Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington, VA

A diverse, welcoming community of open hearts and minds since 1948

November 2009 Blog Posts (26)

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Giving thanks for generosity

My heart was warmed this Thanksgiving by the news I received just before I left town: UUCA's plate collection on Nov. 22, collected for the Arlington Food Assistance Center, topped $6,300! I am so proud of this congregation, that in a year filled with uncertainty for some of us, we step up to help the local food bank help people who are struggling to get enough to eat.



Today, as I headed back to Arlington from my family Thanksgiving in Ithaca, NY, I saw that the New York Times is… Continue

Added by Rev. Mary McKinnon Ganz on November 29, 2009 at 8:07pm — No Comments

Getting Started: How to Settle into Our New Online Home

Dear Beloved Community:



All the information that was public on our old Web site is still available to anyone. You do not have to sign in with a user ID and password to get it. With our new site, however, we are introducing many new features that require you to sign in with ID and password, which we refer to as "keys" or credentials.

With them, you'll be able to write blogs, participate in online discussions, continue your covenant group and social justice activities,…

Continue

Added by UUCAVA on November 27, 2009 at 9:30am — 1 Comment

Grateful for R.W. Emerson: "It is one of the blessings of old friends ...

... that you can afford to be stupid with them." May that also extend to this beloved community.


Likewise ... parades, apple pie, dog shows, little 8 yr old girls growling "You ain't nuttin' butta hown-dog!" between chapters of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone ...

... these are also indubitably blessed.

Added by Todd Parola on November 26, 2009 at 12:48pm — No Comments

Ernest Lent: A UU Life Devoted to Democracy and Human Rights

Added by Ernest Lent on November 25, 2009 at 11:19pm — No Comments

Ohh ... the humanity ... Thank You Rocket Man!

Added by Todd Parola on November 25, 2009 at 3:38pm — No Comments

"Jews and Blacks: A Dialogue on Race, Religion, and Culture in America," Michael Lerner and Cornel West

http://www.newyorker.com/talk/2009/11/02/091102ta_talk_remnick#ixzz0X3ofmZtt

http://www.tikkun.org/tikkundaily/2009/11/16/cornel-west-on-obama/

Added by Todd Parola on November 24, 2009 at 2:23pm — 1 Comment

UUs Storm Capitol Hill!

Last week five of us from this congregation went to the Dirksen Office Building to lean on Sens. Webb and Warner to move on a bill to make meaningful change that will arrest the flow of hydrocarbons into the atmosphere and slow the damage to our warming planet. Lavona Grow, Jim Olivetti, Bob Olson, Mary Ann Lawler and I met with aides to the two senators and also with Tyler Edgar of the National Council of Churches, who coached us and helped us stay on message.



It was worthy work,… Continue

Added by Rev. Mary McKinnon Ganz on November 24, 2009 at 7:05am — 3 Comments

Part II: Living in the Present Moment – Becoming an Emotional Adult

In a recent post I talked about how wonderful it was to finally be free of the debilitating worries, guilts and anxieties of that past and future, allowing my energy to be present to the joy and occasional pain of my daily life. Living in the Present really has become a great survival tactic when fears encroach on my… Continue

Added by Dana T. Paddock on November 23, 2009 at 7:45am — No Comments

Thinking of the hours ahead of me & behind me.

I think Rob's lyrics say it better than I can.



Rob Thomas - Little Wonders Lyrics



let it go,

let it roll right off your shoulder

don’t you know

the hardest part is over

let it in,

let your clarity define you

in the end

we will only just remember how it feels



our lives are made

in these small hours

these little wonders,

these twists & turns of fate

time falls away,

in these small hours,

these… Continue

Added by Heather Crombie on November 21, 2009 at 8:38am — 1 Comment

fast and vigil in Washington, DC from January 11, 2010

Witness Against Torture is a grassroots organization committed to

closing Guantanamo, Bagram and ending torture. The group will hold a

fast and vigil in Washington, DC from January 11, 2010—the date

marking eight years since Guantanamo’s beginning as a “war on terror”

prison through January 22, 2010, the date by which the Obama

administration committed to closing the facility. To learn more about

the fast and vigil to Shut Down Guantanamo, End Torture and… Continue

Added by Barbara Johnson on November 20, 2009 at 10:38am — No Comments

Obama's reading up on Lincoln, but I think curling up with some Eisenhower might be more apt

"An atheist is a man who watches a Notre Dame -- Southern Methodist University game and doesn't care who wins."

 Ha! I love it. Kind of a witty, but insightful overture wouldn't you say?



Then there's, "A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both."

That one, people on the right, the left, every which way, have to take to heart.



And then there's this, which he states as a prayerful imperative: "Here in America we are… Continue

Added by Todd Parola on November 19, 2009 at 1:00pm — 9 Comments

A statement from David Slavin, plenary speaker this Saturday, Nov. 21 at the UUSJ + ADORE program in Rockville.

The centrality of racial inequality to all the great issues means that racial inequality must be addressed. Only then can white working people including UUs examine their interests as whites in defending privilege vs. their interests as working people in joining in solidarity with other working people to get health and security, a climatologically stable planet, an end to dominance of big banks, and big energy. Whites cannot both hold on to race privilege and have reform. And equally true, the… Continue

Added by Barbara Johnson on November 19, 2009 at 10:24am — 1 Comment

Living in the Present - Riiiiiiight

Posted this on my blog. Thought my UUCA friends might enjoy it too.



"Be Here Now. Live in the Present. Live in the Moment." So goes common advice from the life coach, the therapist and the spiritual guide. There really isn't anywhere you can turn anymore without some enlightened someone urging you to put aside worries of tomorrow and yesterday in order to concentrate on making… Continue

Added by Dana T. Paddock on November 19, 2009 at 8:02am — 2 Comments

Rev. Christine Robinson Presentation on Multi-Site (UU) Churches

Rev. Christine Robinson gave this presentation recently on multi-site UUs, meaning UU congregations with satellite branches in sparsely populated areas of the country. The issue of finding ways to serve them through branches is similar, I think, for small churches in districts that could band together to leverage the strength of the Web. Rev. Robinson is a UU minister in New Mexico who grew up in Bethesda, MD, in a family that attended the River Road UU.…





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Added by June Herold on November 17, 2009 at 7:47am — No Comments

Who's missing

OTTAWA, Canada -- There is so much joy in being here with 400+ of my UU Minister colleagues, for the every-seven-year UUMA Convo. There's lots of programming and storytelling and great preaching as well as fabulous little hallway conversations. It is deeply renewing to my spirit.



But at the first meeting, and at several gatherings since, we have been reminded who isn't here. Many of our transgender colleagues were not able to attend, because attendance would have required them to get… Continue

Added by Rev. Mary McKinnon Ganz on November 14, 2009 at 4:30pm — 2 Comments

THE PARADOX OF OUR AGE

I found this poem by the Dalai Lama - Thought I would share. Everyone probably already knows it - except me but, I just found so it speaks to me at this moment.



Feedback would be wonderful!





We have bigger houses but smaller families;

more conveniences, but less time;

We have more degrees, but less sense;

more knowledge, but less judgement;

more experts, but more problems;

more medicines, but less healthiness;

We've been all the way to… Continue

Added by Sharon G. Williams on November 12, 2009 at 12:48pm — 2 Comments

Sat. Nov. 21 offers lots to think about!

Historian David H. Slavin's approach to the US labor and social movements, race and politics helps to clarify the critical issues of environment, economy, and health care in the United States.





Slavin will be the plenary speaker at the annual Fall program put on by UUs for Soc. Justice (Baltimore-Washington and No. Va.)

His visit to the Washington area is co-sponsored by the ADORE (A Dialog On Race and Ethnicity) groups at All Souls Church in DC and Arlington,… Continue

Added by Barbara Johnson on November 10, 2009 at 3:06pm — 1 Comment

Eye Shock on NPR

Dear UUCA Community:

Many of you may have wondered why I keep my face wrapped sometimes. I know I look weird, but yesterday NPR Morning Edition ran a story about a woman who suffers from the same condition that I do, and how she found relief with a new surgery.

We suffer from Trigeminal Neuralgia, an extremely painful condition. In my case, it is set off by cold, stress, fatigue, or dehydration, or possibly by sleeping on my left side. It's a fickle disease, and very cruel. And mine… Continue

Added by Laura Dely on November 10, 2009 at 12:53pm — 2 Comments

Different VOICES from Uganda...

I am helping out my best friend Stacy Willyard (she is a research assistant at the United States Peace Institute) this Thursday night. Stacy organized the first Hip Hop and Peacebuilding Festival for DC youth with me a year ago. She is moving to Uganda in December to continue her amazing work with youth with an amazing organization called, Bavubuka pronounced as “ba voo boo ka” it is a Luganda word that means the youth.



I met Silas (the founder of Bavubuka) last year when I hosted… Continue

Added by Sana Saeed on November 9, 2009 at 12:00pm — 1 Comment

Afghanistan & Our Addiction to Violence

So I ask:

What are we gonna do about the war in Afghanistan and its fallout among us Americans, and the conflicts among us at this church?

I've been writing a book about violence as an addiction. I focus mainly on war and the psyche, including neurology and the endocrine effects of living in a world of chronic, traumatic violence.

Most of us today suffer from low-grade Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (ptsd). The effects include numbing, dissociation, sleep disturbances, irrational… Continue

Added by Cynthia Adcock on November 7, 2009 at 1:41pm — No Comments

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Improvement Update 5/23

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Annual Congregational Meeting on Sunday, June 2nd

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