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February
2002
The
Clarion deadline coincides with the monthly
Friendship Potluck Luncheons on the third Sunday
of the month. Submissions can be in writing, on
disk, faxed (773-5018) or e-mail at newsletter@uugreenfield.org.
Past
issues of The Clarion can be found by clicking here.
February
2002 Clarion
Headlines:
Sunday
9:00 a.m. Discussion Series, “How Do We Know Our
Values?”
Sundays February 3 and 10 conclude our series
considering questions such as “From whom or what
do we derive our values?” “How do our values get
reflected in our life?” and “In what ways is it
possible to summarize or explain our values?”
Difference in perspective and background in
encouraged, and all are welcome to this active
exchange of thought and feeling. There are a series
of on-going readings, so drop-in participants may
want to inquire with in advance. The
series takes place in the minister’s study
upstairs and is led by Jon Rehmus.
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What If You
Were President?
We are encouraging the democratic,
intergenerational exercise of electing an All
Souls Currency based on the question, “If
we had the power, whose faces would we honor on
coins and bills?” Children and adults can nominate
any person (American or not) or object (an example
is an oak tree), and following an education period,
elections will eventually be timed in conjunction
with the spring annual meeting. Send your
nominations by e-mail to uugreenfield@uugreenfield.org
or get them to Eve Brown-Waite or Jon Rehmus.
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Ministry
Note: February 15-24
The
Rev. Holly Bell of our
congregation will be available to take emergency
pastoral calls while Jon is away attending his
grandmother’s memorial service and on vacation. We
appreciate this coverage, and as a reminder, Holly’s
directory information with others is on the extra,
missing page which people can find in the parish
hall or by calling the church.
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Spring
Trip to New York City
I
wish to pay respect in person to those who died
in the biggest one-day loss on American soil in 150
years. Each represents individual dignity in a world
where war or industry can make and destroy masses.
Meanwhile, the Statue of Liberty represents to me a
spirit of knowing that when freedom, safety , and
peace are true, it lights up our insides. I’d like
to see her light again.
Feel invited to join me for a Saturday’s
journey in March or April down to Battery Park.
Perhaps with a ritual there and with observance
and/or commemoration at the September attack site,
we could then find lunch elsewhere as well as
afternoons of separately going to museums, stores,
parks, etc. Depending on interest, there may be
opportunity to have supper with city UUs before
returning home. Children will need to be fully
supervised by parents or guardians and the cost per
person I can only speculate upon: $50 — $75 maybe.
Leaving at 6:30 — 7:00 a.m., we could arrive back
in Greenfield no later than 11 p.m.
Please
e-mail (uugreenfield@uugreenfield.org)
or leave your name(s) with Diane Dix or me in
the coming month if you would like to go, and with
more information, I will circulate a firm date, and
itinerary, and more ideas.
All are welcome. — Jon Rehmus
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Concerns
Regarding the Brattleboro Church Killing
We have begun to convey our concerns and prayers
for the All Souls Brattleboro congregation and the
tragic killing there. Members of the community here
have felt understandable dismay, and many
appropriate questions have been raised. Please feel
free to speak with me about continuing concerns. In
part guided by two meetings I’ve had with the
Greenfield police, our Board of Trustees is settling
on appropriate procedures for handling disruptions
of various types. If you have thoughts or questions,
contact a board member or me. Thank you for the
thoughtful consideration this involves, and I would
appreciate any suggestions for a proper church-wide
gesture of support for our sister congregation and
community. — Jon Rehmus.
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Son David’s
Introduction:
Ever the teacher, my mother
prepared something for us to say to you at this
service. She has entitled it, “My Living Will”.
At the risk of messing it up, I can’t resist a few
words of introduction:
My mother enjoyed discovering heroism where most
people don’t look for it. She saw it in writers
having the courage to be honest, but also in a woman
working a factory shift and then going home to the
harder job of raising her children. She saw it in
her own mother whose pioneer hometown blew away in
the Dust Bowl.
I think it was her admiration for human endurance
that made her very bad at one particular thing —
she was terrible at asking for help. Some people do
not ask for help because they don’t think they are
worthy of it. Mom would not ask because she thought
she should be able to do it herself, whatever it
was.
Even in death, she showed us inconspicuous
courage.
I admit that I had doubts. I thought that at some
point of exhaustion, her body and energy depleted,
she might finally and understandably complain, that
she might let loose some long suppressed anger.
Instead, she showed frustration only once. She
wanted me to correct a misapprehension on the part
of some of her visitors: “Please tell them,” she
asked pointedly, “that I am not depressed,
discouraged, or despairing, I am just dying.”
And that is why I can now read her own words to
you and know that she meant them utterly; that if
she could wield her teacher’s red pencil today,
she would not change a word.
My
Living Will, by Virginia Low
read by her son, David Keith, at her Memorial
Service on Sunday, December 15, 2001
Yes, I have signed a form, along with two
witnesses, that specifies my wish that I not be kept
alive by artificial means when doctors and family
have determined that there is no hope for recovery
and no reason for me to be kept alive.
But then I started thinking — what if indeed I
suddenly had a stroke or were in an accident which
left me unable to communicate with anyone. There is
more I want to say than simply the wish not to be
kept alive if I am really out of it!
First and foremost, I want to tell my family and
friends, “Don’t feel guilty!” I know from
experience that we humans have a regrettable
tendency to blame ourselves for being alive when
someone we care about dies. “I should have gone by
to see her more often, given her more. She loved my
home made bread — why didn’t I bake it more
often for her?” Or, “I know he was a boring
talker, but he needed someone to listen to him. Why
wasn’t I a better listener?” Etc., etc.
Psychologists tell us that this self blame is one
of the tricks we use to keep the finality of death
at bay, to postpone the full impact of the loss.
Perhaps our psyches need such tricks for a brief
period, but indulged in over months or years these
tricks are destructive. You, my dear children and
dear friends, have enriched my life and brought
great joy to me in countless ways. We have shared
that greatest human treasure called love. Dwell on
love and don’t tarnish that treasure with regrets.
There certainly is no need for regrets as far as the
quality of my life over the years. In spite of the
losses, troubles and stresses which seem to be part
of the span of any life fully lived, I have also
experienced times of soaring when my body seemed too
limiting, that I must fly with the clouds and
embrace all the brilliance of the fall leaves or the
sparkle of a new snowfall. And a quiet peace has
also come to me, as subtly as a soft breeze wafting
a curtain. Such times I have felt the oneness of the
universe.
Which brings me to my next wish in this living
will — the wish that you will take care of your
minds and bodies so that you, too, have full lives.
An inscription on an old New England gravestone
reads:
The wonder of the world
the beauty and the glory,
the shape of things
their colors, light, and sounds
this I saw,
Look ye also while life lasts.
Such is my extended “living will”.
— Virginia Barr Keith Low
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RE:
R.E. (Notes from the DRE)
Does anybody remember the Golden Rule? "Do
onto others as you would have them do onto
you." And how about the Ten Commandments? The
biggie as far as I'm concerned is "Thou shalt
not kill." And I'm pretty sure that didn't come
with any clauses, exceptions or disclaimers.
So how do we explain this war to our children?
Because I think our kids need help processing this.
I struggle every day to teach my children to settle
disagreements with words not fists. How can I help
them understand why our country drops bombs to
settle its disagreements? I tell my children the
importance of standing up — and speaking out —
for
what they believe in. How can I help them to
understand why so many people are now silent? I try
to show my children the beauty of diversity and I
tell them how lucky they are to live in a country
where everyone is welcomed. How can I help them
understand that now people with a certain skin tone,
accent and religious belief are automatically
suspect?
No matter what we believe about this war, we need
to help our children make sense of it. If we are
raising our children to believe in the UU
Principles, then we have a lot of explaining to do.
Can we claim to believe in the worth and dignity of
each human being yet be okay with killing hundreds
or thousands of them? I don't know the answer to
that. But I think our children might like to know.
In Peace & Hope -
Eve
R.E. Notes
Thanks to all the children who have been
collecting change at their dinner tables for The
Heifer Project. We will wrap up this fund-raising
drive with a Baked Goods and Hot Cocoa Sale
during Coffee Hour on Sunday, February 10. We
are asking all children to bring baked goodies to
Sunday School on the morning of the sale. Donations
of baked goods from other members of the church will
be gratefully accepted as well. All children
should bring in their filled Ark Banks on February
10th as well. Rumor has it that if we reach our
goal of raising $300, Eve will kiss a pig, a goat,
or whatever barnyard animal can be coaxed into
church on RE Sunday!
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Coffee &
Soul Update
We are very excited about this month’s
performers, the renowned bluegrass band “Northern
Lights”. Tickets will be adult - $15, children
(12 and under) $8. If you are
interested in baking in exchange for admission,
please see or call Carole Groman.
We are finding that the large round tables that
we use for our downstairs concerts are taking up too
much room! We hope that if you have small tables
(card tables, for instance) that you can donate you
will call us. They don’t have to be fancy or
beautiful. We just need places for people to place
their beverages and baked goods while enjoying the
music. If you have anything, please call Diane or
Russ or e-mail the information to music@uugreenfield.org. If you would prefer,
we’ll be glad to pick it up. Thanks!
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“Homecomings”
Still Accepting Host Applications
Homecomings is the Bed and Breakfast Travel
Network for UU and all religious liberals. Travel
and meet new friends — stay in the homes of fellow
UUs or (optionally) have them stay with you. They
can be found at www.homecomings.com
or can be
reached at 941-492-4167. Their mailing address is
P.O. Box 884, Venice, FL 34284.
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About the
February 24 Sermon
"Rebuilding Lives," the sermon
which will be given by John Brentlinger on February
24, will be about the work of a Massachusetts group
that has helped to create a prosthetics clinic in
Leon, Nicaragua, and how helping others to heal is a
healing activity for all who become involved.
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Wheel of Life
Our deep sympathy to
Mary Ann Milewski
whose father, Stanley Milewski, Sr., passed away on
January 10.
Val Axton had a very bad fall down a flight of
stairs at her home on Saturday, January 19. She
sustained back injuries and had many bruises. She
spent three days in the hospital and is now at
Sunbridge Nursing Home in Northampton for a few
weeks.
Isabelle Emma Hettlinger Bickford was born on
September 29, to All Souls member Bill Bickford and
Karen Hettlinger. Emma and her parents are loving
being a family. Congratulations!
Isabel and Craig Cole are in Florida for a couple
of weeks.
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An
Outreach Request to the Community
Once again a schedule is being
organized to enable me to take care of myself so
that I can continue to be a loving, cheerful
caregiver for my beloved Phil.
The vision: people who will volunteer to be with
Phil once a month, say on a Thursday morning from 8
- 9:30 a.m. or on a Thursday from noon - 2:30
p.m., or on a Monday night from 6:30 - 10 p.m., or
other times when health care or other appointments
are scheduled for me.
To make it simple, a person could volunteer for
the first of each month, or the thirtieth of each
month, for instance. In that way, no one would be
overburdened.
Please contact me if you can help.
May the universe respond in its infinite
generosity.
With deep appreciation and gratitude,
Suzanne
Gluck-Sosis
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From
you I receive, to you I give…
Have you walked up or down the
back stairway lately? Jon Rehmus took the black and
white publicity photos of our Coffee & Soul
performers, framed them, and hung them on the walls
along the staircase. It looks wonderful! There are
other pictures which he framed that are hung outside
the rest room doors. These were areas in the church
that needed some adornment. Not only is the display
attractive it also reflects the pride many of us are
feeling about the success of this program, now in
its fifth season.
Craig Cole and
David Bigda have been working
full-time it seems making new Plexiglas covers for
the windows in the sanctuary. Rocky Perham purchased
the Plexiglas. We are already noticing the
difference with the cold air sealed out.
...together we share, by
this we live.
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Charity
Fund Nearly Depleted
The All Souls Charity Fund is really suffering in
the economic downturn. This is an autonomous fund
and is not dependent on the church budget. Normally
at this time of year about $5,000 comes in from
investments. This past December it was barely $600.
And this is the time of year when the poor people in
Greenfield become critical.
When
Charles Allen left the money in 1906 he
said, “I am inviting others who at any time might
be so inclined to make an addition to it.” I
really hope someone is “inclined.” Fuel bills,
electric and phone bills, food, warm clothing….are
the most common reasons people seek help.
If anyone would like to contribute, please send
money or a check to All Souls Charity Fund. The well
is almost dry. — Irmarie Jones
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Mid-Week
Music Awarded Grant
We just received notification that the Greenfield
Arts Funding Commission, a local cultural council,
voted to award a $500 grant to our Mid-Week Music
Program. We can add this to another grant from the
Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts.
Thanks to Irmarie Jones who has handled the grant
applications so successfully.
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All
Souls Tag Sale Scheduled for April 2, 2002
The All Souls Tag Sale will be on April 27. I
know it feels as if we just completed our craft
fair, but this one is much easier. Just contribute
your salable items that you don’t want anymore.
More in the March edition of the Clarion. —
Irmarie Jones
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Jubilee
World Registration Forms in Office
Registration forms for the Anti-Racism Workshop,
“Creating a Jubilee World” being held in
Northampton February 8 - 10 can be picked up at
the church office. Call Molly Chambers for more information.
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All
Souls Holiday Fair Committee Announcements
Leslie DeGraff has offered a workshop to
teach us to make clay ornaments. We will meet in her
pottery studio on Saturday morning, February 23.
Leslie says the studio can accommodate 10 people so
sign up early. Call Nancy Buchanan if you
are interested.
In March, (Date to be announced) we will meet at
the home of Jean and Stan Cummings to work on house
plants. We will divide and repot plants and take
cuttings to start new plants. Participants will
adopt 2-4 plants and take them home to nurture
until it’s time for a sale. Jean is unable to tend
80 to 100 plants as she has so generously done in
past years, but she is happy to lead a workshop to
teach us to be self sufficient in this area!
Some people are interested in making jewelry. We
need your old bead necklaces and any odd jewels you
might have tucked away in a drawer. Some of you
might have beads left from a project. This is a good
time to get them out and donate them to a good cause
— us.
If you have a creative talent and would be
willing to lead a workshop, please call Nancy
Buchanan or Anne Hare. If you would like to be
contacted about regular workshops, let us know that
too.
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Walk for a New
Spring — Share your truth!
Reflect on the Roots of
Terror and the Choices Before Us. Saturday,
February 2, 2002
Please join us for the first evening welcome
for walkers participating in a 7-week, 700-mile
walk. The Social Action Committee and Traprock Peace
Center invite you to All Souls Church:
5:30 - Pot-luck and interfaith prayers
6:30 - Panel discussion with Eve Brown-Waite;
Dr. Fazal Ahmed, Chair of the Dept. of Criminology
at Fitchburg State College; and other community
leaders. (During this time children can play win-win
games.)
7:30 - Circles to hear all views. volunteers.
8:30 - Gala send-off party with singing &
music-making. Share views and concerns through an unfolding book,
The People
Speak. Contribute ONE page to the book with a story, poem, art or lyrics.
What's your answer to September 11? What's your
answer to President Bush's proposal for a perpetual
war on terrorism?
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We
Have the Corner On Hope Campaign
 On
Sunday, December 16, following the regular church
services, All Souls Church celebrated the successful
conclusion of its “Corner On Hope Campaign”.
About sixty members and friends gathered in the
sanctuary where a brief history was presented by
Jean Cummings and Linc Hirst.
Four and a half years ago our “Corner On Hope”
was surrounded by an ugly mass of orange plastic
ribbon. Our beautiful tower was decaying and had
been condemned. What to do? It had to be fixed and
we found it would cost $98,000. The money was
borrowed from the Clark Fund so the work could start
immediately and we embarked on a capital campaign to
raise the money for the tower and some very badly
needed handicapped accessibility.
A committee consisting of
Dee Appley, Craig Cole,
Diane Dix, Toni Eaton, Irmarie Jones,
Mary Ann Milewski, Linc Hirst as Treasurer and
Jeff O’Brien
and Jean Cummings as co-chairs, went to work. A many
of you know, we lost Dee halfway through the
campaign, and, after making a fine start on the
campaign, Jeff moved to a new position in Maine. The
rest of us carried on.
This past year the final payments were made on
the many three year pledges received. The total
amount received was $105,969 contributed by 108
members and friends. One of our members had given an
extraordinarily large gift, more than enough to pay
for the handicap ramp. Her gift was given
anonymously, but the committee wished to do
something to honor her generosity. As she had
recently moved to California to be near her family.
Jean wrote her to see if she would mind if we placed
a small plaque dedicating the handicap ramp to her.
She seemed delighted and asked that the plaque read,
“Given in Memory of her husband, Waitstill, by
Monica Sharp”. Waitstill Sharp, as a young
Unitarian minister started the Unitarian
Universalist Service Committee during WWII in
Czechoslovakia. After a long ministry of service, he
retired and the couple came to Greenfield. Here they
joined All Souls and gave years of wonderful service
to our church and town. We are delighted to be able
to honor Monica and Waitstill.
We thank all the members and friends who so
generously contributed to our campaign. All donors
are listed on a simple framed plaque at the back of
the sanctuary. Many gifts were given in memory of
loved ones and these, too, are listed. We also want
to thank Joel Dumont, who did volumes of computer
work in preparing our list of donors for
photocopying, H Copy for photocopying the list for
us, and Forbes Camera Shop for the framing. We also
thank Mr. Ruddock for making the Monica Sharp Plaque
and Toni Eaton for producing the invitations which
were sent to all church members and donor friends.
Following the ceremony and the unveiling of the
plaque, refreshments, including a beautiful
commemorative cake, were served by the committee.
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