Beware of scammers pretending to be me!
I will never ask you to buy gift cards
Not for anyone
Ever
The church has a generous Ministers Discretionary Fund
That I can use if necessary
If you’re ever unsure
Stop
Send me an email at minister @ uuclb.org
Or leave a message at the church office phone
And wait for me to respond
And I’m sorry this keeps happening
Here are some items on the church calendar:
Budget Hearing, Saturday, May 9, 11am
Finance Committee has done a great job
Here’s your chance to see their work
Ask questions
Worship This Sunday
Let’s Honor Mothers This Sunday!
send a picture to: Francisco Ruiz
we will include it in a special song collaboration video with the All Saints Episcopal Church band.
Submissions deadline is Friday night, May 8.
Memorial for Jack Graham, Sunday, May 10 1pm
Structured like a regular Memorial Service
I will officiate
Sharing
Music
Will be recorded.
Further out
Congregational Meeting on May 31.
Happy Trails to Reverend Rick! June 21,
A Celebratory Shindig For Our Shared Ministry Together
During Coffee Hour
Send a photo to Laura Scully at lbscully1@gmail.com.
A selfie is fine
and a 1-2 sentence reflection or quote that captures your feelings about the last couple years.
Deadline is May 31st for the photo/reflection
Giving to the church
Re-start the paused Stewardship Campaign
Look for an excellent email from Stewardship in your Inbox
And if you haven’t tried text-to-give yet – give it a try
Info is on the front page of the church website.
Saying Goodbye
So I mentioned the farewell party on June 21
That is the last day I will preach to you.
I will continue to be your minister until June 30.
I know now that you’ve called Lissa
There’s a lot of energy to more forward
I understand.
But I want to encourage you to be patient
One of the reasons that the parting from Mitra was so hard
Is because it was so sudden
You didn’t have the time you needed to say goodbye
So now we have time
Let’s not miss our opportunity to make a good ending
One part of a good ending
Is all the little, quiet, informal leave-takings
That can take place when we get together for some other reason
And that at the end make an acknowledgement of our feelings
Because we aren’t together physically
That’s harder to do now
And all the ways we are getting together are very deliberate
So that’s why it’s especially important to take our time
With our goodbye
To do both the formal goodbye (June 21)
And find all those little opportunities
For casual goodbyes
Between now and then
So take a deep breath
Stay in the moment
Be here now
Let’s do what we need to do now,
Before we get to the next necessary thing.
2) Message
And that’s also the pastoral message I want to share today
Take a Breath
Be here now
Stay in the moment
The news from the pandemic is now starting to look like this is going to be with us for some time
The New York Times had projections today that stretched the timeline out into 2022
I don’t know of course
Even the experts don’t know exactly
But despite the easing of some of the restrictions
We know that we are not at the end of this
Or even the beginning of the end
I’m again reminded of my work 30 years ago with the AIDS Project Los Angeles
When I joined APLA in 1985
There was a sense that everybody would join the effort
We would tackle the crisis quickly
It would all be over in a year or two
And then we would get back to our regular lives
And then the crisis stretched on
Year after year
And then, even after about a decade
When effective treatments became available
We realized that it still wasn’t over
Because the “crisis” became a “chronic health issue”
That would still need management.
And by that point “our regular lives”
Had been entirely changed by AIDS
In a large part that’s the experience that led me to ministry.
So I’m thinking of how the feeling shifted over time
From the crisis to the chronic
And I’m feeling that shift now
From a health crisis that we thought might be over in a few months
To a more “chronic” kind of situation
That might last a couple of years
And we need to adjust
Our physical, and emotional
And spiritual
Responses, accordingly
Take a breath
Stay in the moment
Don’t rush your spirit to imagining what will happen when this is all over
This will pass
But this is our lives now
All things pass
But this is how we live now
Be here now.
I’ll see you tomorrow 1pm