Unitarian Universalist Society

November 1, 2016 Vol. 79 No. 17

Inside: Finance Committee News ··················· 2 Notes from R.E. ··································· 3 History Corner ······································ 5 Transition Team Report ······················· 6 Green & Social Justice News ··········· 7-8 Leadership/Committee Contact Info ·· 10 Note from The Leonard’s ··················· 11

Sunday Worship and Special Programming

November 6 The Art of Connection

Pastor Sunshine J. Wolfe

Two days before this year’s election, what does it mean to be connected to our neighbors and the world around us? How do we deal with the mixed emotions of our times? Can we really survive all of this? This service will explore the art of staying connected in trying times and what we will need on November 9th once the election is over.

Tuesday, November 8 Election Sacred Space

Pastor Sunshine J. Wolfe

On Election Day from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm, the Sanctuary will be open for reflection, singing, and ritual. All are invited to drop in, as needed.

November 13 The Fifth Season

Pastor Sunshine J. Wolfe

Aging with grace and helping loved ones to age with grace is central to many of our lives. The Fifth Season of life is a time of freedom and uncertainty. We will explore the needs of those in the Fifth Season of their lives and how we can support all with dignity and grace living into the later stages of life.

November 20 Of Turkeys and Rabbits

Pastor Sunshine J. Wolfe and friends

This intergenerational service will talk about Thanksgiving/grieving through story, song, and a bread communion (not a Christian communion). What do rabbits have to do with it? You’ll have to join us to find out! Are you a baker? Please bring bread of any variety (wheat, corn, rice, etc.) before the service begins to share during our bread communion.

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“Off the Trapeze”

Pastor Sunshine Wolfe’s

Monthly Column

The Second Smooth Stone: Love

“The second major principle of reli-gious liberalism is that all relations between persons ought ideally to rest on mutual, free consent and not on coercion. Obviously, this principle cannot be advocated in any strict or absolute sense…All responsible liberals recognize the necessity for certain restrictions on individual free-dom. They also recognize that ‘persuasion’ can be perverted into a camouflage for duress. Neverthe-less, free choice is a principle with-out which religion, or society, or politics cannot be liberal.”

~ James Luther Adams, “Five Smooth Stones of Liberal Religion”

The second smooth stone named by James Luther Adams is so cen-tral to our values that it is pro-claimed in our Principles. The Fourth

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2 May Memorial Unitarian Universalist Society

CareRing News & Notes

Recovered from her fall, Jill Evans

is out of the hospital and the Fahey Rehab Center and back living at her spacious Loretto residence on High-land Avenue (behind Bryant and Stratton). She shuttles to the PACE day program in East Syracuse, Mon-day through Friday. Cards would be welcome.

Just about everyone at May Memo-rial knows that Harsey and Joyce

Leonard moved from Syracuse to Virginia over the summer. But did you know that Joyce came down with shingles during the move? According to Harsey, it took a week for it to fully develop and be diag-nosed and treated. But thankfully, Joyce has fully recovered and is feeling good.

For more news on the Leonard’s, be sure and check out page 11 for a letter and photograph from Harsey.

Our Annual Fire Drill: How Did We Do?

O n October 2nd, we conducted an annual fire drill to assess our evacuation procedures and process. The fire drill was initiated at 11:25 am, and both

the upstairs and downstairs were essentially cleared in a couple of minutes. RE guides and assistants effectively lead the children out of their classrooms through the east end of the building and gathered in the parking lot. Folks in the Social Hall, Memorial Room, and Teen Room also exited the east end of the building to largely gather in the parking lot.

People in the Sanctuary exited the front doors and largely congregated in front of the building, but we need those some people to also gather in the parking lot with the RE guides and children. The purpose of that gathering point is to provide the Fire Department with access to the building entrance in the event of real emergency, particularly if the fire department needed to run water hos-es across the property, among other important response activities.

Additionally, in the event of a real emergency evacuation, we have a few el-derly folks who will need physical assistance, either by being carried out or wheeled out in a chair. Please be aware of your surroundings. This is particu-larly important if those folks are in the choir loft during an evacuation, and the additional time needed to move down the stairs from the loft.

Thanks for your cooperation and attention.

Be Safe,

Rob Neimeier, Vice-President, MMUUS Board of Trustees

REMEMBER

Daylight Savings Time ends on November 6

Daylight Saving Time ends on Sunday, November 6th, at 2:00 am,

so remember to set your clocks

back one hour (“fall behind”)

before you go to bed on Saturday, November 5th.

Finance Committee News

A s the conversion to the new software is still a work in progress, these are the preliminary income and expense numbers as of Sept. 30, 2016:

If you have any questions about these figures, you are welcome to attend an upcoming Finance Committee meeting. For the Finance Committee’s meeting schedule, please contact finance@mmuus.org.

W hat makes you happy? Or maybe more on point, what makes you

feel good about yourself? This is something that I’ve been thinking about lately in response to the overwhelming negativity surrounding the upcoming elec-tion. There is a lot of fear, anxiety, frustration, and anger swirling around and it can bring with it a sense of hopelessness. So in the face of all of that negativi-ty, how does one find hope and joy? We have to choose to find it, or make it ourselves.

As I was sitting contemplating how to give myself the emotional and spiritual care that I really need right now, my initial thought was to spend my thoughts and energy on myself. My typical version of self-care is to carve out some qui-et alone time. It can be quite indulgent to sit at home in my pajamas on a Mon-day while my family is off at work and school. When I’m doing it well, it involves a good book and a mug of coffee, but I haven’t been doing it well late-ly and it has turned into more time when I’m reading or watching the news and feeling anxious and unhappy. There has to be a better way to find happi-ness through this difficult time of uncertainty.

In my quest for a different strategy, I was reminded of something I read about a while back, that if you want to increase your own happiness, the best way to do it is to do good deeds and be kind to others. This seems a bit counterintui-tive to my usual need for quiet alone “me” time, but there have actually been a couple of studies performed that backed up the idea that doing good for oth-ers helps improve mood better than doing something for oneself or doing nothing at all. And this lined up with the message I’ve seen in both a children’s book that my kids’ school uses to teach empathy and kindness called, “Have you Filled a Bucket Today?” by Carol McCloud and also the “Gems of Good-ness” project that the 3rd and 4th graders here at May Memorial are doing as part of their curriculum, “Moral Tales”.

I’m going to be honest here and tell you that I haven’t read the bucket book, but my youngest has given me his third grade evaluation of it. The book uses the metaphor of an invisible bucket that each person carries around represent-ing their good thoughts and feelings. If you do a kind thing for someone else you help fill their “bucket,” and bonus—you get to fill you own a bit because it feels good to be kind to someone else. In RE, the 3rd and 4th graders are add-ing gems to a glass vase as a visual representation of the good deeds that they have done that week, similar to the invisible bucket—but visible, and the kids get to see the gems accumulate over time. As a group, they get to en-courage one another and lift each other up for the good things that they have done, in a spiral of positive energy. If someone in the class holds a door open for the person behind them at the store, they get to feel good about doing something nice for that person, then they get to feel good again when they tell the story on Sunday, and they feel even better when their guides and

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November 1, 2016 3

Notes from R.E.

(“Notes from R.E.” continued)

classmates cheer them on for their choice to be kind.

So in my need to stop the near con-stant buzz of swirling negativity, I am pushing back against it with kind-ness. I am choosing happiness over fear and anger and I choose to spread that happiness through kind words and deeds. I will smile at the person who bumps into me at the store, I will stop and wave the car in as they wait to merge, I will hold the elevator for the person running to meet it. I will make donations where I can, I will remember to recycle, and I will pet the dog that is looking at me with sad eyes. We don’t have to do big things to feel good, even one conscious choice to be kind to someone can make a difference in both their day and yours. I hope you will join me. I hope you will notice when others are choosing kindness and give them some gratitude. I hope that when the children in your life choose kindness that you let them know that you see it. The more we share and honor the choic-es for good, the more likely we all will be to continue to choose to do good. Think of the impact we could all make together!

In Peace,

~ Stacy Sceiford, Director of Religious Education,

2016 Socktober Wrap-Up We collected 199 pairs of socks this year, beating last year’s total of 171! We are spreading warmth and love to those affected by homelessness in the Syracuse area. Thank you for your generosity!

4 May Memorial Unitarian Universalist Society

Transforming Spirit Programs

T he following classes will be led by Pastor Sunshine, and are available to MMUUS members and friends

ages 14 and up:

• Sunday, November 6th, 12:00 pm, Memorial Room—Understanding Unitarian Universalism Through Our Promises—This program will explore the history of our denomination through the changes in the covenants from the early 1800s to today. These statements of what our denomination(s) agreed to show important changes in what we believed to be true. How did we get here and what might it tell us about where we are going? Join us as we learn about Unitarian Univer-salism in deeper ways.

• Sunday, November 13th, 12:00 pm, Memorial Room—Enneagram for Daily Life—This program will go deeper into the Enneagram with a focus on the relationships between the various motivational types. What do wings mean? How do we move towards unhealthy and health? This will be an opportunity to discuss your particular number in more depth. Prerequisite: Must have participated in an Enneagram Basics program or receive permission from Pastor Sunshine to attend this program.

• Sunday, December 4th, 12:00 pm, Memorial Room—From the Streets of Ferguson—Pastor Sunshine moved to Florissant, Missouri (which shares a school district with Ferguson) just 9 days before Mi-chael Brown was killed. They will share their experiences of that time, the work of the four St. Louis-area Unitarian Universalist congregations around #blacklivesmatter, and some of the stories that were not shared in the national media.

• Sunday, December 18th, 12:00 pm, Memorial Room—How Unitari-

ans Invented Christmas—Did you know that the notion of Christmas presents, Santa Clause, and Christmas trees as they are understood today were created by Unitarians in New England? This program will tell the story of our heritage in Christmas and the ways that our denom-ination’s culture and class culture are typified in how Christmas came to be in Europe and North America.

Congregation Wide Mission Creation Workshop Saturday, November 19th,

10:00 am—4:00 pm

This congregation-wide workshop will begin a year of exploration in how to weave a Mission Statement created by the congregation into every aspect of this congregation’s life. Through a series of presenta-tions, activities, and conversations, those gathered will create the begin-nings of a common church mission. This workshop is fun and energizing and a great way to offer input into the life of the community. The work-shop is open to youth and adults ages 13 years old and up. Childcare will be provided. We will have a lunch as well as refreshments throughout the day. Please RSVP

by November 16th to help us plan childcare and hospitality. We hope

to see everyone there!!!!

To RSVP, sign-up here or on the sheet on the foyer shelf underneath the nametag cupboard.

May Memorial’s Annual Potluck Thanksgiving Dinner

Thanksgiving Dinner at May Memorial has become a long standing tradition. Look for the sign-up sheet in the foyer beginning November 1st.

The gathering will begin at 3:30

pm on Thursday, November 24th,

with dinner beginning at 4:00 pm.

November 1, 2016 5

S ince 2006, nearly 50 members and friends of May Memorial Unitarian Uni-versalist Society have been interviewed as part of our Oral History Project,

begun under the leadership of Roger Hiemstra, who served as church archi-vist for a number of years. This project was inspired in part by National Public Radio’s “Story Core” project and the “Day of Listening” that may be familiar to some readers. In our semi-structured interviews, we attempt to obtain in-formation about particular areas of interest, such as the individual’s early church experiences and history as a Unitarian-Universalist, as well as contribu-tions to May Memorial. As noted previously, my plan for the coming months is to report excerpts from some of the interviews conducted over the past ten years, starting with responses to specific questions, such as, “What brought you to the UU church?” and “Why are you a Unitarian-Universalist?” I will begin with responses from a few longtime members who are no longer with us. All of them agreed in writing to let us use their interviews for such purpos-es, along with their names.

Hildegarde VanderSluis (interviewed in October, 2006) was born in Syracuse and spent her whole life in the Syracuse area. Her family had strong connections to a local church affiliated with a traditional Christian denomination, and the entire family attended services together, always sitting in the same pew. Hildegard attended that church until early adulthood. She became familiar with May Memorial (on James Street) because she was a member of the Syracuse chorale, which practiced in a meeting room there. In addition, the director of the chorale, Frank Macomber, was also direc-tor of the May Memorial choir at that time. Having grown “tired” of her family’s church over time, Hildegarde decided to try May Memorial.

Hildegarde joined the choir right away, and she soon realized that she liked the minister (Rev. Zoerheide), got along well with the people, and felt comfortable at May. A few years later, in 1958, she signed the book. Her young children loved the religious education program, which was well known and highly regarded, and Hildegard served as pianist for the RE program during the time her children were participating. When asked, “Why are you a Unitarian-Universalist?” she responded: “The freedom of thought here appealed to me. … And I liked the people. It was just the right thing for me.” In addition to singing in the May Memorial choir for over 50 years, Hildegarde was also a long-time member of the Care Ring.

Verah Johnson, who was interviewed in March of 2006, was brought up in a traditional Christian denomination, and her husband was raised in another

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Hildegarde VanderSluis

(“History Corner” continued)

more liberal Christian church. They were married in Verah’s church, and their first three children were bap-tized in traditional Christian church-es, one before they moved to the Syracuse area, and two after that. However, they had never joined a church. Following the last baptism, at which they were expected to re-peat and uphold a well-known creed, her husband stated, “I cannot say these words. This is not where I be-long.”

At that point, they started investigat-ing different religions, and their re-search led them to try the Unitarian Church on James Street—May Me-morial, where Rev. Zoerheide was minister. According to Verah, her husband was “ready to join right away,” but it took her six months to decide. Although she found the ex-perience to be “very freeing,” she also realized that she would have to “direct her own philosophy,” which was a big step! Verah and her hus-band joined May Memorial in 1958. Their fourth child was dedicated there, and both she and her husband taught in the religious education pro-gram.

In her interview, Verah recounted animated discussions about the move from the inner city to the sub-urbs, the choice of an architect for the new building, and the merger of Unitarians and Universalists. She has the distinction of being the first fe-male elected president of May Me-morial, serving as chair of the Board of Trustees for 1967-1968.

Next month we will continue report-ing parts of our interviews that focus on the question, “Why are you a Unitarian-Universalist?”

~ Mary Louise Edwards, Chair, History Committee

Verah Johnson

6 May Memorial Unitarian Universalist Society

Transition Team Report

T he purpose of this group is to help facilitate the interim process with the

goal of preparing the congregation for the search for a settled minister. We of the Transition Team have met with our interim minister, Pastor Sunshine, once a month since the beginning of August and will continue to do so throughout this year. Our first task was to facilitate the process of encouraging leaders of May Memorial, past and present, to meet with Pastor Sunshine for Interim Interviews. Close to 70 of these interviews have taken place and have provided Pastor Sunshine with the data for a profile of our congregation.

As this year progresses please feel free to talk with Pastor Sunshine, or with one of us on the Team, about your hopes, joys, or concerns. And watch the monthly newsletter, the weekly email blast, and the Order of Service for notic-es of future events.

One important event coming up is a congregation-wide Mission/Vision work-shop that is scheduled to take place on Saturday, November 19th, from

10:00 am to 4:00 pm. The purpose of the workshop is to begin the process of forging our congregational mission which will inform our direction for the fu-ture. Our previous Mission and Vision statements were created in 2007. All members and friends 13 and over are invited, indeed encouraged, to attend. The day will include a potluck lunch and childcare will be provided with ad-vance reservations. One element of the event will be the inauguration of a history timeline of May Memorial. Look for more details about the workshop in this newsletter and in future e-mail blasts. Please sign up for the workshop at http://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090d4aacab2aa4ff2-mission or on the sign-up sheet outside the main office.

We are pleased to welcome Stephanie Cross and Jason Winkler as new members of the Team.

Please contact Pastor Sunshine or any one of us with your questions and your thoughts.

Your Transition Team,

Alexa Carter, Stephanie Cross, Therese Hogle, Don MacKay, Don Milmore, Jason Winkler, Rev. Sunshine Wolfe

transition@mmuus.org

Sunday Worship and Special Programming (continued from page 1)

November 27 Prayerful Living

Bethany Russell-Lowe

The text from a popular Unitarian Universalist covenant reads “service is our prayer.” What are the purpos-es of prayer for Unitarian Universal-ists? Is prayer always personal? Can one pray through living out their beliefs?

2017 Arts on Genesee

We are proud to announce that the 2nd Annual Fine Arts and Craft Show will take place June 17-18, 2017 .

Mark your calendars and watch for upcoming announcements, which will have more details!

November 1, 2016 7

High Stakes for the Planet: The 2016 Presidential Election An Op-Ed Piece by Green & Social Justice Committee Chair, Peter Cannavo

T he scandals, tweets, email leaks, tirades, bigotries, insults, bouts of pneu-monia, and outbursts of violence associated with the 2016 election will ulti-

mately fade into the future. But thousands of years after they are forgotten, one issue from 2016 may still burden humanity: climate change. Barely even mentioned in the Clinton/Trump debates, climate change may be humanity’s greatest challenge in this century and far beyond.

The success of any global effort on climate change depends on active U.S. leadership. Yet our electoral cycle has created debilitating oscillation between left and right, with progress on climate policy stalled by short-term political dynamics. Meanwhile, the world has been losing valuable time to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and stave off catastrophic, irreparable impacts on the Earth’s climate and human civilization. We face a fundamental mismatch between time frames. The residence time of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is on the order of tens of thousands of years, so as short-term political cycles sabotage efforts to scale back emissions, we increasingly endanger not only ourselves and our children, but also generations extending millennia into the future.

Last December in Paris, 195 nations agreed to limit the warming of the Earth to well below 2°C above preindustrial levels and to aim for a lower limit of 1.5°C. Under the Paris Agreement, by 2025, the U.S. will cut carbon emissions 26-28%. Developed nations also pledged at least $100 billion annually to help de-veloping countries with emissions reductions and climate adaptation.

Each nation submitted emissions reduction plans. While these initial plans, taken collectively, are insufficient to limit warming to 1.5°C, or even 2°C, they represent the start of a process by which nations will regularly meet to ratchet up their plans. It is hoped that through the monitoring and reporting of individu-al nations’ emissions – the threat of “naming and shaming” – each will feel collective pressure to adopt increasingly ambitious emissions reductions and that the world will reach zero net carbon emissions by mid-century.

How would the U.S. comply with the Paris Agreement? Because of opposition from Congress to climate legislation, President Obama has relied on executive actions, justified through existing legislation like the Clean Air Act. The Clean Power Plan (CPP), the centerpiece of Obama’s climate policy, aims to reduce emissions from power plants by 32% below 2005 levels by 2030. It will close a number of coal-fired power plants. Obama’s actions, as well as his rejection of the Keystone XL Pipeline, have given credibility to U.S. pledges to reduce emissions.

Yet without a strong commitment by the U.S., developing countries like China, India, and Brazil will feel less incentive to reduce their own emissions and the

(continued above right)

post-Paris process will collapse. Consequently, U.S. commitment to the Paris agreement and the future prospect of reining in climate change rest heavily on Presidential executive power. The next admin-istration could gut enforcement or implementation of Obama’s regula-tions, fail to veto their repeal by a Republican-controlled Congress, or decline to defend them in the face of legal challenges

The CPP has been challenged in court on the grounds that it is not legally justified under the Clean Air Act. The case will surely go to the Supreme Court, now in a 4-4 tie with the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. Last February, the Supreme Court temporarily blocked the CPP. Scal-ia’s replacement under the next ad-ministration will matter enormously for this case. And if the court ulti-mately strikes down the CPP, it could wreck the Paris process.

The two major Presidential candi-dates are enormously divided on climate change. Clinton supports the Paris Agreement and the CPP and has pledged even more ambitious goals for weaning the U.S. off of fossil fuels and increasing our use of renewable energy sources. She op-poses the Keystone pipeline and supports substantially decarbonizing the economy by 2050 and moderniz-ing the electrical grid to facilitate increased reliance on renewables. By contrast, Trump has repeatedly dismissed climate change as a hoax. He told the editorial board of the Washington Post, “I’m not a big be-liever in man-made climate change” and his public statements suggest that he does not understand, or does not care to understand, the difference between climate change and ozone depletion. Trump has promised to reverse Obama’s

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(“GoinGreen” continued)

8 May Memorial Unitarian Universalist Society

GoinGreen (continued from page 7)

executive orders, including the CPP; slash regulations on energy produc-tion; and ramp up production of fossil fuels, including coal. His campaign website says, “We’re going to can-cel the Paris Climate Agreement and stop all payments of U.S. tax dollars to U.N. global warming programs.” He is skeptical, even hostile toward wind and solar power and famously opposed an offshore wind farm in Scotland because it would supposed-ly ruin the view from one of his golf courses. He has promised to appoint conservatives to the Supreme Court, which would largely ensure the inval-idation of the CPP.

If the Supreme Court with a con-servative majority were to actually uphold the CPP, Trump could not rescind the policy without a long le-gal process. However, he could slow or otherwise undermine its imple-mentation. His appointments to key federal agencies like the EPA will greatly matter here.

Though the Democrats have a rea-sonable chance of capturing the Sen-ate, it is unlikely that they will gain control of the House, though the latter is still possible. If Trump were to win, Democrats’ chances of retak-ing even the Senate would be enor-mously reduced. A Trump presiden-cy with a Republican Congress could sabotage efforts to combat climate change at home and abroad.

The outcome of this election hinges on voter turnout. Even if you are un-enthusiastic about Clinton, you should consider the enormous stakes in this election and how a decision you make on November 8th could have consequences for the next tens of thousands of years.

~ Peter Cannavo, Chair, Green & Social Justice Committee

“Off the Trapeze” Principle states, “We affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning.” Yet, beyond our Fourth Principle statement of freedom of faith, he is also listing up the central value of belief and thought without coer-cion. We might also call this consensual love in that it is an attitude of relation-ship.

It is central to Unitarian Universalist values that we allow for freedom, but this freedom is not unrestricted. This freedom does not allow for violence towards one another or coercion into a certain way of thinking. We may think strongly that those around us should think as we do, but once we move into a place of insisting or manipulating those around us into our way of thinking, we lose the spirit of a free religion.

We see this in our political processes when a politician proclaims that not giv-ing them their way is negating their freedom. Such a statement is not relation-al as it assumes that the only one to be considered is the person speaking. Liberal religion, of all varieties declares, as Unitarian Fracis Dávid once did, “That we need not think alike to love alike.” Yet, how do we live into this value of relating with freedom and loving with conviction?

Non-maleficence, frequently referred to as, “first, do no harm,” can guide us in understanding this smooth stone of love. Not easy to do, this causing no harm. What we strive to give everyone is the space to explore and be challenged while not causing harm. This is tricky and perhaps impossible. Yet, a value that pushes us towards our best selves is often unachievable and yet worthy of our striving.

In her book, “Love Does No Harm”, Marie Fortune clarifies that in a relational sense, love doing no harm is about consent and the ability to give consent. Compassionate relationship requires open and clear communication. It often requires multiple attempts at communication to get clarity. In understanding non-maleficence we must consider the power dynamics between people. Who has power and control to determine how we communicate and through what avenues freedom is granted? For many of our members and friends, the religion of one’s childhood may have included experiences of coercion and abuse of power to ensure certain beliefs were held. Often this was done with the understanding that the coercion now would prevent some form of coer-cion later from Satan or evil or sin. Yet, the fact of the matter still remains that this led to a breakdown in relationship.

For Unitarian Universalists, relationship comes first. Remembering our first smooth stone of hope—we understand that we cannot know what is to come- revelation is not sealed. So, what matters are not relationships of the future, but relationships of the present. What we do now and how we treat one an-other now sets the foundation for the future. And, when we inevitably fail and say or do something that causes harm, what we do next matters. Our role is not to be perfect. Our role is to practice again and again holding ourselves in healthy and compassionate relationship.

Poet Mary Ann Pietzker titles one of her poems around a good metric for free relational compassion. The poem is titled simply, “Is It True? Is It Necessary? Is It Kind?” Three simple questions that elucidate how difficult it can be to be

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(continued from page 1)

November 1, 2016 9

Linda LaBella-Morgan, May Memorial’s Featured Gallery Artist for November

O ur gallery artist for November is Linda LaBella-Morgan, a retired art teacher and an adjunct professor at both OCC and State University College at

Oswego. A docent educator at Everson Museum of Art, her painting entitled Communion is currently on display at the Museum, and has received a Best of Show Award and a People's Choice Award. Linda recently launched an art print business, Vivere (Italian for “to live”) Watercolors, which was inspired by her annual trips to Italy. The company features three series of paintings, including “When Life Is Still”, highlighting landscapes and still life pieces; “Italian Landscapes Redefined”, focusing on the life of the family; and “Habit Forming”, which is devoted to living life with spirit. The last two are accompa-nied by Linda's original poetry (see example below). During her show, she will be offering notecards and bookmarks for sale, as well as some of her prints in their original sizes. Her paintings will be exhibited throughout the month of November.

Linda will take part in our Meet the Artist program following the service on

Sunday, November 6th, where she will be available to meet and speak with in the Social Hall.

There will also be a reception for Linda’s exhibition, which is open to the pub-lic, on Friday, November 11th, at 7:00 pm in the Social Hall.

Upcoming Folkus Concerts

November 4th—Robin and Linda

Williams—For more than four dec-ades, Robin and Linda have made it their mission to perform the music that they love, “a robust blend of bluegrass, folk, old-time and acous-tic country that combines wryly ob-servant lyrics with a wide-ranging melodicism.” Some might call it Americana, but Robin and Linda were living and breathing this elixir 20 years before that label was turned into a radio format.

Tickets are $20 (Folkus Member Price: $17)

November 18th—The Acoustic

Guitar Project—“One guitar. One week. One song”. The Acoustic Gui-tar project, is an international song-writing project that originated in New York City and has spread around the world. Five notable area songwriters will perform his or her original composition (each written on the same guitar, 1 week after anoth-er), plus a few other of their original songs. Artists to be announced as they complete their songs.

Tickets are $15 (Folkus Member Price: $12)

All concerts begin at 8:00 pm.

For more information or to purchase tickets, go to www.folkus.org.

“Marriage” from the collection “Vivere (to

live)”, featuring the series “Living with Spirit“

“Marriage” by Linda LaBella-Morgan

It begins with a proposal, to delight the hungry heart, by creating a perfect union,

with essentials sweet and tart.

Consult a knowing good book, choose a recipe to please the soul,

ingredients wed while stirring and blended in a bowl.

It's a matter of the batter, a match in every batch, a shower of the flour,

a creation made from scratch.

This marriage of paired flavors, with an added bit of zest,

“I do” conclude you'll savor life's confection at its best.

10 May Memorial Unitarian Universalist Society

Ministry

Pastor Sunshine J. Wolfe, Interim Minister swolfe@uuma.org Bethany Russell-Lowe, Intern Minister bethany.e.lowe@gmail.com

Staff

Brian Betz, Office Administrator (315) 446-8920 office@mmuus.org

Leslie Dendy, Bookkeeper ldendy@mmuus.org

Glenn Kime, Director of Music (315) 729-3734

Stacy Sceiford, Director of Religious Education dre@mmuus.org

Lay Leadership

Mariah Ducey, MMUUS President president@mmuus.org Rob Neimeier, MMUUS Vice-President vp@mmuus.org Deirdre Stam, MMUUS Treasurer treasurer@mmuus.org Ruth Yanai, MMUUS Board Secretary boardsecretary@mmuus.org

Trustees

Emmanuel Carter, Leah Cronlund, Jane Fagerland, Carroll Grant

board@mmuus.org

Transition Team

Alexa Carter, Stephanie Cross, Therese Hogle, Don MacKay, Don

Milmore, Jason Winkler, Pastor

Sunshine J. Wolfe

transition@mmuus.org

Committee Chairpersons

Building & Grounds (Chair TBA) bg@mmuus.org Care Ring Carol Bickart and Peggy Ryfun, Co-Chairs carering@mmuus.org Finance

Deirdre Stam, Chair finance@mmuus.org Denominational Affairs

Kent Lindstrom, Chair denomaffairs@mmuus.org Green & Social Justice

Peter Cannavo, Chair green@mmuus.org History

Mary Louise Edwards, Chair history@mmuus.org Hospitality Alexa Carter and Linda Wobus, Co-Chairs hospitality@mmuus.org Membership (Chair TBA) membership@mmuus.org Memorial Garden

Randy Archambault, Chair memgarden@mmuus.org Music & Arts

Lynne Perry, Chair music@mmuus.org Program Council

Carroll Grant, Chair programcouncil@mmuus.org Public Relations (PR)/Website

John Percival, Chair pr@mmuus.org Religious Education (RE)

Larissa Brenner, Chair re@mmuus.org Worship

Mariah Ducey, Chair worship@mmuus.org

Getting in Touch With... “Off the Trapeze” (continued from page 8)

caring in our freedom. How often do we say something that we believe to be true but fail to ask if it is kind or necessary to share? How do we live with the fact that what is kind for one person may be cruel for anoth-er? Also, just because it is true, does it mean we must share it? How do we know with certainty what is true? Talk about complex!

So, yes, my Unitarian Universalist beloveds, we are called to have free-dom of thought and faith and life. Yes, we are encouraged to our free and responsible search for truth and meaning. Yes, we are given the space to explore what is true in our own lives. AND we are called to not live in a vacuum of spiritual growth (that which gives us meaning and purpose). As human beings, our val-ues are always relational and, when-ever possible, do not cause harm to those who seek us or live among us.

So, may our relating be consensual and never coerced. May we be pa-tient and caring in word and deed. May we be gracious when we or others fail to be compassionate in living out our values. May we know that we are not alone and what we say and do matters.

May you be blessed,

~ Pastor Sunshine J. Wolfe, Interim Minister, MMUUS

(continued from page 1)

November 1, 2016 11

Monday, November 14th

4:00 pm Spiritual Enrichment Group Memorial Room Tuesday, November 15th

3:00 pm T’ai Chi Chih Social Hall 7:00 pm Board of Trustees Memorial Room Wednesday, November 16th

6:30 pm Men’s Fellowship Potluck/Discussion Social Hall 8:00 pm History Committee Room 8 Thursday, November 17th

3:00 pm T’ai Chi Chih Social Hall 7:30 pm Choir Rehearsal Sanctuary Friday, November 18th

8:00 pm Folkus Concert: Acoustic Guitar Project MMUUS Saturday, November 19th

10:00 am—4:00 pm Congregational Mission MMUUS Creation Workshop (see page 4 for details) Sunday, November 20th

9:00 am Green & Social Justice Cmtee. Memorial Room 10:30 am Worship Service Sanctuary 10:30 am Teenz First UU Monday, November 21st

6:30 pm Spiritual Enrichment Group Memorial Room Tuesday, November 22nd

3:00 pm T’ai Chi Chih Social Hall 6:00 pm Twisted Sisters Memorial Room

Wednesday, November 23rd *Office Closed* Thursday, November 24th *Happy Thanksgiving!*

3:30 pm Potluck Thanksgiving Dinner MMUUS

Friday, November 25th *Office Closed*

Sunday, November 27th

10:30 am Worship Service Sanctuary 10:30 am Teenz First UU 12:15 pm Spanophiles COA Monday, November 28th

4:00 pm Spiritual Enrichment Group Memorial Room Tuesday, November 29th

3:00 pm T’ai Chi Chih Social Hall

Calendar (continued from page 12)

A Note from the Leonard’s The following note and photograph (above) are from the recently reset-tled Harsey and Joyce Leonard:

“We are settled in nicely and be-ginning to find our way around Alexandria. The immediate area is indeed a large and sprawling metropolis with lots of traffic most of the time. Our neighbor-hood however is pretty quiet as we are located near the end of the street with no thru traffic. The city of Old Town Alexandria is really quaint with a colonial feel. Lots of townhouses with little squares of private yards all bedecked in beautifully land-scape gardens. Petunias are still blossoming. I’ll include a couple of photos of the grounds around our apartment.

We are located on the south edge of the city proper and a drive of a few blocks and we are out of the city and into the coun-try. Yesterday we drove south on Washington Blvd. along the Poto-mac River. The area is heavily forested offering a lovely shaded land for the walking and biking trail that runs all the way from Washington proper to Mount Vernon. The morning was clear and sunny the blue sky cloud-less. We still have green on most of the deciduous foliage with just a hint of color beginning to show in spots. Our day time tempera-tures are still in the high 60s. I still miss the crisp cool fall weather of central NY but I will probably get used to this more moderate climate.”

May Memorial is a member of the UUA and the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee. Office Hours: 10am - 6pm Monday—Wednesday 10am - 2pm Thursday 10am - 6pm Friday

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Calendar

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12 May Memorial Unitarian Universalist Society

Tuesday, November 1st

3:00 pm T’ai Chi Chih Social Hall Thursday, November 3rd

3:00 pm T’ai Chi Chih Social Hall 7:30 pm Choir Rehearsal Sanctuary Friday, November 4th

8:00 pm Folkus Concert: Robin & Linda Williams MMUUS Sunday, November 6th *Daylight Savings Time Ends*

9:30 am PR Committee Meeting Memorial Room 10:30 am Worship Service Sanctuary 10:30 am Teenz First UU 11:30 am First Sunday Luncheon Social Hall 11:30 am Meet the Artist: Linda LaBella-Morgan Social Hall 12:00 pm Transforming Spirit Program Memorial Room Monday, November 7th

6:30 pm Spiritual Enrichment Group Memorial Room Tuesday, November 8th *Election Day—VOTE!*

3:00 pm T’ai Chi Chih Social Hall 6:00 pm Election Sacred Space Sanctuary (see page 1 for details) Wednesday, November 9th

*Office Closed* Thursday, November 10th

3:00 pm T’ai Chi Chih Social Hall 6:00 pm Spiritual Enrichment Group Memorial Room 7:30 pm Choir Rehearsal Sanctuary Friday, November 11th *Veterans Day*

7:00 pm Linda LaBella-Morgan’s Social Hall Gallery Reception Sunday, November 13th

10:30 am Worship Service Sanctuary 10:30 am Teenz First UU 12:00 pm Transforming Spirit Program Memorial Room 12:15 pm Spanophiles COA 2:30 pm Program Council Memorial Room

(continued on page 11)