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2021-12-10
Religious Education: December 12, 2021
Minister's Post, Fri Dec 10
Here's a perspective I wanted to share with you, from Norman Fischer (whose "Training in Compassion" we have been looking at for the weekly Spiritual Practice segment). Fischer says:
"Our whole life and all parts of it, every moment of it, and all of existence is nothing but compassion and love. We don’t need to produce compassion. We already are compassion."To be compassion -- what does that mean to you?
Yours in the faith we share,
Meredith
Join a Journey Group: http://cucwp.org/journey-groups
ICYMI (In Case You Missed It)
The Dec 5 worship service, "Not Such a Bad Species":
You can read the text HERE.
Covid Review
The Worldwide numbers are not reliable, and likely are greatly underestimating the actual prevalence of Covid-19. These numbers may nevertheless give us an indication of trends.
New Cases
Average New Cases per Day, worldwide:
Peak week (Apr 23-29): 828,613
Lowest since peak (Jun 15-21): 361,003
Highest since the June low (Aug 24-30): 660,604
Two weeks ago (Nov 19-25): 565,451
Last week (Nov 26-Dec 2): 587,739
This week (Dec 3-9): 617,996*
*Since Oct 17, new cases per day have increased 53% (an average increase of 0.8% per day for 53 days).
Average New Cases per Day, US:
Peak week (Jan 5-11): 256,107
Lowest since peak: (Jun 15-21): 11,981
Highest since the June low (Aug 27 - Sep 2): 167,598
Two weeks ago (Nov 19-25): 92,425
Last week (Nov 26-Dec 2): 95,722
This week (Dec 3-9): 117,787*
*Since Nov 3, new cases per day have increased 65% (an average increase of 1.4% per day for 36 days).
Average New Cases per Day, Westchester County, NY:
Highest week of 2020 (Mar 23-29): 949
Lowest week, post-peak, of 2020 (Aug 19-25): 29
Highest week of 2021 (Jan 6-12): 861
Lowest week of 2021 (Jun 17-23): 11
Two weeks ago (Nov 19-25): 159
Last week (Nov 26-Dec 2): 199
This week (Dec 3-9): 335*
*New cases per day (as a moving 7-day average) are now more than 5 times what they were on Oct 24 (an average increase of 3.6% per day for 46 days).
Deaths
Average Deaths per Day, worldwide:
Peak week (Jan 21-27): 14,818
Lowest since peak (Jun 29 - Jul 5): 7,694
Highest since the July low (Aug 19-25): 10,313
Two weeks ago (Nov 19-25): 7,167
Last week (Nov 26-Dec 2): 7,120
This week (Dec 3-9): 7,166*
*For the last 65 days (Oct 5 - Dec 9), deaths have fluctuated between 6,662 and 7,293 per day.
Average Deaths per Day, US:
Peak week (Jan 10-16): 3,553
Lowest since peak (Jun 30 - Jul 6): 244
Highest since the July low (Sep 17-23): 2,008
Two weeks ago (Nov 19-25): 1,045
Last week (Nov 26-Dec 2): 1,002
This week (Dec 3-9): 1,201*
*Since Nov 17, deaths per day have increased 16% (an average increase of 0.7% per day for 22 days)
TOTAL Deaths per WEEK, Westchester County, NY:
Highest week of 2020 (Apr 9-15): 365
Lowest week, post-peak, of 2020 (Sep 27 - Oct 3): 0
Highest week of 2021 (Jan 28 - Feb 3): 74
Lowest weeks of 2021 (Jun 16-22; Jun 28-Jul 14; Jul 18-27, Oct 6-19, and Nov 15-27): 0
Highest since May 22 (Sep 10-16): 9
Two weeks ago (Nov 19-25): 0
Last week (Nov 26-Dec 2): 2
This week (Dec 3-9): 3
While the climb in new cases may be alarming, the death rate is growing much more slowly. Winter is coming: be careful out there!
Practice of the Week
Training in Compassion #3: Examine the Nature of Awareness
If everything is just a passing memory and, as in a dream, you can't really grasp anything, you have to wonder: Who is aware of this? Who is the dreamer? Who is hearing these words? We know the answer to these questions: "Me! I'm hearing the words!” Nothing could be more obvious than this. But have you really examined it?
When you have a moment, try this experiment: find your “self” – the “me” who hears and sees and feels. Find a definite, concrete, identifiable somebody there within your awareness. I think you will find this is not so easy to do. You can find plenty of thoughts and emotions, sensations, opinions, sense experiences, but it's difficult to find an “I.”
Imagine that suddenly, for no reason, your mind were to become very quiet and there was only a feeling of presence, and there is nobody complaining and there are no stories going on in your mind. There is only awareness. You may well have had such an experience – in a moment of spontaneous repose. If you should experience a moment like this, it will become instantly clear to you that awareness is something extremely mysterious and that we really don't know where it comes from or what it is at all. Examine the nature of awareness and see for yourself. See the full post: "Examine the Nature of Awareness."
See also our SPIRITUAL PRACTICE DIRECTORY
2021-12-09
Music: Sun Dec 12
Seasonal blessings are featured in this Sunday's musical selections, which include Christmas Carols from Rumania, a prayerful chorale-prelude by J. S. Bach, Christmas-time evocations dedicated by Franz Liszt to his granddaughter, a popular Catalonian song of the Magi, and a classic from the America Songbook performed by the CUUC Choir. Read on for programming details, and stay tuned for spoken introductions.
Gathering Music: Adam Kent, piano
Rumanian Christmas Carols, Series I
Béla Bartók
From Weinachtsbaum (The Christmas Tree):
10. Ehemal (Olden Times)
Franz Liszt
Opening Music:
CUUC Choir directed by Lisa N. Meyer and accompanied by Georgianna Pappas
“What a Wonderful World”
Words and Music by George David Weiss and Bob Thiele, arr by Mark A. Brymer
Offertory:
From Weinachtsbaum (The Christmas Tree):
5. Scherzoso: Lighting the Tree
Musical Meditation:
"Beloved Jesu, We Are Here"
J. S. Bach, arr. by Harriet Cohen
Interlude: Homenaje a Federico Mompou: Que li darem? (Homage to Federico Mompou: What Shall We Bring Him?)
Joaquin Nin-Culmell
Postlude:
From
Weinachtsbaum (The Christmas Tree):
1. Psallite!
2021-12-06
Examine the Nature of Awareness
Practice of the Week
Examine the Nature of Awareness
Examine the Nature of Awareness
Category: SLOGANS TO LIVE BY: These are for everyone. Carry these reminders at all times. These practices don't require setting aside a separate substantial chunk of time -- but they will slow you down a bit (and that's a good thing.) Resolve to get stronger at living by these maxims, day by day. Sometimes make one of them the focus of your daily journaling.
adapted from Norman Fischer, Training in Compassion
We know the answer to these questions: "Me! I'm reading these words. I'm aware of the fact that everything is like a dream. I'm a little skeptical of that, but I'm aware that that's what I just read."
Nothing could be more obvious than this. But have you really examined it?
Let me suggest an experiment in awareness. You could even try it right now. Turn away from reading this and find yourself, the me mentioned the earlier paragraph. Find a yourself, find a definite, concrete, identifiable somebody there within your awareness.
I think you will find this is not so easy to do. You can find plenty of thoughts and emotions, sensations, opinions, sense experiences, but I think it's very difficult to find an I.
Imagine that suddenly, for no reason, your mind were to become very, very quiet and there were only a sound, maybe the sound of silence or the sound of wind or water or machinery, and simply a feeling of presence, and there is nobody complaining and there are no stories going on in your mind. There is only awareness. You may well have had such an experience in a meditation retreat or maybe any time, in nature, or in spontaneous repose. In such a moment there isn't anybody there to congratulate you for it. As soon as there seems to be someone to notice or congratulate, the experience passes and the inner dialog resumes. If you should experience a moment like this, it will become instantly clear to you that awareness is something very profound and extremely mysterious and that we really don't know where it comes from or what it is at all.
It's powerful, vivid, and very alive, but we don't know what it is. We have a word in our language -- consciousness -- but no one knows what this word means. It's a word that simply covers over our confusion. To recognize this fact and train in it is the objective of the practice, examine the nature of awareness.
Recent brain science corroborates the point. There is, in fact, no brain area, no combination of areas, that corresponds to our sense of "me." Though the sense of "me" does seem to occur subjectively, it is not an experience and does not exist in a location. It emerges somehow from thoughts and emotions that can be seen in brain scans, but it itself cannot be seen or measured. It both exists and does not exist at the same time.
For Journaling
Perform the recommended experiment: take a few moments to turn away from any distractions and search within yourself for yourself. Give yourself several minutes to search, then pick up your pen and begin writing. What thoughts, emotions, sounds and other sensations did you notice? Where was the self that had these experiences? What did this experiment indicate about what yourself is?
From Judith Lief, Tricycle:
In the previous slogan, “Regard all experience as a dream,” we looked outward, at our perception of the world. With this slogan we look inward -- we look at the looking itself.* * *
What is awareness and how does it arise? What does it mean to perceive a world? The question of consciousness is one that has puzzled scientists and philosophers as well as meditators and mystics. It seems to be intimately connected with the physical brain, yet not identical to it -- and when you are aware of something, it doesn’t seem to be the brain that is perceiving, but you! But who or what is that you?
Consciousness can be considered philosophically or studied scientifically, but in this slogan the idea is to examine it personally and directly. It is to look at your own experience. When you look, what do you see? And where does that seeing come from? What is its nature? Where does it abide? Where does it go?
Over and over look at your own mind, and then look again. Don’t think too much but keep it simple, nothing but dispassionate, inquisitive observation. Is it inside you? Outside you? Both?
If the unnerving experience of dharmas being dreamlike is not unsettling enough, when you try to examine the nature of unborn awareness, it is beyond unsettling. These two slogans undermine our attempts to establish inner and outer solidity, and liberate the energy we invest in that pursuit. So whether we are applying slogan practice to meditation and in our daily lives, it comes from a fresher place.
TODAY’S PRACTICE. When you become aware of a thought or an object of perception, notice how solid and separate the perceiver and what is being perceived seem to be, and the seeming solidity of this and that, here and there. Then look at the nature of the awareness itself, before the arising of “this” and “that.” Keep questioning. What is it exactly and where does it come from?
2021-12-03
Minister's Post, Fri Dec 2
ICYMI (In Case You Missed It)
The Nov 28 worship service, led by Adam Kent, "Sound Sense and Sensible Sound":
Covid Review
The Worldwide numbers are not reliable, and likely are greatly underestimating the actual prevalence of Covid-19. These numbers may nevertheless give us an indication of trends.
New Cases
Average New Cases per Day, worldwide:
Peak week (Apr 23-29): 828,613
Lowest since peak (Jun 15-21): 361,003
Highest since the June low (Aug 24-30): 660,604
Two weeks ago (Nov 12-18): 516,722
Last week (Nov 19-25): 565,343
This week (Nov 26-Dec 2): 586,941
*Since Oct 16, new cases per day have increased 45% (an average increase of 0.8% per day for 47 days).
Average New Cases per Day, US:
Peak week (Jan 5-11): 256,107
Lowest since peak: (Jun 15-21): 11,981
Highest since the June low (Aug 27 - Sep 2): 167,598
Two weeks ago (Nov 12-18): 90,978
Last week (Nov 19-25): 92,335
This week (Nov 26-Dec 2): 95,278
*Since Nov 2, new cases per day have increased 34% (an average increase of 1.0% per day for 30 days).
Average New Cases per Day, Westchester County, NY:
Highest week of 2020 (Mar 23-29): 949
Lowest week, post-peak, of 2020 (Aug 19-25): 29
Highest week of 2021 (Jan 6-12): 861
Lowest week of 2021 (Jun 17-23): 11
Highest since Jun low (Aug 15-21): 212
Two weeks ago (Nov 12-18): 134
Last week (Nov 19-25): 159
This week (Nov 26-Dec 2): 199
*New cases per day (as a moving 7-day average) are now 3.0 times what they were on Oct 24 (an average increase of 2.9% per day for 39 days).
Deaths
Average Deaths per Day, worldwide:
Peak week (Jan 21-27): 14,818
Lowest since peak (Jun 29 - Jul 5): 7,694
Highest since the July low (Aug 19-25): 10,313
Two weeks ago (Nov 12-18): 7,183
Last week (Nov 19-25): 7,142
This week (Nov 26-Dec 2): 7,003
For the last 58 days (Oct 5 - Dec 2), deaths have fluctuated between 6,660 and 7,272 per day.
Average Deaths per Day, US:
Peak week (Jan 10-16): 3,553
Lowest since peak (Jun 30 - Jul 6): 244
Highest since the July low (Sep 17-23): 2,008
Two weeks ago (Nov 12-18): 1,054
Last week (Nov 19-25): 1,018
This week (Nov 26-Dec 2): 961
For the last 20 days (Nov 12 - Dec 2), deaths have fluctuated between 848 and 1,102 per day.
TOTAL Deaths per WEEK, Westchester County, NY:
Highest week of 2020 (Apr 9-15): 365
Lowest week, post-peak, of 2020 (Sep 27 - Oct 3): 0
Highest week of 2021 (Jan 28 - Feb 3): 74
Lowest weeks of 2021 (Jun 16-22; Jun 28-Jul 14; Jul 18-27, Oct 6-19, and Nov 15-27): 0
Highest since May 22 (Sep 10-16): 9
Two weeks ago (Nov 12-18): 1
Last week (Nov 19-25): 0
This week (Nov 26-Dec 2): 2
In the last 32 days (Nov 1-Dec 2), Westchester County has seen 7 deaths from Covid -- or 1 death every 4.6 days.
The US fully-vaccinated rate reached 59.6% as of Dec 2. The last percentage point gain took 24 days. The percentage point before that took 20 days.
Meanwhile, the Westchester County fully-vaccinated rate is 72.0% (as of Dec 2) -- up 1 percentage point in the last 19 days. The percentage point before that took 17 days.
Winter is coming: be careful out there!
Practice of the Week
It’s time again for our Ecospiritual practice for this month – brought to you by Community UU’s Environmental Practices Social Justice Team: The Right to Live.
Imagine a logger 200 years ago coming upon a pristine forest. His thoughts are on the wealth he can get from these millions of board feet. Today we are more likely to consider creatures that might be endangered, and the value of forests for recreation and even as a carbon sink to sequester greenhouse gases. Yet our legal system today is hardly any better equipped than it was then to contemplate that the forest itself and its creatures have rights.
Thomas Berry says:
"So too every being has rights to be recognized and revered. Trees have tree rights, insects have insect rights, rivers have river rights, mountains have mountain rights. So too with the entire range of beings throughout the universe.”The forest has a right to live out its patterns, to enact the script nature has written for it. It has earned this right by surviving, evolving unique adaptations, and creating a complex dynamic equilibrium.
The forest ecosystem and the critters in it, have rights – rights that obligate us to be cautious, take no more than we need to live, and approach the forests with reverence and humility.
Ecospiritual practices this month include a Namaste Practice, a Loving-Kindness Prayer, and Journaling about what the forest might say if it could speak. For the details on these, as well as group activities for your Ecospiritual group, see the post: "The Right to Live." See also our SPIRITUAL PRACTICE DIRECTORY
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