Peace pole in snow…
It’s already the middle of January and a holiday week-end with MLK Day on Monday. Our in-person Sunday service will recognize the life and ministry of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and reflect on ways to continue the work of social justice that still remains.
This Sunday is an “open-pulpit service.” We encourage you to bring a reading, story or poem related to our theme on Belonging. You may have also have a question you would like to present to the group related to the topic. We haven’t had much of a chance for dialogue/group conversation lately, so this might be our opportunity. I will lead the service and facilitate the open-pulpit exchange. If you would like to lead a service (or work together with someone else) we are currently filling slots for the winter and spring on our sign-up list. The list is located in the coffee room or you can speak with the minister. Many voices make a strong community.
Our YouTube service this week is titled “Closing the Gap” and is part five of our continuing series on Belonging. We’ll do a quick review (in case you’ve forgotten where we left off) and then continue on the topic of variables that lead to change. We will look at a couple of case studies of individuals who registered a significant shift in their perspective and how belongingness played a factor. You will find the link listed below.
Please join us for one of the services this weekend.
Houlton Coffeehouse is tonight at 7PM featuring The Pelletier & Lovejoy Jazz Ensemble. Come early and have supper before the show. You will find details listed below.
Have a great week-end!
In Ministry,
Dave
HOULTON COFFEEHOUSE
January 14, Saturday Evening 7-9 PM
Houlton Coffeehouse is back in the new year (this is our 30th anniversary year!) with more music, creative arts, eats, caffeine and creative vibes. This month we have jazz as Above the Frostline Productions presents The Pelletier & Lovejoy Jazz Ensemble from Presque Isle. There is no admission fee, but we encourage you to donate generously to the performing artists. The ensemble takes the stage at 8PM.
Judy is back in the kitchen with another delicious soup for coffeehouse night; potato-sausage soup with a cheese option. Yum yum…and of course we have our usual coffee drinks and desserts. Frank Sullivan is behind the espresso bar as our barista for the night and we are featuring Cherry Garcia lattes; a cherry flavor shot, chocolate and espresso.
Open-mic starts at 7PM for aspiring musicians, poets and writers. We’ll try to fit in as many open-mic performers as we can. Come early to sign up and we’ll have the coffee machine on for you…
Menu
Potato-Sausage Soup (with a cheese option)
Not Your SB Chai Cherry Garcia Latte (cherry flavor shot, chocolate and espresso)
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)
https://youtu.be/XyuduC9L1Yc
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: Jan 15, 2023 11:00 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meetinghttps://us06web.zoom.us/j/82109865877?pwd=V2VPL0MvV1JVSy82eUsyNWk4ejZhQT09
Meeting ID: 821 0986 5877 Passcode: 557366
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
| 3 WAYS TO MAKE LASTING CHANGE IN 2023 |
| What makes life meaningful? How should I spend my limited time? Where can I find happiness? These are the kinds of questions we ask ourselves when we’re considering how each new year could be different, better, or more productive. But the truth is: we don’t need specific days, perfect circumstances, or the stars to align for us to start making positive changes in our lives. Right here, right now, is as good a time as any. Here are three ways you can begin to make lasting changes in your life: 1. Become comfortable with discomfort Growth of any kind comes with a certain level of discomfort. It’s our ability to take action toward what’s most important — despite how we feel — that determines our ability to grow. 2. Process over progress In other words, let go. Let go of the results, let go of the outcomes, let go of the expectations. Decide to do something and do it. Every. Single. Day. Your efforts will compound. 3. Bigger than yourself Exercising to improve your health and well being is a fantastic goal to have. Add the determination to be alive for, say, your daughter’s wedding, and your resilience in the face of adversity will sky rocket.Growth isn’t linear. We face failures, setbacks, and misfortunes. The following articles from Lion’s Roar might just help you develop the skills necessary to grow, learn, and live a more fulfilling life despite the circumstances you face. —Chris Pacheco, Lion’s Roar |
It was only a year ago (January 2022) that beloved spiritual teacher Thich Nhat Hanh passed. We’ve included one of his new year teachings in this week’s support page:
Beginning Anew
Thich Nhat Hanh on how to make the meaningful ceremony of “Beginning Anew” part of your life — including his unique practice of mindfulness, “hugging meditation.”
Beginning Anew is not to ask for forgiveness. Beginning Anew is to change your mind and heart, to transform the ignorance that brought about wrong actions of body, speech, and mind, and to help you cultivate your mind of love. Your shame and guilt will disappear, and you will begin to experience the joy of being alive. All wrongdoings arise in the mind. It is through the mind that wrongdoings can disappear.
At Plum Village, we practice a ceremony of Beginning Anew every week. Everyone sits in a circle with a vase of fresh flowers in the center, and we follow our breathing as we wait for the facilitator to begin.
Your shame and guilt will disappear, and you will begin to experience the joy of being alive. All wrongdoings arise in the mind. It is through the mind that wrongdoings can disappear.
The ceremony has three parts: flower watering, expressing regrets, and expressing hurts and difficulties. This practice can prevent feelings of hurt from building up over the weeks and helps make the situation safe for everyone in the community.
We begin with flower watering. When someone is ready to speak, she joins her palms and the others join their palms to show that she has the right to speak. Then she stands, walks slowly to the flower, takes the vase in her hands, and returns to her seat. When she speaks, her words reflect the freshness and beauty of the flower that is in her hand.
During flower watering, each speaker acknowledges the wholesome, wonderful qualities of the others. It is not flattery; we always speak the truth. Everyone has some strong points that can be seen with awareness. No one can interrupt the person holding the flower. She is allowed as much time as she needs, and everyone else practices deep listening.
When she is finished speaking, she stands up and slowly returns the vase to the center of the room.
In the second part of the ceremony, we express regrets for anything we have done to hurt others. It does not take more than one thoughtless phrase to hurt someone. The ceremony of Beginning Anew is an opportunity for us to recall some regret from earlier in the week and undo it.
In the third part of the ceremony, we express ways in which others have hurt us. Loving speech is crucial. We want to heal the community, not harm it. We speak frankly, but we do not want to be destructive. Listening meditation is an important part of the practice. When we sit among a circle of friends who are all practicing deep listening, our speech becomes more beautiful and more constructive. We never blame or argue.
Compassionate listening is crucial. We listen with the willingness to relieve the suffering of the other person, not to judge or argue with her. We listen with all our attention. Even if we hear something that is not true, we continue to listen deeply so the other person can express her pain and release the tensions within herself. If we reply to her or correct her, the practice will not bear fruit. We just listen. If we need to tell the other person that her perception was not correct, we can do that a few days later, privately and calmly. Then, at the next Beginning Anew session, she may be the person who rectifies the error and we will not have to say anything. We close the ceremony with a song or by holding hands with everyone in the circle and breathing for a minute. Sometimes we end with hugging meditation.
Hugging meditation is a practice I invented. In 1966, a woman poet took me to the Atlanta Airport and then asked, “Is it all right to hug a Buddhist monk?” In my country, we are not used to expressing ourselves that way, but I thought, “I am a Zen teacher. It should be no problem for me to do that.” So I said, “Why not?” and she hugged me. But I was quite stiff. While on the plane, I decided that if I wanted to work with friends in the West, I would have to learn the culture of the West, so I invented hugging meditation.
Hugging meditation is a combination of East and West. According to the practice, you have to really hug the person you are hugging. You have to make him or her very real in your arms, not just for the sake of appearances, patting him on the back to pretend you are there, but breathing consciously and hugging with all your body, spirit, and heart. Hugging meditation is a practice of mindfulness. “Breathing in, I know my dear one is in my arms, alive. Breathing out, she is so precious to me.” If you breathe deeply like that, holding the person you love, the energy of care, love, and mindfulness will penetrate into that person and she will be nourished and bloom like a flower.
At a retreat for psychotherapists in Colorado, we practiced hugging meditation, and one retreatant, when he returned home to Philadelphia, hugged his wife at the airport in a way he had never hugged her before. To be really there, you only need to breathe mindfully, and suddenly both of you become real. It may be one of the best moments in your life.
After the Beginning Anew ceremony, everyone in the community feels light and relieved, even if we have taken only preliminary steps toward healing. We have confidence that, having begun, we can continue. This practice dates to the time of the Buddha, when communities of monks and nuns practiced Beginning Anew on the eve of every full moon and new moon. I hope you will practice Beginning Anew in your own family every week.
From Teachings on Love, by Thich Nhat Hanh.
Thich Nhat Hanh (1926-2022) was a renowned Zen teacher and poet, the founder of the Engaged Buddhist movement, and the founder of nine monastic communities, including Plum Village Monastery in France.
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 tenth month
Prayers to ease the political unrest in the Middle East
Prayers for those suffering from seasonal flu and continuing covid cases
Prayers for peace and reconciliation in the new year
In observation of MLK day we promote the work of social justice and racial equality
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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