Personal and Spiritual Exploration for December 2018

Learning and exploration is about the transformation of the individual, our community, and the larger society. Participation helps us grow in wisdom, compassion, and ethical living. See our upcoming activities, programs, and workshops for adults.

In December, we will read and discuss an address entitled “Why Teach Religion in an Age of Science?” by Sophia Lyon Fahs, the scholar and educator who revolutionized RE and contributed to the “Unitarian Renaissance” of the 1940s. “The world we now know is one. The universe is one. Mankind is one brotherhood. We even belong in the family of atoms and stars. Reality can no longer be divided into clear-cut contraries, the material and spiritual, the animate and the inanimate, the temporal and eternal, the body and mind, good and evil, today and tomorrow, Jew and Gentile, Christian and Pagan, the secular and religious, even the Creator and the created. The dividing walls are down. Let us then walk forward rather than backward. The unique historical memories in our special religious cultures call today for less loyalty and more understanding, less praise and more honest self-criticism. Our direction needs to be forward. It is not our ancestors who will be changed by what we do. It is our contemporaries, and our descendants for generations to come, for whom we should be feeling responsibilities. ‘For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.'” We are meeting on Wednesday December 5 from 7-9 pm in Forbes, and Sunday, December 9 from 3-5pm in Forbes. Contact: James Witker.

We endeavor to answer the questions Who am I? (attitudes and beliefs) and What am I? (Essence or True Nature). This class will include meditations which explore participants’ spiritual goals. This group meets from 7:30-9 pm in Classroom 3. Contact: Bill Blake.

Want to enhance your life? Want more personal and spiritual growth? Want to be with other women who can relate to what you are going through? Then this group is for you! We meet from 10-11:30 am in Forbes. Contact: Sandra Beebe. Note, our December 18 class has been canceled.

Learn international folk dancing with instructors Sandy Helperin and Teri Hoffman. Folk dancing is for anyone who loves to move to traditional music. No partners needed! New dancers are welcome. We meet from 7:00-8:30 pm in Forbes. Contact: Ellen Levy.

We sit quietly for 20 minutes, walk with gentle awareness for 7 minutes, and explore the integration of meditation with ordinary life through journaling, readings and sharing. Anyone who senses they would benefit from 20 minutes of silent, non-guided sitting is welcome to join us. We meet from 7:30-9 pm in Classroom 3. Contacts: Bev Shoenberger or Carol Ring. Note, our December 24 and December 31 groups have been canceled.

Through education, mindfulness and support, we will explore ways to make lasting changes that are compatible with your life and life style. Learn new practical skills such as environmental control and “calories as money” to make the behavioral changes you would like to see in your relationship to food and other aspects of your health. Discover, design and experiment with small steps on your own path as you recalibrate and refresh your habits and choices. Learn how you can best support and encourage yourself as you move closer to realizing the optimum way you would like to live a healthy life. Know that you can realize your goals by changing behaviors that no longer serve you. We meet from 7-9 pm in Classroom 3. Contact: Teri Lucas.

Saturdays 15 and 29: Collage Group with Stan Bemis -NEW!

Do you wish to express yourself creatively in art, and yet may feel inadequate or untrained? Do you yearn to make an artistic statement, yet not sure how? Do you have too many catalogs, magazines, and advertisements, and haven’t a clue what to do with them? We welcome you to create your own collages with Stan Bemis! Stan works to bring joy and peace into people’s lives through creating art. He has taught many who didn’t realize they had creative talent, from all across the world – from California to Palestine/Israel. He welcomes any age, from youths to older adults. The goal of this group is to help foster personal worth and empowerment, entering that holy place within and having sacred fun. The objectives are 1) to create works of art and 2) possibly create cards for events or celebrations. For your first-class attendance, Stan does request that on your first visit, you donate at least $3-5 (the price of a fancy cup of coffee!) for the supplies necessary to create your works of art. We encourage you to bring your old magazines to work with as well. For this December, we will be concentrating on making holiday cards for family and friends. We will be meeting from 10-12pm in the NE Cottage. Contact: Stan Bemis.

The Disability Support Group will be promoting a dialogue on a selected topic at each of its meetings throughout this church year. There is a different theme for each month. All church members interested in the topic are invited to attend. For December, we will be discussing “Positive Self-Definition.” We meet the fourth Sunday of each month beginning at 12:30 pm in the NE Cottage. Contact: Michael Young.

There are no set deadlines but all content is edited. Please submit articles by the 20th of the month to be considered for inclusion in the monthly news email digest. Submit to newsletter@uusm.org. Please include at least one image to illustrate your article. Submit announcements to office@uusm.org.