Unitarian Universalist Church of Lancaster

November 16 2008 "Ethical Eating" with Rev. Peter Newport

November 16, 2008

MP3 Audio: November 16 2008 "Ethical Eating" with Rev. Peter Newport (16.80mb) Download

"If you are what you eat, then we are mostly corn." -- Michael Pollan

Michael Pollan is the author of In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto, published in January 2008 by The Penguin Press. His previous books include The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, named one of the ten best books of 2006 by the New York Times and the Washington Post; The Botany of Desire; Second Nature; and A Place of My Own, pictured here. Pollan is a contributing writer to the New York Times Magazine and is a Knight Professor of Journalism at UC Berkeley.

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November 02 2008 "Charity Begins At Home" Rev Peter Newport

November 12, 2008

MP3 Audio: November 02 2008 "Charity Begins At Home" Rev Peter Newport (17.91mb) Download

"Unless someone like you care a whole awful lot, from The Lorax nothing is going to get better. It's not." -- Dr. Seuss

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November 9 2008 Rev Tricia Hart "More Blessed to Give"

November 9, 2008

MP3 Audio: November 9 2008 Rev Tricia Hart "More Blessed to Give" (16.69mb) Download

Helping iut is not some special skill. It is not the domain or rare individuals. It is not confined to a single part or time of our lives: We simply need the call of that natural caring impulsive within, and follow it where it leads us: -- Ram Dass

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October 26 2008 "In Seaerch of Meaning in the Universe of Meville, the unitarian" by Edward C. Appel

October 28, 2008

MP3 Audio: October 26 2008 "In Seaerch of Meaning in the Universe of Meville, the unitarian" by Edwar (25.60mb) Download

Edward C. Appel has taught most recently in the Department of Communication and Philosophy at Lock Haven University.  He has also taught at other state universities in Pennsylvania and at Conestoga Valley High School.  In addition, Appel has served as a supply preacher in the Donegal Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church USA. He received a Ph. D. in rhetoric and communication from Temple University (1984) and an M. Div. from the Lancaster Theological Seminary (1985). He is the author of eight journal articles in the communication field, and has served as Associate Editor of the Quarterly Journal of Speech and the KBJournal.org.

Herman Melville on the Whale -- "In his brain so much more comprehensive, combining and subtle than man (or woman), that he can at the same moment of time attentively examine two distinct prospects, one on one side of him, the other in an exactly opposite direction."

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October 19 2008 "This is the Church, This is the Steeple" with Rev. Peter Newport

October 21, 2008

MP3 Audio: October 19 2008 "This is the Church, This is the Steeple" with Rev. Peter Newport (9.99mb) Download

Currently Reading Kitchen Table Wisdom: Stories That Heal By Rachel Naomi Remen see related "At the heart of any real intimacy is a certain vulnerability.�It is hard to trust someone with your vulnerability unless you can see in them a matching vulnerability and know that you will not be judged. In some basic way it is our imperfections and even our pain that draws others close to us." "All lives touch many others. Sometimes this network is very large, sometimes small, but somewhere in it a certain quality of love is needed if we are to be able to survive. It is not a question of numbers. Sometimes it can be given by only one person. For one man, the child of an abusive and alcoholic family, it was his dog." "When you are walking on thin ice, you might as well dance." "The less we are attached to life, the more alive we can become. The less we have preferences about life, the more deeply we can experience and participate in life. Embracing life may be more about tasting than it is about either raisin toast or blueberry muffins." "Anything worth doing is worth doing half-assed." "There is no ending without�a beginning. Beginnings and endings are always right up against each other. Nothing ever ends without something beginning or begins without something else ending." "Everyone alive has suffered. It is the wisdom gained from our wounds and from our own experiences of suffering that makes us able to heal." "Listening creates a holy silence. When you listen generously to people, they can hear truth in themselves, often for the first time. And in the silence of listening, you can know yourself in everyone." "Fear is the friction in all transitions." "Suffering -- whether physical, emotional, spiritual, or as often the case, all three -- can be a doorway to transformation." "Approval can't be trusted. It can be withdrawn at any time no matter what our track record has been. It is as nourishing of real growth as cotton candy. Yet many of us spend our lives pursuing it." "The things [you] once believed to be [your] shortcomings [can turn] out in the long run to be [your] strengths, and other things of which [you were] unduly proud [can reveal] themselves in the end to be among your shortcomings." "Perfectionism is so widespread in this culture that we actually have had to invent another word for love --�unconditional love." "A belief is like a pair of sunglasses. When we wear a belief and look at life through it, it is difficult to convince ourselves that what we see is not what is real. With our sunglasses on, life looks green to us. Knowing what is real requires that we remember that we are wearing glasses, and take them off. One of the greatest moments in life is the moment we recognize we have them on in the first place." "It seems that life drops many bags of gold in our path. Rarely do they look like what they are."

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October 12 2008, Kate Diller

October 12, 2008

MP3 Audio: October 12 2008, Kate Diller "Radical Amazement" (20.67mb) Download

Tenth Anniversary of the Death of Metthew Shepard

Matthew was prematurely born on December 1, 1976 in Casper, Wyoming, the oldest son of Judy and Dennis Shepard. Matthew attended Crest Hill Grade School, Dean Morgan Junior High in Casper. His sophomore year he attended Natrona County High School. The last two years of high school he spent in Lugano, Switzerland. There he attended The American School in Switzerland (TASIS), graduating in 1995. While in Switzerland, Matthew traveled throughout Europe. He spokes three languages: English, German and Italian. He loved Europe but also loved his hometown of Casper. After coming back to America, Matthew attended Catawba College in Salisbury, N.C, and Casper College. Moving to Denver he worked several jobs. Later he was attending the University of Wyoming in Laramie.

There his major was political science/foreign relations and the minors were languages. Matthew was selected as the student representative for the Wyoming Environmental Council, and was very active in politics. Matthew started acting in community theatre at the age of 5, and was very active in front of and behind the scenes in several Casper College and Stage III Theater plays. Matthew also enjoyed soccer, swimming, running, snow skiing and dancing. He knew he was not the best  athlete in the world but h e had a very competitive spirit. Matthew loved the nature, enjoying hunting, fishing and camping.

Matthew was a member and an acolyte in St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Casper, Wyoming. Matthew was lured from a campus bar shortly after midnight on October 7 by two men (Aaron McKinney, 22 and Russell Henderson, 21) who told him they were gay. He was driven to a remote area near the Sherman Hills neighborhood east of Laramie, tied to a split-rail fence, tortured,  beaten and pistol-whipped by his attackers, while he begged for his life. He was then left for dead in near freezing temperatures. A cyclist who found him on Snowy Mountain View Road at 6:22 pm, some 18 hours after the attack, at first mistook him for a scarecrow. He was unconscious and suffering from hypothermia. His face was d with blood, except where it had been partially washed clean by tears.

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Matthew died at 12:53 am on Monday 12th October 1998, at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado, with his family at his bedside. Hospital officials said Matthew had a fracture from behind his head to just in front of his right ear and a massive brain stem injury which affected his vital signs, including his heart beat, body temperature and other involuntary functions. There were also approximately a dozen small lacerations around his head, face and neck. He was so badly injured in the attack that doctors were unable to operate. He never regained consciousness after being found, and remained on full life support. Matthew's funeral was held on Friday, October 16, 1998, touched a lot of people all over the world.

The tragic story of this gentle soul has touched the hearts of people across America, and throughout the World. "Matthew was the type of person, that if this had happened to another person, would have been first on the scene to offer his help, his hope and his heart to the family. We should try to remember that because Matt's last view minutes of consciousness on earth may have been hell, his family and friends want more than ever to say their farewells to him in a peaceful, dignified and loving manner. Once again, I must express our appreciation for the outpouring of concern about Matt's wellbeing during the last week, as he fought for his life in the hospital. We'll never forget the love that the world has shared with our loving son."

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Oct 05 2008 Rev. Tricia Hart

October 8, 2008

MP3 Audio: October 05 2008 With Rev. Tricia Hart (15.56mb) Download

Wisdom

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September 28 2008 I Thought You'd Never Ask Peter Newport

September 30, 2008

MP3 Audio: September 28 2008 I Thought You'd Never Ask Peter Newport (13.65mb) Download

"Forgiveness is Giving Up the Possibility of a Better Past". - Unknown.

Buddhism

In Buddhism, forgiveness is seen as a practice to prevent harmful thoughts from causing havoc on one’s mental well-being.^[3] Buddhism recognizes that feelings of hatred and ill-will leave a lasting effect on our mind karma. Instead, Buddhism encourages the cultivation of thoughts that leave a wholesome effect. "In contemplating the law of karma, we realize that it is not a matter of seeking revenge but of practicing metta and forgiveness, for the victimizer is, truly, the most unfortunate of all.

Christianity

The Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christian Churches teach that God's forgiveness is received through personal repentance in conjunction with the ministry of the Church, that is, the Body of Christ. In these churches, and in some Anglican communities it is customary to make formal confession of sins individually in the presence of a priest, and to obtain absolution as a formal expression by the church of God's forgiveness.

Hinduism

The concept of performing atonement from one's wrongdoing (Prayaschitta — Sanskrit: Penance), and asking for forgiveness is very much a part of the practice of Hinduism. Prayashitta is related to the law of Karma. Karma is a sum of all that an individual has done, is currently doing and will do. The effects of those deeds and these deeds actively create present and future experiences, thus making one responsible for one's own life, and the pain in others.

Islam

Islam teaches that God (Allah in Arabic) is 'the most forgiving', and is the original source of all forgiveness. Forgiveness often requires the repentance of those being forgiven. Depending on the type of wrong committed, forgiveness can come either directly from Allah, or from one's fellow man whom received the wrong. In the case of divine forgiveness, the asking for divine forgiveness via repentance is important. In the case of human forgiveness, it is important to both forgive, and to be forgiven.

Judaism

In Judaism, if a person harms one, but then sincerely and honestly apologizes to the wronged individual and tries to rectify the wrong, the wronged individual is religiously required to grant forgiveness:

• "It is forbidden to be obdurate and not allow yourself to be appeased. On the contrary, one should be easily pacified and find it difficult to become angry. When asked by an offender for forgiveness, one should forgive with a sincere mind and a willing spirit. . . forgiveness is natural to the seed of Israel." (Mishneh Torah, Teshuvah 2:10)

 

Popular recognition of forgiveness

The need to forgive is widely recognized by the public, but they are often at a loss for ways to accomplish it. For example, in a large representative sampling of American people on various religious topics in 1988, the Gallup Organization found that 94% said it was important to forgive, but 85% said they needed some outside help to be able to forgive. However, not even regular prayer was found to be effective. The Gallup poll revealed that the only thing that was effective was "meditative prayer".

Psychological theories about forgiveness

Only in the last few decades has forgiveness received attention from psychologists and social psychologists. Psychological papers and books on the subject did not begin to appear until the 1980’s. Prior to that time it was a practice primarily left to matters of faith. Although there is presently no consensual psychological definition of forgiveness in the research literature, a consensus has emerged that forgiveness is a process and a number of models describing the process of forgiveness have been published, including one from a radical behavioral perspective.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forgiveness

 

 

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UU UUCL Unitarian Universalist Rev. Tricia Hart

September 26, 2008

MP3 Audio: September 21 2008 "Being Nieghbors" with Tricia Hart (17.36mb) Download

"I think I already understand about life: pretty good, some problems" - Sam Lamott, at age seven.

Service Time

Worship services are held every Sunday morning in the church sanctuary—visitors are always welcome! From September through June there are two services each week, at 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.; from mid-June through Labor Day we offer a single service each Sunday, at 10:00 a.m. Worship services vary a bit from week to week, but they almost always include readings, a meditation, and a sermon, as well as a variety of live music, and frequently a story for all ages.

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Plan to join us after each service for coffee hour, downstairs in Emerson Hall. In addition to coffee and snacks, there are always opportunities to learn more about our church and Unitarian Universalism, and to meet church members and friends.

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UU UUCL Unitarian Universalist Rev. Peter Newport

September 14, 2008

MP3 Audio: September 14, 2008 "Come on Down" with Peter Newport (12.58mb) Download

"If you want to be a person of great spirit, you can't do life alone. If spirituality matters to you, you can't do spirituality alone, either. To really grow as a human being you need other people." -- Daniel Homan OSB "Radial Hospitality"

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