The Soul Matters theme for October is Cultivating Relationship, and one purpose of this theme is to help us reflect on what we have learned from the pandemic. Perhaps most importantly, the pandemic taught us not to take our relationships for granted. Our arms literally ache to hug our loved ones after being separated for longer than we could have ever imagined. And not being able to meet in person with our beloved church community has been a tremendous loss as well. As the COVID rates continue to go down, we have reason to be hopeful that we will be able to ease into meeting safely in person before too long, so hang in there!
In the meantime, we are creating opportunities to get together for outdoor activities and worship. It has been a joy to meet some of you in person at events such as the Coming of Age Kickoff, the Third Thursday Joyful Noise gathering, the Patio Dedication (thanks to all who came out in the rain), and I look forward to meeting more of you at the outdoor Animal Blessing this Sunday. Come and hear the Sandburgers play Peter, Paul & Mary and Steve Miller! And there will be treats for both pets and their humans!
With the help of our technical gurus, Steve Carter and Jen Bennett, we are aiming for our first hybrid worship service, so you have the option to stay home and watch on Zoom. I am compiling the delightful pet photos you have been sending, and I have room for more! Send your favorite pet photos tominister@uuasheville.org ASAP, and don’t forget to add their names. We will also honor the beloved pets who are no longer with us in body but remain forever in our hearts, so send me a photo to add to the Memorial Slides. We will remember them with gratitude and love.
I am looking forward to meeting more of you at the Gathering at The Mountain next weekend. Bring your questions regarding the interim process or anything else on Saturday afternoon at 3pm on the common deck for the Ask the Minister event.
My friend and colleague, Hilary Krivchenia, said it best; “We are like aspen trees – who have mistakenly thought that since we look like many trees that is the truth – but under the ground, our root system is one – we are fully alive when we are connected because we are, we were always, part of one another”. May we never forget this hard-earned pandemic wisdom.
In faith and love, Rev, Cathy Harrington, Interim Lead Minister
Join us for Vespers led by Anna Martin exploring this month’s theme Cultivating Relationship.
Our 7PM program will be “Liberation Conversations.” Join Eleanor Lane and Jensen Gelfond to discuss what is happening with the Racial Justice Advisory Council and discuss your thoughts on the anti-racism work that is happening or could happen at UUCAvl. We are calling our conversations “Liberation Conversations” to uplift what we are for and move beyond focusing only on what we are against.
Wednesday Vespers & Program themes:
1st Wed. Theme Talk or Special Program Discussion about the monthly Soul Matters theme.
2nd Wed. Liberation Conversations: Pursuing our Congregational Goals to practice Anti-racism. These conversations will provide updates on the work of the Racial Justice Advisory Council and an opportunity to ask questions and discuss why the work of liberation at UUAvl matters.
3rd Wed. Spiritual Practices: Centering Love Centering Love – Love is a core value of our UU faith. On the 3rd Wednesdays this fall at 7 p.m., we will center our spiritual practice of love-in-action with self, others, and the world. As Cornel West says, “Justice is what love looks like in public.”
4th Wed. Theology We will begin with an introduction to theology: What is it? Do UUs do Theology? Participants will select theological themes for future sessions. Examples: Hope, Death, Forgiveness and Reconciliation, Evil, Covenant.
All Creatures Great & Small, We Will Bless Them All!
In the UUAsheville Parking Lot, 1 Edwin Place
We’re in person for an Animal Blessing service at 11am in the paved parking lot. Bring your chairs and your pets!
If things work out right, the service will also be live streamed. If you’re on our email list, you’ll get the link on Sunday morning at 9am. To sign up for worship service links, head back to the home page and give us your email address.
October 10 marks the 19th World Day Against the Death Penalty. The NC Council of Churches will host a panel of voices with lived experience to discuss faith and the death penalty. Panelists include George Wilkerson, who is living on NC’s death row; Andre Smith, who teaches Buddhism to men in prison and lost his son to homicide; and Rev. Sharon Risher, who lost her mother and two cousins in the shooting at Mother Emmanuel AME church in Charleston. Jonathan Wilson Hartgrove, noted writer and leader in the Red Letter Christian movement and the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival, will moderate. Please register here and invite others to hear this powerful panel.
Amá tells an important and untold story: the abuses committed against Native American women by the US Government during the 1960s and 70s. The women were removed from their families and sent to boarding schools. They were subjected to forced relocation away from their traditional lands and, perhaps worst of all, they were subjected to involuntary sterilization.
CONTACT Charlie Wussow at mnpopi@icloud.com for the Zoom link by Wednesday, October 6. This event is free. Donations accepted.
The result of nine years painstaking and sensitive work by filmmaker Lorna Tucker, the film features the testimony of many Native Americans, including three remarkable women who tell their stories – Jean Whitehorse, Yvonne Swan and Charon Asetoyer – as well as a revealing and rare interview with Dr. Reimert Ravenholt whose population control ideas were the framework for some of the government policies directed at Native American women.
It is estimated over a twenty-year period between 1960 and 1980 that tens of thousands of Native American women were sterilized without their knowledge or consent. Due to poor record keeping during this era the number may in fact be much higher. Many of these women went to their graves having suffered this incredible abuse of power.
“The beginning of every hierarchy is controlling reproduction, and racism in this country has often restricted brown and black women through sterilization, while refusing sterilization to white women unless they had several children and their husbands’ written permission. AMÁ proves that democracy begins with our bodies. All who care about democracy should see it.” Gloria Steinem
“I would like to pay respect to the elders, both present and past, who have had the courage to tell their stories — we need more documentaries like this. We offer classes in American Indian Health and Wellness, and without fail, my students state that they had no idea of these atrocities, and the fact that they are still happening in the United States is beyond their belief. The US must apologize for the horrendous actions of their medical staff, and admit to the vast amount of indigenous knowledge that has been lost due to their lack of funding for health services.” Dr. Linda Bane Frizzell, Eastern Cherokee/Lakota, Assistant Professor, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota
The Soul Matters theme for October is Cultivating Relationship, and one purpose of this theme is to help us reflect on what we have learned from the pandemic. Perhaps most importantly, the pandemic taught us not to take our relationships for granted. Our arms literally ache to hug our loved ones after being separated for longer than we could have ever imagined. And not being able to meet in person with our beloved church community has been a tremendous loss as well. As the COVID rates continue to go down, we have reason to be hopeful that we will be able to ease into meeting safely in person before too long, so hang in there!
All Creatures Great & Small, We Will Bless Them All!
