From the Minister, Thu Dec 21

As 2017 nears its end, I am reflecting in gratitude on what a wonderful congregation this is that I am fortunate to serve. It never ceases to astonish me that there are such good and capable people in this world.

There are Unitarian Universalists all over the country, of course -- something like 200,000 adults if we go by church membership rolls, and something like 600,000 if we go by telephone polls (apparently, for every actual member of a UU congregation, there are two others who aren't members but will tell a phone pollster that they're UU), and 1,000 congregations. It's true that these numbers are small compared to the total population -- less than one-tenth of one percent of the population -- but that still seems to me like a lot of folks willing to commit to the combination of congregational life plus Unitarian Universalist principles and values. I've been to a lot of UU congregations all over the country, and I know us: amazingly dedicated to nurturing our spirits and helping to heal the world. It's astounding.

But I'm not really talking about UUs-in-general. I'm talking about the amazing UUs of the congregation I know best: Community UU at White Plains. You rock! Seeing your faces on Sunday morning is unfailingly the highlight of my week. Some of you arrive exultant, and I am lifted by your triumph. Some of you arrive carrying a burden of worry or sadness, and I am touched and honored by your humanity and presence.

Our congregation is so vibrant: the Brunches! the Choir! all the RE Classes and Projects and Activities! the Journey Groups! the Social Justice Teams! the Annual Auction! The Annual Canvass! The Long-Range Planning Team! In the Spirit of Truth! More programs than I can name, even if I could shake a stick at them all. And on and on. As I write this, the chancel in the sanctuary is festooned with a vast poinsettia array -- testament to some of our members' care to bring seasonal beauty to our shared worship space -- and beside the chancel is a tree covered with hats and gloves -- testament to the congregation's compassionate care for those who don't find it easy to stay warm through the winter.

We are here to do the work: the "liturgy" (which means "the work of the people") of our weekly rhythm, and beyond; the "work of Christmas" as Howard Thurman says:

"When the song of angels is stilled, when the star in the sky is gone, when the kings and princes are home, when the shepherds are back with their flock, the work of Christmas begins: to find the lost, to heal the broken, to feed the hungry, to release the prisoner, to rebuild the nations, to bring peace among the brothers, to make music in the heart."

We have the work of expanding and maturing our spirits, of growing wiser and more compassionate, of examining and re-examining our concepts and habits to move toward an ever more liberative way of thinking and being. The tasks before us are sometimes daunting to me -- but I am buoyed by this congregation: by how good at, and prepared for, this work you are.

Thank you!
Meredith

• Check out the two Common Reads for 2017-18: HERE
• Statement of Conscience: Escalating Economic Inequity. HERE
• The December issue of On the Journey explores Embodiment. Pick up a copy at CUUC, or view it HERE.

Let's Chat

The Tuesday Coffee Chat is on Christmas break next week (Dec 26). The TCC resumes on Jan 2, 3-5pm -- for anyone who might find that a convenient way to get together with their minister.

• Jan: The Cafe inside the Barnes and Noble at Vernon Hills Shopping Center, 680 White Plains Rd, Eastchester
• Feb: The TCC comes to Irvington! Specific location TBA.

Drop by if you can! You can also make an appointment to see me at CUUC, or invite me to visit your home. Call Pam at the church office (914-946-1660) to schedule either.

Practice of the Week

Confront Your Negative Inner Voice. In a voice full of alarm and panic, Bertha would yell, "You better NOT do that -- you'll look stupid!" When I heard her, I would immediately back off and lose my opportunity to make a friend. The fact that Bertha was only a voice inside my own head didn't make her any less scary. She was completely in control -- until I came upon a method that got her off my back and out of my head. Once her attempts to scare me no longer worked, my life radically changed. You may have your own particular form of "Bertha." It may be a voice in your head that tells you you're not good enough, or smart enough, or that you'll always be a loser. Like an out-of-control cancer, destructive thoughts can ruin a person's life if they're not confronted. READ MORE

Your Moment of Zen

Metaphysics. One can be simultaneously both a Buddhist and a Christian. There might seem to be some, um, metaphysical differences. Are the differences in the metaphysical doctrines of Buddhists and Christians relevant to whether one can be both Buddhist and Christian? This question has far too many wheels, cogs, bells, flashing lights. A person could get lost in all that machinery. Can you not be away and at home at the same time? Is there not something to which all things relate, something that vanishes if named, and has in any case been vanished from the beginning?

Case

That evening Owl said, "I'm still thinking about our experience at the Little Church in the Grotto. Can a Buddhist be a Christian?"
Raven said, "Love thy neighbor."
Owl asked, "Can a Christian be a Buddhist?"
Raven said, "There are lots of them."
Owl asked, "Aren't you bypassing a conflict in metaphysics?"
Raven asked, "What has metaphysics got to do with it?"
Owl asked, "What is the antecedent of 'it'?"
Raven said, "Good move, Owl.

Verse

Crane references God; Raven not so much.
Still: the mystery, humility, not knowing.
Raven mentions karma; Crane points to grace.
Still: sunshine and air are not earned,
nor our parents' love,
nor that nuthatch in the birch;
and causes have effects.
Choose a language, get a loyalty.
Choose a loyalty, get a language.
Who can name the antecedent?

Case by Robert Aitken; introduction and verse by Meredith Garmon

Previous Moment of Zen
Saturday Zen Practice at CUUC: HERE

Other News for Sun Dec 24
RE News
Music News
From Ministerial Intern
This week's e-Communitarian
Practice: Confront Your Negative Inner Voice

From the Minister, Thu Oct 26

From the Minister

A couple years ago, I signed up with Disaster Chaplaincy Services of New York: I submitted a letter from UUA attesting to my good standing, went to an all-day training, had an hour-long phone interview, emailed them a picture of me, and got back an ID badge and a green vest with a "Disaster Chaplaincy Services" patch on the front, and large letters spelling CHAPLAIN on the back. Their logo looks a lot like our flaming chalice, formed of two hands. The vest and badge had been hanging unused in my closet for two years when, last week, an email went out asking for chaplains to sign up for shifts at a service center in East Harlem.

The disaster to which we were responding was Hurricane Maria, which struck Puerto Rico on Sep 20. With large parts of the island deprived of both electricity and running water, many Puerto Ricans have come to the US -- and many of them to New York. I answered the email, said I could take the morning shift on Tuesday, and was quickly confirmed for what would be my first "deployment" as a Disaster Chaplain.

A community center was utilized to create a temporary services center for assisting incoming Puerto Ricans. It opened on Thu Oct 19 and estimates now are that it will continue throughout November. Sixty to 100 new arrivals have been coming to the center each day, and they begin with an in-take consultation from which they come away with a checklist of tables to visit. The tables ringing the room include various social services, social security, Medicaid, health insurance, mental health services, legal services, the department of education, the Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities. The Red Cross has a table and a closet of supplies to dispense (baby formula, clothing and blankets, first aid kits, etc.) I noticed the Catholic Diocese and the Salvation Army also had tables, as well as something called New York Disaster Interfaith Services. In the center of the room were about 40 chairs for people waiting for the next opening at the next table they needed to visit.

My role was to circulate among those waiting, introduce myself, and, if they seemed open to a conversation (they always were), ask how things were going. It was a chance to tell their story to another human being -- including details not relevant to any of the agencies to whom they had or would be talking. In the course of a 3.5-hour shift, I had 14 conversations -- many of them were with couples or families, so I spoke with 23 different people. Of the ones I spoke with, none had lost a home, though many now had leaky roofs. The absence of power or running water (and estimates of six months or longer before restoration of electricity), and six-hour-long lines for food compelled their departure. Most of the people I spoke with have someone to stay with: an aunt, a brother, a daughter, a friend. There was, however, one couple -- in their 60s, I'd say -- that told me they'd arrived at JFK two days ago, had nowhere to stay, and had been riding back-and-forth on various train lines for two days.

While many of them had been to New York before -- and in some cases had been long-time residents here before only in recent years moving to their ancestral homeland -- they all now faced difficult circumstances and unfamiliar challenges that made them "strangers" to the situations in which they now found themselves. I was profoundly moved to have the chance to be a part of welcoming these strangers. The services with which they were connected -- with tolerable wait-times in between -- helped them a lot, I am sure. And to be able to have one's unique story attentively heard and sympathetically accepted in the midst of this strange land was also, I sensed, an important part of conveying that they are welcome.

Yours in the faith we share,
Meredith

Let's Chat

On Tuesdays, 3-5pm, I'm going to be at an area coffee shop for anyone who might find that a convenient way to get together with their minister.

• October: I'll be at the Starbucks in Rye: 51 Purchase St.
• November: I'll be at the Barnes & Noble Cafe, City Center, 230 Main St, White Plains.

Drop by if you can! You can also make an appointment to see me at CUUC, or invite me to visit your home. Call Pam at the church office (914-946-1660) to schedule either.

Practice of the Week

Idea Journal. True genius is not something reserved for a chosen few, but rather is something we all experience on occasion. By keeping an idea journal that records your most profound thoughts, you'll be able to make greater use of the genius within you, and compassionately offer to the world a more creative you. READ MORE

Your Moment of Zen

Maintenance. The times are urgent. What's the right balance of preparing ourselves for the work and doing the work? The needed balance is different for each person -- and different for the same person at different stages of life. It's always a good question -- better than any answer, in fact.

Aitken's Case (Zen Master Raven)

Mallard attended meetings for a while before asking her first question: "Aren't we wasting time just sitting here while the Blue Planet goes to hell?"
Raven asked, "Do you waste your time eating?"
"Is that all it is," Mallard asked, "Just personal maintenance?"
Raven said, "Mallard maintenance, lake maintenance, juniper maintenance, deer maintenance."

Hotetsu's Verse

Being present to. Becoming the proof of.
These two things only are to be done
With and in this brief and florid stay:
Witness, and bear witness.
Heaven, hell, and a planetful of blue,
Are sitting here, sitting here.

Previous Moment of Zen
Saturday Zen Practice at CUUC: HERE.

Other News for Sun Oct 29
RE News
Music News
This Week's e-Communitarian

From the Minister, Thu Sep 21

From the Minister

Let's talk. About whatever you like. I'd like to see a lot more of you, just to check in with what's going on in your life. It might help you; it might help me; it might help our congregation or the country or the planet or, who knows, the galaxy. It might be fun.

There's a new way that I'm making myself available. Starting on Tue Sep 26, I'll be at Starbucks (Renaissance Plaza, 200 Main Street, White Plains) from 3-5pm, available for anyone who might find that a convenient way to get together. Drop by if you can!

There are also the long-standing methods: Make an appointment to come by my study. Except when I have other meetings, I can be available all day and into the evenings on Tue-Fri. Call Pam in the Congregation Office (946-1660) to make an appointment.

Or I can come to you. I am in possession of a drivers license, and I'm not afraid to use it! Call me or Pam if you'd like a visit.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Yours in the faith we share,
Meredith

This Week On THE LIBERAL PULPIT

The sermon and most of the readings from the Aug 27 "Poetry Celebration" service about Lawrence Ferlinghetti are now up in these three parts:
Some Ferlinghetti
Ferlinghetti and the Good of Poetry
Tragedy in the Context of Beauty. Or Maybe Vice-Versa.

The sermon on "Forgiveness" (Sep 17) is also now posted, in three parts:
You've Got Problems
Problems We Were Made For
Problems Are the Path

Links to all Meredith's past sermons are listed HERE.
Links to Meredith's other thoughts and reflections are HERE.

Practice of the Week

Act! By listening to both inner and outer messages, you can better steer yourself to align with your best self. As spiritual beings, we have a subtle balance to maintain. One part of our task is to take a lot of action, learning from the feedback we receive. The other part of our task is to be as sure as we can that the action we take is inspired from a deep place within ourselves....READ MORE

Your Moment of Zen

Karma. On the one hand, yes, it matters what you do. On the other hand, sometimes weird stuff happens. Actions do have consequences -- but they aren't always predictable, are they? Both the predictable consequences and the unpredictable consequences keep us honest, eh?

Aitken's Case (Zen Master Raven)

One evening Gray Wolf appeared in the Tallspruce circle for the first time.
After she had introduced herself (and acknowledged the covenant to abstain from predating in the circle), she said, "Is it all right to ask a question?"
Raven said, "Not only all right."
"Thank you," said Gray Wolf. "Maybe it's obvious to everyone else, but I don't understand the notion of karma. Could you explain it to me?"
Raven said, "Murder will out."
Gray Wolf said, "Sometimes crimes are never solved."
Raven said, "Help me not to live a lie."

Hotetsu's Verse

Murder, etc. Before it outs,
It ins. And it's sticky. Atoning
Doesn't always succeed. Not atoning
Lives the lie.

Previous Moment of Zen: HERE.
Saturday Zen Practice at CUUC: HERE.

Other News This Week

RE News
Music News
CUUC Weekly News
This Week's e-Communitarian