The Very Merry Month of May

May 4 –Jim Cummings will talk about the "Jefferson Bible", or about Mythology, whichever place his heart is on the morning of.

May 11 -"My Mama Done Tole Me."  It's Mother's Day, the day set aside honoring the woman who gave us birth or who raised us.  Join Bob Bledsoe as he leads a celebratory service of poetry, song and message designed to highlight those women—and a few men—who mothered us. 

May 18 -  The Satyr in the Garden."  This day was important to the ancient Greeks as the festival of Pan and his consort Faunus.  Far from simply the goat-limbed horned god with the pipes, Pan symbolized a way of life in concert with the seasons.  Bob Bledsoe will speak on Pan and Faunus and what they could mean to us today.

May 25 – Naomi Cummings will speak on UU's 3rd Principle.

IN HONOR OF MOTHER'S DAY

Dedication for a Plot of Ground

This plot of ground
facing the waters of this inlet
is dedicated to the living presence of
Emily Dickinson Wellcome
who was born in England; married;
lost her husband and with
her five year old son
sailed for New York in a two-master;
was driven to the Azores;
ran adrift on Fire Island shoal,
met her second husband
in a Brooklyn boarding house,
went with him to Puerto Rico
bore three more children, lost
her second husband, lived hard
for eight years in St. Thomas,
Puerto Rico, San Domingo, followed
the oldest son to New York,
lost her daughter, lost her "baby,"
seized the two boys of
the oldest son by the second marriage
mothered them — they being
motherless — fought for them
against the other grandmother
and the aunts, brought them here
summer after summer, defended
herself here against thieves,
storms, sun, fire,
against flies, against girls
that came smelling about, against
drought, against weeds, storm-tides,
neighbors, weasels that stole her chickens,
against the weakness of her own hands,
against the growing strength of
the boys, against wind, against
the stones, against trespassers,
against rents, against her own mind.

She grubbed this earth with her own hands,
domineered over this grass plot,
blackguarded her oldest son
into buying it, lived here fifteen years,
attained a final loneliness and —

If you can bring nothing to this place
but your carcass, keep out.
.__William Carlos Williams

New Members: Jeff Ekar, Pat Tobin Chapman, Jill Eckar
From the Chair:

I cannot believe that last week was our annual meeting and almost a year for me and others in these positions! How time speeds by when having fun, eh?

It is a time to be grateful for all the talent supporting this small congregation. Thanks go to all parting officers and committee chairs. Some like Penelope who is not in either category are especially important as this is how we keep membership informed. Thanks from my official position and hugs from me personally! We all appreciate your work in this area for all of us. Also in this category are people like Barb Thomas who has consistently provided snacks for after the service and also, with Hank, has transported less able to church. These are unseen but critical tasks for any group to function well. Thanks Barb and Hank. Or how about Keith and Chuck who have us ready to go each Sunday. Thanks guys! Or Antoinette who is frequently the greeter, and helps count the donations. Thanks again. Those members that help out with the children so the rest can be at the service - thanks. And I am afraid I am missing some. Please forgive me if I do.

It seems that we also have some members who seem to do over and above what is expected and we need to be careful about taking it for granted as it is really a specialty few could replace. I am thinking specifically about Juliana who not only does the PR faithfully, but also is transforming us into a respectable group of singers! Double hugs and special thanks for all you do for all of us. Naomi has been doing program for so long I am not sure she will know what to do with herself come June! Jim might have some ideas, eh? Thanks Naomi for your faithful, skillful, and consistent leadership. You make it seem so easy and in fact you have made it much easier for many others. I am very aware of that fact.

I take this opportunity to once again thank each of the current officers and committee chairs, and then also thank those who have stepped up to replace those leaving in June. I ask that all incoming officers and chairs attend the next board meeting (if possible) so we can talk about transitions. If you are unable to attend I ask that you connect with the current person in your position and get all the information you can about current functioning and needs, and the standard operating procedures of the position. The by-laws are at our website and it would be wise to read them for starters.

The next Board Meeting is May 7th, 8:30 A.M., at the Tainter office. If outgoing persons cannot be there for this meeting please let me know ahead so I can be prepared. We will once again look for a time which works for the new board which starts in June. It is nice to have a consistent time each month and that is what we will attempt first.

This past year has been one of transitions into the new building. Thanks to the many who have helped. This year will probably be one of consolidating our operating procedures and space in the new digs. We have increased our budget which may mean some financial stretching and creativity, and it looks to be an exciting year ahead at UU Menomonie. Let's attract some more people who we know are out there to join us.

With gratitude for being in my life, here and now.

Dennis Spader, Chair

WHAT'S GOING ON
In her book Radical Welcome:  Embracing God, the Other, and the Spirit of Transformation, Mother Stephanie Spellers, an Episcopal priest at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Boston, lays out her theology of "radical welcome."  This is a form of recognizing and acknowledging the multiplicities of our communities and going beyond inclusiveness to a true welcoming of The Other.  As she puts it, "We are already here:  the strangers, the outcasts, the poor, people of color, gay and lesbian people, young adults, and so many more.  We resonate with our church's theology and traditions.  We love our congregations and pray and labor for their health, growth and ministry.  That doesn't mean we feel welcome." 
 Next newsletter I'm going to write a reflection on this book, but before that I'd like to offer up some questions she asks in the chapter "Defining Radical Welcome" along with my answers.  I'd like you to reflect on your own responses in the coming month. 
1.  What words come to mind when you think of "welcome"?  What words come to mind when you think of "radical"?  How do these associations help or hinder as you consider radical welcome?
2.   When have you been radically welcomed?  When have you walked into a place and found yourself completely appreciated and valued and included, despite your expectations?
3.   When have you felt left out?  When have you entered a space only to discover no room for your voice or your identity?

1.   I think of being hugged after a long absence.  I often associate "welcome" with food and drink—in my experience someone being welcomed is at least offered those things in addition to a place to rest and some conversation.  When I think of the word "radical," I think of the less patient people I've known, people whose hearts and efforts were facing toward society's progression but whose tempers weren't necessarily attuned to the time it took.  Putting the two together seems almost like an oxymoron.
2.   I've told this story often in sermons, but it's still a good one.  When I moved to the Midwest for grad school, I'd been living in my car for several years, but I sold the car before coming out here.  I found a place to live in Mankato, Minnesota, but couldn't move in for a month, so I lived under a gazebo at a park seven miles out of town, bicycling in daily for my seminar.  George Berg, another seminar attendee, approached me one day and asked if I wanted to stay with his family for the remainder of the month.  I knew George was a Pentecostal fundamentalist Christian while I was anything but, but I accepted his offer because it seemed genuine.  I lived with him for almost four weeks and there was never a moment when I felt unwelcome or pressured or proselytized to.  We often talked about religion and spirituality and I felt my opinions were heard and heeded.
3.   Two decades ago, after the breakup of my marriage, I started dating other men as well as women, and in time joined GAYLA, the gay-lesbian association on campus.  Several of us started agitating for the inclusion of bisexuals in the literature for the group, if not in the name itself.  We were told by the officers of the group that there was no middle ground—we were either gay or straight, and if we were members and still dating the opposite sex we were at best confused and at worst self-hating.  I continued to attend meetings for a year but only because it was the place to meet other men. I never felt accepted or comfortable and I never joined another organization like it. 

—Bob Bledsoe, Commissioned Lay Leader

ANOUNCEMENTS
Childcare Volunteer Schedule:
Dennis and Lynn Hausman – May 4
Dennis Spader (and ???) – May 11
Scott Flaschenriem and Bill Jacobsen – May 18
Barb and Hank Thomas – May 25

On May 6th, take your old and unused medicines to the Red Cedar Clinic.  The hours are between 4 and 7 for dropping them off.
*******************************************************************************
Dear Presidents – as I get ready to head off to Omaha for the Annual Conference, I wanted to be sure that you have heard that the UUA has launched a new round of advertising in TIME magazine. Details follow:
The Unitarian Universalist Association has begun a second phase of national advertising with the April 14 edition (on newsstands now) of TIME Magazine, the most widely read news magazine in the United States with over 3 million subscribers and 21 million readers. The UUA full-page ad, which carries the slogan, "When in Doubt, Pray. When in Prayer, Doubt" includes an offer for a free DVD to introduce Unitarian Universalism to newcomers.
 The May 12 issue of TIME (available on newsstands May 2)—the popular "TIME 100" issue—will carry a UUA ad with the provocative headline, "My God is Better Than Your God," and will also include the free DVD offer. The TIME 100 issue features 100 people whose power, talent or moral example help to transform our world, and is one of the most heavily read issues of the year.
The UUA will also resume advertising using Google Adwords. Advertising via Google Adwords has already attracted thousands of new visitors to UUA.org, UUWorld.org, and the UUA's "Find a Congregation" website.
 The UUA's national advertising campaign is supported through the generosity of Unitarian Universalist congregations who contributed to Association Sunday, held last fall. The UUA's national marketing campaign has energized congregations and individual UUs.  For more information on the UUA's national marketing campaign, see http://www.uua.org/leaders/leaderslibrary/marketing/44189.shtml . 
*******************************************************************************From the Librarian
 Some suggestions for reading (which we don't have in our library)
Wrestling With the Angel of Democracy, by Susan Griffin
This is a personal journey of what it means to be a citizen of the United States with plenty of historical information and an exploration of the "psychology of Democracy" characterized by "equality, empathy, and truth-telling."  Griffin is an award-winning poet, writer, film maker and playwright.  She has won the MacArthur Grant for Peace.
All of Eliot Pattison's books about Tibet, set in the guise of Inspector Shan's (Chinese) adventures there.  These books are filled with the history of Tibet, woven in with the superb mysteries that are almost impossible to solve.  They clearly tell of the cruel and thorough occupation of this mysterious county by China.  You won't be sorry if you read these.  The Skull Mantra, Water Touching Stone, Bone Mountain, Beautiful Ghosts and Prayer of the Dragon.  Pattison is a lawyer and a frequent visitor to China.
Confessions of a Pagan Nun by Kate Horsley
Set in the 6th Century, this novel tells of a Nun who records her life and misgivings about Christianity coming from a Pagan background.  Beautifully written with many hidden suggestions about the period.
Also, for those of us who are activists, a new/old idea:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lisa-witter/sex-strike-for-peace_b_98742.html

IMAGINE
In 1933, newspapers around the world announced the death of a man named Li Chung Yun.  As officially and irrefutably recorded by the Chinese government, as verified by a thorough independent investigation, Li had been born in 1677.  When over the age of two hundred, he had given a series of twenty-eight, three-hour-long talks on longevity at a Chinese university.  Those who saw him at that time claimed that he looked like a man in his fifties, standing straight and tall, with strong teeth and a full head of hair.  When he died, he was two hundred fifty-six years old.

When Li was a child, he left home to follow some wandering herbalists.  In the mountains of China, he learned from them some of the secrets of the earth's medicine.  In addition to using various rejuvenative herbs daily, he practiced Taoist exercise, believing that which strains and tires the mind and body shortens life.  His favorite way of traveling was what he called "walking lightly."  Young men who went for walks with him when he was in his later years could not match his pace, which he maintained for miles.  He advised those who wanted strong health to "sit like a turtle, walk like a pigeon, and sleep like a dog."  When asked for his major secret, though, he would reply, "inner quiet."

Humanbeings-
Send me your light
Send me your darkness
Rest assured, you are divine.
A thousand screams of loneliness
A thousand screams of togetherness
Rest assured, you are divine.

Be hateful
Be loving
Thus know, you are being.
Move here
Move there
Thus know, you are moving.

Be mindfulness
Be mind-emptiness
Thus know, you are full, you are empty.
Namaste,
~Keith Bhutadaya

"All the world's a stage, and most of us are desperately unrehearsed."

                                                                             - Sean O'Casey
Do the best you can.

Please contact Penelope at penelopejm@gmail.com, if you have announcements or thoughts for the newsletter.