May 19 email
First Parish Unitarian Universalist Cohasset
E-mail Update – May 19, 2010
One of my favorite objects is a kaleidoscope. From childhood on, I couldn’t resist the appeal of this “toy” that holds tiny slivers of color shifting into pattern after pattern, like an infinite series of stained glass windows. Kaleidoscopes speak to me: “Change is wondrous. Behold it. Let it be. Move with it. Flex it as you will, with a mere turn of the wrist.” Transformation is in the eye of the beholder—its beauty and otherwise.
You and I are amid not just transition of role and relationship; we are amid the eternal transition that simply is. As Dan and I beheld our newborn grandson this past week, little Forrest’s trusting fragility recalled that of little Oliver just over two years ago. Within a seeming nanosecond, he will sit up, turn over, giggle, cry with even greater gusto, crawl, stand, walk, run, and on it goes given good health and good fortune. Love and care provide the foundation for Forrest and Oliver and for us all.
Amid the change that we know every nanosecond of our living, may our foundation be love and care, love and care for each other and love and care beyond each other into a world hurting so badly from their lack. In loving justice, may we move ahead, finding ourselves like the patterns of the kaleidoscope, in a web of intricate patterns that is different because of a mere breath somewhere in the universe, different because of how we navigate our own twists and turns across transitions conscious and subliminal.
Change is forever. So is love. May the change over which we have even the slightest power be infused with all possible love.
Love to all,
Jan
Spring Fling May 22 2010 – 7:30 PM
The Spring Fling promises a lively service auction, splendid refreshments, and entertainment to wow you! Tickets will be available at the door for $20/couple, $10/person, which entitles you to a glass of wine or beer and yummy sweets; flavored waters will also be available. You’ll also enjoy an evening of great entertainment and a silent auction with a couple of live auction items. If you have a donation, please contact Bev Burgess at bevburgess@aol.com. Think babysitters, soloists, carvers, carpenters, artists, yard workers, caterers, and knitters—for starters.
Allegra Martin notes that performers are still wanted! If you play an instrument; if you would like to tell a joke; if you have a little humorous monologue or dialogue to share, or even just a memory of a particularly moving or hilarious moment from a past Spring Fling, we want to get you on stage! Our younger members are particularly encouraged to come up with something inventive. Allegra wants performances to reflect the talent of the entire congregation, not just the choir, so please volunteer yourself (or someone else) to share a little tidbit with us! You can reach Allegra at allegra.martin@gmail.com.
NEEDED FOR THIS SUNDAY – USHERS & FLOWER PROVIDERS & COFFEE HOUR HOSTS!
And needed for the balance of May & for June!
Usher/flower openings include: May 23 & 30 and June 13 (ushers only), & 20. Coffee hour openings include: May 23, & 30 and June 20.
Please contact Sandy Bailey at 781-383-1100 or sbailey@firstparishcohasset.org and let her know what you will do when. Hospitality is you! Being there with flowers, a welcoming smile and handshake, coffee and refreshments after worship all matters immensely to how folks feel about us when they worship with us. Thank you!
The events of this week are as follows:
Tuesday, May 18
10:30 AM – Staff Meeting – Minister’s Study
Thursday, May 20
10:30 AM – 3:00 PM – 175th Annual Meeting of the Unitarian Universalist Urban Ministry – First Church in Roxbury
Our delegates this year are Eric Kluz and Chartis Tebbetts. To learn more about our UU Urban Ministry, visit www.uuum.org.
7:55 PM – Choir Practice – Meeting House
Saturday, May 22
8:00 AM – Carriage House Nursery School Fundraiser – Parish House
7:30 PM – SPRING FLING – Parish House/Trueblood Hall (see above)
Sunday, May 23
8:00 AM – Circle Ministry (group led by Bill Baird & John Kornet and meeting on the 2nd & 4th Sundays)
9:45 AM – Childcare for our youngest. All other children will join their parents and the full congregation for the first part of worship in the Meeting House and then leave for RE classes, which extend to 11:15 AM. Our Whole Lives (OWL) meets for their final session at 9:45 AM at First Parish UU in Scituate.
10:00 AM – Worship in the Meeting House
Worship will be led by Rev. Dr. Judith Campbell, who will preach on “Doors, Windows, and Black Holes…..Opportunities and Challenges in a Time of Transition.” Ron Wallace will serve as liturgical host.
Rev. Dr. Campbell was the Unitarian Universalist minister on Martha’s Vineyard for seven years and now serves as the Ministerial Settlement Representative for the Ballou Channing District of the Unitarian Universalist Association. She is also a retreat and workshop leader locally, nationally, and in Great Britain and is the author of the Olympia Brown mysteries, soon available at bookstores. Children and youth will be present for the first part of worship.
All are invited for refreshments and fellowship in the Parish House directly after worship.
Jan will be visiting the UU Congregation of the Catskills in Kingston, NY, where she will begin this coming August as interim minister.
What else?
Our Cohasset Food Pantry needs you to help hungry neighbors! Please contribute.
Economic challenge continues for so many among us and for so many of our neighbors. Local food pantries provide if we continue to provide for our local food pantries. We can do this through our Cohasset Food Pantry. Our Outreach Committee reminds us to keep those baskets in the Meeting House and at the entrance to the Parish House full. Items needed are posted at both locations.
For more information on activities at First Parish Unitarian Universalist in Cohasset, refer to our December newsletter, The Common, and to our website at www.firstparishcohasset.org.
We have a faith worth sharing and a church worth growing!
Come, and bring your children and your un-churched neighbors!
