In the December edition of Touchstones, Rev. Kirk Loadman Copeland includes the following:
The meaning of the word healing goes back to the 13th century Old English sense of "restoration of wholeness." A later sense from the 1670s was the "touch that cures." The Rev. Fred Recklau in Partners in Care: Medicine and Ministry Together offers a thoughtful, extended comparison of cure versus healing. He writes, "Cure alters what is; Healing offers what might be. Cure is an act; Healing is a process. Cure acts upon another; Healing shares with another. Cure manages; Healing touches. Cure seeks ultimately to conquer pain; Healing seeks to transcend pain. Cure ignores grief; Healing assumes grief. Cure encounters mystery as a challenge for understanding; Healing encounters mystery as a ready channel for meaning. Cure rejects death and views it as defeat; Healing includes death among the blessed outcomes of caring. Cure may occur without healing; Healing may occur without cure. Cure separates body from soul; Healing embraces the soul. Cure tends to isolate; Healing tends to incorporate. Cure combats illness; Healing fosters wellness. Cure fosters function; Healing fosters purpose." Cure has to do with the body, while healing has to do with emotions and the soul. And when a cure is not possible in cases involving a disability, a chronic illness, or a terminal illness, we are wise to pursue healing.
I'm particularly moved by the statement "Cure encounters mystery as a challenge for understanding; Healing encounters mystery as a ready channel for meaning." As we enter another holiday season, I want to invite you to participate in the variety of "channels" we have crafted for you to deepen meaning in your life this Holiday Season.
Sunday, December 4, we gather at 10 am to explore "Digging Up the Foundations of Faith" which honors the ways we continue to be challenged to redefine popular religious sensibilities remembering the contribution of Faustus Socinius, one of the early founders of Polish Unitarianism.
Sunday, December 11 at 10 am we gather for worship to explore the art and spiritual discipline of patience which is so central to this season of waiting and wondering.
Sunday, December 18 we will host our
Annual Winter Solstice Service at 10 AM including the Tale of Illiana.
Then we gather for the most festive service of our year at
4 pm for the Annual Holiday Vespers Service followed by our
Annual Vespers Tea. If you are willing and interested in helping to set up, serve or clean up following our Vespers Tea, please sign up
HERE.
Saturday, December 24 we will gather at 7 pm for our
Annual Christmas Eve Service "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" to honor the eve of Christmas with music and readings for the season.
Sunday, December 25 we gather with friends from 4 other local congregations for an
Ecumenical Christmas Day Service "The Gifts of Presence" at First Baptist Church at 10 am (corner of Salisbury and Park Ave., Worcester).
Sunday, January 1 at 10am, we begin the new year with
Guest Minister and Legacy of UUCW, Rev. Jennifer Innis who will return to our sanctuary for the first service of the New Year.
As has been the tradition of UUCW there are also a variety of ways to Gift and Give through a variety of means. Please see the information below to discover ways you too can gift and give this season.
Aaron