UUCGT Flash  
   January 7-8, 2021   
       Combined VESPERS and SUNDAY SERVICE Flash    
The second Sunday of 2021...
A quick note from Guy...
Fri 1/8 VESPERS
Sun 1/10: SUNDAY SERVICE
Search Team Report
Music & Religious Education
UUCGT Bulletin Board
Community Needs
End Note: Margaret Mead on change.
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We provide a safe, caring community where all can freely explore diverse religious thought. 

We work for justice and equality with the power of compassion and compassionate power.

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A note from Guy...

Good afternoon, friends - 

Here's a Flash that'll be both shorter and heavier than usual - shorter in length, but carrying more gravitas as we contemplate and process the unprecedented and grievous harm that was done in our nation's capital yesterday.

Rev. Cathy leads today's Flash off with Scott Alexander's powerful evocation of the UU Principles.  I fell in love with these at once when - simply trying to format them to fit them into the space here - the 1st Principle fell such that the line break came after "proclaims." And I saw that in Mr. Alexander's version of the Principles, they are ACTIVE, they call us to ACTION.  So I centered the text and left that wonderful VERB! hanging at the end of each first line...

Rev. Cathy invites you to a special Vespers Service tomorrow night, as you'll see below.  And beneath that will be info regarding Sunday's Service, and a few other important notes - a quick note from the MST, a note from Claire about last week's RE, and not much else.

I do not myself believe in what a friend wisely calls "outcome-based" prayer, but as a gratefully recovering member of a so-called 12-Step program and community I do pray.  And so my own share with you today is from today's Daily Compass, which arrives in our UUCGT office inbox every morning:  

 "Prayer can be a practice of interrupting the hectic 
 world to reconnect ourselves to something greater than
 we are. As such, it can be a tool that returns us
 to balance.

"How do you connect to something greater than yourself?"

 For surely only something greater than myself can heal
 the wounds of our country and our lives and bring us
 together in community.  

            Peace to us all,
    
 
   Vespers                       

This Friday, January 8, 2021 at 8:00 PM
Begin signing in at 7:30 to visit
  
Sign in to the Zoom Service: Click this link

  
A special message from Rev. Cathy...

Dear Ones,
 
I am feeling a deep sadness mixed with outrage, anger and fear this morning, but I am grateful that I am grounded in our Unitarian Universalist faith that calls us to defend our democracy and work for justice. Join me for a special Vespers tomorrow night at 8 pm, and if you feel inspired, bring a prayer, a reading, or words that offer comfort or hope and a candle.
 
This affirmation of our UU principles by Scott Alexander has always given me courage and hope.
 
In a world with so much hatred and violence,
 
WE NEED A RELIGION THAT PROCLAIMS
THE INHERENT WORTH AND DIGNITY OF EVERY PERSON.
                       
In a world with so much brutality and fear,
 
WE NEED A RELIGION THAT SEEKS
JUSTICE, EQUITY, AND COMPASSION IN HUMAN RELATIONS.
 
In a world with so many persons abused and abandoned,
 
WE NEED A RELIGION THAT CALLS US
TO ACCEPT ONE ANOTHER AND
ENCOURAGE ONE ANOTHER TO SPIRITUAL GROWTH.
 
In a world with so much dogmatism and falsehood,
 
WE NEED A RELIGION THAT CHALLENGES US
TO A FREE AND RESPONSIBLE SEARCH FOR TRUTH AND MEANING.
 
In a world with so much tyranny and oppression,
 
WE NEED A RELIGION THAT AFFIRMS
THE RIGHT OF CONSCIENCE AND THE USE OF THE DEMOCRATIC PROCESS.
 
In a world with so much inequality and strife,
 
WE NEED A RELIGION THAT STRIVES
TOWARD THE GOAL OF WORLD COMMUNITY WITH PEACE, LIBERTY, AND JUSTICE FOR ALL.
 
In a world with so much environmental degradation,
 
WE NEED A RELIGION THAT ADVOCATES
RESPECT FOR THE INTERDEPENDENT WEB
OF ALL EXISTENCE OF WHICH WE ARE APART.
 
In a world with so much uncertainty and despair,
 
WE NEED A RELIGION THAT TEACHES
OUR HEARTS TO HOPE AND OUR HANDS TO SERVE.
 

In faith & love,
Cathy

Again, the Zoom link for FRIDAY VESPERS is

There will be no separate Vespers
e-publication tomorrow.

  
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       Sunday's Service                  

For Sunday's Service the Zoom link is here.
The Service is at 10:30 AM but you can begin
signing in at 10:00 AM to visit.
 
Friends: 

This Sunday's planned Service on The Gifts of the Crow has been postponed for another Sunday. Rev. Cathy and staff are working to put together a service that will also address the shock, sadness, and turmoil of this week.  So for now we have no Order of Service to share, and Guy's out of town this weekend so he may or may not be able to post something to the website.

Please join us, no matter what, to share together as a community as we move forward into 2021 and all that it still promises.  

Again, the Zoom link for SUNDAY SERVICE is



Sunday Services are automatically recorded and posted to our Zoom account.  Click here to view the Service of January 3; the required passcode is KXMz4ph+

 
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MINISTERIAL SEARCH TEAM REPORT

As our work of discernment intensifies along with
our excitement, we appreciate your continued
support and trust.  We are so proud to representUUCGT and have faith in the process.

Your team, 
                                     
Mary, Geoff, Charles, Dusty, Jim, Chris, Jan
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MUSIC: 
    
- Renée Russell -  

...is taking this week off!
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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
  
-  from Claire Crandell -  

Our Sunday theme on January 3 was "Opening our Mind and Heart to a New Year" of possibilities; and what that might mean to each of us. First we all shared what we had done on New Years Eve. We talked about what the word "infinite" meant. We then thought about what it might mean to have "infinite possibilities" of choices in our lives...to do, say, create, be. We talked about our choices to live with honesty, kindness and no fear. We read a quote: "You will find what you think are thorns are really flowers if you but step into the world of faith. This world will become a haven if you fill the world of your heart with love." 

We discussed how "Everyone is like a garden." Everyone can be nurtured and cared for and of course must be given water and food and we do feel much better when the sun is out. We each shared a little story of a garden like seeing a dragonfly for the first time and seeing one spotted blue berry. Speaking of the sun or light, we asked what might our "inner Light" mean? And what might Jesus mean when he said, "when thy eye be single thy whole body shall be filled with Light". We then listened to a beautiful song sung by a little girl and her father (Windows users press ctrl while you click on the link below; Mac users press command/apple while clicking on the link, and you'll skip the ads!). [Thank you, Claire, I never knew that!  - gwm]




We played a guessing game of line drawings. After shared laughter and attempts to draw and guess things we closed,waving a smiling goodbye. We will think about all the Possibilities for fun, loving, kindness, learning, giving attention, feeding and caring there are for us to choose to do until we meet next week.

  
                     
THE UUCGT EVENTS CALENDAR IS
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UUCGT Bulletin Board 
  
MEN'S GROUP and THE STATE & BIJOU THEATRES

We all want to see the State Theatre and other local institutions
looking like this again. We might even want to be there!


Well, Mark Gustafson and the Men's Group have this to say about that:
  
In this time of pain and stress, I was thinking about what Jimmy Carter said 1979.  He implied that there was a "malaise" affecting America, a crisis in confidence.  And Jimmy didn't know about our present political climate.  Well, I feel that crisis now.  So what do we do?  For one thing we could help the State and Bijou Theatres come back to life. These movie theatres are the heart and soul of downtown Traverse City.  They show movies that make us laugh and cry and think.  They give us joy!  How can we help?  We can give money!   Our UU Men's group is having a fundraiser starting now and through January to help our theatres survive.  

If you would like to participate, please
make your checks out to TCFF
and send them to:
Mark Gustafson
1111 Lake Ridge Drive # 201
Traverse City, Mi. 49684.
  


WEDNESDAY DINNER GROUP
  
The Wednesday dinner group has tried to stay connected these past months, socially distanced picnicking in the UU parking lot when we could, on ZOOM when it was rainy.  We are going to weekly ZOOM now, 5:30 every Wednesday.  If you would like to join us, contact Mike and Sandra McDonald for the ZOOM invite.  You may bring your glass of wine.
  



 
  
End Note:
  
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."

                                                                         -  Margaret Mead




  
The UUCGT building is closed until further notice;
however the office is again staffed (at least) Tuesday-Friday, 9am-3pm.