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2021-02-11
Religious Education: February 11, 2021
2021-02-10
Music: Sun Feb 14
It wouldn’t be Valentine’s Day in the world of classical music without a nod to Robert and Clara Schumann, the passionate musical couple whose love inspired some of the greatest piano music of the 19th century. Writing to Clara of his Kreisleriana, Op. 16, Robert had this to say: “Iʼm overflowing with music and beautiful melodies now – imagine, since my last letter I've finished another whole notebook of new pieces. I intend to call it Kreisleriana. You and one of your ideas play the main role in it, and I want to dedicate it to you – yes, to you and nobody else – and then you will smile so sweetly when you discover yourself in it.”
That he dedicated Kreisleriana to Frederic Chopin may have been a matter of professional expediency...
This morning’s Musical Meditation takes the form of a wedding gift from the Catalan composer Xavier Montsalvatge to the favorite pianist of my childhood, Alicia de Larrocha. The title Divagación was intended as a caution to Alicia not to stray too far from her path as a pianist as a married woman.
Elsewhere, the CUUC Choir Quartet brings us a virtual performance of “’Tis You That Are the Music.” Read on for programming details, and stay tuned for spoken introductions.
Gathering Music: Adam Kent, piano
Kreisleriana, Op. 16
1. Ausserst bewegt
2. Sehr innig und nicht zu rasch
Robert
Schumann
Anthem: CUUC Choir Quartet, directed by Lisa N. Meyer and accompanied by Georgianna Pappas
“ʼTis You That Are The Music”
Cynthia Gray
Musical Meditation:
Divagación
Xavier Montsalvatge
2021-02-05
Religious Education: February 5, 2021
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2021-02-04
Minister's Post, Fri Feb 5
As I said last Sunday:
The seed of awareness of inherent belonging wants to sprout and grow and send forth new seeds of joy to plant in other hearts.Covid Watch
If you have ever found comfort and sanctuary, ease and acceptance here, then go ahead and bask in that for as long as you can – because you won’t be able to simply bask in it for too terribly long. It is the nature of this blessing that it will not leave you alone.
And if it seems to you that the ease and sanctuary of this place doesn’t feel quite like it used to for you, then you’re ready – ready for that next step. The way to feel more welcome and accepted and warmly received is to be welcoming, accepting, and warmly receiving. That means making our congregation a place more welcoming of people who have sometimes felt unwelcome. That also means the work of social justice – making the world a place of greater acceptance and celebration of diversity.
When we talk about injustice and oppression, it isn’t to make you feel bad. It’s to help you feel good, by lifting up the wonderful meaningful work there is for us to do together. If you need comforting, be a part of offering comfort to others – and justice to all. That’ll do it.
U.S. and World: The 7-day average of new cases per day has been steadily declining for 3.5 weeks now -- ever since Jan 11. In the U.S. the new cases per day have fallen by 47% in 24 days. Worldwide, new cases per day have fallen by 33% in those 24 days.
Deaths appear to inching downward, albeit more slowly. We're still losing over 3,000 people a day in the US (7-day average), and over 13,000 a day worldwide.
Times are tough. The isolation is hard to bear. Hang in there, friends. It gets better.
Yours in the faith we share,
Meredith
Practice of the Week
The first Sunday of every month, our suggested spiritual practice is an Ecospiritual Practice. Brought to you by CUUC’s Environmental Practices Social Justice Team, ecospiritual practice is oriented toward developing spirituality through our connection with our planet home and our responsibility to care for it.
This month’s ecospiritual practice, “Falling in Love” refers to loving this Earth and all that lives upon it – being head over heels for this sublime and unimaginable state of being – being in love not with our own small lives, but Life with a capital L.
In the vision cast by this love, we walk a joyful path of creation. We do not dwell on negativity and are not paralyzed by it, but engage lovingly in creating the world in which we want to live. We walk on holy ground with every step and form deep and lasting relationships and communities where diversity is honored and uniqueness respected, and the Earth is healed and restored.
The suggested practices this month include: Ceremony of Closure, where you create a small personal ritual to mark your Ecospiritual journey so far.
Journal closure, where you re-read past Ecospiritual journal entries and reflect on the themes that seem to have arisen.
Beloved Earth is a practice of giving a small, biodegradable gift to the earth as you reflect on what loving the Earth means.
Activities for your Ecospiritual Group, and questions for group discussion are also included. See the post “Falling in Love”.
2021-02-03
Music: Sun Feb 7
This morning’s musical selections are connected to African and African Diasporic traditions. The composers either hail from African nations, occupied themselves with African idioms, or embraced African-American musical styles. Their names—and the names of the heritage they celebrated—are too rarely spoken. Read on for programming details, and stay tuned for introductions to each work during worship.
Centering Music: Adam Kent, piano
“Maribye Ma Nonoha Ngopfu” (These Stones Are Very Hard)
South East African, arr. by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
Opening Music:
“Dancing Barefoot in the Rain” from African Sketches
Nkeiru Okoye
Musical Meditation:
“Poor Mourner’s Got a Home”
Wallace M. Cheatham
Interlude:
“The Angels Changed My Name”
African-American Spiritual, arr. by Coleridge-Taylor
Parting Music:
“The Monk” from Portraits in Jazz
Valerie Capers
2021-02-01
Falling in Love
Practice of the Week
Falling in Love
Falling in Love
Category: Ecospiritual. These practices are oriented toward developing our spirituality through our connection with our planet home and our responsibility to care for it.
adapted from Rebecca James Hecking, The Sustainable Soul
The path of creation is joyful. Instead of dwelling on and being paralyzed by all the negativity of the world, we decide to create the type of world in which we want to live. This is a sacred place, where we walk on holy ground with every step and form deep and lasting relationships and communities where diversity is honored and uniqueness is respected, and where the Earth itself is healed and restored.Probably many of us shake our heads at the impossibility of it all, and understandably so. All of us at some point have felt some despair at the state of things. It’s true that there are great forces at work, but just how they will affect us remains to be seen.
There is no doubt that we are in the midst of planetary change. We have surpassed the limits of Earth’s ability to regenerate its life-support systems. The climate is changing. Energy sources that fueled the Industrial Revolution may not last much longer. We are in the midst of a major transition, and the future doesn’t seem as clearly predictable as it once did. In the end, a “corrective” to our excesses is bound to occur, one way or another. The question is how to get there.
The chances of a positive short- and long-term future are far greater if we begin creating it now. If we start making the changes we want to see – cultivating reverence and awe for the Earth and allowing that reverence to form the foundation for our way of being – we are on the way to recreating the Earth. Thoreau understood this when he wrote in On Man & Nature:
“When I would recreate myself, I seek the darkest wood, the thickest and most interminable, and to the citizen, most dismal swamp. I enter the swamp as a sacred place – a sanctum sanctorum. There is the strength, the marrow of nature.”This is the kind of strength that will sustain us through the necessary losses and changes to come.
Insects that undergo metamorphosis from a larva to their adult form enter a cocoon, where they are transformed. In the cocoon, the larva begins to dissolve. The old form collapses, and the new winged insect begins to form. The process is directed by so-called imaginal cells. These cells facilitate the transformation in ways that scientists are only beginning to understand. Our culture and our world are entering the cocoon. Change is upon us. Old ways are dissolving. Those who embark on the path of creation are the imaginal cells of this global process. We must envision the new, and midwife it into being through our dreams and our hard work. There is no other way.
The joyful part comes into play when we see just how much we love this exquisite, blue-green jewel that is our home. We are creatures of this place. We are the consciousness of Gaia, now able to realize this fact, truly understand it, and act upon it in ways that previous generations could not. We are the beloved children, the prodigal sons and daughters of our planet, who now understand the need to come. We are the beloved children now growing up, who realize that excess is unsustainable, greed is unacceptable, responsibility is a necessity, and our adulthood as a species is upon us. As mature beings now, we have fallen in love: utterly, madly, and gloriously in love with this place, this Earth and all who live upon it, human and nonhuman. We are head over heels for this sublime and unimaginable state of being. We are in love with Life, not our own small lives, but Life with a capital L. The Universe and All That Is. Life.
Practices
1. Ceremoney of Closure. Just as at the beginning, create a small personal ritual to mark the journey you have taken. Through words or actions, symbolize the Path of Awakening, the Path of Un-Learning, the Path of Discovery, and the Path of Creation. Incorporate elements of previous exercises, or create something entirely new.
2. Journal Closure. Even if you plan to write more in your journal later, spend some time re-reading what you have written and reflect on your experience of working through the previous practices. Which ones resonated strongly with you? Did you feel drawn to any particular ideas? What made you uncomfortable? Why?
3. Beloved Earth. Go you your favorite outdoor place. Bring a gift of thanks and leave it somewhere nearby in an inconspicuous place where it is unlikely to be disturbed by people. Your gift can be a small token that symbolizes your gratitude and appreciation for the Earth – something natural, not synthetic. Possibilities include: flowers, birdseed, bread, a seashell, a stone, water, honey, a lock of your hair, dried herbs, an object of unfinished wood. It should blend in with the land. Offer your gift, and spend some time pondering what it means to love the Earth.
Group Activities
Celebration of Life. Decorate your group altar with symbols of your love for the Earth and all its creatures. Share poetry, stories, and songs. Eat a meal together. Reflect on your experiences as a group, and share memories. Gather in circle, hold hands, and reflect on what it means to love the Earth. You might brainstorm future actions. Honor your group’s unique vision for the world and yourselves as participants in it.
Questions for Group Conversation:
- Have you ever had an experience that caused you to feel a sense of love for the natural world? What was it?
- What does loving the Earth mean to you? What might it mean in a broader cultural context?
- Do you think a better future is possible? If so, how can we get there? If not, why not?
- What now? Where do you go from here?
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