note card of Unitarian Universalist Church in Houlton (1956)
With Thanksgiving mostly over except for the leftovers, the first Sunday of Advent is also this week-end. We will combine both themes in this week’s in-person Sunday Service in the UUHoulton parlor.
We have lots of music planned for the service as well; organ, harp, trumpet, our vocal ensemble and of course, congregational singing. Gratitude is our first candle theme of Advent.
Next Sunday (December 4) will be the kick-off to our 2023 pledge drive and there will be a potluck following the service in the fellowship hall downstairs. This is our first community meal since covid, so it marks a special progress point in our recovery from the pandemic. Please bring something to share at the table.
Our YouTube service for this week explores Family Dynamics led by Rev. Mary Blocher. Our sense of belonging begins with our family of origin. With the popularity of DNA testing, we can obtain knowledge about our ethnicity and traits. Along with this exciting information some people are also surprised with unexpected results. How does one cope with unexpected results from a DNA test? How does one find forgiveness and healing from a lifetime of deception? How can you move on in life and find belonging once again? The answers to these questions are shared in the service. You will find the link listed below. Please join us for one of the services this weekend.
In Ministry,
Dave
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:
David Hutchinson is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: UUHoulton Coffee hour & check-inTime: Nov 27, 2022 11:00 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84124335287?pwd=cnFuNkQrelhNMFFEUDJLOCtwczRlQT09
Meeting ID: 841 2433 5287 Passcode: 170385
Virtual Offering Plate
If you would like to send in your pledge or donation simply drop an envelope in the mail. The address is listed below. You can also send your donation electronically with our new payment system on the church website. Simply go to uuhoulton.org and click “Donate” on the menu and it will explain how the system works. You can set up a regular monthly payment plan or donate in single transactions.
Thank you for your generous support!
UU Church of Houlton, 61 Military Street, Houlton, ME 04730
THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
Five Readings for Your Thanksgiving Table
Nov. 22, 2022
I always enjoy Thanksgiving, but I’m particularly going to savor this year’s in light of the midterm elections. They surfaced something beautiful and decent and vitally important in the soul of the nation. It was a readiness to defend the core of our democracy — our ability to peacefully and legitimately transfer power — when it was under imminent threat by Donald Trump and his imitators.
Had we lost our commitment to the solemn obligation that one party smoothly hands off power to another, we’d be totally lost as a country today. But instead, democracy was reaffirmed. Enough Americans — principled Republicans, Democrats and independents — sorted through their ballots and rejected almost all of the high-profile Trumpist election deniers for major state and federal offices.
In “using the tools of democracy to protect democracy,” as Vox put it, they reconnected the country with something deep in our heritage — that losers concede gracefully and move on, and winners win gracefully and govern. In celebration of that tradition, I offer these five readings for your Thanksgiving table:
Sept. 19, 1796, excerpts from President George Washington’s Farewell Address, explaining that he would not seek a third term and the most important lessons he had learned:
“The unity of government which constitutes you one people is also now dear to you. It is justly so; for it is a main pillar in the edifice of your real independence, the support of your tranquillity at home, your peace abroad, of your safety, of your prosperity, of that very liberty which you so highly prize. … You should properly estimate the immense value of your national Union to your collective and individual happiness. … With such powerful and obvious motives to union affecting all parts of our country … there will always be reason to distrust the patriotism of those who in any quarter may endeavor to weaken its bands. …
“The basis of our political systems is the right of the people to make and to alter their constitutions of government. But the constitution which at any time exists, until changed by an explicit and authentic act of the whole people, is sacredly obligatory upon all. The very idea of the power and the right of the people to establish government presupposes the duty of every individual to obey the established government.”
Dec. 13, 2000, Al Gore’s concession speech after the Supreme Court effectively handed the 2000 election to George W. Bush:
“Good evening. Just moments ago, I spoke with George W. Bush and congratulated him on becoming the 43rd president of the United States. … Almost a century and a half ago, Senator Stephen Douglas told Abraham Lincoln, who had just defeated him for the presidency: ‘Partisan feeling must yield to patriotism. I’m with you, Mr. President, and God bless you.’ Well, in that same spirit, I say to President-elect Bush that what remains of partisan rancor must now be put aside, and may God bless his stewardship of this country. Neither he nor I anticipated this long and difficult road. Certainly, neither of us wanted it to happen. Yet it came, and now it has ended, resolved, as it must be resolved, through the honored institutions of our democracy. …“The U.S. Supreme Court has spoken. Let there be no doubt, while I strongly disagree with the court’s decision, I accept it. I accept the finality of this outcome, which will be ratified next Monday in the Electoral College. And tonight, for the sake of our unity as a people and the strength of our democracy, I offer my concession. I also accept my responsibility, which I will discharge unconditionally, to honor the new president-elect and do everything possible to help him bring Americans together in fulfillment of the great vision that our Declaration of Independence defines and that our Constitution affirms and defends. …“This is America, and we put country before party; we will stand together behind our new president. … As for the battle that ends tonight, I do believe, as my father once said, that ‘no matter how hard the loss, defeat might serve as well as victory to shape the soul and let the glory out. …’“And now, my friends, in a phrase I once addressed to others: It’s time for me to go.”
Dec. 13, 2000, George W. Bush’s speech accepting Al Gore’s concession:
“Vice President Gore and I put our hearts and hopes into our campaigns. We both gave it our all. We shared similar emotions, so I understand how difficult this moment must be for Vice President Gore and his family. He has a distinguished record of service to our country as a congressman, a senator and a vice president. This evening I received a gracious call from the vice president. We agreed to meet early next week in Washington, and we agreed to do our best to heal our country after this hard-fought contest.
“Tonight I want to thank all the thousands of volunteers and campaign workers who worked so hard on my behalf. I also salute the vice president and his supporters for waging a spirited campaign. And I thank him for a call that I know was difficult to make. …“I have something else to ask you, to ask every American. I ask for you to pray for this great nation. I ask for your prayers for leaders from both parties. I thank you for your prayers for me and my family, and I ask you to pray for Vice President Gore and his family.”
In his memoir “A Promised Land,” President Barack Obama recalled six words that he shared with his staff on April 27, 2011, after holding a news conference at the White House announcing the release of his long-form birth certificate to end the bogus but distracting claims by Trump, and other “carnival barkers,” that he was not born in the U.S.:“I exited through the sliding doors that led back into the communications team’s offices, where I encountered a group of junior members of our press shop who’d been watching my remarks on a TV monitor. They all looked to be in their 20s. Some had worked on my campaign; others had only recently joined the administration, compelled by the idea of serving their country. I stopped and made eye contact with each one of them.“‘We’re better than this,’ I said. ‘Remember that.’”
June 9, 2022, Representative Liz Cheney’s opening statement at the House Jan. 6 committee’s initial public hearing:
“Tonight, I am going to describe for you some of what our committee has learned and highlight initial findings you will see this month in our hearings. As you hear this, all Americans should keep in mind this fact: On the morning of Jan. 6, President Donald Trump’s intention was to remain president of the United States despite the lawful outcome of the 2020 election and in violation of his constitutional obligation to relinquish power. Over multiple months, Donald Trump oversaw and coordinated a sophisticated seven-part plan to overturn the presidential election and prevent the transfer of presidential power. In our hearings, you will see evidence of each element of this plan. …“There is a reason why people serving in our government take an oath to the Constitution. As our founding fathers recognized, democracy is fragile. People in positions of public trust are duty-bound to defend it — to step forward when action is required. … That oath must mean something. Tonight, I say this to my Republican colleagues who are defending the indefensible: There will come a day when Donald Trump is gone, but your dishonor will remain.”
In July 2021, I interviewed Liz Cheney in front of an audience. While we disagreed on many policy issues, I was so taken by her willingness to risk her seat in Congress to defend the Constitution from Trump’s attacks — something so few Republicans were willing to do. At the end, I just shook my head and asked her how there could be only one of her.
She just shook her head back.
Well, it turns out that Liz Cheney had a lot more supporters than we thought. The midterms demonstrated that her message — and that of other leaders with integrity — had gotten through to enough Americans to make a difference. And it got through precisely because it tapped into a deep vein in our country’s history. For that we have much to be thankful for this year.
God bless America, and happy Thanksgiving.
Building Beloved Communities
Rehena Harilall shares her vision of building and repairing community with an open, kind, and compassionate heart.
The year 2020 was catalytic for me. It felt like portals of the past opened, reflecting the apocalyptic future. We saw social restrictions imposed to curb the pandemic, alongside disproportionate deaths of Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) all around the world. The world witnessed the public murder of George Floyd, pleading to breathe and calling for his mama, and the following visceral outrage of international Black Live Matters (BLM) protests. In so many ways, the fissures and dis-ease in our societies and communities around the world became visible, showing the type of re-pair, re-building, re-generation, and personal transformation work that is needed.
We all shape — and are shaped by — the collective we are part of.
Growing up in South Africa, legislation enforced the community one belonged to. A rigid hierarchy of racial oppression meant skin color and hair texture defined how “human” one was. Anger was an emotional tool for survival. In 2020, filled with a gnawing déjà vu of the South African apartheid regime’s “state of emergency,” my mind ran on auto-replay, superimposing faces of friends and family being detained, tortured, and murdered.
When I found myself caught up in the energy around me, I sought refuge in silence. I took writer and activist Bayo Akomolafe’s wise counsel: “the times are urgent; let us slow down.” By turning to my mindfulness and compassion practices to hold my tumultuous emotions, I was able to begin healing, and reflect on how I would like to engage in community action.
Thich Nhat Hanh’s well-known phrase “no mud, no lotus” accurately describes the alchemical composting process that allows for personal transformation. I’ve come to realize that community engagement, building, and being in community is a far cry from my childhood days — much closer to the embodied wisdom of my heroes, parents, and ancestors — a Sankofa moment.2
Today, there’s far more flux in the boundaries of what I consider community. My new notion of community is far more aligned to that of my ancestors, waxing and waning to include specific groupings as well as all life on earth. There is interdependency between my singular self and my community. We all shape — and are shaped by — the collective we are part of.
Community building is not an event or even an outcome, but a lifetime process. This process cannot be divorced from our own existential journey. Whether I’m offering a donation to the homeless on the street, or growing vegetables in my garden, I am in community and am engaged in actively imbuing it with the perfume of our action and intention– which is either skilful or unskilful, wholesome, or unwholesome. We are always in community, with ourselves, with others and in stewardship of life.
My parents and elders patiently built places of safety, refuge, and healing, in the words of Martin Luther King, Jr. “ with dignity… using only the instruments of love.” Acting from what Sister Chan Kong calls “highest purpose” is pivotal to how I desire to contribute to all spaces I’m a part of. I continuously work to discern whether I’m engaging in “good trouble3” — acting with an open, kind, and compassionate heart, or one constricted by anger, violence, and discrimination. I take care to notice where I’m coming from so that I don’t continue to perpetuate oppression and violence, causing greater separation.
Without wholesome energy, community “building” is shifting sand. It is important to carefully shake out the folds of our intention to see whether our good actions are hiding grains of hidden egotistical desires. And examine if we’re reinforcing notions of a “good person narrative” — thinking less about the welfare of others, and more about the “benefits” for ourselves. In our efforts, we should check whether we employ the Buddhist concept of Right Action and engage with skilful energy and sila (virtue).
In Radical Dharma, Rev. angel Kyodo Williams writes: “Without inner change, there can be no outer change; without collective change, no change matters.” My call for social justice remains undimmed. Peaceful beloved communities cannot be built without justice, which is sustained by understanding, love and compassion — not retribution. It is now that I am truly able to act in alignment to wisdom that Archbishop Desmond Tutu envisioned as the foundations of the Truth and Reconciliation process.
This type of community building is “humanism “ because we are re-learning to be fully human, taking care of both love and rage an unfurling the heart to those with whom I disagree with the most. My humanity is inextricably tied to the other.
Building community can become all-consuming, making self-care a crucial aspect of engaging in this work. I am reminded of how my mother nourished herself during my childhood. She sang and dance while she worked late into the night, after salvaging edible and cheap market throwaways to secretively cook for activists sheltered in illegal community safe houses. I too am creating space in my day to do what brings me joy: watching deer playfully butt antlers, leaves gently fluttering to earth, and swans gliding across the river.
During the UK’s Black History month in October 2020, there was a heart call to begin a group called “Buddhists across Traditions (BaT).” BaT is now the only Buddhist-BIPOC-centered collective in the UK unifying and connecting Buddhists and practitioners of other spiritual traditions in the service of racial reconciliation, healing, and social justice. We’re working to cultivate the energy we’d like to see in the world in the spaces we curate, raising often ignored social issues and voices, connecting the diaspora across the Africa, UK, Europe, and North America, and addressing the healing that needs to happen here in the UK, a historical source of so much pain, trauma and suffering around the world.
“Our life has to be our message,” Thich Nhat Hanh sagely advises. I am conscious of continuing my ancestors inheritance to continue cultivating just communities, hoping to embrace loving energy in all my actions; consciously aware of the intent infusing every action, all offered in a state of puṇya, or merit.
Today, we all stand taller on the shoulders of our ancestors like Nelson Mandela, Albertina Sisulu and Steve Biko — whose community building actions are legendary. I hope we can all continue their legacy in some way, striving to contribute to the glorious unfolding of community, in compassion, humility, and service of life. This way, we can all walk on the public footpath of heart. It is my hope that the energy we leave behind supports the continuation and evolution for generations to come.
As John Lewis said, “Ours is the struggle of a lifetime, or maybe even many lifetimes, and each one of us in every generation must do our part.”
This piece a reflective piece in honor of Black History Month UK, October 2022
1 Black as defined by Steve Biko in South Africa was not limited to Africans, but also included Indians and ‘coloureds’ (South Africans of mixed race including African, European incorporating Black Theology, indigenous values, and political ideology to overthrow ruling system
2 Sankofa is a metaphor depicted as a bird with its head turning back to reach for an egg from its back, whilst its feet face forward. It symbolizes the reaching back to the past to gain knowledge to apply to or shape the present.
3 John Lewis- July 2020.
ABOUT REHENA HARILALL
rehena Harilall (we,she/her) is South African, a psychologist and management consultant who celebrates African and Indian heritages. She was born and grew up during the Apartheid regime and was involved in various Reconstruction and Development work post democratic elections in 1994. She now lives and works from the United Kingdom as a management consultant. She has been practising in the Plum Village tradition since 1998 and also practises in the Tibetan and Insight Traditions. She practises with BIPOC and Non-BIPOC Buddhist Communities in South Africa, the UK, and USA. She is currently engaged in various revitalisation and re-pairing projects in Kwazulu-Natal focusing on the renewal of rural spaces most impacted by the legacy of apartheid and climate change.
Thanksgiving Day feast in the Unitarian basement
Thank you to Donna and Christoph for hosting!!
A delicious cake provided by Bill White…
Prayer List
For those recovering from COVID-19 in the state of MaineLocal emergency personnel and hospital staffFor our state and national leaders as they respond to the current coronavirus crisisFor those working for social justice and societal change
Pray for peaceful action and democratic process in our nation
The war in Ukraine is now in its ninth month
Prayers to ease the political unrest in the Middle East
Prayers for those affected by the mass shooting in Colorado
Prayers for those affected by the mass shooting at Virginia University
Prayers for those affected by the mass shooting at Walmart in Virginia
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 exclusion.
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