Torch Articles
As part of the program at the Refugee Resettlement Committee Volunteer Dinner tonight the following special recognition of volunteer efforts was made in the form of “Hannah Awards,” (recognition comparable to an Oscar, Emmy, etc.) Use of the name Hannah was inspired by its' Hebrew translation, meaning “grace” or “favor,” to capture the spirit of the RRC volunteer activity. Awards in the form of a prominent letter “H” (suitable for painting, plating, etc), were presented to those in attendance and will be delivered to other awardees later:
- "Walking Wounded Award" to Ron Anderson, who has continued to be active in donation pick up and delivery despite a recently aggravated leg muscle limiting his mobility.
- "Worthy Traveler Award" to Michael Pennie and Doug Roberts, who have traveled the farthest distance recently to be available for hauling duty.
- "Olympic Hopeful Award" to Bonnie Baty and Ross Chambless, for agility and creativity shown in unconventional access to dwellings in household delivery and set ups.
- "Rolling Wonders Award" to Andrea Globokar and Frank Globokar, for set up of the Pedal Project and successful refurbishing and delivery of donated bicycles, new helmets and locks.
- “Basket Bounties Award” to Nancy Rasmuson and Johanna Whiteman, for set up of the Welcome Basket Project and successful delivery of full baskets.
- “Happy Housewares Award” to Carolyn Erickson, Nancy Douglas and Nancy Howard, for skilled Unit 564 household donation related activity.
- "Beverly Hillbillies Award” to Jim Wilcox and Gary Widdison, for creative stacking and hauling of donations through downtown SLC.
- “Spinner of Gold/Successful Prospector Award” to Frank Steffey and Meredith and Robert Peterson, for RRC fund raising, e.g. managing KSL donation sales, etc.
- “Weather Warrior Award” to IRC Volunteer Coordinator Kayla Norman, for braving the first snow storm of 2017 to train IRC volunteers at First Church.
- “Fireman Award” to Richard Anderton, Joe Herring, Gene Mahalko, Will Morris, Mohammed Mushib and John Rasmuson, for response on short notice to urgent RRC activity.
Thank you to Rev Monica Dobbins, First Church Board member Jan Crane and IRC staff Jessica Anderson, Jess Sheets and Kayla Norman, for attendance tonight. And thank you to all RRC volunteers for making a positive difference in many lives.
Emerson was not particularly original in his personal restatement of the old catchy phrases like: As you sow, so shall your reap; cause and effect; chickens come home to roost; or the basic principle of Karma which makes it very clear that you better think before you act. There’s a notion that regardless how clever you think you are, you can’t get away with doing bad stuff. It all evens out in the end.
Emerson, however, proved somewhat original in applying these aphorisms to a moral plane where they became a sort of “multiplication table, which will always balance itself.” As in the above quote, “Every crime will be punished, etc.”
Compensation remains for Emerson a foundational law of the universe. Unlike religion which mollifies our consternation about life’s unfairness with retribution in the hereafter, Emerson insists we don’t have to wait that long. Instead, justice is served as surely as the fruit and seed are inseparable. He warns, though, that it may take some time for justice to be served: “Persons and events may seem to stand for a time between a man and justice. But this is only a postponement, for sooner or later the man must pay.”
I doubt that Harvey Weinstein, Bill O’Reilly, or Bill Cosby have read much Emerson in their time. Perhaps they would then have understood that the laws of compensation could never overlook the rape culture they fostered. Regardless of their status, influence, and ability to pay tens of millions of dollars in settlements, no one escapes the fact that every crime is punished. No one can rewrite the laws of the universe.
I sometimes wonder if Emerson is merely expressing his faith in justice, regardless how slow it may be in coming. Or whether or not he insists that the inevitability of justice is assured, that retribution resides in the law of compensation. Otherwise the universe would be unbalanced. Sins are writ large; everyone must pay.
The “#Me Too” has clearly demonstrated that our entire culture has been submerged in an assault on women, mostly with impunity. But every crime will be punished. It has taken us so long to finally come to terms with this transgression because of the very pervasiveness of objectifying women. It has become the norm, but not in the eyes of the universe. Justice will bring down the pigs.
The odd thing for me in all these recent “revelations” about powerful men wielding their clout for their own perverse satisfaction is that they still don’t get it. If money can’t buy women’s silence, then men feel that money can buy lawyers’ incrimination against female victims. Powerful men today still believe they can trick the universe into functioning unbalanced.
This is an interesting time for us all as we bear witness to the universe righting itself. It has been a long, slow, and painful process. But now the oppression of women can potentially right itself and prove Emerson correct again: “Every wrong redressed.”
We don’t know at this time how widely justice will extend. Might Donald Trump personally discover Emerson’s claim that retribution is the universal necessity? Trump may want to start reading some Emerson, or at least glance at the teaching of Karma. The law of action and reaction when applied to the moral plane can bring down anyone. Powerful men have their moments, but the universe and its laws always win out at the end. TRG
First Church is excited to begin a social justice partnership with Planned Parenthood of Utah. This partnership will include community gatherings, legislative action, and a volunteer sex education program benefiting incarcerated women.
We want YOU to get involved! The first step is to become a Planned Parenthood Ambassador. It's a simple process of signing up to be included in their email distribution list; then Planned Parenthood will notify you by email when a volunteer opportunity arises.
To become an Ambassador, please click this link. Scroll down to the middle of the page, and under "Become an Ambassador", click "Sign Up Now".
Then simply fill out the form, and watch for a welcome email from Planned Parenthood (note: it may appear in your spam filter!).
And be on the lookout for information from the Social Justice Council about opportunities to serve throughout the year!
In times of trouble in our lives, we need the support of our church community more than ever. But as the church grows, it needs new ways to approach the needs of our members and friends when they stumble upon tough times. That's why the Caring Network is getting an upgrade, and we need YOU to help!
In years past, the Caring Committee would email the volunteer list when someone in the church had an illness, a death in the family, or an emergency, and whoever was available would volunteer to fill the need. But as our church grows, a small committee can't fill all the needs. So instead, we're moving from a committee to a network. That means the committee will reach out to a few volunteers who live in the same geographic area and contact them DIRECTLY when there is a need. Neighbors helping neighbors, with better follow-through; and our relationships will grow stronger and deeper too.
In order for this to work, we need LOTS of volunteers! We're looking for 100 church members and friends who'd be willing to provide a meal, child care, or a ride to church a few times a year, for someone in your neighborhood who is sick or has had an emergency or death in the family.
If you can fill this need, please visit our website and fill out the NEW Caring Network Participation Form: http://slcuu.org/ programs/committees-and- groups/item/24-caring-network
Frequently asked questions:
1. I'm already signed up for the Caring Network. We are starting over with a brand new list, so please sign up again with the new form!
2. Are you trying to form a committee of a hundred people?! No - this isn't a committee, it's a network. But there will still be a committee, and we'd love for you to join!
3. How many times a year will I need to volunteer? It depends on how many people in your neighborhood have needs this year. But the more people we can sign up, the more we can do as a group, and the fewer things each person will have to do.
4. I'm still confused, how can I learn more? There will be a brief (15 minute) information session after both services on October 1st. Rev. Monica will describe the program and answer any questions, and of course be available to sign people up. Please also look for our table in Eliot Hall during the month of October.
REflections
Welcome!
Religious Education (RE) holds a central place in the life of our congregation. Our programs are based, in part, on the belief that the search for truth and meaning is a life-long pursuit. One of the roles of our faith community is to provide opportunities to embrace our heritage as Unitarian Universalists (UU) and to engage in experiences throughout life that help us stretch spiritually and personally.
We offer programs for children, youth and adults to help guide you on your spiritual paths. RE programs are age-appropriate and provide a safe and engaging place to explore growing personal beliefs. Religious Education for children includes infant and toddler supervision with highly-qualified staff at both the 9:00 and 11:00 am services. We offer a Pre-K and Kindergarten program for four and five year-olds as well as Sunday classes for children in grades 1-6. Sunday classes/religious education programs are offered only at the 11:00 am service.
This fall we are piloting a new program called Awake Camp for 5/6th grade children. The focus of this program is building awareness and skills in mindfulness, body-mind connection and being awake in—and responsive to—the natural world. The objective here is multifaceted: provide children with personal tools to help them focus, relieve stress, grow in individual control and be present without anxiety. These practices, we believe, enable pre-teens to develop a sense of spiritual life. Awake Camp curriculum incorporates UU Principles, the Golden Rule Project and service projects.
Middle schoolers and high schoolers continue to deepen their spirituality and beliefs as they develop their identities as Unitarian Universalists. Youth continue to learn about effective leadership skills.
We are hard at work living up to our theme this year—Faith in Action.
In Service,
Julie Miller, Amanda Esko and Lissa Lander, your dedicated RE Team
Faithful friends are a sturdy shelter;
Whoever finds one has found a treasure.
Faithful friends are beyond price;
No amount can balance their worth.
Faithful friends are a life-saving medicine.
--Wisdom of Sirach, 6:14-16
People often choose to join a church at a turning point in their lives: after experiencing a major loss; after moving to a new city; after a change in their family’s structure. And of course, people join churches when they are having a crisis of faith or personal identity. The days when people joined a church out of social expectation are passing by – we can see this in the growing number of “nones” and “spiritual but not religious” people in American life. People now need a positive reason to join a church, and often that reason is forged in crisis.
It is for this reason that I am convinced that churches are still in the business of saving lives, even if we may be getting out of the business of saving souls. And it’s not just our life-affirming theology that saves – many of us have been surprised to find salvation in serving other people. There is such longing to be a part of something bigger than oneself, such longing to be of service – especially in these times when selfishness and egotism dominate our common political discourse.
As our congregation grows larger, we may be surprised to discover that we no longer recognize all of the people who are invested in this church. That new face at coffee hour – does it belong to a visitor, or to someone who’s been attending for months, whom we’ve never had the pleasure to meet? That person carrying our church’s banner in the Pride Parade – have they been here all year? It seems there’s nowhere to sit at that special event… and how did that adult RE class fill up so quickly?
What a wonderful problem to have! But integrating new folks into the life of the congregation takes skill and discipline. It will require some new habits on the part of long-time members. Most importantly, we must never let ourselves believe that someone else is going to take care of it. We must live out our faith as individuals through practicing radical hospitality. You never know when that “new” person might be someone in crisis, someone who’s looking to make friends and find salvation through service.
What does that look like? Well, wearing your name tag is a good start. Be willing to risk the embarrassment of asking a “new” person for their name (even if you discover they signed the book last fall!). If you’re a member of a group in the church that you feel is making a real difference, take a chance and invite a “new” (or new to you!) person to join you. Remember, new folks want to find belonging; they’re more likely to get that feeling in a service project or a class than at a committee meeting. There’ll be time for that later.
I believe that Unitarian Universalism is a saving faith, no matter the size of the congregation. True, a growing congregation presents new challenges; but human need for connection and service remain the same no matter what. Let us vow to love and serve one another – “new” or “old”.
The Climate Crisis: A Fresh Look - What do We do, by When, and How?
Location: The Haven, First Unitarian Church, 569 S 1300 E, SLC
Time & Dates: 6:30PM-8:30PM, Thursdays (except for one Friday) Oct 12 & 27 (Friday), Nov 9, Dec 7, Jan 11 & 25, and Feb 8 & 22
We know that we are in a climate crisis. But, what does this mean? What are the most impactful things we can do? Where will we be most effective in focusing our action?
Will resisting Trump be consequent? Can cities and states “make Trump irrelevant”? Is education the path to follow? What about legislation? Petitions, rallies, demonstrations, protests, civil disobedience, lawsuits - what place do these efforts have?
Are all of these together, and more, enough to stabilize the climate? What if all the groups (local, state, national, international//large and small) working on all the efforts they are working on now actually accomplished their stated goals, will this stabilize the climate? And will it stabilize the climate at the 2◦C Paris Accord heat ceiling?
Are we in a climate emergency? If so, how can we tell and what does this mean? And if so, what do we do about it? Are current efforts sufficient, if they accomplish what they state is needed? If not, what more or different needs to be done, and how can it be accomplished?
The New York Magazine and author Wallace-Wells published “Uninhabitable Earth,” very recently. He interviewed dozens of experts and climate scientists. What is the importance of this article that millions of people have read and discussed?
The Fresh Look at the Climate Crisis will begin with Wallace-Wells article and include other readings that are just as intriguing, and perspectives that are just as informed by science and experts, and in so doing, together we will answer these questions.
This course will be a fascinating and challenging ride. We will have the input and involvement of some of the best climate scientists in the world, and we will examine information and implications that are not being discussed or explained at any level in the conversations about the climate crisis.
This course offers a completely different view of the Climate Crisis, a completely different view of your role in the crisis, and a completely different view of how to respond effectively.
This is not about telling those who come to the course to do more of what they are already doing, or to ask them to do the things they are doing better. This is something different and fascinating. This is a Fresh Look, and a Revelation.
Sign-up for this course online by clicking here or sign up at the Environmental Ministry Table at church on Sunday. The materials for the course: the readings, the discussion questions and thoughts will be circulated via email throughout the course. Attend the full course or specific sessions that fit your schedule. But please sign-up to receive the materials.
The content for the first session on Thursday, October 12th will be based on the “Uninhabitable Earth, the Annotated version.” A video that will be referred to is from Kevin Anderson, and the YouTube is here (Note: the hyperlinks to the course material will be sent by email to the entire class after registration.)
A key theme throughout the course will be to define and to deal with the Hydra-Headed Meta-Delusion that describes the way we have responded to the climate crisis so far. This particular type of mythological hydra, a ten-headed one, mated in its ancestry with a dragon. When a hero is able to cut off one head, two more grow in its stead. These two are each more deadly than the one severed. The blood from this hydra, if splashed on a human, causes the human to become insane in short order. This hydra’s greatest vulnerability is ice.
Reverendly Yours - Rev. Tom Goldsmith
“Our whole city is underwater right now,” said Mayor Derrick Freeman of Port Arthur, Texas. It seemed that Hurricane Harvey hit the town with more fury than anywhere else. Even the shelters were flooded.
I single out Port Arthur in the whole Houston area devastation because Port Arthur has been drowning for a long time in other ways, too, like poverty The media tries hard to make distinctions between Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Katrina twelve years ago in New Orleans. Katrina demolished the low-lying areas of New Orleans populated mostly by African Americans. Real Estate runs pretty cheap in the 9th Ward, where if the levees were ever breached, that district would be the most vulnerable.
And what we hear mostly these days is that unlike New Orleans, Houston’s Hurricane Harvey ostensibly affected rich and poor alike. Just like it says in the Bible: It rains on the just and unjust.
Bill McKibben thought it mighty interesting that places like Port Arthur were absolutely trashed by Harvey, where once again, contrary to news reports, the poorest people get hit the hardest. Port Arthur is a difficult place to live, even in the “best” of times. The town is affordable for the poor because of the daily pollution that comes from the fossil fuel industry.
Port Arthur can boast (if it wishes) having the largest oil refinery in the country, home to Motiva oil. The chemical plants that saturate the town, have now exploded and caught fire. Urban blight is featured in African American neighborhoods, and it becomes transparently obvious that human justice and earth justice are of a single thread. What is perilous for the earth is also perilous for vulnerable people.
At this point we still don’t know how relief aid will be distributed. Will the wealthier homes in Houston have an advantage? Will the fossil fuel industries receive a share of relief monies despite playing a guilty hand for decades in creating hurricanes that were once simply unimaginable? Will justice be equitably distributed in Houston’s efforts to rebuild? And we must ask the same for Southern Florida. And there are more hurricanes to come in this season alone.
And yet, at the same time when the ferocity of Hurricane Harvey hit land, Denmark announced that it sold off its last remaining oil company, and was going to use the cash to build more wind turbines. I don’t think hurricanes ever stray too closely to Denmark, yet the country (run by a conservative government), still has a sense of what the future means. We need to prepare for a new mode of existence, a new mode of powering our homes and industries, a new way of ensuring life on a fragile planet. It’s a certain mindset that we in our nation can’t seem to muster.
Bob Dylan may pose the question: How many hurricanes will it take till we change? The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind. TRG
Pam and Mark met through the Ogden Unitarian Church a little over 20 years ago and discovered on their first date that they grew up 10 miles apart in Southern California, went to rival high schools, graduated the same year and had many shared passions.
Pam, for over thirty years, taught psychiatric nursing and was a child therapist, and Mark, a former Investment Specialist, have both been retired for the past several years. This has given them time to spend with their three grandchildren, two of whom live in Vermont, and indulge in a shared passion for travel.
Pam’s major passion/interests are voracious reading, yoga, cooking, and volunteer activities. Mark is involved in many volunteer activities, particularly related to environmental and social justice. For several years both have been active volunteers at Red Butte Garden.
Upon moving Salt Lake, they were delighted to find the First Unitarian Church community and have very much enjoyed having it become an important part of their lives. Pam has taught Sunday school and through the church is involved with the VOA teen homeless shelter. Mark has played a role in helping the church divest from fossil fuels and is currently on the Endowment Committee. He is also active in the Environmental Ministry, the caring committee, and the hospitality team.
(October 2, 2017 Torch)
Recycle with Environmental Ministry
Environmental Ministry is still participating in four Terracycle recycling brigades. We collect a number of things, most of which are not recyclable through the city or county recycling programs. Then we send them to Terracycle, and the church receives a check paying us 2¢ for each item. Here are lists for those of you unsure just what things we collect:
Oral care products packaging: Any brand of toothpaste tubes and caps, toothbrushes, toothpaste cartons, toothbrush outer packaging, and floss containers. Sorry, no electric toothbrush parts are accepted.
Energy bar package recycling: Any brand of foil-lined energy bar wrappers; foil-lined granola bar wrappers; foil-lined meal replacement bar wrappers; foil-lined protein bar wrappers; foil-lined diet bar wrappers.
Cereal bags: Plastic cereal bags and box liners.
Personal care and beauty product packaging: Hair care packaging such as shampoo caps, conditioner caps, hair gel tubes and caps, hair spray triggers, and hair paste caps. Skin care packaging such as lip balm tubes and caps, soap dispensers and tubes, body wash caps, lotion dispensers and caps. Cosmetics packaging such as plastic lipstick cases, lip gloss tubes, mascara tubes, eye shadow cases, bronzer cases, foundation packaging, powder cases, eyeliner cases, eyeliner pencils, eye shadow tubes, concealer tubes, concealer sticks, and lip liner pencils.
We also collect electronic waste for the YRUU’s partnership with Planet Green at our table. This project is to earn money for their service trip next summer. Items collected are: Inkjet cartridges, laser/toner cartridges, cell phones and accessories, GPS and radar detectors, e-book readers, calculators, iPods/MP3 players, video/digital cameras, PDA’s, iPads/tablets, Video games and consoles.
Now that you know what to bring in, find a corner or doorknob where you can place a bag for collecting these items. Then take them to the bins next to the Environmental Ministry table. We plan to be there every Sunday except the weekend of the Art Fair, Celebration Sunday, and picnic Sunday, and we’ll be expecting you.
Volunteers Wanted
If you’ve ever considered volunteering with the Environmental Ministry, here’s your chance! We desperately need people to take the coffee grounds to the compost bins or to sort and take out the recycling. Both happen on Sundays after second service, the composting after 12:30. It only takes a few minutes to do either of these things, and each person does only one of the two, once a month. If you’re willing to help with either of them, please call Judy Lord at 801-513-9796