Minister’s Message

Dear Friends,

It was such a joy that so many of you were able to come to be together at the Potluck thisNovember. The conversation that occurred after dinner was productive, and it will beinteresting to see where it takes us next.

Amidst all of that productivity and hard work, what was most inspiring was simply seeing you talking and laughing and eating together. I was so glad to be reminded that in the midst of all each of you do on behalf the church and the community, it is so important to also just have funtogether. Laughter and relaxation, after all, are key components to any spiritual life. Thefact that Friendship Hour is such an integral part of life at the church is an indication of how critical opportunities for pure fellowship are to our ministry.

As we consider some of the wisdom offered to us by Bill Zelazny at the potluck and begin tocreate a strategic plan, I hope we all remember the ministry of good, clean fun. Let’s continue to look for new ways to enjoy being together.

Faithfully,
Katie

Chairman’s Ramblings

December!!! – At one point it seemed that December would be four months late this year. I was still waiting for summer when I found out that it was Halloween already. Somehow, despite the calendar, I’m still looking for summer to show up, a season when you plant things like tomatoes that grow to be larger than a half dollar in diameter, where it doesn’t take three to make one sandwich. We’ve settled in to our church year with weekly services, routine RE for the kids,and our winter holiday program planned.

I would like to challenge you to bring in food and grooming items for the food pantry. All of the Boston area food pantries are running way ahead in applicants looking for minimal food fortheir families. As soon as we get a reasonable quantity we will bring it over, and please -remember that the need does not end at Christmas dinner, it is needed throughout the year.

Also, one of our members works at Lemmuel Shattuck hospital – she says that they can always use adult clothing; again, at any time of year. Clients arrive with little and have needs for coats,gloves, sweaters, shirts, pants, etc, etc. Don’t throw away those outdated items; bring them in, and we will see to it that they get to a good home. Thanks!

Dick

Fundraising Through Partner Programs

We’re Amazon.com and Powell’s Books Associates. If you click through their links on the homepage of the church Web site (www.uufoxborough.org) and then shop at either of these on-line stores, part of your purchase price comes back to us. Please keep this in mind as you shop during the year!

Inclement Weather Days

As soon as any change in the church schedule is known on snowy or other inclement weather days, an announcement will be posted on Channel 5 (WCVB). If there’s another media method you think would be advantageous to utilize, please let thePublic Relations Committee know – thanks!

Wayside Pulpit

We can begin by doing small things at the local level, like planting community gardens or looking out for our neighbors. That is how change takes place in living systems, not from above but from within, from many local actions occurring simultaneously.

~ Grace Lee Boggs

Religious Education

From The RE Director

On a shopping trip with my daughter before Halloween, she noted how the Christmas displays were in full force. On our way to my sister-in-laws on Thanksgiving morning, my husband noticed that several homes had their Christmas lights up and ready to go – something we haven’t even thought of yet, never mind dig out of the attic! Every year, it seems “Christmas” starts earlier. At least at the retail and grocery stores it does. Those of us who bemoan the commercialization of this holiday may cringe at the constant reminders to buy, buy, buy! Yet what have we as UU’s done to respond to this?

We receive the daily newspaper at our house, and, normally, I rifle through the paper and quickly remove the ever constant store sale flyer and dispose of them in the recycling bin before my kids arrive at the kitchen table. For some reason, the past few weeks, I have been remiss in this task – and, as a result, my kids have dutifully studied the numerous store flyers that have flooded the newspapers. My son suddenly has endless ideas for his “list” when he is perusing the pages of Toys”R”Us. Funny how he couldn’t come up with much just a few weeks before.

Over the years, I have tried to talk to my children about how we have so much more than most people on this earth. How we should be and are grateful for all we have. How so many others are living hand to mouth or in need of the most basic things especially in today’s economic climate. We talk about this throughout the year (or should I say, I mention it to them when it seems appropriate without trying to belabor the point). Each holiday season, we have typically made a donation to some organization or other – The Heifer Project is a popular one the kids like, or anything to do with animals. We give to the food pantry, donate some toys at the “Toys for Tots” collection box at their Karate Dojo. Dig up old coats for a coat drive, and so on. All of this and my kids still think of this season as one where they expect to receive “things”. Of course they do receive things – from family and from us and even a few token items from “Santa”. So, thus the tug of war I have with trying to find some balance.

Over the last several years in church and RE, we have focused on the Solstice – learning about how the different cultures from around the world and throughout history have celebrated this season. We touch on the traditional Christmas/Nativity story. If you are like me, these are traditions from somewhere else – they are not “our” traditions, not UU traditions. Yet, I cannot articulate UU traditions for my kids – they are a rehash of the others.

Just recently, I came across some interesting information about efforts to start a new (unofficial) UU holiday tradition called Chalica. This is what I found:

CHALICA is an unofficial holiday in the Unitarian Universalist tradition that celebrates each of the faith’s Seven Principles – one a night, for seven nights. The celebration begins on the first Monday of December, and is marked by the lighting of a chalice each day (or evening). Gifts that reflect the particular day’s principle may be given, but the focus tends to be more on mindfulness and action.

• Monday: We light our chalice for the inherent worth and dignity of every person.
• Tuesday: We light our chalice for justice, equity, and compassion in human relations.
• Wednesday: We light our chalice for acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations.
• Thursday: We light our chalice for a free and responsible search for truth and meaning.
• Friday: We light our chalice for the right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large.
• Saturday: We light our chalice for the goal of world peace, liberty, and justice for all.
• Sunday: We light our chalice for respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.

I have found this proposal of a tradition intriguing and have been considering how we can incorporate this tradition into our holiday season at home. While I have yet to put it into practice, it is one that appeals to me and one my kids can consider as part of “our” faith while still respecting and acknowledging other traditions. I’m considering lighting a candle at the beginning of each day to meditate on that principle and discuss how we can focus on it throughout the day. We may not start on the first Monday – but to do it during a week that works for us – the beauty of a non-creedal, non-dogmatic faith – no?

What are your traditions? How do you make this holiday meaningful for your family? Does the concept of a UU tradition interest you? I would love to know!

Peace and Blessings for a holiday full of love,
Lisa

The Hogwarts

On November 13 the Hogwarts Group went to see “Joseph And His Technicolor Dreamcoat” put on by the Norton Singers. The Norton Singers is a group of actors/singers ages 7 to 70 from towns all around our area. Every year they choose a different musical to perform. This musical was playful as it provided a medley of musical styles. One of the kids’ favorite numbers was the “Pharaoh’s” Elvis imitation. As a special surprise, they provided each of our group members with a picture book of the story and a Joseph bead doll.
Leah

December 2009 Holidays
6, 13, & 20 – Sundays of Advent – Christian
6 Saint Nicholas Day – Christian
8 Bodhi Day (Rohatsu) – Buddhism
8 Immaculate Conception – Catholic Christian
12 Feast day – Our Lady of Guadalupe – Catholic Christian
12-19 Hanukkah – Jewish
16-25 Posadas Navidenas – Christian
18 Hijra – New Year – Islam
21 Solstice
21 Yule – Christian
21 Yule – Wicca northern hemisphere
25 Christmas – Christian
26 Zarathosht Diso (Death of Prophet Zarathushtra) – Zoroastrian
27 Feast of the Holy Family – Catholic Christian
27 Ashura – Islam
28 Holy Innocents – Christian
31 Watch Night – Christian

You and Me by the Christmas Tree

Jazz vocalist and musician Krisanthi Pappas and her band of piano, bass, drums, guitar, saxophone, and flute perform holiday favorites on Krisanthi’s CD “You and Me by the Christmas Tree”. This CD has been receiving great reviews from national magazines and radio station personalities. Normally $15, Kris is selling them for just $10 for the month of December. Please ask her for more details and log onto her web site to hear sound clips of the CD at www.krisanthi.com.

Ballou Channing District Young Adults

Jennifer Shattuck is our district’s new Young Adult Ministry Consultant. During the next few months, she will be providing information for Unitarian Universalists under forty and promoting avenues for UU Young Adults to connect with each other through programs, gatherings, social justice activities, and workshops. If you have any questions about the future of young adult ministry in the District, please don’t hesitate to contact her at 617-763-2799 or jennytuck81@gmail.com.

Also, beginning in mid-January, program notices, ministry resources, and short essays written by young adults and allies from around the District will be available on the BCD’s new Young Adult Ministry Blog at bcd-ya.blogspot.com.

UUA Social Witness Opportunities

Unitarian Universalists can participate in the UUA’s Social Witness process in a variety of ways including: voting in the Congregational Poll before February 1, 2010, submitting comments on the Draft SOC “Peacemaking” before February 1, 2010, and submitting comments on the Draft CSAI “Ethical Eating” before March 1, 2010. Comment forms for the latter two options are on-line at www.uua.org/socialjustice/issuesprocess/.

As a congregation, we are also encouraged to vote for five of the six proposed SAI s for the 2010-2014 Social Witness Cycle. The proposed SAIs are:

• Ending Slavery
• Energy, Peace, and Justice
• Immigration as a Moral Issue
• National Economic Reform: A Moral Imperative
• Nuclear Disarmament
• Revitalizing American Democracy

The five proposals that recieve the most votes will be presented at the 2010 General Assembly; there they will be debated and then, once again, voted on in order to choose the next SAI.

December’s Global Chalice Lighting

Knowing we must die, we question what life means.

Final answers may elude us, but by living the questions,
we create and discover meaning where we can.

~ Rev. Forrest Church
Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations

First Thursdays Peace Vigils

Get involved in the ongoing Social Action project hosted from 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 pm. at the church the first Thursday of every month. The First Thursdays Peace Vigils community would like you to join them; candles and signs are provided. Stay for as long or as short as your schedule allows. Upcoming dates: Dec. 3, Jan. 7, and Feb. 4. December will mark the 3rd Anniversary of First Thursdays Peace Vigils.

Unitarian Universalist Service Committee News

• December 10 – Annual Rights Night: Mel King will be honored with UUSC’s Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award for his commitment to social justice and human rights. Attendees are invited to stay after the 7:00 p.m. ceremony to join activists from across Boston’s many communities in conversation about carrying the legacy of King’s work forward. All are welcome! The event is free, but please RSVP by e-mailing rsvp@uusc.org or calling 617-301-4381.

• PECAN, DO IT! UUSC’s Holiday Fair Trade Promotion: Purchase delicious pecan candies and fairly traded pecans from UUSC’s partner, the Southern Alternatives Agricultural Co-operative (SAAC), by visiting www.uusc.org/content/holiday_pecans.

• Don’t let your investment dollars fund genocide!: UUSC and their colleagues at Investors Against Genocide (IAG) need your help to end the practice of investing in genocide. Previous actions have successfully pressured TIAA-CREF and others to divest, so we know the efforts are making a difference! Please visit www.uusc.org and www.investorsagainstgenocide.net to find out about several ways you can help support this important work.

• Learn about and support immigrant rights!: See “Made in L.A.”, an Emmy award-winning feature documentary that follows three Latina immigrants working in Los Angeles garment sweatshops as they embark on a three-year odyssey to win basic labor protections from a trendy clothing retailer. Please visit the film’s web site (www.madeinla.com) to learn more.

Vigil For Survival

After the successful International Day Of Climate Action in October, 350.org and Bill McKibben are asking folks to also hold a candlelight vigil on December 11 or 12 to send a clear message to world leaders deciding the fate of the planet’s future. Mid-way through the climate talks in Copenhagen, people around the world will gather in solemn solidarity with the nations and peoples who will be first to face the challenge to their very survival posed by climate change and for whom delay on climate action could mean extinction. To help plan a vigil or find out where one is happening in our area, visit www.350.org/vigil.

December Worship Services

(Worship Service & Religious Education Classes begin at 10:00 a.m. on Sundays, except as noted. Sunday morning events are followed by a Friendship Hour.)

Dec. 6: When To Say When
Our natures have a tendency to hold behavioral and attitudinal ruts (like saying ‘yes” to every invitation). Sometimes the ways we have come to respond to the world don’t necessarily work to bring us closer to the holy. How do we catch ourselves in the act of reacting automatically and free ourselves to a different way of being?

Dec. 13: Yes, And…
Often life calls upon us to hold two seemingly disparate ideas, realities, or possibilities at the same time. Our nature, however, is better able to manage either/or scenarios. How can we exercise our ability to accept paradox and ambiguity in our lives?

Dec. 20: Christmas Pageant – Intergenerational
The congregation is pulled into living theater to tell the Christmas story and sing carols.

Dec. 24: In The Deep Midwinter – Intergenerational Candlelit Christmas Eve Service (4:30 p.m.)

Dec. 27: Poetry Sunday
It has been said that the poets come closest to speaking in God’s native tongue. Come ready with the poem that has most moved or inspired you lately and discover new poets and poems to help illuminate your spiritual path.

Bird’s Eye View

Foxborough Universalist Church,Unitarian Universalist Association

6 Bird Street | On The Common | Foxborough, MA 02035-2301 | 508-543-4002

Worship Service & Religious Education Classes, Sundays at 10:00 A.M.

Katie Lawson, Minister | www.uufoxborough.org | All Are Welcome!

December 2009