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 our Ministerial Intern, Thu Nov 9

Native American Heritage Month

Since 1990, November has been recognized as Native American Heritage Month. It's a time when artifacts tucked away in museums and historical societies and cultural events related to the American Indian experience may catch our attention. It's also a time when it is difficult to escape the press coverage, editorials, and social media posts devoted to lifting up Native Americans and debunking difficult to erase stereotypes and myths. 

Lately, I've seen debates about the use of Indian imagery and language in mascots and logos for sports teams on the professional, college and high school circuits. When I was growing up, I never gave my hometown's "Big Reds" logo and cheers much of a second thought, but today I am more mindful of the way the graphics and implicit messages of this form of what author Philip J. Deloria calls "Playing Indian" are offensive to Native and non-native Americans. Likewise, today I can appreciate the column on why an Indian Princess costume for Halloween -- for a child or myself -- is a serious contender for "What Not to Wear." And, I notice the "flare-ups" of outrage followed by public apologies in the design and fashion worlds, where designers and run-way artists walk a fine line between claiming inspiration from Native American traditions and answering to charges of cultural misappropriation.... in textiles, clothing, hairstyles and make-up.

As the volume on these kinds of issues rises, I wonder.... Can we just stop long enough to put on our "liberty and justice for all" lenses and summon up some holy curiosity about our Indigenous kin? Can we embrace opportunities to meet in person, enter into beloved conversations, listen to history told from their perspective, and hear about current challenges? Only then can we honor our faith's call to mindfully dismantle paradigms, systems and practices of oppression and suffering. How else can we begin to become engaged in a process of truth and reconciliation for harms inflicted over the course of our nation's settler colonialist history?

CUUC’s Bice Wilson and I invite you to take such an opportunity on Friday evening, November 17, to hear the Voices of our Indigenous Neighbors, the Ramapough Lenape Nation. This film and speaker event features the 2015 documentary American Native and a talk with guest leader Two Clouds. Presented by the Westchester Indigenous Collaboration and hosted by Fourth Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Mohegan Lake, it takes place at 7:00pm at the John C. Hart Library in Shrub Oak, New York.

The Ramapough have a history of intermarriage among the Lenape, Dutch colonial settlers and African Americans dating back to the late 1800’s, and has fought hard to be recognized by the state of New Jersey, but has been denied federal tribal recognition. Their struggles for sovereignty continue and include defending treaty rights around water, land and freedom of religious practice. Although the tribe successfully mounted an environmental justice campaign against Ford Motor Company some time ago, I first learned of the tribe in 2012 as part of 350.org’s “Connect the Dots” climate campaign which highlighted the threat of proposed pipelines to waterways in the Ramapough Mountains. 

Last year, the tribe founded and now maintains the Split Rock Sweetwater Prayer Camp in Mahwah, New Jersey, marked by a teepee erected in solidarity with the Sioux Standing Rock Prayer Camp and Keystone XL Pipeline resistance. The Ramapough’s camp is sited on land gifted to them in the late 1990’s by a local developer, which has long been used for tribal ceremonies and pow-wows. However, as Bice shares, “the tribe is currently under attack by the town of Mahwah, NJ which has sued them in the attempt to force them to stop their worship activities on the land. They need our support."  Bice is already engaged in advising them. What is your part, this congregation’s part, to play?

Let’s talk! We’ll carpool from CUUC, assembling by 6 pm. Join us by emailing me at intern@cucwp.org or signing up on the list at church.

RE News: Sun Nov 12

Lifespan Religious Education

The holiday season at CUUC offers many opportunities to give. Our UU Principles call on us to care for others and work on the systemic change that will transform the patterns of injustice. However, when it comes to the call for goods, services, and money, please remember that you are supposed to choose how you would like to participate and are not expected to do it all. The different types of projects are meant to create options, but not overwhelm. The same can be said for all of our other activities. Find your point of connection in the array of possibilities. Eventually, you can do it all if you like, just not all at once. In this month of mindfulness, we are reminded that it can be most important to just be still and present without anything to do.

Please see the following six (6) announcements:

1) This Sun Nov 12

• K-9th grades start in Fellowship Hall
• Youth Group starts in classroom.

On Veterans' Day weekend, we have a special program planned that includes:

• Learning about how veterans use gardening and farming as a way of coping with the trauma of war.
• Thinking about our own spiritual connection to the earth and how it feeds us.
• Cleaning up the CUUC inner courtyards and putting our faith into action.

To view the Religious Education Google calendar, CLICK HERE.
To view a spreadsheet version of the RE Calendar, CLICK HERE.

2) Children's Choir Rehearsal This Sun, Nov 12  

Lyra (Children's Music Director), Kim (soloist), and Georgianna (pianist) will be here to work with the children on their musical piece, "Thank You for the Music."

Two opportunities to rehearse this Sun:

9:30-10 in Fellowship Hall

11:30-12 in the sanctuary

The song will be performed at the Thanksgiving Service on Nov 19.

Children can listen to the song and read the lyrics to practice the chorus by CLICKING HERE

3) Wisdom Reading & Study Group Begins This Sun, Nov 12 at 11:30

An opportunity for spiritual growth.

Text and topic provided ahead of time, but please attend regardless and bring other related texts to share. 

We begin with Becoming Wise, Krista Tippett 

“...This is brilliant thinking, beautiful storytelling and practical insight.” - Brené Brown 

In Becoming Wise, Krista Tippett has created a master class in living for a fractured world. Fracture, she says is not the whole story of our time. The enduring question of what it means to be human has become inextricable from the challenge of who we are to one another. 

Related podcast and other related materials, CLICK HERE. 

For questions or further information, please contact Sabrina Cleary at clearytheory@gmail.com.  

4)

5) Holiday Giving Opportunity - Gently Used Children’s Books and Toy Drive Nov 5 to Dec 3  

This year the Ecumenical Food Pantry in White Plains will be distributing gently used books and toys to their clients.

Imagine the joy you can bring to parents who cannot afford to give their children much during the holidays. We will also be collecting new/like new stuffed animals. Last year several of the senior citizens were thrilled to choose a stuffed animal for themselves. 

Please bring donations to the RE Lobby starting on Nov 5.

On Dec 3, children are asked to bring a book that was or is special to them to share during Children’s Worship before it is donated.

Contact Mary Cavallero marycava4@gmail.com for information or to help with this project.

6) Room for One More This Thanksgiving?   

Make a place for an international student! 

Our congregation is again partnering with One to World to find host families to welcome students to their Thanksgiving dinners.
 

A wonderful experience for both students and hosts! Contact Jane Dixon at lilrhodie@gmail.com. 

 

Sincerely,  
Perry
Director of Lifespan Religious Education and Faith Development

Music: Sun Nov 19

CUUC Choir Pianist Georgianna Pappas shares excerpts from J. S. Bach’s monumental Goldberg Variations during this morning’s Centering Music. The cycle was written to alleviate the insomnia of the Russian ambassador to the electoral court of Saxony. Hard to imagine anyone dozing through Bach’s endless inventive energy!  The CUUC Choir is also on hand with a Beatles favorite as well as a popular American hymn. Finally, children from our Religious Education program team up with our own Kim Force in an expression of thanks by ABBA, the first fruits of their work with our newly engaged Children’s Music Director Lyra Harada. Read on for programming details.

Centering Music: Georgianna Pappas, piano

From The Goldberg Variations, BWV 988

Variations 1, 13, and 29

J.S. Bach

Anthem: CUUC Choir directed by Lisa N. Meyer

I Will    

John Lennon and Paul McCartney

Offertory:
For the Beauty of the Earth

John Rutter  

Anthem: CUUC Children’s Choir with Kim Force

Thank You for the Music                                               
                                          ABBA

Postlude:
We Gather Together
                              Dutch folk tune arranged by G. Pappas

Music: Sun Nov 12

CUUC Choir Pianist Georgianna Pappas treats us to a selection of Domenico Scarlatti’s keyboard sonatas during the morning’s Centering Music and Offertory. A native of Naples, Italy, Scarlatti is better remembered for the 550+ sonatas he wrote while in service to the Spanish court. His music is characterized by virtuosic brinksmanship and the incorporation of indigenous Iberian musical idioms. The CUUC Choir is also on hand with several Spanish-language selections, including an appeal to harken to the rushing winds.

Read on for programming details.

Centering music: Georgianna Pappas, piano

Sonata in E major, K. 4

Sonata in D major, K. 7

Domenico Scarlatti

Anthem: CUUC Choir directed by Lisa N. Meyer

Cantar!    

 Jay Althouse  

Offertory:

Sonata in C major, K. 12

                                 Domenico Scarlatti

Anthem:

From Tres canciones de los elementos,

I.               Escuchar al viento    

              Victor Johnson

From the Minister, Thu Nov 2

From the Minister

Mindfulness! Derived from the Buddhist concept sati, mindfulness has become all the rage. Some of this "rage" is meaningless -- yet there's something important here, too.

Our "themes of the month" are generally "slow transformers." That is, regular reflection on and investigation of the meaning of death, faith, forgiveness, evil, grace, freedom, etc. will slowly transform your life. You'll become a wiser spirit helping others become wiser spirits. Mindfulness is a bit different. It can transform your life instantaneously.

Still, if it doesn't develop into a habit of real presence, it all slides away again. And cultivating the habit takes us back to a slow transformation after all. Even so, there are some delightful and quick revelations that come when we truly pay attention to our life just as it is, free of judgment, right here and right now.

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

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.

• 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 1 of 2 of "Environmental Racism" -- modified from remarks prepared for the Mt. Kisco congregation, where I was visiting on Sun Oct 22.

Racism and the Environment

List of, and links to, past sermons: HERE.
List of, and links to, other reflections: HERE.

Practice of the Week

Unitask. In our busy lives, how often do we find ourselves doing more than one thing at a time? Many days, it seems that multi-tasking is an ingrained part of life. For ONE WEEK stop multi-tasking. Sounds simple, right? Try it and see how it feels. You may find you want to do this all the time -- not just occasionally. For example, work on the computer without the TV or radio on, or drive the car without listening to the radio or a CD. Exercise or eat in silence. When you fold the laundry, only fold the laundry, without also talking on the phone or watching TV. READ MORE

Your Moment of Zen

Buddha. What is the holy that cannot be spoken? Hint: Any answer that involves words isn't it. Wittgenstein said, in the final line of his cryptic Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus: "Whereof we cannot speak, thereof we must remain silent." But perhaps silence is not the only alternative to speaking? Or, what if speaking IS silence? I should have shut up after the first question. If not sooner.

Aitken's Case (Zen Master Raven)

The next evening Woodpecker spoke up and said, "I'd like to follow up on Buddhist terms. Let's start with the basic one. What is Buddha?"
Raven said, "I won't say."
"Oh, come on!" Woodpecker exclaimed.
Raven let out a croak and flew into the Assembly Oak.

Hotetsu's Verse

The most basic most eludes definition.
Would you constrain the stream of love poems?
Or otherwise delimit the limitless?
When a single leaf is clear,
what the master is talking about
doesn't much need to be.

Previous Moment of Zen
Saturday Zen Practice at CUUC: HERE

Other News for Sun Nov 5

RE News
Music News
From Ministerial Intern
This Week's e-Communitarian

RE News: Sun Nov 5

Lifespan Religious Education

Special music, a skit, a trip, classes, Stone Soup Brunch, a concert, Children's Choir, multigen worship, a toy and book drive, Day In Place, a food collection, hosting students for Thanksgiving, and a reading and study group are all happening at CUUC in Nov. As we enter the holiday season, please remember that all the offerings at CUUC are opportunities to engage in a variety of ways and you are not expected to do it all. Find your point of connection in the array of possibilities. Most importantly, do what is specifically fulfilling for you and brings you joy. Sometimes that means just being still and present without anything to do.

Please see the following seven (7) announcements:

1) This Sun Nov 5

• K-5th grades start in sanctuary for special musical guest Camanchaca and a Wonder Box Story performed by Family Journey Group children.
• 6th-7th grade on a trip.
• 8th-9th grade starts in the kitchen to prepare Stone Soup.
• Youth Group starts in classroom.

Classes
Pre-K - Chalice Children
K-1 - Creating Home: Animal Homes
2nd-3rd - Passport to Spirituality: Pakistan (Sikh)
4th-5th - Bibleodeon: Abraham
6th-7th - Neighboring Faiths: Catholic Trip
8th-9th - Coming of Age: Stone Soup
10th-12th - Youth Group

To view the Religious Education Google calendar, CLICK HERE.
To view a spreadsheet version of the RE Calendar, CLICK HERE.

2) Stone Soup Brunch This Sun
Sustenance created from the diverse contributions offered from our community. Please CLICK HERE to sign up to bring an ingredient.

Sponsored by the 8^th-9^th grade Coming of Age class who will donate all proceeds to Puerto Rico hurricane relief.
$5/adult; $3/child; $15 max per family

3) Family-friendly Concert and Opportunity for Children/Youth This Sun Nov 5 at 12:30 p.m. following brunch

Children and youth are needed to volunteer as ushers, reception hosts, and stagehands. If your child is interested in participating, please email me at dlre@cucwp.org.
Music Director Adam Kent’s family-friendly, all-Mozart recital.

• Includes a skit entitled “Wolfgang und Sigmund: Mozart Unblocked”, in which the great child prodigy composer is analyzed by history’s greatest psychoanalyst, played by our own Craig Hunt.

Special discounted family rates.

4) Children's Choir - Rehearsal Nov 12, Performance Nov 19 Led by Lyra Harada, our Children's Music Director, children will rehearse Abba's Thank You for the Music before and after RE on Nov 12, with Kim Force joining the children to sing the verses.

Children can listen to the song and read the lyrics to practice the chorus by CLICKING HERE.

They will perform during the Thanksgiving Service on Nov 19.

5) Holiday Giving Opportunity - Gently Used Children’s Books and Toy Drive
Nov 5 to Dec 3

This year the Ecumenical Food Pantry in White Plains will be distributing gently used books and toys to their clients. Imagine the joy you can bring to parents who cannot afford to give their children much during the holidays. We will also be collecting new/like new stuffed animals. Last year several of the senior citizens were thrilled to choose a stuffed animal for themselves.

Please bring donations to the RE Lobby starting on Nov 5.

On Dec 3, children are asked to bring a book that was or is special to them to share during Children’s Worship before it is donated.

Contact Mary Cavallero marycava4@gmail.com for information or to help with this project.

6) Room for One More This Thanksgiving?   

Make a place for an international student! Our congregation is again partnering with One to World to find host families to welcome students to their Thanksgiving dinners.

A wonderful experience for both students and hosts!

Contact Jane Dixon at lilrhodie@gmail.com. 

 

7) Wisdom Reading & Study Group – An opportunity for spiritual growth
After the service Nov 12, Dec 3, Jan 7

Text and topic provided ahead of time, but please attend regardless and bring other related texts to share.

We begin with…  
Becoming Wise, Krista Tippett
“...This is brilliant thinking, beautiful storytelling and practical insight.” - Brené Brown

In Becoming Wise, Krista Tippett has created a master class in living for a fractured world. Fracture, she says is not the whole story of our time. The enduring question of what it means to be human has become inextricable from the challenge of who we are to one another.

Related podcast and other related materials, CLICK HERE.

For questions or further information, please contact Sabrina Cleary at clearytheory@gmail.com.

Sincerely,
Perry
Director of Lifespan Religious Education and Faith Development