Programs for the Year 2000
Jan. 2 - "The Dark Night of the Soul"
Rev. Ron Green
Jan. 9 - "Water Trinkles Down: Napalese "Chookpooling"
Kevin Williamson
Jan. 16 - "Detoxifying Death"
Ron Green
Jan. 23 - "Celebration of Mozart's Birthday - Readings and Music"
Dean Howd and UU friends
Jan. 30 - "Wit and Whimsy of Walt Kelly (Creator of Pogo)"
Harol Schmalfeld
Feb. 6 - "Paganism: A Variety of Expressions"
Lamoine Chalice Keepers (see their new web page above!)Feb. 13 - "The Five Divorces of a Healthy Marriage"
Rev. Ron GreenFeb. 20 - "The Strongest Steel Goes Through the Hottest Fire"
Rev. Ron GreenFeb. 27 - "Words of Wisdom"
Ken Hawkinson, Chair, Dept of Communication, WIUMarch 5 - "Biblical Table Manners"
Fr. Bill Burton, O.F.M.May 14 - "Do Animals Have Souls?"
M.G. and Joan Sterne, Montebello Morgan Farm
A talk based on the book, "The Souls of Animals," by the Rev. Gary Kowalski, a UU minister, and President of the executive committee of UUs for Ethical Treatment of Animals. The presentation centers on Rev. Kowalski's position on factors leading to his conviction that animals possess souls.May 21 - Program by children and teachers of R.E.
Rev. Ron Green will also provide a Silly Willy story for the children.May 28 - "Rites of Spring" - Rev. Ron Green
Flower service and picnic. Dev has graciously invited us to have our annual spring service at the Brickyard Campus (located on Lake Argyle Road, across form the cemetery at the north edge of Colchester). Please bring potluck and your own table service. Also, a flower or flowers for the Flower Service. Dev has pointed out that it will be necessary to provide supervision for the children since there are a pond and other areas where children could be injured. In case of rain, the picnic will be held in the Fellowship House.June 4 - "What about Our Weather?"
A Nova video aired recently will be an opportunity for us to continue our study of environmental concerns. We will go into our summer "mode" with this program; i.e., informal, video-discussion format. With this video, David Soule will be there to answer questions on global warming and other issues related to the environment. The RE program, as such, will be on vacation for the summer, but child care will be provided if needed.June 11 - "The Process of Reconciliation in South Africa"
A videotape of the October 9, 1999 National Press Club Forum with Bishop Desmond Tutu. Jan Mathers leads the discussion.July 9 - "Christianity and Judaism"
10:30 a.m. This is the first of four videos from a series, "The Wisdom of Faith,"
with Bill Moyers and Huston Smith, Professor of Religion at University of California
at Berkeley. Prof. Smith is a distinguished scholar of philosophy and religion and
author of the book, Religions of Man (among others).
July 16 - "Islam"
10:30 a.m. Bill Moyers and Huston Smith
July 23 - "Hinduism and Buddhism"
10:30 a.m. Bill Moyers and Huston Smith
July 30 - "A Personal Philosophy"
10:30 a.m. Bill Moyers and Huston Smith
August 6 - No Service - Someone will be at the Fellowship at 10:30 a.m. to talk
with those any who may stop in.
August 13 - No Service - Someone will be at the Fellowship at 10:30 a.m. to talk
with those any who may stop in.
August 20 - First fall service - Ron Green
10:30 a.m. Regular services will begin with Rev. Ron Green giving our "returning
home" service.*August 20 - First fall service - Ron Green
Regular services will begin with Rev. Ron Green giving our "returning home" service. Bring water to share from your travels this summer.August 27- "Religion and the Sea" - Virginia Leonard Ewing
2000-2001 RE Program beginsSeptember 3 - "The Confidence of Our Convictions or the Courage of Our Confusions?"
Ron Green - Philosophers tell us we are in the postmodern era. What used to be certain is now uncertain. Our abiding faith in reason and science is being challenged by fundamentalists, political and religious. For many of us, the confidence of our convictions has been replaced by contradictory opinions and confusion.September 10 - "Missing the Meaning: I've forgotten what they were" - Ron Green
How do we get through the tough times of our lives without giving up completely? Because there is yet meaning in our lives that we wish to experience. But, where do we find meaning? Is it something we can discover?September 17 - Topic TBA - Eric Ginsberg and Karen Martin
September 24 - "Afro-Brazilian Religion" - Beth Higgs
Oct. 1st - "Spiritual Provisions: What Should We Take With Us?"- Rev. Ron Green
The spiritual life is often compared to a journey - a pilgrimage ala John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. And, it is a dangerous journey, as Hafiz, a 14th century Persian poet warns us:
"It is always a danger to the aspirant on the path, When one begins to believe and act, As if the ten thousand idiots who so long ruled and lived inside, Have all packed their bags and skipped town or died."
Oct. 8th - "Beyond Tolerance: Being an Ally" - Gloria Delany-Barmann and Marshall Parks
What does it mean to be an ally in a multicultural world? More specifically, what are our commitments to our gay, lesbian, and transgendered community members in creating an equal and just society? Gloria and Marshall are professors in the Educational and Interdisciplinary Studies Department at WIU. Both have a keen interest and commitment to issues of diversity and inclusion.Oct. 15th - "Plato Not Prozac! Notes Toward a Philosophy of Life" - Rev. Ron Green
We human beings are meaning-seeking creatures. Philosophers seek to reason their way to the answer for the riddle of life, often doubting they have found it. Theologians tend to believe they have found it, though there really is no evidence. Somewhere between skepticism and dogmatism live a group of people known as Unitarian Universalists. Yet, we affirm that a lack of religious vision can cause much of the psychic and spiritual pain we see in our midst.Oct. 22nd - "The Death Penalty in America" - Polly Radosh
UUF's own Polly Radosh, Professor of Sociology and Director of Women's Studies at WIU, will discuss the moral arguments for and against the death penalty, and the demographic profile of those under sentence of death. Polly teaches a course in Criminology, and takes a special interest in the death penalty and in women on death row.Oct. 29th - "Gazing into the Sastuun: Maya Religion Past and Present" - Pat Anderson
The Sastuun (lit. "light-stone") is the divinatory crystal used by the Maya shaman, past and present. Pat Anderson, WIU Anthropology Professor and expert in Mayan culture, will discuss Classic Maya religion and contrast and compare it with the modern Maya religion of the Yucatec Maya of Yucatan, Mexico.Nov. 5th - "When Things Fall Apart" - Rev. Ron Green
Recognizing that things human tend to fall apart is one of the great insights of Buddhism: the first of the Four Noble Truths is that life is suffering. To be human is to suffer. Or as Annie Dillard puts it: "It is the best joke there is, that we are here, and fools..." And, the American Buddhist nun, Pema Chodron said : "To be fully alive, fully human, and completely awake is to be continually thrown out of the nest." This is hard for Unitarian Universalists to fathom. Though we know this, we have yet to accept it spiritually.Nov. 12th - Spirituality and Cancer: A Journey
Jean Wolf and Bill Maakestad reflect upon how their experience with cancer has helped them develop an understanding of spirituality as the rhythm of life that makes us human.Nov. 19th - Faith as a Verb - Rev. Ron Green
In our time faith tends to be treated as something that you either have or haven't. Faith is usually thought of as a noun. "I have faith" is passive - possessive - a thing I either have or don't happen to have, but I choose to think of faith as a verb indicating that something is happening. I prefer to see faith as action, or, as L. P. Parks says: "...adventure, in scorn of the consequences". Here at the UU Fellowship of Macomb we have a tremendous venue in which to live out our faith. I invite you to create and "live out" a vision of "adventuring" your faith right here.Nov. 26th - "Gobble Gobble Trouble" - Lynn Hinderliter
Lynn will discuss the relationship between various religions--health, diet and religiosity--throughout the ages.Dec. 3rd - Our Annual "Service of Remembrance" - Rev. Ron Green
Shakespeare wrote: "Give sorrow words. The grief unspoken whispers to the o'erfraught heart, and bids it break." As this year nears it's end, and during this lull between two major family holidays, it is right and fitting that we should pause to remember those who have once been a part of our life. Bring a photo or symbol of their presence in your life if you wish, to add to our "Table of Remembrance". I will briefly review Worden's, "Four Tasks of Mourning". All will have an opportunity to give words to their loss, if you wish.Dec. 3 - Our Annual "Service of Remembrance" - Rev. Ron Green
Shakespeare wrote: "Give sorrow words. The grief unspoken whispers to the o'erfraught heart, and bids it break." As this year nears it's end, and during this lull between two major family holidays, it is right and fitting that we should pause to remember those who have once been a part of our life. Bring a photo or symbol of their presence in your life if you wish, to add to our "Table of Remembrance". I will briefly review Worden's, "Four Tasks of Mourning". All will have an opportunity to give words to their loss, if you wish.Dec. 10 - Buddhism: The Middle Path - Amy Meyers
It was said that when the Buddha was first Enlightened he was asked, "Are you a god?" "No," he replied. Are you a saint?" "No." "Then what are you?" And he answered, "I am awake." Bodhi Day, the anniversary of Buddha's enlightenment, is celebrated on December 8 by Buddhist all over the world. To honor this holy day, Amy Myers will present her perspective on enlightenment and discuss the merits of studying the Middle Path. Be it know that Amy is not a "Buddhist" per se, nor a religious studies expert, but simply an interested individual who wishes to share her ideas and open a dialog with others about the Buddha's teachings.Dec. 17 - Is Life Like a term Paper? - Rev. Ron Green
On Rosh Hashanah, Yahweh, the great cosmic Judge, contemplates three books: a very slim book in which are inscribed the names of all the completely evil people of the world, another book, even slimmer, contains the names of all the people who are completely good. But, the third is by far the thickest book, in which are inscribed all the rest of us -- still struggling with good and evil, meaning and despair. It is the task of religion to help us with that struggle, whether there is a final grade or not.Dec. 24 - Mid-Winter celebrations
Historical roots of the Mid-Winter celebration and it's traditions from around the world presented by members of the Warp and the Weft.Dec. 24 - Special Evening Candlelight Service 7:00 p.m.
Dec.31 TBA