parker Palmer’s book, Healing the Heart of Democracy. He recommends practicing an open heart, especially through communication with others. Our church is a prime location for this practice in democracy, even if our communication is through Zoom. Palmer explains the problem this way:
We want to be equitable and generous. But we also want to cling jealously to our share, even when it is more than we need.
We want to listen to others. But afraid of what we might hear, we also look for ways to avoid dialogue with anyone who might disagree with us.
We want to trust our fellow citizens. But having been hurt by others, including those close to us, we find it hard to trust strangers.
Church is one of the social gathering places that Parker Palmer recommends for “opening the heart.” Here are two videos of his to illustrate his suggestions:
I hope that I can learn the communication skills that allow me to calmly converse with a republican supporter of Trump. That’s not a skill I can practice in this congregation; we are amazingly homogeneous in our political convictions. But the skills that I learn here may equip me for those more challenging conversations.
Submitted by Teresa Wilmot
*ZOOM Church Calendar*
Most “all church” events will be 337-267-3668. This is the Personal Meeting
ID for “Thomas Kerr,” our online identity (and the minister from 1870-1900,
who used all the new technology of his time to reach those he
served). Generally, there will be a waiting room and the host will need to
admit you.
– Coffee Hour on Sunday. 337-267-3668. 11:10 am. Chris will
be host.
– Touchstones: contact your touchstones group facilitator for the time
and meeting ID, if you don’t already have it.
– Caring Team Meeting – The first Tuesday of each month at 6 pm. ID 337-267-3668
Want to have a group – a book group, a parent group, a “circle supper”, or
whatever you like? You can create a free Zoom account (40-minute limit,
though often waived by zoom at minute 35). Or, you can use “Thomas Kerr’s”
– just email Autumn atoffice@uurockford.organd she can give you the login
and password.
Literature Link for Nov.22 sermon about becoming human, again.
Brief info about the author of the poem read on Sundayhttps://allpoetry.com/May-Sarton Journal entries from her “year of solitude:
“I am here alone for the first time in weeks, to take up my “real” life again at last” … I can hardly believe that relief from the anguish of these past months is here to stay, but so far it does feel like a true change of mood — or rather, a change of being where I can stand alone.” https://www.brainpickings.org/2016/10/17/may-sarton-journal-of-a-solitude-depression/
• A recognition of “the bond of live things everywhere,” among which we are only a small part of a vast and miraculous world, and from which we can learn a great deal about being better versions of ourselves. That is what naturalist and author Sy Montgomery, one of the most poetic science writers of our time, explores in How to Be a Good Creature: A Memoir in Thirteen Animals (public library). “Our world, and the worlds around and within it, is aflame with shades of brilliance we cannot fathom — and is far more vibrant, far more holy, than we could ever imagine.” Here is a discussion about this fascinating book. https://www.brainpickings.org/2018/10/31/how-to-be-a-good-creature-sy-montgomery/
