Dear First U Friends,

Can I share one of my favorite spring poems with you? 

It’s by Otagaki Rengetsu, a 19th century Japanese Buddhist Nun. Rengetsu lived a long full life that was as rife with tragedy, the death of two husbands and all of her five children, as it was rich with creativity and play, she was a renown potter, a poet, and a master of the game of go. 

One of my all-time favorite books of poetry is a collection of her poems entitled Lotus Moon: The Poetry of the Buddhist Nun Rengetsu. The poems in the book, all of them haikus, are organized by the seasons. Here’s one of the first ones from “Spring:”

A thousand grasses 

Run rampant in autumn

But to discover a 

Single sprout with two leaves:

The joy of spring!

So nice, right? That exclamation point? A nice wake up!

Friends, do you have a spring haiku in you these tender, awakening days? Why not write one to mark the season, perhaps even put an exclamation point at the end - a nice, wake-up! You remember how to write a haiku? 5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables. (The Rengetsu haiku above follows such a model, but let’s remember it’s been translated from Japanese so those syllable beats have moved around a bit in their English form.)

Here’s mine:

Doors are open now

Windows and eyes open too

Our Sanctuary!

Yours with a nice wake-up!

Rev. Hillary 

Come to church on Sunday, April 17th for colorful, spring-filled Easter festivities and celebration. Following the service, there will be an Easter egg hunt for children and youth.

Want to help with the Easter cheer? Pots of lilies, daffodils, pansies, tulips, and other spring flowers would begratefully accepted to adorn the sanctuary.

The covid-19 safety team continues to meet regularly to evaluate the current situation. With lower covid-19 numbers and warmer weather, we've made some changes to the covid-19 safety policy. Some changes you may notice include that we no longer are requiring spacing by every other pew in the sanctuary and the choir is permitted to sing in the sanctuary.

The church elevator is temporarily out of service. The Buildings & Grounds Committee are working with an elevator tech to address the problem. We apologize for the inconvenience and hope that if this poses a barrier for you that you'll join the service on Zoom.

On the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of the month, Rev. Hillary hosts "What Do UU Think?", a virtual drop-in discussion hour from 5-6pm. A link to the discussion will go out on the Wednesday email prior to our Thursday meeting. 

Each gathering will center on a curiosity-piquing piece of media that attendees will read, watch or listen to in advance, and then come together to discuss in depth. Rev. Hillary will share the accessible media - which could be literary, journalistic, musical, audial or visual - in Channels a week prior to the meeting. All are welcome to check it out and drop-in and share what UU think!

All youth (grades 5 - 12) and their friends are invited to come hang out, play games, and eat snacks at First Universalist. We hope to see you there!

Our theme for the month of April is awakening. What is it like to awaken to what really matters? It is often very easy to just pay attention to the surface things and not look any deeper. But when we do that, it is very possible that we will miss out on the truly important things of life.

In Children's Chapel this Sunday, we'll explore what's below the surface with a special art project and then we'll try out some balance games.

We encourage you to ask your Maine state legislators to support Amendment B of LD 1959 (An Act To Ensure Transmission and Distribution Utility Accountability) by using this easy action letter for your legislators or write your own letter or call. Emails and letters to the Governor are also helpful. MUUSAN is supporting Amendment B because it includes important provisions that Amendments A & C DO NOT.

A vote is also coming very soon on these two Climate bills. Please ask your legislator to vote for them as well.

Would you like to be on MUUSAN's email alert list? Sign up here to receive MUUSAN alerts. They will never share your email address with anyone else! You’ll receive on average two emails per month regarding important statewide advocacy actions that Maine UUs can take.

On Wednesdays from 12:00 - 1:00 pm Rev. Hillary will be holding an outside drop-in space at our church picnic tables. All are welcome to come by and check-in. (Weather permitting.) Throughout the week, Rev. Hillary will be holding office hours for individual conversations. These conversations can be on Zoom, over the phone, or in-person. Please reach out to Rev. Hillary directly to schedule a conversation, firstuminister@gmail.com. Note that Rev. Hillary is not available to meet on Saturdays and Mondays.