From the Minister, Thu Mar 1

"The scarcity assumption." I think we all make this assumption. I do. Maybe I fall a little less often and less far into this assumption than I used to, but, yeah, I catch myself acting like things are in short supply when they aren't. Acting like there's scarcity can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Help me to live from the truth of abundance rather than the fear of scarcity!

For such help, Parker Palmer is reliable. He explains:

"Nature normally takes us through a reliable cycle of scarcity and abundance in which times of deprivation foreshadow an eventual return to the bountiful fields. This fact of nature is in sharp contrast to human nature, which seems to regard perpetual scarcity as the law of life.

"Daily I am astonished at how readily I believe that something I need is in short supply. If I hoard possessions, it is because I believe that there are not enough to go around. If I struggle with others over power, it is because I believe that power is limited. If I become jealous in relationships, it is because I believe that when you get too much love, I will be short-changed.

"The irony, often tragic, is that by embracing the scarcity assumption, we create the very scarcities we fear. If I hoard material goods, others will have too little and I will never have enough. If I fight my way up the ladder of power, others will be defeated, and I will never feel secure. If I get jealous of someone I love, I am likely to drive that person away. We create scarcity by fearfully accepting it as law and by competing with others for resources as if we were stranded in the Sahara at the last oasis.

"In the human world, abundance does not happen automatically. It is created when we have the sense to choose community, to come together to celebrate and share our common store. Whether the scarce resource is money or love or power or words, the true law of life is that we generate more of whatever seems scarce by trusting its supply and passing it around.

"Authentic abundance does not lie in secured stockpiles of food or cash or influence or affection but in belonging to a community where we can give those goods to others who need them -- and receive them from others when we are in need. Here is a summertime truth: abundance is a communal act, the joint creation of an incredibly complex ecology in which each part functions on behalf of the whole, and in return, is sustained by the whole.

"Community doesn’t just create abundance -- community is abundance. If we could learn that equation from the world of nature, the human world might be transformed."

Thank you, Parker.

In love,
Meredith

The two Common Reads for 2017-18: HERE
The Statement of Conscience, "Escalating Economic Inequity": HERE. Post comment to suggest further amendment to Statement: HERE.
On the Journey, March: Wandering. HERE.

Minister's Tuesday Coffee Chat

I'm at a coffee shop (almost) every Tuesday from 3-5pm. I invite you to drop by and chat.
Mar: Starbucks, 51 Purchase St. Rye
Apr: Barnes and Noble Cafe, Vernon Hills Shopping Center, Eastchester

New on The Liberal Pulpit

The Liberal Pulpit is a YouTube Channel HERE!
This week's posts offer the first two parts of the Feb 18 sermon, "The Spiritual Bypass." Part 1: We're Here to Help Each Other Get Unstuck. Part 2: True Spirituality and Bypassing Spirituality.
Index of past sermons: HERE. Index of other reflections: HERE.

Practice of the Week

Be Generous (Slogans to Live By). When you express your giving nature, it feels good for you, benefits others, prompts them to be good to you in turn, and adds one more lovely thread to the great tapestry of human generosity.

Your Moment of Zen (Raven Tale: #44)

Zen Practice at CUUC: Sat Mar 3

R.E. News

Music News

From the Minister, Thu Dec 14

Let's learn together -- all read a book and talk about it. Or two books. Our national Unitarian Universalist Association has picked two "Common Read" books for 2017-18.

The first book is called Centering. It's an anthology of essays by UU religious leaders of color. They offer stories, analysis, and insight on how racial identity is made both visible and invisible in Unitarian Universalist communities.

Race is a perplexing and difficult issue in our country -- but how exactly is that playing out in UU congregations? What can we learn from what our leaders of color can tell us? Let's explore this and find out together.

My sermon on Sun Jan 14 will offer my reflections on the insights in this book. You can buy the book on Sunday at a book table we'll have set up in the sanctuary.

You can also buy the second of this year's common reads: Daring Democracy. In a March sermon, I'll be reflecting on this important book.

Our mission includes engaging in service to transform ourselves and our world. Let's learn together how best to transform!

Check out the two Common Reads for 2017-18: HERE

Yours in the faith we share,
Meredith

• 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 resumes on Dec 12, 3-5pm -- for anyone who might find that a convenient way to get together with their minister.

• Dec 12 & 19: Starbucks in Vernon Hills Shopping Center, 684 White Plains Rd, Scarsdale

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

Dream Big Dreams. If you truly open to this question — What are the dreams that matter to me? — don't worry, you won't get caught up in silly stuff, such as wanting to get super rich and famous. Instead, you'll hear your soul speaking—your essence, your core, your deepest inner wisdom. It's worth listening to what it says. And then worth looking for ways—practical ones, grounded in daily life, that move you forward one real step at a time—to bring your dreams to life. READ MORE

Your Moment of Zen

Very Special. No two grains of sand are exactly the same. No two maple leaves, or blades of grass, or stars in the sky are exactly the same. (Why do snowflakes get all the press?) "Every concept arises from the equation of unequal things" (Nietzsche). So tell me, isn't the uniqueness of everything your practice?

Case

In a group munching grubs one afternoon, Mole remarked, "The Buddha Macaw was very special, wasn't she! I'm sure there has never been anyone like her."
Raven said, "Like the madrone tree."
Mole asked, "How is the madrone tree unique?"
Raven said, "Every madrone leaf."
Mole fell silent.
Porcupine asked, "How does the uniqueness of every madrone leaf relate to the practice?"
Raven said, "Your practice."

Verse

There's never been anyone like anyone --
Each of us changing the world,
All day, every day.
I have known a million Red Oak leaves,
And still know nothing of the next one,
Fortunately.

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 17
RE News
Music News
From Ministerial Intern
The e-Communitarian
Practice: Dream Big Dreams

From the Minister, Thu Nov 9

From the Minister

Coming Sun Apr 22: An All-Westchester UU Worship service! The congregations of First Unitarian Society of Westchester (Hastings), The UU Fellowship of Northern Westchester (Mt. Kisco), The UU Congregation of the Hudson Valley (Croton), Fourth Unitarian Society of Westchester (Mohegan Lake), and Community UU Congregation (that's us!) are planning to hold shared worship together.

Where: Maryknoll Center, 55 Ryder Rd, Ossining, NY (24 min from CUUC, says Google Maps).

I'm excited about this chance to bring all the UUs in the county together for a worship service. Discussion sessions over the last almost-three years have brought together members, leaders, RE professionals, and/or ministers of the five Westchester congregations. We've talked about ways our respective congregations might collaborate on projects to advance liberal religion and social justice. This All-Westchester worship service is one step toward enriching our UU connections and empowering our collective voice.

For many CUUCers, this will be a little extra drive. Carpooling from CUUC to Ossining will be available. Perry, Tracy Breneman (DRE for out Hastings and Mt. Kisco congregations), and Jane Podell (DRE for our Croton congregation) will be planning RE for the kids and youth at Ossining.

Stay tuned for further information soon -- but note the date now. You won't want to miss this one.

Yours in the faith we share,
Meredith

The November issue of On the Journey explores Mindfulness. Get it at CUUC or HERE.

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.

• November: Barnes & Noble Cafe, City Center, 230 Main St, White Plains
• December: Starbucks in Vernon Hills Shopping Center, 684 White Plains Rd, Scarsdale

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.

This Week on The Liberal Pulpit

This week there's part 2 of 2 of "Environmental Racism," and Both parts of "Witches"

No More Disposability
Witches
Persecutions Sometimes End

Racism and the Environment

Index, with links, of past sermons: HERE.
Index, with links, of other reflections: HERE.

Practice of the Week

Put Out Fires. In your heart, right now, you know if there are any vital matters that you're not dealing with. These are real alarms, and you need to listen to them. They cast a shadow you can feel in your gut. And eventually their consequences always come home — sometimes during your last years, when you look back on your life and consider what you wish you'd done differently. When you come to grips with important things, even if they're not urgent, that unease in the belly goes away. You feel good about yourself, doing what you can and making your life better. READ MORE

Your Moment of Zen

Delusion. Three things, then, to remember. The silence that is at the center of speech; the thunderous word that silence speaks; and the delusion of names. So who is reading this?

Aitken's Case (Zen Master Raven)

Another time Woodpecker asked, "What can you say about delusion?"
Raven said, "Juniper bush."
Woodpecker said, "How is the juniper bush a delusion?"
Raven said, "It shades me on a warm afternoon."
Woodpecker thought a moment and then asked, "Then naming things is delusion?"
Raven said, "Just so you know the risks."

Hotetsu's Verse

Names lie. A cup or tree: infinitely more than
Its cupness or treeness. And less.
Not merely of the falseness of categories I sing --
Proper names: no less liars.
To dress in such lies: a risk.
To step naked into the truth of presence:
Also a risk.

Previous Moment of Zen
Saturday Zen Practice at CUUC: HERE

Other News for Sun Nov 12
RE News
Music News
From Ministerial Intern
This Week's e-Communitarian

From the Minister, Thu Sep 28

From the Minister

I admit I've been slower on the uptake than many of my colleague Unitarian Universalist ministers in grasping the damage of cultural appropriation. It's a difficult area for many. For one thing, cultural appropriation is often ambiguous. Diffusion of cultural aspects (dress, cooking, music, technology, ideas, language, et al) into other cultures has been going on throughout human history, and cultural borrowing and cross-fertilization can be positive. Imitating some aspect of another culture may be encouraged by some members of the imitated culture, discouraged by other members, and meaningless to still other members. So it can be difficult to tell what is problematic and what isn’t.

The boundaries of respectful regard for cultural differences are not fully defined, and they are evolving. In negotiating this terrain, it’s helpful to keep our eye on two key factors: power and safety. Who is exercising the power here? And how is the safety of people as they seek to live their lives by their own lights affected? For instance, there is near-universal agreement that white performers in blackface is not OK, though the practice was common for about 100 years (1830-1930) and continued into the 1960s. It was a time in which whites dominated, oppressed, and (in the early decades of that century) enslaved blacks. Whites had all the power. And blackface performances served to maintain and extend their power by perpetuating powerfully denigrating stereotypes of black people. The prejudice reinforced by such performances included that blacks were not even competent to theatrically act out the very characteristics that supposedly defined them. Thus the safety issue was clear: people so denigrated could be freely exploited, oppressed, stolen from, beaten, or murdered.

When cultural elements are copied from a minority culture by members of a dominant culture, there’s an important power dynamic to look at. This copying can be felt as mocking, trivializing, or distorting a meaning that may be of central importance to members of the minority culture. When the dominant culture copies and distorts in this way, less dominant cultures cannot protect their meanings. They may feel stripped of identity and, without the protective functions of identity, unsafe. The power of the dominant culture is reinforced by taking from minority cultures whatever it might think is “cool” – saying, in effect, “whatever is yours, we can take.”

Cultural elements in their context fit together into an expression of the culture’s experience. Appropriating certain elements necessarily removes them from their full context, and, when done by a dominant culture, with its broad influence, that appropriation dismembers the imitated culture. When current or historical oppression is a part of a culture’s self-understanding, imitators who have no experience of that oppression, but who temporarily ‘play’ at that culture are redefining the imitated culture against its will. Imitations that remove indications of a culture’s struggle for justice (by, say, representing only the cheerfully exotic) thereby discount and make more difficult that struggle. This has negative implications for the safety of, among others, justice workers whose claims have been discredited (consciously or unconsciously) before they could be made.

It’s not always clear what celebrates, honors, and empowers a culture and what trivializes and disempowers it. Indeed, it’s not always clear just what a culture is. But by looking at who has and is using power, and whose safety may be in jeopardy, we can be more effectively compassionate.

There's something else, even more important, to look at: the eyes and the heart of someone who tells you that something you're doing or wearing or saying is hurting them. We may not understand why they should be hurt, but it's highly unlikely that they're lying about their feelings. Understanding how something is hurtful may be helpful to us, but it isn't necessary. What's necessary is simply that we care enough about them to stop doing it.

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.
In October, I'll be at the Starbucks in Rye: 51 Purchase St.
In 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 at your place. Call Pam at the church office (914-946-1660) to schedule either.

This Week On THE LIBERAL PULPIT

The "Yom Kippur" sermon (Sep 24) is now posted, in three parts:
What's Wrong with You?
Upsides of Failings
Called to Repair Relationship

List of, and links to, Meredith's past sermons: HERE.
List of, and links to, Meredith's other thoughts and reflections: HERE.

Practice of the Week

Don't Be Alarmed. Don't underestimate the amount of background alarm in your body and mind. It's hard-wired and relentless, inherent in the collision between the needs of life and the realities of existence. While this alarmism has been a great strategy for keeping creatures alive to pass on their genes, it's not good for your health, well-being, relationships, or ambitions. Threat signals are usually way out of proportion to what READ MORE...

Your Moment of Zen

Propinquity. P.G. Wodehouse's series of Jeeves novels revolved around genteel country estates and comedic romances engendered by the propinquity (nearness, proximity) of those staying under one roof for a significant time. Right Ho, Jeeves (1934), includes this conversation between Bertie and Jeeves, his butler:

“What do you call it when two people of opposite sexes are bunged together in close association in a secluded spot meeting each other every day and seeing a lot of each other?”
“Is ‘propinquity’ the word you wish, sir?”
“It is. I stake everything on propinquity, Jeeves.”

Twenty-two years later, Ian Fleming's Diamonds Are Forever (1956) included a character telling James Bond, "Nothing Propinks Like Propinquity." This expression became an oft-used aphorism of diplomat George Ball (US Ambassador to the UN during the Johnson administration), and was later dubbed the Ball Rule of Power.
We become what/who we are near. We become our habits and those we hang around. The little irritants are our great chance. Is not everything staked on propinquity?

Aitken's Case (Zen Master Raven)

The same evening that Gray Wolf appeared was also Cougar's first time at Tallspruce circle. Mole stayed underground throughout the zazen period that day, but poked his nose out for the discussion of karma.
After Raven's final response to Gray Wolf, Cougar asked, "Then is karma just cause and effect?"
Raven said, "Propinquity propinks."
Couger shook his head vigorously and said, "Sometimes it makes me irritated."
Raven said, "Your great chance."

Hotetsu's Verse

It's a murmuration of boomerangs
Doing what they are
Going around coming around
Less coordinated than starlings
They frequently bump
Leave marks and nicks
Work themselves pure

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