 |
April issue of
On the Journey: Care - Click
HERE
Message from the Sabbatical Minister, Rev. Kimberly Debus:
HERE
Message from the Minister, Rev. Meredith Garmon:
HERE
|
To protect ourselves and our neighbors, CUUC is holding our Sunday services and congregation events ONLINE ONLY - we are not meeting in person in our building. Please visit our website
cucwp.org for more information.
|
Small changes in brain neurochemistry can lead to big changes in your mood, resilience, memory, concentration, thoughts, feelings, and desires. Key protections include: avoid toxins, minimize inflammation, get regular exercise, and relax.
READ MORE
|
Upcoming Worship Services
S
un Apr 5, 10:00am Online Worship
"Taking Care. Giving Care" ~
Rev. Meredith Garmon, Tracy Breneman
Or call 646-876-9923 and enter
761 321 991
Centering Music at 9:50am ~ Worship at 10:10am
|
|
We have moved our worship online, and now we can take our collection online as well. Pay your pledge, donate to our Share the Plate, or contribute to our Minister's Discretionary Fund via PayPal by clicking "Donate" below.
|
|
We are reinstating our Benevolent Fund so we can offer no-interest loans to CUUC Members and Friends facing financial emergencies. To learn more, contact our treasurer, Chris Kortlandt. To donate to the fund, click "Donate," above, and select "Benevolent Fund." To request a loan, reach out to Rev. Meredith Garmon.
|
"A Tempo with Adam" Live Piano Interludes, Fridays and Mondays, 3:00-3:30pm, starting Fri Apr 3, in Adam's Zoom Room: zoom.us/j/2506008849 or call 646-558-8656 and enter Meeting ID 250 600 8849
CUUC Music Director Adam Kent performs live from quarantine for your listening pleasure, to offer comfort and community to those who find it in music.
|
Dear Ones,
The Gabriel García Márquez novel, Love in the Time of Cholera -- or, rather, the title of it -- comes often to my mind these days. I never read the novel, and, wondering if it would be a good choice for shut-in days, I read up about it. It's primarily a tale of dysfunctional romance, playing on the double meaning of the Spanish cólera, as both the disease and "passion or human rage and ire" -- like the English adjective choleric. I decided to order Daniel Defoe's A Journal of the Plague Year (1722) instead. Still, Márquez's title asks us: to what, in our current "time of cholera," does love call us?
I return from my sabbatical into a situation that feels quite extraordinary -- and, indeed, in our lifetimes, and in the Western world, is extraordinary. For the last several millennia of human history, however, this is normal. Ancient times saw plagues: the plague of Athens in 430 BCE, the Antonine plague (may have been smallpox) in the Roman Empire, 165-180 CE, to name two of the bigger ones. Medieval times saw plagues so recurrently that any village that hadn't had any plague in a generation (25 years), counted itself lucky. The Justinian plague in the 6th century killed somewhere between 25 million and 100 million people in the Byzantine empire. The most well-known is the bubonic plague that swept Europe, Africa, and Asia in the 14th century, killing about a third of Europe's population. More localized outbreaks continued for centuries. London endured nearly 40 distinct outbreaks of bubonic plague between 1348 and 1665. In the last 200 years, there have been seven cholera pandemics, the biggest being the third, from 1852-1860. The flu pandemic of 1918 was preceded by (and followed by) other flu outbreaks, including the flu pandemic of 1889 that killed about a million people.
Indeed, archaeological evidence indicates pandemics have been afflicting human civilization for at least 5,000 years. So here's a message for us in these extraordinary times: this is not extraordinary. This is normal. For thousands of years, people have been dealing with pandemics -- coping, caring for the sick as best they could, grieving their loss, continuing to do as much of the necessary work as they could.
This is normal. What is extraordinary is how long a stretch we -- we in the developed world -- have been without any pandemic. Also extraordinary are the remarkable tools we have today for understanding and combating disease, and for staying connected even as we are housebound. We have much grounds for gratitude.
Standing on the ground of gratitude, our spirits want to reach out in love, in care, in compassion. It's not always clear how to do that, but we are smart and creative. We will find the ways to love...
...in our time of "cholera."
Yours in faith,
Meredith |
From the Sabbatical Minister
So Long and Thanks for All the Fish
It seems so long ago and only yesterday that I arrived for our first service together in October. Since then, we've celebrated holidays and holy days, we've noted the changing seasons (and an odd lack of winter), and we've begun a different kind of being together in this time of pandemic.
We've done a lot - those who were present for the service on March 29 heard just how much we've done together and how good it is. I won't recap it here (go watch the service!), but know that you were already doing remarkable things before March 1, and are simply extraordinary now, as you figure out how to be in community in new ways, how to stay connected while physically apart... Read more HERE.
|
Director of Lifespan Religious Education
RE Family Check-In: We would like to know how our RE families are doing and what programming would provide needed support during this time. We invite families to complete a short check-in, click HERE. Thank you.
-
Tues, Wed, Thurs, 7:15-8:00pm Story Time for
Children of All Ages
in RE Zoom Room -4635
-
Tues & Thurs, 9:30-10:00am
PreK/K Story Time with Diane in RE Zoom Room -4635
-
Fri, 6:30pm
Senior Youth Group
(through 12th Grade) in Tracy's Zoom Room
-
Sun Apr 5, 11:15am Coming of Age Class
in Tracy's Zoom Room
-
Starting Fri, Apr 10,
Junior Youth Group
(Beginning at 6th Grade)
|
Our
YouTube Channel has videos of many past services. Check it out
HERE!
|
|
Zen Practice, Saturdays, 10:00am-12:00pm, CUUC Meeting Room 1
"
When you study Buddhism, you should have a general house cleaning of your mind." -
Shunryu Suzuki.
Weekly Saturday practice led by Rev. Meredith Garmon. Learn more HERE.
|
|
Virtual Wild Walk, Sat Apr 4, 4:00-5:00pm, via Zoom on Smartphone
Take a walk on the wild side by being part of our first ever virtual wild walk. We will use Zoom on our smartphones to share where we are walking and see where others are as well! Contact Rev. LoraKim Joyner (
amoloros@gmail.com) for login information.
|
|
Children's Story Time, Tues-Thu, 7:15-8:00pm, in the Private RE Zoom Room
The CUUC evening Children's Story Time is keeping our children connected with each other, supporting parents during these changing times, and growing our multigenerational community. Be a reader! Contact: Tracy Breneman (cuucwptracy@gmail.com).
|
|
Coffee Chat, Mon-Fri, 10:00-10:30am
Lunch Break, Mon-Fri, 12:00-12:30pm
CUUC Meeting Room 1
Drop in to our online coffee break and lunch chat times each weekday whenever you would like to see familiar faces, share stories, and support one another. Find these and other virtual offerings in the Online Programming Schedule at the link on cucwp.org, or click HERE.
|
|
A monthly conversation to help us grow wiser in good company. We will read
On the Brink of Everything: Grace, Gravity, and Getting Old
by Parker Palmer to spur on conversation and reflection. Contact: Rev. LoraKim Joyner (amoloros@gmail.com).
|
|
Covering our faces in public may help reduce the chance we unknowingly spread the virus. The CDC could provide more guidance soon, so until then here are ways to make your own simple face mask, shared by Dr. Mary Lane Cobb HERE and
Astrid Rogers HERE. And remember to still maintain social distance and wash your hands!
|
Opening in Gmail? Be sure to click "View entire message" at the bottom.
|
|
We need to count every New Yorker so that the state gets the vital support and representation it needs. If you haven't yet responded to the census, get counted
online
, over the
phone
, or by
mail
.
|
|
Monday Exercise Class, 5:00pm - Online
The ST PYS (Strength Training, Pilates, Yoga, and Stretch) exercise class that was meeting Mondays at 5:00pm, led by CUUC member Diane Terezakis, is now meeting online. Classes for the month of April are free! Contact: Diane Terezakis (diterezakis@gmail.com).
|
If we can help yo
u or someone you know in our community, reach out to this month's Caring & Sharing coordinators Lois Holt (
mediamomforlife@gmail.com
, 914-329-0603) or
Ingrid Hartmann (914-946-2026,
ih63053@gmail.com.
If you would like to join our C&S Circle of helpers, contact Astrid Rogers (
914-946-2026 or
astridrogers@aol.com).
|
Share the Plate for April: WCC Student Emergency Fund
This month we share half our non-pledge collection with the Westerchester Community College Foundation Student Emergency Fund. The students are facing unanticipated hardships in this unprecedented time. Gifts to the fund will meet immediate needs of students, especially those in crisis due to lost wages, and cover expenses such as food, housing, health care, and online access, enabling them to remain enrolled at the college during this unusual period.
|
|
This Week at CUUC
Visit cucwp.org/calendar and click on an event for login information. To reserve the Zoom online meeting rooms, contact admin@cucwp.org.
Friday, April 3 - 9:00am Past Prime Time Dance Party (TZR); 10:00am Coffee Break (MR1); 12:00pm Lunch Chat (MR1); 3:00pm A Tempo with Adam (Kent Personal Zoom); 6:30pm Youth Group (TZR); 7:00pm Journey Group: Sehdeva (MR1)
Saturday, April 4 - 10:00am Zen (MR1); 1:00pm Journey Group Facilitators (MR1); 4:00pm Virtual Wild Walk (Contact Rev. LoraKim)
Sunday, April 5 - 10:00am Sunday Worship (WS); 11:15am Coffee Hour (MR2); 11:15am Coming of Age Class (TZR); 11:45am Environmental Practices (MR1)
Monday, April 6 - 10:00am Journey Group Check-In: Kung (Kung Personal Zoom); 10:00am Coffee Break (MR1); 12:00pm Lunch Chat (MR1); 3:00pm
A Tempo
with Adam (Kent Personal Zoom); 5:00pm Rental: Exercise (Terezakis Personal Zoom)
Tuesday, April 7 - 9:30am PreK Story Time with Diane (TZR); 10:00am Coffee Break (MR1); 11:00am Nurture Nature: Liberating Wings (MR2); 12:00pm Lunch Chat (MR1); 5:30pm Racial Justice / In the Spirit of Truth (MR1); 7:15pm Children's Story Time (RE); 7:30pm Choir Rehearsal - Sop, Alto (MR1)
Wednesday, April 8 - 9:00am Past Prime Time Dance Party (TZR); 10:00am Coffee Break (MR1); 12:00pm Lunch Chat (MR1); 2:00pm Wise Aging Group (MR1); 6:30pm Choir Rehearsal - Tenor, Bass (MR2); 7:15pm Children's Story Time (RE); 7:30pm Board of Trustees Online Check-in (MR1)
Thursday, April 9 - 9:30am PreK Story Time with Diane (RE); 10:00am Coffee Break (MR1); 11:30am Science & Spirituality (MR2); 12:00pm Lunch Chat (MR1); 7:15pm Children's Story Time (RE); 7:30pm Journey Group - D. Manetta, K. McGahren-Clemens Check-In (Manetta Personal Zoom); 7:30pm Journey Group: Majsak Check-In (Majsak Personal Zoom)
Friday, April 10 - 9:00am Past Prime Time Dance Party (TZR); 10:00am Coffee Break (MR1); 11:00am Journey Group - Rev. Garmon (MR2); 12:00pm Lunch Chat (MR1); 3:00pm "
A Tempo
" with Adam (Kent Personal Room); 6:30pm SR Youth Group (TZR); 6:30pm JR Youth Group (tba); 7:00pm Journey Group: Sehdeva (MR1)
Saturday, April 11 - 10:00am Zen (MR1); 1:00pm Private Meeting (MR1);
Sunday, April 12 - 10:00am Sunday Worship (WS); 11:00am Coffee Hour (MR2); RE Activity tba
|
Dir of Lifespan Religious Education and Faith Development: Tracy Breneman,
cuucwptracy@gmail.com, 914-946-1660 x4 or 914-434-7539
Congregation & Communications Administrator: Pamela Parker,
admin@cucwp.org, 914-946-1660 x2
Board of Trustees
Social Justice Coordinators
|
 Your Moment of Zen: Maintenance
Mallard attended meetings for a while before asking her first question: "Aren't we wasting time just sitting here while the Blue Planet goes to hell?" Raven asked, "Do you waste your time eating?" "Is that all it is," Mallard asked, "Just personal maintenance?" Raven said, "Mallard maintenance, lake maintenance, juniper maintenance, deer maintenance." READ MORE |
The
e-Communitarian
newsletter is e-mailed each week.
|
|
|
|
|
|
