by Admin | May 3, 2018 | Justice Actions
Dear UUCV Community,
How about a riddle?
It has no name until you name it, no form until you shape it. Touch its spark and let it light you; give it life and it will revive you. (Adapted from a poem by Jane in the Soul Matters packet).
Do you take a guess? It is creativity! How wonderful to think of creativity as something that revives you and sets you alight, so long as you tap into it, and give it a try!
My grandmother was told as a child she couldn’t draw and stopped considering herself creative. In her 50s she found crafting and is now an artist! She makes beautiful paper books, cards, and bookmarks with ephemera, stamps, and more.
Creativity is more about willingness to play than having a particular talent! May this be a call to cultivate creativity and play in innovation, dropping all comparison and expecting to fail along the way.
“Creativity is the way I share my soul with the world.” Brené Brown
How do you share your soul with the world?
Emily Carroll, Director of Religious Education
emily@uuventura.org
by Admin | May 3, 2018 | Justice Actions
by Peggy Anders
Have you noticed the new Connecting Center in Berg Hall? Every Sunday after our service we staff this corner of the room with a few volunteers until noon. We are there to welcome visitors and long time members alike and to enjoy conversation and the opportunity to learn more about each other and what is happening in the life of our church.
Became a Connector!
So far Connecting Committee members have hosted the Center and now we need others to help us as Connectors. Volunteers come to the Center immediately after the service and join a Committee member as hosts. The only things you need are a warm smile, an interest in sharing information and a listening ear to hear. To become a Connector one or two Sundays a month come to the Center after the service and chat with a Committee member; learning the ropes to become a host will only take a few minutes. Contact Cassie Tondro at cassandra@tondro.com.
by Admin | May 3, 2018 | Justice Actions
Anyone else feeling particularly ‘birdy’ this time of year? Right on the heels of another fabulous April with our Earth Day Service and Dirt Communion, here we are in May, smack dab in the middle of the bird breeding season. Part of living harmoniously in the interdependent web of all existence is learning more about the biodiversity all around us!
So, this month, 7PEAT wanted to drop some bird knowledge… and an invitation. You might be surprised to know that Ventura County is home, for part or all of the year, to over 300 species of birds! The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, which is a treasure trove of user-friendly information about our feathered friends, sponsors an event on May 5 called Global Big Day, when birdwatchers (‘birders’, for short) around the world scramble to observe as many species as possible in 24 hours.
You don’t have to be an expert or spend hours hiking to participate! Last year, more than 20,000 birders contributed sightings from 160+ countries, totaling 6,637 bird species! Simply go to eBird to learn how to join the fun, or (and here’s the invitation) come out with Mark Mendelsohn (mmendels33@gmail.com), a wildlife biologist, on el Cinco de Mayo, Global Big Day. If that day doesn’t work for you, let’s go out another time!
The local bird nesting season will wrap up by mid-summer, however you can see great birds year-round in Ventura County, all the way through December’s Christmas Bird Count and February’s Great Backyard Bird Count. Come on outside, and enjoy our avian beauties… for the more we learn about Earth’s biodiversity, the more we will appreciate it, and the more likely we will work to conserve it!
by Admin | May 3, 2018 | Justice Actions
Sign up at the Social Action table to provide a dish on the fourth Monday of the month for the folks living at Riverhaven. Sign up sheets are available for donations for the next couple months.
The Riverhaven residents are always so grateful for the generosity of UUCV! If you have any questions, contact Pam or Jim Waldron at 647-5650.
Thank you for supporting our friends at Riverhaven!
by Admin | Apr 12, 2018 | Justice Actions
Podcasts are back! Thanks for your patience in the last few weeks. We’ve been in the process of migrating our podcasts to a new server. You can now find all podcasts since the first of 2018 on Soundcloud at https://soundcloud.com/user-753499923/sets/uucv-sermons.
by Admin | Apr 2, 2018 | Justice Actions
There are Seven Principles the members of the Unitarian Universalist Association “covenant to affirm and promote.” Yet I contend that all of them are essentially covered by the first and the seventh.
First, “the inherent worth and dignity of every person. Seventh, “respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.”
In between we affirm justice, equity and compassion; encouragement of spiritual growth; a free and responsible search; the right of conscience and the democratic process; and the goal of peace, liberty and justice for all. Yet if we truly value every person and understand the depth of our interconnectedness to each other and the earth, then the rest will fall into place.
For me, these are profoundly spiritual principles. Because of them, I am inspired to love more deeply, live more fully, and reach out beyond myself with care and compassion.
So, I sometimes find it surprising when people say that justice work is the central mission of the church and Unitarian Universalism.
While the justice work we do is important, it is not the center of our faith. The work of creating a just and fair society is the outgrowth of a spiritual connection to one another, to the earth, and to the source of love and goodness (that I name God).
If we have that depth of connection, then we will be called to love and live for more than ourselves. And our sense of calling may not show up as working directly with marginalized or oppressed people. It could be to create beauty – in word or image. Or cultivating generosity. Or in serving the church – as a Worship or Pastoral Associate, on the Stewardship Team, the Board, teaching our children and youth, coming to Building and Grounds Work Parties, and so much more.
For many, our professional lives are all about caring for others in need – as teachers, nurses and doctors, lawyers, social workers. What they may well need from church is inspiration and sustenance. A place to refill their souls and gather love and strength from community.
There are others who work to end homelessness, for immigration rights, or for environmental justice. What they may well need from church is inspiration and sustenance. A place to refill their souls and gather love and strength from community.
That would make the mission of the church providing the inspiration, strength, and sustenance, the connection to love, to Source, to community. With such connection we can live more fully in a too often broken and hurting world. Our work in the larger world is an outgrowth, not the center of our faith.
My first aim on Sunday mornings is for the “spirit to move” in the Sanctuary in your hearts and among us all collectively. My hope is that you are inspired (enspirited) in the ways you need most. A little comforting here, a little prodding there. Room to breathe, to grieve, be uplifted in joy. I figure if we’re doing all that on Sunday and through the week, the rest will fall into place.
May the spirt move in your hearts.
with love, Rev. Dana
