WHAT ARE WE ABOUT?
Bob Prichard
Sunday September 16, 2007
(Flying over the forest before going down to look at the trees) Opening Meditation -- Bob Pritchard
(Since we are going to be flying over a forest in a few moments, I ask you to imagine yourself in a small
forest of your own familiarity or make-believe, non-threatening, welcoming and a
pleasing temperature; probably during the daylight hours, so you can make your way around and see things
comfortably.)
Poem by Sallie McPharlin (see page 8)
Reading--What are your core beliefs?(see page 9)
PROGRAM
Back in July, when I first started thinking about this talk, I wrote down some key points that I want to refer to before I start. MY GOAL: To reach people without insulting, without preaching to the choir, not making light, not making fun of ANYONE . . . To gain agreement toward conversation and free discussion of our aspirations -- from various points of view.So I hope you will join me as we look closer at our small forest.
We are here today (forecasting: as I write this a week ahead) about 24 of us. About 2/3 are women, all of us are white, probably all of us have at least a bachelor’s degree, about a third are retired, and few are under 45. We are, by and large, professional people, concerned about the world we live in, the environment, and the widespread political morass of this new century. We are relatively comfortable, both financially, and in the company of the people in this small Unitarian family of the U U Congregation of Petoskey. And so, one of the things I want to talk about today deals with how does UUCOP fit in with our lives?What are we about?
Our First Reading today dealt with a poem by Sallie McPharlin, one of our original charter and staunchest members showing her great love for this family-- and our very own Wildwood Road forest that we purchased (with the very big help of Jerry and Florence Ailes, two more of our first members) as a potential building site (which some of you may not have seen.)Our Second Reading, “What are Your Core Beliefs?” asked what are we about--in a very direct way– referring in a larger sense to our love for . . . what? . . . Let’s go into that in the balance of this message. Socrates said something like, “ An unexamined life is not worth living.” I think there is a tie-in with our two readings, and I will try to bring them together as we go along. I am aware, and leery of “preaching to the choir,” so bear with me please, while I fly briefly over the forest of this ravished ball we call earth and single out the small forest I will call the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Petoskey.
For the purposes of our subject today, we will assume this forest is of indeterminate size, (let your imagination reign for a few moments, back to the forest I asked you to put yourself in during our opening meditation.) In this relatively friendly forest are many terrain features. Well, let’s see; there’s a River, some High Ground, some Plains, a Swamp, some Cultivated Land, some Lowlands, and a Clear-cut area. . . . . .
Let’s let the River represent a flowing of history of religious heritage of all of us; the waters coming from the diverse religious backgrounds of each of us, and other religious faiths and cultures we don’t even know where most of them come from. We don’t know what effect the water we pass on will have on others and, future members and future generations, but we hope we’re passing on good works as a product of our lives.The river might also represent the information and cohesiveness coming from upstream– the larger organizational strengths of the U U denomination: the UUA and the District UUA guidance and assistance available for the asking–if we look upstream instead of only downstream.
The Highlands might be our high aspirations for our fellowship--growth, our Mission and Vision statements –found in our program today as they are at every service. The Lowlands and the Swamp could represent the hidden talent or the unused skills and capabilities within our present membership and list of friends– some waiting to be asked, some afraid they would be asked to do too much. The Clear-cut Land could represent the potential for development or sale of our existing property east of town and not really centrally located. It also could be the potential source of part of our capital resources when we settle on a new facility. The Plains are our undeveloped resources –our members and our frequent friends – fertile sources, maybe for programs, communicating ideas , connections to the community and the larger U U organizations, District and National, whether we decide to join and when. More ideas often come from visits and memberships in other U U congregations and fellowships.And now we come to the Cultivated Lands – AHA! This is where we are right now. Let’s see What are we about? in our cultivating process. We are providing interesting programs; for some, the Sunday program message needs to be maybe more spiritual, for most, perhaps, it hopefully will be uplifting. And more frequently our programs are providing insight and perspective on religious facets of our lives – ranging from “living green” and preserving the world for future generations, . . . . . . . . to the recent program by the Kinneys on Partner UU groups in other countries.
Our manpower resources are stretched a bit thin when it comes to setting up the physical arrangements, a problem of long standing due to our restrictions on storage and chairs, kitchen procedures -- all related to temporary rented quarters. Our relations with other elements of UU organizations are also relatively slim. The recharging and formal training avenues for membership growth, religious education, financial and fund-raising are not being accessed as much as we might, primarily because we don’t get adequate notice of what’s available. Also we need more volunteers to attend such meetings held at some distance.Our Publicity and in-house communication had been pretty much limited to e-mail and the weekly notices in the Petoskey paper. Recently this has been recharged by our new web site: www.unitarianpetoskey.org, courtesy of Mark Kinney. We are looking forward to more usage as the web site gets more publicity itself and becomes better known in the region as a source of information on Unitarians in the northern Michigan area. More current input from our members will come as we all get more familiar with the web site and go to view it more.
Our Board activities are, for the Board Members, substantial, and often time-consuming – and under-appreciated by many of us. (This comment could almost belong in the Swamp of our forest – the Board’s commitment and time spent on the nitty-gritty details of keeping the fellowship running is a gift of love if ever there was one!) You’ll find a summary of the August 19 Board Meeting in Marla’s latest e-mail dated Wed. Sept. 12, and all Board Meeting minutes at http://www.unitarianpetoskey.org/boardminutes.shtml,.And, finally, we come back to the Lowlands and the Swamp again – the underdeveloped portion of our organization. Here we find a trickle here and there of the 2nd and 6th Principles of Unitarian Universalism: what I refer to as a call to service, but not stressed or clearly expressed in the U U Principles as such. Refer to your programs if you wish -- The 2nd principle is Justice, equity and compassion in human relations, – and – the 6th Principle is The goal of world community with peace, liberty and justice for all.
Recognizing, at the onset, that some or all of us are doing something in and for our own various communities – whether personal service or donating time, money or materials. What I am asking is What are WE about? We as a Unitarian Universalist community or congregation or fellowship – What are WE doing, and how are we letting people know it–our members, our guests, our communities?Here are just a few opportunities for UUCOP service to our world, both ACTIVE and relatively PASSIVE as they occur to me (a longer, but still inadequate list of both Active and Passive possible choices is on a handout sheet):
- SOME ACTIVE Public Service possible activities: This would include Public Protests and/or Marches for: Charitable and/or Justice causes, some examples: Peace, Stop the War, Right to Life, Women's Right to Choose,Taxes, Education, Ethics in Government, Business and other organizations, Environment, Animal cruelty, Global Warming, Immigration, Population, Tolerance, National Identity Card, Home Security, Death Penalty, Alternative Energy, Voting Machines vs. Paper Trails, AIDS-HIV, Health Coverage for all, Racism, Gay, Lesbian, Transgender Rights, Earth day, Detention and Torture, Darfur, Iran, etc, the list is endless.
- SOME MORE PASSIVE Public Service possible activities: This would include UUCOP providing group or individual volunteers for groups and organizations needing help for some examples: Food Pantries, Hospice, Habitat building, Hospitals, the Arts, Schools, Boys & Girls Clubs, Cancer Drives, Blood Drives, Phone Banks for Public Television fund-raising, Recycling etc, the list is endless. Also organized Writing letters to media, to politicos, to colleges, to businesses, corporations and other organizations. Also inviting a guest speaker and providing a Donation is useful; but I am inclined to prefer it as a side element of an otherwise regular Sunday Service.
And so, may I now once again return to the forest – our forest? As we look closely again, we will see probably, smaller trees, some stunted and held back by too many commitments, or home obligations, or age, or health problems. But we see also, mostly healthy, growing timber; – these we hope will be the backbone of the forest for years to come. . . . Which one are we, each of us?
What is it we and our church-forest seek? I believe it is Growth, Tolerance, Feeling of really belonging, Feeling of contributing to the welfare and growth of others. That means for the church, Financial health, Time and Talent contributions, Uplifting services, Contributing to the welfare of society, and growing in membership, and finally, knowledge of the efforts of the larger fellowship of the UUA’s district and national mission.Conclusion:
How does UUCOP fit into our lives? What are our core beliefs? Comparing the life of the tree and the longer life of the forest, what are we leaving to those following? And what kind of a tree and in which part of the forest are we, each of us?Reading --Poem by Sallie McPharlin
(untitled as far as I know; I propose to call it:) WILD WOOD
We bought this land
We wanted a church.
Some of us, like me,
Needed a place where
We would feel planted.
Planted, like the trees growing there.
We know there are too many,
But like me
Some of us regret that we can’t keep them all.
They stand there, rooted, growing.
New leaves each Spring,
Dropping them each Autumn.
Their arching branches form
a roof-like outline for us,
Old leaves underfoot, a floor.
by Sallie McPharlin Cross Village, Michigan,
circa 2003
Reading --What are your core beliefs?
There are two core beliefs which inform my worldview: I have an almost universalistic sense of morality -- that's the big one -- and I believe that under- or unregulated markets are neither free nor fair. . . . . Operationally, it comes down to the Golden Rule -- the belief that both as individuals and as a community of individuals, we should fight for others to have the same opportunities that we want to have.
What are your core beliefs? --Joshua Holland, staff writer at Alternet. com , March 6, 2006. (excerpt)NOTE: ON PUBLIC COMMENTARY by UUCOP: see the paper I wrote Aug. 2003. Q1 is Should the Congregation publicize public positions? and Q2 is How shall the Bylaws provide for this? (That paper is available by sending me a prepaid self-addressed $.41 envelope, and asking for the Public Commentary paper by R O P.)
New Question: Can we legally call ourselves the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Petoskey and make such pronouncements without permission of the UUA to use the name UUCOP? (I rather doubt it, but note the All Faiths Unitarian Congregation of Fort Myers, FL, just simply calls itself, “All Faiths Unitarian Congregation” -- They are not affiliated with the UUA. They have an outspoken minister who writes for publication, simply identifying himself as “Minister of All Faiths Unitarian Congregation of Fort Myers, Florida”)