UUCSJS Midweek Message
November 3, 2021
Contents
- Minister's Midweek Meditation
- Explore Our Monthly Theme
- Notes from the Board
- Announcements
- This Sunday
- Last Sunday
- Events This Week
- Connect to Our Faith
Minister's Midweek Meditation
Rev. Dawn is available for pastoral care appointments Wednesday through Friday 10am-3pm. Please email minister@uucsjs.org to schedule an appointment.
Need Help?
Team members can provide you with support during/after an illness, a death in the family, or other loss or hardship. They can find you resources, run errands, or provide meals in time of need.
Reach out to:
- Tracey Catino at (609) 674-8721 email: Traceysnaps@msn.com
- Denise O'Meara at (610) 316-7495 email: denome53@gmail.com
- Helen Utts at (609) 338-3391 email: HelenUtts@aol.com
- MaryLou DeMaria-Berhang at (201) 247-5635 email: MLberhang@gmail.com
- Tony Zitelli at (201) 463-2800 email: happy85a@aol.com
Explore our Monthly Theme
Welcome to the Practice of Holding History
Let’s start with the words of Parker Palmer,
“Jewish teaching includes frequent reminders of the importance of a broken-open heart, as in this Hasidic tale: A disciple asks the rebbe: “Why does Torah tell us to ‘place these words upon your hearts’? Why does it not tell us to place these holy words in our hearts?” The rebbe answers: “It is because as we are, our hearts are closed, and we cannot place the holy words in our hearts. So we place them on top of our hearts. And there they stay until, one day, the heart breaks and the words fall in.”
So, a closed heart. It’s admittedly a strange place to begin a month of exploring Holding History. And yet, when we are honest, we know that defensiveness, protectiveness and closed doors rule our relationship with history more than we’d like.
For instance, very few of us have pasts without pain woven through. And it’s just easier to shut out those traumatic times than confront them head on. We are all well taught in the game of sweeping old wounds under the rug.
And of course, there’s the unprocessed horrors woven throughout our cultural history. They are the rule not the exception, but we work hard to close ourselves off from them with standard lines like, “At our best, this isn't who we are!" or "As Americans, we're better than this!" The truth is we’ve never consistently been “better than this.” Amnesia rather than a courageous and honest reckoning describes the current character of America’s heart.
All of which is to say that there is a deeper relationship between history and vulnerability than we often recognize. Without a heart willing to feel pain and endure grief, the fullness of our histories just can’t enter in. Talking about past mistakes requires the ability to vulnerably say I’m sorry. An honest telling of racism requires the painful acceptance that some of us still benefit from the prejudices and oppression of our ancestors. Healing historical racism requires someone suffering the costs of reparations. And telling your full story requires navigating grief over choices you wish you would have made differently.
It certainly seems the rabbis were right. Like those holy words, history in its fullness just sits there until our hearts break open and allow it in.
So let’s not just “remember” this month. Let’s not just talk of telling truthful tales. Let’s prepare to grieve, to confess, to feel, to forgive. The world needs broken-open hearts, not just good historians.
That is, indeed, the only way the past gets in.
-Soul Matters Sharing Circle
Get Started With This Month's Theme
- Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi
- Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
- The Forgetting Machine: Memory, Perception, and the Jennifer Aniston Neuron by Rodrigo Quian Quiroga
- Still Alice by Lisa Genova
Movies to put on your list:
Music to inspire and hold you:
Notes from the Board
Announcements
Planning a special event? The Communications Team can help. Visit https://uucsjs.breezechms.com/form/42685e for more information.
Update from the Pandemic Response Team: October 2021
Our goal is to keep everyone safe in our worship spaces as we continue to navigate the twists and turns of the COVID 19 pandemic. COVID cases are still high in South Jersey, but the rate of infections is going down, and vaccination rates are high so that is encouraging.
Below are some gentle reminders for all UU staff/members/friends/visitors:
- Sign a health and safety pledge prior to attending each Sunday AM worship or other in person events at the UU Center
- Wear a mask and practice social distancing for all congregants both inside and outside the UU facility
- Singing (with masks on) inside the worship space is allowed per UUMN and National Choral Directors guidelines
- Use the East facing (back deck) doors to exit the sanctuary. Those with handicapped needs may still use the West (front portico) doors to exit.
- Coffee service is still on hold for now…
Read the full Guidelines from the Pandemic Response Team HERE.
November Book Club
We will be meeting November 19th at 7:00 pm on ZOOM (www.tinyurl.com/uucsjszoom)
All are welcome to join the meeting!
Betsy Searight will be leading the group. Questions: morellb@msn.com
November's Book Selection:
Beloved by Toni Morrison
A 1987 novel set after the American Civil War explores the physical, emotional, and spiritual devastation wrought by slavery, a devastation that continues to haunt those characters who are former slaves.
December's Book selection is AND THEN THERE WERE NONE by Agatha Christie.
We Need You!
It's Almost Auction Time!
Look for the 16th UUCSJS Auction CATALOG in your inbox this Friday, November 5, and it will also be available on our website. (The catalog will have two parts.)
The next day – Saturday, November 6 – you may start bidding online for your favorite offerings. To bid you will use the interactive FORMS sent to you electronically, via email, on which you will check your choices and click “submit.” You’ll receive separate forms for Events (Small Dinners & Other Events); Fixed Price Items; Chance Items; and for the Live Auction, too, where early highest bids will open live bidding on auction night itself.
Auction week culminates on Saturday, November 13, on Zoom, beginning at 7:00 p.m. The Live Auction will be featured that evening with auctioneers Heather Swenson Brilla and Paul Utts. You can enjoy all the UU Center action from the comfort of your home – and still participate – on Zoom!
Don’t miss your chance to preview auction items again this Sunday. The items have been laid out in two downstairs RE classrooms for your convenience.
The UUCSJS auction has been a vital fundraiser for some 15 years and, along with your pledges, underpins our budget. It was cancelled last year due to the pandemic, and this year’s novel format has been a challenge. Please take part and help make the auction successful.
We look forward to your generous support!
~ The Auction Steering Committee
This Sunday
Falling Back and Looking Back: What Does UU History Have to Teach Us?
Rev. Dawn Fortune
It has been said that there is nothing new in the world. This year, as we set our clocks back an hour, lets examine together what our shared Unitarian and Universalist histories have to offer to our modern lives, and consider what parts we want to keep and what parts we are willing to let go.
This service will be held inside the sanctuary at UUCSJS (masking and social distancing required). The service will also be livestreamed on our Facebook page.
Daylight Savings Ends!
Last Sunday
Events This Week
CLICK HERE to reserve the Zoom Room or to add your event to the calendar.
Margaret Circle
The UUCSJS "All-Together Quilt"
If you brought squares home with you NOW is the time to bring them back in and place them in the basket at the back of the sanctuary. We will begin the process of sewing the strips together to form a quilt!
Email religiouseducation@uucsjs.org if you would like to help with assembly or quilting.
Thanks to all who sewed squares! You are awesome!
Connect to Our Larger Faith
Click on the images for more information.
Live Out Our Values
Sustainable Choices for Seafood
Have you been asking yourself lately, "Are locally caught shellfish sustainable?" It's a timely question as many of us are choosing to limit our meat intake and relying on seafood as a more sustainable source of protein. The quick answer is that oysters and clams are both farmed in NJ and are given a Best Choice rating by the Monterey Bay Seafood Watch. (See link below) So, oysters and clams would both be good choices. It might also help your decision making to know that bivalves help clean and filter the water, so they are important contributors to a healthy marine ecosystem.
Small quantities of lobsters are trapped off the coast of New Jersey, but for the most part only Maine lobsters are available for purchase in NJ. Scallops are dredged at the moment, but scallop farming is in the infant stage and holds promise for the future. (See link below.) Shrimp farmed in waters off the southern US get a Best Choice rating, wild-caught US shrimp from southern waters gets a Good Alternative Rating.
Here is the downloadable link to the excellent Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch for the NE:
https://www.seafoodwatch.org/globalassets/sfw/pdf/guides/seafood-watch-northeast-guide.pdf
Here is a link to an article about scallop farming in NJ:
And lastly, if you are looking for a cookbook with lots of excellent recipes and info on fish and shellfish, I highly recommend:
Foolproof Fish: Modern Recipes For Everyone Everywhere by America's Test Kitchen
Here's to more sustainable eating choices for us all!
Jesse Connor
Learn About Our Faith
- The UUA Common Read
- COMPASS: Navigating the Paths to Liberation Together
- Attend the 8th Principle Presentation
- Jubilee 3 Anti-Racism Training
- Learn about the Fall Chalice Lighter call
- How to watch & host a community screening of The Condor & The Eagle
- CER Calendar of Events
Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the South Jersey Shore
Email: admin@uucsjs.org
Website: www.uucsjs.org
Location: 75 S Pomona Rd, Egg Harbor City, NJ, USA
Phone: (609) 965-9400
Facebook: facebook.com/uucsjs
Twitter: @UUCSJS