The signs of autumn are here; leaves turning color, light frost early in the morning (occasionally), farm trucks hauling potatoes from the field, gardens yielding produce, farmer’s market in Market Square winding down, and I could keep going…It’s all part of seasonal transitions and preparations for what comes next. Transitions is part of our theme for the new church year as well.
This week’s Sunday Service is led by MaryAlice Mowry and the title of the message is “Preparation – Piece by Piece.” An excerpt from the bulletin reads, “Overall, the theme of preparation in the UUA is not a single, one-time event but and ongoing process. It is a continuous call to ready oneself – spiritually, intellectually, and communally – for the challenges and possibilities of life and faith.” Dale Holden and Ira Dyer are our musicians for the service.
We also lost a great soul this week, Jane Goodall at the age of 91. We’ve included several articles and tributes to Jane in this week’s Support Page. Her last publication, The Book of Hope is in our Unitarian Society library.
YouTube Channel content for this week is a service
led by Randi Bradbury and Ira Dyer titled “Good Vibrations.” Part of the service will be a half hour sound bath of Good Vibrations utilizing multiple instruments including the gong, crystal singing bowls, buffalo drum, rain drums, thunder can and other various instruments. Randi says, “One does not have to understand the science behind it to benefit from it.” It was an amazing experience.
We hope you can join us for one of the services online or in-person.
In Ministry,
Dave
Here are a few photos from Randi and Ira’s “Good Vibrations” service.
THIS WEEK’S YOUTUBE SERVICE:
HERE IS THE SERVICE LINK FOR THIS WEEK’S YOUTUBE SERVICE
(Please note it won’t be active until 10AM on Sunday morning)
HERE IS THE ZOOM LINK FOR SUNDAY COFFEE HOUR:
Topic: UUHoulton zoom coffee hour & check-inTime: Oct 5, 2025 11:00 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meetinghttps://us06web.zoom.us/j/87577040562?pwd=sP9oySXbObjz5BTFxq6Ec65SC0X5bS.1
Meeting ID: 875 7704 0562Passcode: 688546
Calendar of Events @UUHoulton
Oct 5 Sunday Service: MaryAlice Mowry
Oct 5 Trivia Night at the UU’s Cup Cafe 5:30-7:30PM
Oct 12 Sunday Service: David Hutchinson
Oct 13 UUHoulton Board Meeting 4PM in the parlor
Oct 18 LGBTQ+ Luncheon 12 Noon
Oct 18 Houlton Coffeehouse 7-9PM Feature: Brian Bouchard
Oct 19 Sunday Service: Kathryn Harnish
Oct 26 Sunday Service: David Hutchinson
Nov 2 Sunday Service: Leigh & Fred
Nov 2 Trivia Night at the UU’s Cup Cafe
Nov 5 Climate Group Meeting 6PM in the cafe
Nov 9 Sunday Service: David Hutchinson
Nov 10 UUHoulton Board Meeting 4PM in the parlor
Nov 15 LGBTQ+ Luncheon 12 Noon
Nov 15 Houlton Coffeehouse 7-9PM
Nov 16 Sunday Service: Group Led
Nov 23 Sunday Service: David Hutchinson
Nov 30 Sunday Service: Bill White
Jane Goodall Dies at 91, Leaving a ‘Legacy of Making Our Planet a Better Place’
“Jane Goodall was the best of us. May she rest peacefully, as we carry on.”
Jessica Corbett; Common Dreams
Legendary English conservationist and primatologist Jane Goodall died Wednesday at the age of 91, eliciting a flood of remembrances from fellow scientists, activists, politicians, and fans of her decades of dedication to protecting the natural world.
Goodall died of natural causes in Los Angeles, California, while on a US speaking tour, according to the Jane Goodall Institute.
“Dr. Goodall’s life and work not only made an indelible mark on our understanding of chimpanzees and other species, but also of humankind and the environments we all share,” the institute said. “She inspired curiosity, hope, and compassion in countless people around the world, and paved the way for many others—particularly young people who gave her hope for the future.”
“In 1960 Dr. Goodall established the longest-running wild chimpanzee study in Gombe National Park, Tanzania, which continues to this day,” the institute continued. Footage from her early research in Africa was featured in the 2017 documentary Jane.
“She inspired curiosity, hope, and compassion in countless people around the world, and paved the way for many others—particularly young people who gave her hope for the future.”
“She pioneered and sustained the Jane Goodall Institute’s community-centered conservation initiatives across the chimpanzee range for over four decades,” the organization added. “Her legacy includes the creation of JGI’s international environmental and humanitarian youth program Roots & Shoots, which is actively driving change in 75 countries and counting around the world.”
Social media networks swiftly filled with posts honoring Goodall as a ”childhood hero,” ”patient, passionate revolutionary,” and ”incredible force for good” whose ”love and knowledge and care with animals like chimpanzees helped us all transcend the too often vicious human world.”
Abigail Ruth Freeman, director of Science for Society at Research Ireland, wrote on social media Wednesday: “Such a loss for humanity. Her work showed us that traits we conveniently ascribe to humans only are widespread in other animals. That they deserve more respect and compassion, and we could use a little more humility.”
The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund said that “we are deeply saddened by the passing of Dr. Jane Goodall, a groundbreaking primatologist and tireless conservationist. Her pioneering work with chimpanzees transformed our understanding of the species, and her lifelong advocacy inspired generations to protect wildlife and their habitats. Her legacy will continue to guide and inspire all of us in the fight to conserve our planet’s precious species.”
Goodall was named a United Nations messenger of peace in 2002. Highlighting that honor, UN Secretary-General António Guterres saidthat he was also “deeply saddened” to learn of her passing, adding: “She is leaving an extraordinary legacy for humanity and our planet. I’m grateful for her lifelong environmental protection efforts and her strong support for the UN.”
Author and former US political candidate Marianne Williamson said: “For millions of us she was the consummate role model. Few people have left an imprint on the world of such beauty and significance. A huge spirit was here with us. May she rest in eternal bliss.”
American journalist Yashar Ali wrote on his website that “few other people have had an impact on my life like Dr. Goodall.”
“Because of her, countless women have pursued careers in biology, ecology, conservation, and other fields in STEM,” Ali added. “Over the years, as I have traveled through the world and met some of the most prominent women in all areas of conservation and environmental sciences, all but a few told me they were inspired to get into their field by Jane Goodall’s example.”
Some people shared their personal experiences with Goodall. American reporter Leigh Giangreco recalled that “Jane Goodall was one of my first ever interviews as a college journalist, and she had an immense respect for young people, I remember she wanted to hear from us specifically. I will never forget her discoveries or her empathy.”
Scottish broadcaster Nicky Campbell said: “We have lost one of the greatest naturalists, zoologists, and activists. A great woman. I had the pleasure of meeting Jane Goodall. I was in awe of her. I will forever be in awe. She gave us so much. She gave her beloved chimps so much. She helped us understand them. And thereby understand ourselves. May this gentle, kind, wise, and wonderful woman rest in peace.”
US Congressman Cory Booker (D-NJ) recorded a video about his experience meeting the renowned conservationist.
The US group 314 Action, which works to elect scientists and doctors, pointed out that just last week, its president, Shaughnessy Naughton, “was in the same room with Jane at Climate Week as she continued her lifetime of advocacy, until the very end.”
“Jane Goodall was the best of us,” the organization added. “May she rest peacefully, as we carry on.”
Jane Goodall’s Thoughts for a Reporter: ‘Hope Isn’t Just Wishful Thinking’
A Times correspondent who interviewed Dr. Goodall recalled their conversations about the state of the planet.
Oct. 1, 2025
On the day Jane Goodall turned 90, I sat down at a small table with her. It was April 2024, and she was in Manhattan to promote a partnership with a jewelry company, Brilliant Earth. The company was making a $100,000 donation to support the Jane Goodall Institute, and she was giving her name to an eco-friendly line of necklaces, rings and earrings. The gold would all be recycled and the diamonds would come only from labs. No mining involved.
People buzzed around; a lunch would be served, and fashion influencers were on hand. Dr. Goodall looked small and tired amid the hubbub.
I knew the question I wanted to start with.
“When you woke up this morning, on your actual 90th birthday, what was the first thing you thought?” I asked. The room was so loud that I had to lean forward to hear her response.
“That I wish I was somewhere else,” she said.
It wasn’t the answer I expected. Relistening to the tape of our interview on Wednesday, the day she died, I hear my voice change from cheery to concerned.
“Well, you know, I like being out in nature,” she explained. Then she told me about all the birthday greetings she woke up to, and how she thought of her family and friends. This day wasn’t about that, she said, seeming a little sad but resolved.
“This birthday is about my mission, which is getting the word out to people around the world and raising money for our projects,” she said.
Dr. Goodall was laser-focused on that mission, people close to her told me. She wanted to do everything she could to make sure her institute could continue its conservation and educational work after her death. And she seemed committed to using her fame — more than fame, the reverence she often inspired in people — to try to get the world to take action on climate change and biodiversity loss.
“That’s why I’m traveling 300 days a year,” she told me. “It’s no good just talking about what should be done. We’ve got to flipping well do it.”
Ever since she first attracted attention as a young researcher who documented a chimpanzee using stems and twigs as tools for nabbing termites, Jane Goodall seemed more than willing to let herself be used for her causes.
For example, she often told an anecdote about her legs. There they were in photographs of her in National Geographic in the 1960s, a young woman in the field in Tanzania with a ponytail and wearing shorts. Her legs triggered comments. They were deemed attractive. Recounting the story this year on the podcast “Call Her Daddy,” she told of how some jealous male scientists groused that she was getting cover stories and money for research because of those legs.
“If somebody said that today, they’d be sued, right?” she said. “Back then, all I wanted was to get back to the chimps. So if my legs were getting me the money, thank you, legs!” she said, patting her thigh.
“And if you look,” she added, “they were jolly nice legs!”
But in April last year, she told me she was exhausted, and she looked it. I offered to cut the interview short. She instructed me to keep asking questions.
“It means I can sit here and talk to you instead of going mingling,” she said with a smile.
So, we talked more about the United Nations biodiversity conference coming that fall. I asked her about a message of hers that always struggles to gain traction: the need to consume less. I had read about how she turned the three R’s (reduce, reuse, recycle) into the five R’s, adding refuse at the beginning and rot at the end. She said she believed that a circular economy, one mimicking nature’s zero-waste cycles, was key to getting us out of the ecological mess we’ve made.
She also said that children were central to persuading adults to live more ethically. I already knew how much Dr. Goodall loved talking about Roots & Shoots, her institute’s youth program, and she took the opportunity to highlight it.
We talked about journalism. She thought it was imperative for reporters to share the untold stories of people who are working hard to make a difference.
“Not just the good news story, but how that good news story fits into alleviating the doom and gloom,” she said.
We didn’t talk about death, but it’s something she wrote and spoke about quite a lot. In “The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times,” which she wrote with Doug Abrams, she called death her next great adventure.
I interviewed Dr. Goodall again a few months later, this time onstage at The New York Times’s 2024 Climate Forward event. It was a year ago last week.
My favorite memories of that day were sitting in the greenroom with Dr. Goodall before the interview. We chatted about her Welsh grandfather and my Welsh mom. This time, she seemed full of quiet energy. She was gentle and sharp, all at once.
Onstage, I knew what my last question would be.
Preparing for that interview, I had asked virtually everyone I came across, from all walks of life, what they wanted to know from Dr. Goodall. Again and again, the answer was the same: They wanted to know where they could find hope. But I didn’t want to ask that question, because she has answered it in at least two books on the subject. So I asked her about balancing hope — which she found in human intellect, in the resilience of nature, in the power of young people and in the indomitable human spirit — with false hope, sometimes called “hopium.”
She didn’t hesitate.
“Hope isn’t just wishful thinking,” she said, telling us to imagine a long, dark tunnel with a little star at the end representing hope.
“There’s no good sitting at the mouth of the tunnel and wishing that that hope would come to us,” she said. “We’ve got to roll up our sleeves. The Bible says, gird your loins. I love that. I’m not quite sure what it means, but let’s gird our loins. And we’ve got to climb over, crawl under, work around all the obstacles that lie between us and the star.”
Catrin Einhorn covers biodiversity, climate and the environment for The Times.
Jane Goodall’s Final, Urgent, Message
“Intelligent creatures don’t destroy their only home.”
BENJI JONES
Environmental Correspondent at Vox
Jane Goodall, one of the most influential environmental figures in human history, has died at 91 while doing what she’s done for most of her later years—touring the country to deliver an urgent message about nature and human existence.
Goodall, who revolutionized what we know about chimpanzees and animal intelligence, was interviewed as recently as last week, during New York City Climate Week. And her message was clear, consistent, and timely.
“It seems these days everybody is so involved with technology that we forget that we’re not only part of the natural world, we’re an animal like all the others,” Goodall, founder of the Jane Goodall Institute, a conservation group, said last week during the Forbes Sustainability Leaders Summit in NYC. “We’re an animal like all the others. But we depend on it for clean air, water, food, clothing—everything.”
And yet, “we’re destroying the planet,” she said.
In a separate conversation with the Wall Street Journal last week, Goodall said the problem is the pernicious idea that economic development should come before the environment. In reality, we’re on a planet with finite resources, and if we exhaust them, it could spell our own end. “Humans are not exempt from extinction,” Goodall said in the WSJ podcast, The Journal.
One of the most compelling messages from her last interviews is that while we’re the most “intellectual animals” to ever walk the planet, “we’re not intelligent,” said Goodall, who’s an expert in animal behavior. “Because intelligent creatures don’t destroy their only home.”
Ultimately, she said, it’s that intellect that gives us the best shot at saving ourselves and the planet. That’s what’s ushered in solutions to living in greater harmony with the natural world, Goodall said, including renewable energy and plant-based foods. She emphasized that we know what’s killing the planet: industrial agriculture, including livestock, and burning fossil fuels.
“We have a window of time,” Goodall, who’s authored more than two dozen books, said in The Journal. “But it’s not a very big window. If we don’t change the way we do things, the way we develop economically, then it will be too late.”Prayer List
For those working for social justice and societal change
Pray for peaceful action and democratic process in our nation
The war in Ukraine continues
Prayers for the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza
Prayers for those affected by recent governmental (and policy) changes in DC
Prayers for Peace in the Middle East
Prayers for those affected by the earthquakes in Afghanistan.
Prayers for those affected by the school shooting in Colorado
Please pray for peace and civility as the nation responds to the assassination of Charlie Kirk
Prayers for those affected by the shooting at the synagogue in Manchester, England this week
Prayers for those affected by the school building collapse in Indonesia this week
The Four Limitless Ones Prayer
May all sentient beings enjoy happiness and the root of happiness.
May we be free from suffering and the root of suffering.
May we not be separated from the great happiness devoid of suffering.
May we dwell in the great equanimity free from anger, aggression and delusion.
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