Dec 4, 2020 | Vespers & Wednesday Program
The ancient spiritual tool of the labyrinth can be a welcome invitation to go deeper within and find a hidden stillness. Join Rev. Claudia Jiménez and UUCA member Rev. Terry Davis as we take this journey together.
Print out a labyrinth or download a labyrinth app to use for this evening’s service:
Labyrinth Journey App
LABYRINTHS.PDF (zd-cms.com)
(print at 86% to fit on 8-1/2 x 11 paper)
hero_labyrinth.pdf (zd-cms.com)
The 7PM program invites participants to explore the landscapes of power and privilege. Facilitator: Joy McConnell
December – Theme: Stillness
2 Vespers Leader: Rev. Mark
Program: Human Rights Day Discussion, Deb Holden, Rev Claudia
9 Vespers Leader: Rev. Terry Davis
Program: Navigating the Landscapes of Power, Joy McConnell
16 Vespers Leader: Rev. Claudia
Program: Spiritual Practices III: Heart/Creativity Practices
23 & 30 No Vespers – Winter Holidays
Dec 4, 2020 | Faith Development
Welcome to the month of Stillness. Here’s a poem from this month’s Soul Matters packet being used by our covenant groups. Check out this month’s calendar and join us for Vespers or one of the other programs offered this month.
Keeping Quiet
Pablo Neruda
Now we will count to twelve
and we will all keep still
for once…
It would be an exotic moment
without rush, without engines…
If we were not so single-minded
about keeping our lives moving,
and for once could do nothing,
perhaps a huge silence
might interrupt this sadness
of never understanding ourselves…
Full poem at https://www.awakin.org/read/view.php?tid=2298
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5kjfqbt-FA
A few questions to consider:
- What if the doorway into spiritual stillness is learning to look at your present life and say “This is enough?
- Is your identity rooted in busyness or stillness? And which one do you want it to be rooted in?
- Is busyness your way of running and hiding from stillness?
SPIRITUAL DEEPENING GROUPS:
Buddhist Fellowship: 2nd & 4th Tues.; 7 PM; Contact: Jim Steffe jf.steffe@gmail.com
Covenant Groups: groups set meeting time; Contact: Iris Hardin irisphardin@gmail.com
Covenant of UU Pagans -CUUPS: Contact: MaryAnn Somervill maspro1@yahoo.com
Me And White Supremacy Reflection Groups: Contact: Eleanor Lane elane@northstarlane.com
Drop-ins welcome in all our programs.
WEDNESDAY THING VESPERS 6:30PM
PROGRAMS WEDNESDAY 7:00 PM:
2020-2021 Focus
Spirituality & Building the World We Dream About: Disrupting Racism
2nd & 4th Wed.; Building the World We Dream About;
Contact: Rev. Claudia faithdev@uuasheville.org
3rd Wed.; Spiritual Practices: Exploration and Challenge
Contact: Nancy Bragg njbragg1@gmail.com
December – Stillness
2
Vespers Leader: Rev. Mark
Program: Human Rights Day Discussion, Deb Holden & Rev Claudia
9
Vespers Leader: Rev. Terry Davis
Program: Navigating the Landscapes of Power, Joy M
16
Vespers Leader: Rev. Claudia
Program: Spiritual Practices IV: Activism Practices
23 NO VESPERS
30 NO VESPERS
Dec 3, 2020 | Weekly Message
In this tumultuous time, when our rising anxiety over the intensifying COVID pandemic is only matched by our exhaustion with political turmoil, I have been on the look-out for sources of calm and consolation. And I am happy to report I have found one.
It came in comments I read the other day from Robin Wall Kimmerer. You may be familiar with her as an accomplished botanist and member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation who is author of the bestselling “Braiding Sweetgrass.” If you haven’t had a chance to read the book, I strongly commend it to you for how it beautifully winds together wisdom from native traditions and from the scientific world.
In a recent interview, Kimmerer said that, “when we’re looking at things we cherish falling apart, when inequities and injustices are so apparent, people are looking for another way that we can be living. We need interdependence rather than independence.”
She added that the other day she was at her home raking leaves into a compost pile when it got her thinking: “This is our work as humans in this time,” she said. “To build good soil in our gardens, to build good soil culturally and socially, and to create potential for the for the future. What will endure through almost any kind of change? The regenerative capacity of the earth. We can help create conditions for renewal.”
Precisely! We walked away from the last election both gladdened and troubled: we got some of the change we wanted, but not all. It’s up to us, then, to keep on working the change, brick by brick, step by step, and not get discouraged when the going gets hard. If we can’t create renewal directly, then we can bring about the conditions for renewal. That means living by our values, reaching out, cultivating both kindness and resilience.
We may need to put our garden to bed for the winter, but if we make good soil, we can create the conditions for the change to come.
Rev. Mark Ward, Lead Minister
Dec 3, 2020 | Green Tips
Check out Quiet Communities Inc., a non-profit “dedicated to helping communities reduce health and environmental harm from noise and pollution.
