Mr. Social Media Misses the Memo
Imagine my surprise when today I went to UUCiA for the “Paths to God: An Appreciation of Hinduism” service, and discovered a single set of footsteps leading to the door, on which there was a sign that read that the service was cancelled. Apparently I missed the memo, which came in my e-mail. I do read e-mail, I just didn’t this morning, at least not before digging out. Well, if I had, I’d still be in my PJs and I wouldn’t be dug out already. I have more time in my day. How cool is that?
Moreover, the particular service will be rescheduled, probably on a day when the more the merrier. It being the end of school vacation week around here, and really snowy, there was likely to be a small contingent anyway.
I just have to laugh at being one of two cars parked on Locke Street this morning.
…For me, Hanukkah is about parsing out the miraculous and the mundane – with an openness to awe. I want to be one of Martin Buber’s “extremely enthusiastic participants” in life who looks around and sees not mud, but miracles. I want to consider the miracle of the oil (one of the miracles celebrated at Hanukkah) and not “ruin it” by analyzing ad nauseam how it might have happened through natural causes. I want to consider the miracle of the oil and see the awe-inspiring faith and hope of a people who resisted having their spirits crushed and their traditions lost.
JustGive.org – As opposed to registering for traditional gifts, you can sign up for your wedding party to give charitable donations to the charities of your choice.
We clasp the hands of those that go before us,
And the hands of those who come after us.
We enter the little circle of each other’s arms
And the larger circle of lovers,
Whose hands are joined in a dance,
And the larger circle of all creatures,
Passing in and out of life,
Who move also in a dance,
To a music so subtle and vast that no ear hears it
Except in fragments.
I’m just back from Sunday Service with Joe Zahka. I enjoyed hearing his account of his Earthwatch trip to Ecuador (Respect for the interdependent web of existence of which we are a part.)
Joe Zahka in the cloud forest near the equator.
Earthwatch is a non-profit with an interesting charter – to connect people to issues about their environment. It is Ecotourism with a scientific slant. Joe Zahka, physics and engineering teacher and a UUCiA member, journeyed to Ecuador’s “cloud forest” last month to work with a team of researchers for the nonprofit conservation organization Earthwatch. Joe will describe Earthwatch and its mission Sunday, August 1 at 9:30am at 6 Locke Street. Come and share your stories of connecting with the environment. How has it changed the way you live your life in the USA.
Posted by UUCiA on July 28th, 2010
In particular, Joe talked about biological and economic diversity, “the common is rare, and the rare is common.” It made me think that in the West, or the Global North, we typically think of “one right solution” to problems related to the survival of our species and the planet. Really, we might think that there is a great diversity of ways to work on these problems. How can we know in advance what will work? Fortunately, that seems to me also to make the entry points abundant. I have hope because it is therefore easy for someone to get involved somewhere in something that will help.
Another member’s comment that the earth contains the materials of both destructive and healing properties reminded me of what George Perkins Marsh said, that if humanity has the capacity to break Nature, then it has the capacity to fix it as well. Having seen the practical expression of this in the work of Frederick Billings that was inspired by Marsh also gives me hope.
