On the Calendar
Thursday, Town Hall Council, May 28
Sunday Worship, May 31
The culmination of our Coming of Age program
Congregational Meeting, May 31
The June Advance will be out next week

I am doing a lot of “finishing up” work
I wrote my last column for the Advance
I wrote an Interim Ministry Appraisal for the UUA
And to share with the Board
I will write my Annual Report for the congregational meeting
I’m preparing documentation for Lissa.

Amidst a lot of talk about “opening up”
I want to remind folks that the church campus remains closed
We do have a few people who come by occasionally
For some essential work
And just to keep an eye on things
And it is possible that the Montesorri school will resume limited operations
On Monday

But for now
the church buildings
And the grounds
Remain closed.

The Board will create a task force
That will make a decision about re-opening
When it is appropriate to do.
Please wait for their decision
And further instruction

In the meantime
We are making plans
For a vibrant, powerful
“virtual year”
And I encourage you to be part of that planning
And if we get some welcome news
During the year
That the epidemic situation has substantially changed
Then we can quickly come back.

Let’s not gather in person just because we’re impatient
Let’s wait until we have the 
Testing
Tracing
Treatment
And vaccine
That makes it safe to gather.

I did something fun last evening

Jim and I attended a theatrical performance
For the first time in two and a half months
We didn’t go to a theater
Instead we participated in a show on zoom

The show was a magic show
Presented by Helder Guimaraes
And the Geffen “Stayhouse”
An hour of magic
25 audience “screens”
Plus the magicians in his own apartment
The show included a box we received in the mail a couple of weeks ago.

The show included a “talk back” after the performance
The magician talked about wanting to do a show at a distance for some time
And now had the opportunity
And the production team talked about the challenge of doing a show on zoom
How do you do a show when people are scattered?
Some members in San Diego, or New York
Each of us in our own little zoom box
When do you mute, and when do you unmute for interaction and response?

As they talked about the challenges of creating theater
Within the restrictions of the Zoom environment
It reminded me that all acts of creativity
Begin with limitations

Any artist will tell you this
The first decision you make
As you begin to create
is to set a limit
Is it a painting or a symphony or a novel?
How big is the canvas?
How many minutes should it be?
Nn orchestra or orchestra and chorus, or soloists?
Oil paint or acrylic or water color?
How many characters or actors?
What’s the budget?
What’s the deadline?

And often in the creative process an artist will deliberately set limits
As a challenge to their creativity.
I’ll only use black and white
Or I’ll only use notes in the 12-tone series I’ve selected
I once read a novel titled, “A Void”
Where the author set himself the challenge of never using the letter “e”
In the entire book.
Creation requires limits

Which made me think about the limits we are currently facing in a different way
What acts of creation will these limits inspire in us?
Aren’t we already responding to these limits with new creation?
New learnings?
New solutions?

Instead of pushing against the limits
What if we welcomed the limitations of this time
As a gift to new creativity

See you tomorrow, 1pm.