This Week at UUP: November 30 to December 6, 2006

The Unitarian Universalists of Petaluma
An Oasis for Heart and Mind Every Sunday in Downtown Petaluma


For complete up-to-date info on the Unitarian Universalists of Petaluma, see our website: www.uupetaluma.org
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SUNDAY SERVICES

(Social time with refreshments begins at 10:00 am, at the Petaluma Woman's Club, 518 B Street. Worship service begins at 10:30 am. )

Sunday, December 3: Participatory "This I Believe"… About the Holiday Season
Worship Associate: Mike Iritz
Please bring a short personal story or something that encompasses your beliefs about the "Spirit of the Season." Be it a Menorah, a Christmas tree ornament or possibly a tale about your experience during a particular Winter Solstice, come share (and listen) to what makes this season special for each of us--and for all of us.

Note: Our mid-year Congregational Meeting will be held following the service… featuring a cookie exchange!

Sunday, December 10: The Level Gaze
Regular Guest Minister, Leland Bond-Upson
My cousin has died. Her life inspires me to speak in praise of cheerful stoicism, of meeting life as an equal, of accepting both the welcome and the unwelcome without a fuss, of being at peace with what is.

This is a Share-The-Plate Sunday! We will split our non-pledge offering with COTS (Committee on the Shelterless), as part of our ongoing commitment to support local community organizations.

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Congregational Meeting (& Cookie Exchange!)

The mid-year Congregational Meeting is this Sunday, December 3rd, following the morning service at the Woman's Club. All members and friends are encouraged to stay for this brief informative meeting. You will hear reports from Marlene Able (Director of Religious Education); Karen Elliott (Treasurer); David Dodd (Strategies for Growth) and about the Chalice Lighters Grant program. You will also have a chance at winning a drawing for a movie and dinner (just for coming to the meeting!). Bring cookies for the cookie exchange.

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One Day Introductory Workshop on Huna Energy: Saturday, December 9th, 9a -5p.

Join a small group for an experiential training on Subtle Energy work with Gabriel Sakakeeny. He will lead us in the first level of Huna, a Hawaiian teaching and spiritual practice using mystical traditions to celebrate life and integrate spirit and body (see more information on the website: www.spiritunfold.com ). Fee: $100.

Please contact T Hathaway to register!
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Caroling Potluck, Saturday, December 16 th

Come celebrate Beethoven's Birthday (he would have been 236 this year...) at 6 pm on Saturday the 16th. We'll have a potluck and a sing at Nancy and Tony Blake's home. Call Nancy to RSVP and/or for directions or more information.

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Save the date!

SPRING WOMEN'S RETREAT is being planned: March 2-5, 2007.
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PCD SPRING THING AT ASILOMAR (April 6 - April 8, 2007)

A weekend in the beautiful seaside setting of the Asilomar Conference Grounds on the tip of the Monterey Peninsula. It is a relatively unstructured gathering of about 40 UUs and friends. The days are free for your own activities, exploring the Monterey area with conversation and games in a friendly atmosphere in the evenings. Cost is $207 per person, double occupancy, covering 3 days/2 nights, 6 meals, maid service, and use of the Asilomar amenities, including jitney service. Please inquire for children's and single rate. Registration deadline is January 3, 2007. Ask Ursula for a registration form, and reserve your space now with a deposit of $60 per person.

Ursula Gobets, Registrar, (408) 739-2787, 1155 Tucson Ave., Sunnyvale, CA 94089
e-mail: augobets at pacbell dot net
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Regularly Scheduled Gatherings


- Evensong: Friday, Dec 1st 7:30 to 9:30 pm. Small group worship. For more information, contact Elisabeth Hathaway or Marlene Abel.
- Larking About (UUP Choir): Rehearsal Sunday, Dec. 3rd, 9:30 am at the Women's Club.
- Larking About (UUP Choir): Rehearsal Tuesday, Dec. 5th, 8 pm at David and Diana's house.
- Worship Associates: Monthly meeting Monday, Dec. 4th at 8am.
- Membership, Outreach, and Hospitality Committee: Monthly meeting, Monday, Dec. 4th, 7:30 pm at Hope's.
- UUP Board of Trustees: Monthly meeting, Sunday, Dec. 10th, 8:30 a.m. in the Fireside Room at the Woman's Club.

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If you have changed your email address or would like to be added to or removed from the UUP list, please email us at uupetaluma at gmail dot com.

Hymn of the Month for December 2006

#296: "O Ye Who Taste That Love Is Sweet"

A favorite of our choir, Larking About, this lovely hymn has words by Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830-1894), and is set to a French melody from around 1500. According to Between the Lines:

This tune is probably the original melody for the text written by Jean Tisserand, a Franciscan monk, who died in Paris in 1494. The melody was first printed in Airs sur les hymnes sacrez, odes et noels, Paris, 1623.

Also from Between the Lines:

Christina Rossetti was an English poet, known for short, intense lyrics such as these [in reference to her words to our hymn #241, "In the Bleak Midwinter"]. She was the daughter of the exiled Italian patriot and writer Gabriele Rossetti, and the sister of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, poet and painter.

She was, with her brother, a member of the Pre-Raphaelite art movement in England.

The hymn's words are composed of the final three stanzas of Rossetti's poem, "What Good Shall My Life Do Me?"

No hope in life: yet is there hope
In death, the threshold of man's scope.
Man yearneth (as the heliotrop

For ever seeks the sun) through light,
Through dark, for Love: all, read aright,
Is Love, for Love is infinite.

Shall not this infinite Love suffice
To feed thy dearth? Lift heart and eyes
Up to the hills, grow glad and wise.

The hills are glad because the sun
Kisses their round tops every one
Where silver fountains laugh and run:

Smooth pebbles shine beneath : beside,
The grass, mere green, grows myriad-eyed
With pomp of blossoms veined or pied.

So every nest is glad whereon
The sun in tender strength has shone
So every fruit he glows upon:

So every valley depth, whose heards
At pasture praise him without words:
So the winged ecstasies of birds.

If there be any such thing, what
Is there by sunlight betters not?
Nothing except dead things that rot.

Thou then who are not dead, and fit,
Like blasted tree beside the pit,
But for the axe that levels it,

Living show life of Love, whereof
The force wields earth and heaven above:
Who knows not Love begetteth Love?

Love in the gracious rain distils :
Love moves the subtle fountain-rills
To fertilize uplifted hills,

And seedful valleys fertilize:
Love stills the hungry lion's cries,
And the young raven satisfies:

Love hangs this earth in space: Love rolls
Fair world rejoicing on their poles,
And girds them round with aureoles:

Love lights the sun: Love through the dark
Lights the moon's evanescent arc:
Same Love lights up the glow-worm's spark:

Love rears the great: Love tends the small:
Breaks off the yoke, breaks down the wall:
Accepteth all, fulfilleth all.

O ye who taste that Love is sweet,
Set waymarks for the doubtful feet
That stumble on in search of it.

Sing hyms of Love, that those who hear
Far off in pain may lend an ear,
Rise up and wonder and draw near.

Lead lives of Love, that others who
Behold your lives may kindle too
With love and cast their lots with you.

27 August 1859 - Christia Rossetti

Religious Education Update: December 3

So, what do you really want for Christmas?
Making sense of the holidays is a challenge for many of us. The statistics are illuminating:
· The average American receives 17 catalogs.
· We tend to eat and drink more, with an average weight gain of a pound.
· We spend more during the season- a quarter of our annual personal spending.
· We produce 25 % more trash than at other times of the year.
· We get in more alcohol related automobile accidents.
· We spend more time indoors, so illness is more prevalent.

In the book, Unplug the Christmas Machine, the authors relate many stories of people who feel the social pressure to produce a perfect Christmas for their families and friends. Americans get up before dawn on Black Friday to find just the right, discounted gift. We cook high calorie meals and high fat desserts. We eat and drink too much. Moms especially feel an obligation to have a clean, beautifully decorated house, with perpetually happy children.

One bit of good news for the season is that we have a choice. We may face the slight risk of being labeled a “Scrooge”, but we can choose to downsize certain expectations, while spending more time doing what we love. Your child may enjoy baking cookies with you, or singing carols around the piano, or just looking at the beautifully decorated houses in the early evening, rather than receiving yet another toy. We can consider how to produce less trash by using the comic pages from the newspaper to wrap presents or by recycling wrapping paper for next year. We can donate canned food or toys to the needy.

For many of us the underlying value of the season is in expressing love and affection to those who are dear to us. We want the recipients of our gifts to feel joy and to receive what they most wanted. The challenge for many of us is to keep expectations reasonable. A mom reports in Unplug the Christmas Machine that her child’s gift list had 60 items! While I wouldn’t advocate giving children very little, as they live in a culture where social pressures are pervasive, but sixty presents would be way over the top.

One choice is to balance the receiving aspect with the concept of doing service. The children could be asked to help cook a meal, to assist a neighbor or family member with a needed task, or to give to the less fortunate. They could have a holiday experience, such as going to the Nutcracker or chopping down a Christmas tree at a local lot. They could be asked to reflect on the true meaning of the season. They could helped to understand, that we do have choices in spending the holidays in ways that are meaningful, loving and joyful.

My warm wishes for love, light and joy to the children, families, members and friends of UUP!

Marlene Abel
Director of Religious Education

Stebbins Institute Planning Workshop, Saturday, December 9

You are invited to help shape the upcoming 2007 Stebbins Institute, at a fun meeting on Saturday, December 9, at the UU Congregation of Marin. Potluck at 11:30, meeting following.

Stebbins Institute, according to their website, is "a UU summer gathering at Asilomar Conference Center on California's Monterey Peninsula, where the cypress meets the sea. Choose from daily workshops that stimulate the mind, nourish the spirit and move the body. Dance, sing, discuss, learn, contemplate and grow with us in an atmosphere of friendship and fun. Grounds include a heated swimming pool, volleyball court, pool tables, ping pong table, gift shop and boardwalks that wind through the dunes of this dramatic oceanside conference ground. Golf courses, Monterey Bay Aquarium and local shops are just minutes away. Asilomar features comfortable, luxury accommodations that include daily maid service and great food served semi-cafeteria style in the dining hall."

Sounds great! See the Stebbins Institute website for more info: www.serve.com/stebbins/.

For info on the upcoming meeting, see www.serve.com/stebbins/invitepg3.pdf

Stone Soup Sunday

Today we celebrated Stone Soup Sunday, a tradition at UUP. Here, Diana tells the story of Stone Soup, and the kids contribute to the soup as the story is told. During the remainder of the service, the soup is cooked, and when we're done with worship, we eat!

Guest at Your Table boxes were also passed out, marking the beginning of our season of sharing.

This Week at UUP: November 24-30

The Unitarian Universalists of Petaluma
An Oasis for Heart and Mind Every Sunday in Downtown Petaluma

For complete up-to-date info on the Unitarian Universalists of Petaluma, see our website: www.uupetaluma.org
**************************************************************************
SUNDAY SERVICES
(Social time with refreshments begins at 10:00 am, at the Petaluma Woman's Club, 518 B Street. Worship service begins at 10:30 am. )

Sunday, November 26: "Stone Soup and the Gifts of Thanksgiving"

Worship Associates: Marlene Abel, DRE, and Diana Spaulding
In the folktale "Stone Soup", the soup is a gift that the once stingy villagers give to each other and to the travelers; and the travelers present the gift of a life lesson to the villagers. On this special Sunday, we gather to create our own communally-created "stone soup" and consider the gifts of the season. What are the gifts we give our families and each other during the holidays? How does it feel to be generous? And how can we create lasting traditions within our own families and communities that expand and deepen our experience of generosity as a spiritually fulfilling action? The congregation's youth will be explaining and distributing boxes for the UU Service Committee's Guest At Your Table fundraiser, and the entire service will be intergenerational. Please bring a small bag of chopped veggies, dry noodles, or other soup ingredient and plan to stay after the service for a light meal!

Sunday, December 3rd: " Participatory This I Believe...about the Holiday Season!"

Bring a short personal story or something that encompasses your beliefs about the Spirit of the Season. Be it a Menorah, a Christmas tree ornament or possibly a tale about your experience during a particular Winter Solstice, come share (and listen) to what makes this season special for each of us ... and for all of us.

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Congregational Meeting (& Cookie Exchange!)

The mid-year Congregational Meeting is Sunday, December 3rd following the morning service at the Woman's Club. All members and friends are encouraged to stay for this brief informative meeting. You will hear reports from Marlene Able (Director of Religious Education); Karen Elliott (Treasurer); David Dodd (Strategies for Growth) and about the Chalice Lighters Grant program. You will also have a chance at winning a drawing for a movie and dinner (just for coming to the meeting!). Bring cookies for the cookie exchange.

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Book Club

A group led by Earl Cruser is meeting regularly to discuss A Chosen Faith, An introduction to Unitarian Universalism . The group meets after the Sunday service in the Woman's Club Fireside Room. Future book club meeting dates are December 3 and 17. New members welcome!

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One Day Introductory Workshop on Huna Energy: December 9th, 9-5.

Join a small group for an experiential training on Subtle Energy work with Gabriel Sakakeeny. He will lead us in the first level of Huna, a Hawaiian teaching and spiritual practice using mystical traditions to celebrate life and integrate spirit and body (see more information on the website: www.spiritunfold.com). Fee: $100.

Please contact T Hathaway to register! 762-5432 or elisabethhathaway at sbcglobal dot net.

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UUP Directory

The UUP Directory is being updated. Please send any changes to your contact information to Jennifer Newman at noehill at pacbell dot net by Mon., Nov 27th. The 2007 Directory will be available at the Congregational Meeting on Dec. 3rd.



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SPRINGTIME IN ASHLAND

If you've wanted to make a springtime visit to the Ashland's Oregon Shakespeare Festival, you're invited to join members and friends of Mt Diablo UU Church in Walnut Creek for their annual southern Oregon weekend, March 17 - 19, 2007. It'll be MDUUC's fifteenth spring visit.

An attractive package of three plays in the Bowmer Theatre are included, along with accommodations and breakfast at the Ashland Hills Windmill Inn, a welcome reception, buffet luncheon on Sunday with a talk by a member of the Festival company, and available shuttles to/from the theatre from the hotel. Cost is $225 pp/double occupancy.

This year's plays are: Shakespeare's As You Like It, Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard, and Tom Stoppard's On the Razzle.

For info on the Ashland weekend, contact MDUUC (925-934-3135) for a detailed brochure.

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If you have changed your email address or would like to be added to or removed from the UUP list, please email us at uupetaluma at gmail dot com.

Religious Education Update: November 26

Making a Difference

I went grocery shopping Thanksgiving morning to buy Brussels sprouts, a last minute addition to the feast. I also decided to buy coffee for my daughter who is no longer able to buy a cup at her beloved Deaf Dog. I was a bit overwhelmed by the coffee choices, and wanting to buy something satisfactory, I called home for advice. “So, Lara, do you want Italian Roast or Breakfast Blend? I found some coffee that it is certified organic.” Her response was to look for Fair Trade Coffee, that Fair Trade mattered more to her than the organic label.

When I arrived home with the Fair Trade (and organic) coffee, I learned from my daughter that Fair Trade coffee buyers pay a sustainable price to their growers, allowing the growers to support their families and continue to produce coffee beans. I also learned that paying more for coffee, as I did at Thanksgiving, was also giving fair value to that stranger in a far off land who grew the beans for me.

After shopping, I called a friend who runs our school district band program to wish her a happy Thanksgiving. In our talk, we happened to mention a young trumpet student that is doing amazingly well. He has a natural embouchure and native talent that will allow him to eventually be a real star in the jazz bands at Kenilworth and Casa. This child is also “at risk” because of his less than motivated efforts in other subjects. My friend noted that band may well “save his life”, in that his passion for music will give him a reason to stay in school and study all those other subjects which interest him less.

The lesson that family and friends gave me Thanksgiving morning is that my decisions in spending my money and my time have a wider impact than I usually acknowledge. I can choose to be a socially conscious consumer and pay attention to issues like Fair Trade coffee or chocolate and help the growers subsist. I can choose to buy from local merchants like Deaf Dog and help keep small businesses afloat. When I choose to volunteer my time with the district band program, I am not only keeping music alive for this year and these children, but I may be making a real difference in some young people’s futures.

After absorbing this lesson of how my decision making affects the world, I’m thinking about the holiday season a little differently. Perhaps I could consider more carefully how I spend my time and money and maximize its potential for making a real difference. I will still focus on showing my love and affection for friends and family, of course. But what I decide really does matter to the bigger world. Today’s effort towards making the world better will be to mail in my Chalice Lighter check to support UU churches in the New Orleans area. Perhaps, tomorrow I will begin a more thoughtful shopping plan for the holidays.

Marlene Abel
Director of Religious Education

Religious Education Update: November 19

Finding Joy in the Holidays

This is the weekend when the Abels are creating the Thanksgiving menu and buying the big bird. Philip, my son in culinary school, is making elaborate plans for brining and smoking the turkey. Lara is asking that we shop for a turkey which enjoyed a happy life. My older son is bemoaning his need to work on Thanksgiving Day, and his absence from the family feast. Each of us brings skills, concerns and great expectations to the meal.

I consider the upcoming holidays with some trepidation. As a musician, I’m entering the holiday concert season, which has me out late on many nights. This is wonderful; musicians adore having many gigs. It is also a busy work time for me, with numerous holiday happenings at church. This is also wonderful, much anticipated, and not to be missed. But will I remember to find joy in the next few weeks? Will I be able to avoid the insanity of shopping mall traffic and frantic crowded stores? Will I fit all the demands on my time into a reasonable schedule, while getting enough sleep, and staying healthy?

While I worry about my personal “hardships”, I remember the experience of our forebears who created so many religious events at this time of year. The land was cold, the nights were long, food was often in short supply, and it could be a time of great sickness. The Pilgrims had been blown far off course in their tiny ship by strong Atlantic storms on that long ago November. They had planned to land in Virginia, but were too tired and too sick to continue their voyage. So, they landed in a cold harbor, and watched half their group die over that first, dreary winter. The Wampanogs, the people who watched the Pilgrims arrive, had also suffered great losses from diseases brought unintentionally by earlier ships.

When I think about the very real hardships faced by our ancestors, I am able to adust my attitudes towards the crowded malls with their abundant wares. I realize my good fortune that my family will eat their fill in a house that I can heat and light with the magical powers of gas and electricity.

It is no wonder that early peoples created festivals of warmth, thanksgiving, hope and light to help them survive the long winters. At times when all seemed lost, light appeared, whether in the form of helpful strangers, Divali lights, a Hanukah menorah, a young girl with candles on her head in the St. Lucia tale in Scandinavia, or in lit candles on German Christmas trees. These lights brought warmth and hope to world which desperately needed comfort.

My hope for finding joy in the next few weeks, is to remember these stories of light, warmth and love. The material abundance which blesses me is wonderful, but I shouldn’t permit its allure to become so powerful that I forget why I am celebrating.

Marlene Abel
Director of Religious Education

This Week at UUP: November 16-22

The Unitarian Universalists of Petaluma
An Oasis for Heart and Mind Every Sunday in Downtown Petaluma

For complete up-to-date info on the Unitarian Universalists of Petaluma, see our website: www.uupetaluma.org
**************************************************************************
SUNDAY SERVICES

(Social time with refreshments begins at 10:00 am, at the Petaluma Woman's Club, 518 B Street. Worship service begins at 10:30 am. )

Sunday, November 19: "The Blame Game and the Praise Malaise"
Regular Guest Minister: Leland Bond-Upson. Worship Associate: Elisabeth Hathaway.
Everything we think and do is conditioned by the past. But by praising and blaming, traditional morality and popular culture take a different—and mostly unhelpful—view. We can more effectively encourage ethical and humane behavior by examining the true nature of choice--and by mostly discarding judgments about what rewards or punishments people 'deserve'.


Sunday, November 26: "Stone Soup and the Gifts of Thanksgiving"
Worship Associates: Marlene Abel, DRE, and Diana Spaulding
In the folktale "Stone Soup", the soup is a gift that the once stingy villagers give to each other and to the travelers; and the travelers present the gift of a life lesson to the villagers. On this special Sunday, we gather to create our own communally-created "stone soup" and consider the gifts of the season. What are the gifts we give our families and each other during the holidays? How does it feel to be generous? And how can we create lasting traditions within our own families and communities that expand and deepen our experience of generosity as a spiritually fulfilling action? The congregation's youth will be explaining and distributing boxes for the UU Service Committee's Guest At Your Table fundraiser, and the entire service will be intergenerational. Please bring a small bag of chopped veggies, dry noodles, or other soup ingredient and plan to stay after the service for a light meal!

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Congregational Meeting

The next UUP Congregational Meeting is scheduled for Sunday, December 3rd, after the service at the Woman's Club of Petaluma. This meeting is open to all members and friends. There will be a raffle, as well as a cookie exchange.

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Book Club

A group led by Earl Cruser is meeting regularly to discuss A Chosen Faith, An introduction to Unitarian Universalism . The group meets after the Sunday service in the Woman's Club Fireside Room. Future book club meeting dates are December 3 and 17. New members welcome!

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SPRINGTIME IN ASHLAND

If you've wanted to make a springtime visit to the Ashland's Oregon Shakespeare Festival, you're invited to join members and friends of Mt Diablo UU Church in Walnut Creek for their annual southern Oregon weekend, March 17 - 19, 2007. It'll be MDUUC's fifteenth spring visit.

An attractive package of three plays in the Bowmer Theatre are included, along with accommodations and breakfast at the Ashland Hills Windmill Inn, a welcome reception, buffet luncheon on Sunday with a talk by a member of the Festival company, and available shuttles to/from the theatre from the hotel. Cost is $225 pp/double occupancy.

This year's plays are: Shakespeare's As You Like It, Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard, and Tom Stoppard's On the Razzle.

For info on the Ashland weekend, contact MDUUC (925-934-3135) for a detailed brochure.

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Regularly Scheduled Gatherings

-The UUP Women's Group will meet Monday, Nov. 20 at 7:30 pm at Jean Conrad's house.

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If you have changed your email address or would like to be added to or removed from the UUP list, please email us at uupetaluma at gmail dot com.

Religious Education Update: November 12

Why we need to know about other religions-

Since the beginning of this school year, the children have built a sukkah, decorated sugar skulls, celebrated Divali, discussed fasting for Ramadan, and learned about famous UU’s. They were fascinated by a map of the world, showing the concentration of religions in various geographical areas. They were intrigued by the Hindu concept of God, which is simultaneously monotheistic and polytheistic.

What have they gained from all this ?

I believe that our children are now better equipped to see the “big picture”. They understand that there are many faiths, many customs, many ways of celebrating. Our UUP children report to me that many of their young friends talk to them about how there is just one “true” faith—that of the local Christian church. Our kids have a wider view.

Our children have learned that particular religions dictate how people dress, what they eat, and how they celebrate. For example, when we study the Sikh faith today, we’ll discuss how the most devout male Sikhs decide to never cut their hair, but keep their hair neatly coiled under a turban. This understanding should promote understanding and acceptance. My hope is that instead of thinking of a Muslim head covering as “strange”, for example, they’ll understand that Islam requires women to dress modestly.

If we can raise UU’s who are knowledgeable about many religious practices, tolerant of other’s beliefs, and open minded in understanding that people find truth and meaning by many paths, we will produce adults who will work towards building a more peaceful, loving world. Even better, we will raise kids who learn universal religious values that will help them create their own rich, spiritual lives.

Marlene Abel
Director of Religious Education

This Week at UUP: November 9-16

The Unitarian Universalists of Petaluma
An Oasis for Heart and Mind Every Sunday in Downtown Petaluma


For complete up-to-date info on the Unitarian Universalists of Petaluma, see our website: www.uupetaluma.org
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SUNDAY SERVICES

(Social time with refreshments begins at 10:00 am, at the Petaluma Woman's Club, 518 B Street. Worship service begins at 10:30 am. )

Sunday, November 12: "Heart Light--An Introduction to Subtle Energy Practices"
Guest speaker: Gabriel Sakakeeny
Every spiritual tradition has an esoteric component whether it be Christian, Hindu, Islamic, or Buddhist. One of the main purposes of these practices is to enable the individual or collective group to connect with the divine. Those who have achieved advanced states of awareness in such realms typically exhibit an aura of energy or enlightenment that is noticeable, even to those who are not experts in the spiritual form or practice. These energies and practices are now being made available around the world by a new generation of practitioners without the restrictive dogma or cultural trappings usually associated with such disciplines.

Guest speaker Gabriel Sakakeeny will explore this realm with our congregation using both descriptive and experiential modes of communication.

A New Member Welcoming Ceremony will take place during the service this Sunday.

Sunday, November 19: "The Blame Game and the Praise Malaise"
Regular Guest Minister: Leland Bond-Upson. Worship Associate: Elisabeth Hathaway.
Everything we think and do is conditioned by the past. But by praising and blaming, traditional morality and popular culture take a different—and mostly unhelpful—view. We can more effectively encourage ethical and humane behavior by examining the true nature of choice--and by mostly discarding judgments about what rewards or punishments people 'deserve'.

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This Sunday is a Share the Plate Sunday!

As part of UUP's ongoing commitment to be involved in and supportive of our community, we will split the proceeds of our non-pledge offering this Sunday with the Redwood Empire Food Bank.

The mission of the Redwood Empire Food Bank (REFB)is to build partnerships to end hunger. Founded in 1987, REFB is Sonoma County's largest hunger-relief organization. They acquire food and distribute it through a network of charitable agencies and their own food assistance programs, and also provide food to Lake, Mendocino, Humboldt, and Del Norte counties through five smaller food banks. In addition, the REFB advocates for effective legislation that will provide long-term solutions to hunger in our community.

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Book Club

A group led by Earl Cruser is meeting regularly to discuss A Chosen Faith, An introduction to Unitarian Universalism . If you would like to purchase a copy of the book or join the book club, please contact Earl.

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TAKE NOTE! Three Openings left for UUP Adult Religious Exploration Group

We still have three openings for our small group worship, Evensong. Feel more connected to yourself and to our community: join us and experience worship in a simple ritual format with shared readings, silence, personal sharing and song. (Curriculum from the national UUA; must be willing to commit to the series). We meet twice a month on Friday evenings, 7:30 to 9:30; our next meeting is November 17th. At this meeting we will close the group.

For information, please call Elisabeth Hathaway.

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Regularly Scheduled Gatherings
-Larking About , the UUP choir, will rehearse on Sun., Nov 12 at 9:30 am at the Woman's Club. The group will NOT rehearse on Tues., Nov 14.

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If you have changed your email address or would like to be added to or removed from the UUP list, please email us at uupetaluma at gmail dot com.

Religious Education Update: November 5, 2006

Giving Thanks

The story of the first Thanksgiving is well known to American school children. The grateful Pilgrims invite their friends and neighbors, the Wampanoag, to feast in celebration of the first Pilgrim Harvest. The Pilgrims at that first Thanksgiving had survived a harsh winter, and were thankful to their God for the successful harvest and the promise of a more prosperous future.

But, what would be the Wampanoag perspective? Their descendents still live in small numbers in Massachusetts and gather on Thanksgiving Day for a National Day of Mourning, a time to remember the violence and discrimination suffered by Native Peoples across America in the days and years after that first Thanksgiving.

Most Wampanoags were distrustful of the Pilgrims due to previous disastrous encounters with Europeans. It didn’t help matters that the Pilgrims believed that they were God’s chosen elect and saw no need to respect the Wampanoag’s religious beliefs.

At harvest time, the Pilgrims and Wampanoag met to negotiate a land agreement, which allowed the Pilgrims to build Plymouth Plantation. Following Native American custom or out of charity, the Wampanoags brought most of the food for the three days of meetings. This conference was later celebrated as the First Thanksgiving. After the first Thanksgiving, a war broke out between the settlers and the Wampanoags which resulted in the deaths of many of the natives. Some of the survivors of the war were enslaved by the white settlers.

In light of this unfortunate history, I prefer to focus on the concept of giving thanks for the many blessings of my life, and not the deeds of the Pilgrims. In the words of Mohawk chief Jake Swamp, “Spirit protectors of our past and present, we thank you for showing us ways to live in peace and harmony with each other. To be a human being is an honor, and we offer thanksgiving for all the gifts of life.

Marlene Abel
Director of Religious Education