ISSUE 48                                                                                                                                                                                                JUNE 2020
Our "Art is Life" exercise this week is to see not only the chalice which you see during our livestream services or the one you light at home, but the "accidental chalices" that appear in nature (e.g. in tree bark, clouds or rocks) or at home (e.g. in an all but forgotten vase, the bottom of your cereal bowl or your rock collection). It is both an invitation to pay attention and to engage a more creative vision.

In this I am reminded of one of my favorite quotes from Dag Hammarskjรถld, former Secretary of the United Nations, who wrote: "Each morning we must hold out the chalice of our being to receive, to carry, to give back."

I wonder how that lands in you. For me, it reminds me that each day is new and asks me to decide how I will be. I know that, of course. And I am humbled by how easily and often I forget. I can be judgmental about that. Yet, I know as a human, I get distracted, irritated, busy, and oblivious. I need quotes and stories and (selectively chosen) social media posts to remind me to choose well.

Recently, on Twitter, I saw a post by author Glennon Doyle. It was a short video of her spouse, retired soccer star Abby Wambach, having a meltdown when she opened their refrigerator. She is groaning/growling as she notes the cartons of oat milk and dairy milk. Glennon is chuckling as she is filming this (something that would not go well in our home). Abby goes on to say in essence, "all I want is bananas, frozen strawberries and bananas. I order everyone the things they say they want. The oat milk and dairy milk are still here. My stuff is always gone. I have good stuff. People (referring, of course, to Glennon and their children) are always taking my stuff and not putting it back or replacing it."

Most of us, I suspect, have witnessed a similar response in ourselves. Maybe it wasn't about food. Maybe it was cleaning or putting gas in the car or filling the soap dispenser or some other household chore.

The thing that made this video so ironic was Abby's attire. Her white sweatshirt had just three words on it in the script above her heart: "I choose love."

Of course, she does. Like us, she holds love as a value, a choice and an action. 

And it is so easy to put it on a sweatshirt, to feel good and righteous and tender and faithful, pulling it over one's head. Yet, the rubber hits the road in how we act even in the small moments of our lives.

And in the small moments, most of us, from time to time we fall short. We don't act out the values we hold. Sometimes we act out of our values and it is those around us that fall short. 

In comes this month's theme, compassion. Literally, to suffer with. To companion so closely that we actually feel or relate to the pain being expressed. As adrienne maree brown puts it:  "For me, compassion usually means being able to see myself in others, my weakness or fear, my humanity."

We will fall short. I fall short. Still, when I am reminded to make a choice every day to hold myself out to receive, to carry and to give back, I know it will take living with compassion - for me and everyone else. 

Child psychiatrist Alice Miller wrote: "We are called to be enlightened witnesses: people who through their kindness, tenderness and attentive love, return people to themselves."

That's a call worthy of choosing to live into - even and especially in these challenging days.

Be gentle with yourselves. Stay safe and connected. I love you.
In This Issue
Board of Trustees Report
This month, t he Board firmed up the process for the upcoming congregational vote.  The Board  is also in the process of finalizing the annual ministerial review.

The Board wanted to express their sincere appreciation to the ministers and staff for their hard work and guidance during the pandemic
Thresholds  and Planned Giving
Many of us are in the threshold of "retirement," that time between regular work and the final threshold of living on this precious planet. It is a time to remember, reflect, tie up loose ends, give of ourselves and yes, play .  

Lois Abbott, a long-time JUC member who died recently, exemplified aging well. She and her late husband Frank contributed so much in time, talent and resources to the UU movement and JUC. She was a proud member of the Legacy Circle. We sincerely celebrate all Lois has given in many ways to benefit the future of JUC.

We invite you to join us as a Legacy Circle member by including a bequest to JUC in your estate planning.

Contact JUC's planned giving coordinators: Bud & B.J. Meadows , Mike Kramer or Carol Wilsey
In 1992, in the professional journal Nursing, Carla Joinson shared with the world the idea of compassion fatigue. She had been studying emergency room nurses, and found that the particular circumstances in which they worked, where they experienced loss and the impacts of tragedy, violence and the randomness of life meant that they were at much greater risk of "the emotional burden that health care providers may experience as a result of overexposure to traumatic events that patients are experiencing."

The research has found compassion fatigue in a wide range of professions since then. While the work focused on those who are experiencing trauma, I was reminded of it in our current context because of the intersection of the emotional challenges of being present to other's suffering along with the ongoing nature of it all. As a loving people we may not be experiencing clinically diagnosable compassion fatigue, but we are all at risk of the kind of burnout, whether in caregiving, justice work, or just being present to the pain of the world.

One widely used assessment of compassion fatigue potential is the Professional Quality of Life Scale,  which says it is "associated with feelings of hopelessness and difficulties in dealing with work or in doing your job effectively. These negative feelings usually have a gradual onset. They can reflect the feeling that your efforts make no difference, or they can be associated with a very high workload or a non-supportive work environment."

Signs of compassion fatigue include: 
  • Feeling burdened by the suffering of others
  • Blaming others for their suffering
  • Isolating yourself
  • Loss of pleasure in life
  • Difficulty concentrating
  • Insomnia
  • Physical and mental fatigue
  • Bottling up your emotions
  • Increased nightmares
  • Feelings of hopelessness or powerlessness
  • Frequent complaining about your work or your life
  • Overeating
  • Excessive use of drugs or alcohol
  • Poor self-care
Perhaps some of these symptoms feel familiar to you right now. If they are, you should know you're not alone. And that it might be a sign that you need some help. You might need professional help. Or a spiritual check-in with your minister. Or you might just need to take some steps to manage how much you are exposed to the suffering around you. As Rev. Wendy recommended in a sermon not long ago, you can limit your news intake, as a start. Or as one of our members, Inge Sengelmann, put it in a blog post not long ago,  "We don't have to wait until the global pandemic and economic crisis ends in order to relax.  In fact, attending to the natural cycles of activation and de-activation in our nervous system on a daily basis increases our capacity to tolerate higher intensity, and easily return to a restful state."

One of the most basic spiritual practices is that of awareness. Awareness of self. Awareness of others. Awareness of the world. So if you are struggling to remain compassionate to the suffering that is part of these days, take some time to check in with yourself. Notice your body. Notice your breathing. Notice your feelings. Notice. And when you've had too much, find a way to step back. Because what the world needs isn't more burned out formerly compassionate people, it needs all of us in it for the long haul.
Living, Loving, and Learning: The Heart of Faith Formation 
I have been a religious educator for nearly 15 years, and in that time, I have experienced numerous obstacles and challenges. But I never imagined I would be serving a church that didn't meet in person (temporarily). Wow! What a time to be in ministry, and what an honor to be exploring all the ways we are learning to be in ministry together!

Dr. Barry Andrews, a UU Minister, offers us that if religion is about anything, it is about "being alive and engaged...it is about enchantment, compassion, transformation, and self-renewal." William Ellery Channing reminds us that, "the great end in religious instruction is to awaken the soul, to excite, and cherish spiritual life." Faith formation's task in Channing's words "is not to stamp our minds on a child [or adult- I say!], but to stir up their own; not to give them a definite amount of knowledge, but to inspire a fervent love of truth; . . . not to form an outward regularity, but to touch inward springs." I do not believe anyone has spoken wiser words about faith formation and not only for our children but also for every adult. Faith formation is not merely about the accumulation of information, but living, loving, and a depth of learning that changes and transforms us.  

And how do we, as a faith community, move deeper into meaningful faith formation that is living, loving, and a depth of learning that changes and transforms us in a time of physical separation? Well, we do not know for sure because we have never been here before, BUT we can be curious and open to discovering ways to make it happen!

To parents: as much as religious educators would love to take credit for your child's faith formation, the credit does not belong to us. You, my dear hearts, are your child(ren)'s, primary religious educator. What? It's true! Your children spend less than an hour a week in RE classes. Home is where your children receive nurturing, acceptance, and love, which is the foundation of faith formation. Children are given explanations of the world, values, and advice about important life events and topics at home. It is with you that children experience attitudes toward faith, meaning, and purpose that they will notice and model. It is with you that they have the opportunity and safety to develop, practice, and flourish in their faith.

To adults: worship service is an excellent tool for growth and learning. Going Deeper groups, meditation or yoga class, or study groups do this as well. But just like with families, home is where you do most of your living, and it is where your faith formation occurs. It is where you discover the meaning behind your experiences, a chance to practice what you have learned, to try out, or on, these learnings to determine whether you will hold them or release them.

JUC is here to support children, families, and adults on your faith formation journey. The only requirement is that you approach it with curiosity and with an understanding we are "experi-learning" together. (Karen Bellavance-Grace, creator of Full Week Faith) We are learning together, as we go, in a time that is new to all of us.

JUC's ministry's team is so excited to be introducing weekly Living, Loving, and Learning Faith Formation Guides for children, youth, families, and adults. These guides will expand your Sunday morning worship experience and offer you and your family opportunities to keep the message, music, and stories alive all week long in your home and in your lives. Our first guides will arrive in your email on Monday, June 8.

Remember JUC; you are not alone. We are here to tend to and care for one another's hearts and souls and we are here to support you. As we remain at our social distances, may faith formation renew our connections to living, loving, and learning that changes and transforms us.
Wake, now, compassion give heed to the cry,
Voices of suffering fill the wide sky.
Take as your neighbor both stranger and friend
Praying and striving their hardship to end.

The hymn "Wake, now, my senses," with its lilting Celtic tune and words by recently deceased UU minister Rev. Thomas Mikelson, has long been significant to me as a nearly complete UU theology. Its verses range in scope from paying attention to one's environment, "Wake, now my senses and hear the earth call," honoring to how we need one another "giving, receiving as love shows us how" through the importance of the mind and acceptance of what the mind cannot understand "wake now, my reason, reach out to the new.... Suffer thy limit, and praise the sublime" to call to social action "join with all people whose rights are denied," all the way to religious community "mingle my calling with all who will share." In its five verses I find inspiration, breadth, depth, and encouragement.

It was this song that I explored at the final JUC-Evergreen service a few years ago, and this song that formed the basis of a service that Rev. Eric and I offered in September 2018. There are so many layers that even a single line invites deep reflection.

The words of the third verse guide to an awakening of compassion, feeling the pain along with those whose who are suffering. It's almost unbearable to think about "voices of suffering fill the wide sky." I have found that those times I have been traveling in countries like India it is easy to see the hardships that people are facing. Outside my own culture, noting poverty and hardship, with little to lose because of my outsider nature, I can more readily notice and admit homelessness, lack of food, cultural norms that oppress, medical inequities. "Why don't they do something about it?"

In my own ocean, all of those sufferings exist as well, but it is easier for them to be invisible to me. Have you ever watched a Shakespeare play? For me, the first 15 minutes are unintelligible - I can't understand the words or phrases, and some of the notions are difficult. By the end of the play, it has become much easier to simply listen and understand - the challenges and conventions disappear as I am acclimated. Well, imagine how acclimated I am to the culture in which I live, and how easy it is to forget someone else's pain, especially in order to do something about it I have to change a system that benefits me.

"Wake, now, my senses," gives me encouragement.  Take as your neighbor both stranger and friend. And not prayers and wishes, but  praying and striving - deeds - in order that their hardship might end. 

In this time of COVID-19, this time of new and unprecedented suffering, you've heard all of the advice. Reach out to those who could use a friendly word. Stay home if you can to prevent the spread of the virus. Support local business and charities. Maybe one of the most important ways to engage with this time, however, is in that word compassion. To feel with. To keep the heart open enough to feel another's pain or share your own - knowing the paradox that even as the heart breaks, the heart is at the same time becoming more whole. Use this time to become more human.
Ken Andrus, Trustee

As many of us probably know by heart, the 2nd UU Principle is  "Justice, Compassion and Equity in Human Relations."

Compassion  is part of who we are.  We strive to convey our  feelings of caring and love for all people.  Doing so makes us feel more connected with ourselves and our community.

This quality of ours also makes enduring this pandemic difficult for us as a church community.  We are about hugs, group gatherings, elbow-to-elbow conversations in the commons area, leaning into each other - both literally and figuratively. 

Social distancing is about as non-UU as it gets.

But in spite of this inconvenience, we do get it. For the greater good, we have adopted a new normalcy, and new ways to show our compassion. With the help of technology, and with a bit of resourcefulness, we stay in touch with friends, loved ones and fellow members. We take pictures to share and keep us visually connected. We meet virtually to share our thoughts and beliefs in our Going Deeper groups. We schedule calls and post reminders to reach out to each other on a regular basis. We sing and play music together. We show our compassion by donating to good causes online. 

And we will continue to be resilient, to adapt, to find new ways to share our compassion, in big ways and small, to keep the spirit of our church thriving and active.
 
Andy Melick

COVID-19 Impact

Construction of the home JUC starting building in March - in conjunction with Jeffco Interfaith Partners - has been suspended until July at the earliest. JUC's next scheduled build day was June 12, but that's been cancelled. Habitat Metro Denver is evaluating how to resume operations when public health concerns allow, including what safety precautions will be necessary and how many volunteers to have on site.  It's possible the entire construction schedule will shift to the fall. Please keep in mind that when things do "normalize," H4H will need more help than ever.

One bright spot in all the uncertainty is that Habitat ReStores have reopened on a restricted basis.  Over the years, Habitat Restores have diverted 9.6 million tons of waste from landfills and served 210,000 families.

The vetting of prospective owners for the home we worked on last year in the Swansea neighborhood has been delayed as well due to the pandemic. Check out this video of the home.  The JUCers who volunteered in 2019 can say, "I built that!"

In 2019, Habitat Metro Denver served 220 families by building or preserving homes, and sponsored 67 homes in other countries. 20,000 volunteers donated 150,000 hours. During this time of pandemic, safe, stable, affordable housing has never been more important. Thank you!