Greetings Friends,
Welcome to Windows Weekly, Albany UU's central source for news and updates.
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-Blessings and Be Well
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MULTI-PLATFORM SUNDAY SERVICE
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SUNDAY SERVICE at 10:00 AM
Begin your Sunday morning with an 8:30 Meditation session until 9:20.
Service begins at 10:00 each Sunday
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Oct 31 “Great Pumpkin Day” with Rev. Sam Trumbore and
Elizabeth Baldes
Come celebrate Halloween safely in our multigenerational service.
Music: Elena Karpoff
Multi-platform 10:00 AM Sunday Services
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NOVEMBER SUNDAY SERVICE INFORMATION
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Nov 7 “Truth Matters” with Rev. Sam Trumbore
A common consensus of what is true is under sustained attack. Contemporary social media bent on sensationalism wallowing in cesspools of conspiracy theories undercuts confidence in what is true. The former President’s disregard for truth was relentless creating “fake news” as fast as he attacked truth using those words. This behavior is the hallmark of authoritarianism, what we’d expect from Putin in Russia. Seeking and speaking the truth cannot be taken for granted. Defending it is vitally important.
Music: Albany UU Virtual Choir, Randy Rosette
Nov 14 “The Minority Opinion” with Rev. Sam Trumbore
The hard, cold, cruel truths of American history are very hard to bear for anyone with a social conscience. The nation inherits genocide, chattel slavery and environmental devastation often justified to benefit future generations. Not everyone joined or cooperated with those acts of racism, exploitation and oppression. Let us honor the role of the resisters then … and now.
Music: Ann Brandon, Chris Bystroff, Randy Rosette
Nov 21 “Teaching Peace, Embodying Peace” with Rev. Dr. Leonisa Ardizzone
The world is calling for transformation and peace education offers an accessible model for a more thoughtful, critical, and systemic way of understanding conflict, violence, and the possibility for a more just and sustainable future. Join peace educator Rev. Dr. Leonisa Ardizzone to explore ways to know peace, teach peace, and embody peace.
Music: Alyssa Yeager
Nov 28 “Transcendentalist Roots of Justice” with Rev. Sam Trumbore
Important social and civil rights issues we fight for today are rooted in actions, thoughts and writings of the nineteenth century Transcendentalists. Some were early advocates for gender and racial justice. They were ahead of their time, making the pathways for us to move beyond them.
Music: Ann Brandon, Ireta London
Join us in Community Hall
Use this link to join Sunday service virtually
To dial in by phone: 1-929-436-2866:
Meeting ID: 299 018 7785
Password: 0000
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Sunday Offering
and other service information
Sharing Joys and Concerns during Service
Donating flowers for Sunday service
Go to Sunday Hospitality Sign Up to sign up. You can leave a comment to let us know if you will be arranging or if you'd like a member of the Flower Team to arrange for you. You can also tell us your dedication. Or you can always contact the church office to sign up if you prefer: admin@albanyuu.org. Thank you!
Need to Talk? Albany UU Pastoral Care Associates are here to listen!
Archives
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History as a Prod for Transformation
I find it increasingly hard to have much national pride the more I learn about the real history of this country. There are a lot of offensive things that have happened. The genocide against indigenous people of the Americas beginning in 1492. Chattel slavery that became institutionalized beginning in 1619. The whole Southwestern portion of the country taken from Mexico. The oppression of peoples of Spanish and Central and South American descent. The exploitation and discrimination against Chinese, Japanese, Asian and Pacific Islanders in the Western part of the country. Jim Crow domestic terrorism after the Civil War. And then the worldwide oppression of women, girls and those who are gender variant or have a sexual orientation other than heterosexual. And the epic neglect and oppression throughout history of those with disabilities. The more I learn about the past, the more disturbed and horrified I am of “the good old days.”
Who were benefitting while all these people were suffering? My European ancestors, some of whom have lived on this continent since the late 1600’s, invited here to settle by William Penn in what is now Eastern Shore Maryland and Pennsylvania. Whether or not they owned slaves or harmed Indigenous people, they benefited from the governing systems that codified oppression and economic systems built on a slave economy.
Because of the guilt, regret, and shame I experience investigating this history, I appreciate emotionally why people might not want to do it. That would be especially true if one were to believe that the past were better times than the present, a heritage to celebrate and cherish. The mythologizing of history filters out the atrocities and views so much that was bad, even evil, through a gauzy filter that softens the edges. The 1619 Project sponsored by the New York Times rips the filters off. It reveals the omissions and distortions in what these folks would rather remember: a sanitized version that can be handed down to their children so they will celebrate their ancestors – who may not be worthy of their praise. Critical Race Theory also exposes the hypocrisy of passing laws that claim to address the past but are undermined by the continuing and minimally reformed systems of White Supremacy that they also don’t want to acknowledge.
So while I’m quite critical of those attacking the 1619 Project and Critical Race Theory, emotionally I understand their … and my … predicament. I share the desire to have pride in one’s heritage and history. Dismantling that pride has been very unpleasant. I’m willing to do it though because I don’t want to live a lie. Building Beloved Community will require an accounting of that past and restorative processes such as truthful accounting of the harm done, reconciliation and reparations.
The delusion to expose is that the past was somehow better and we’d be happier if we could go backward in time rather than forward. Perhaps this is a biproduct of the experience of nostalgia. Yet it is an illusion to think there is any way to do that or even any value in doing it. If you are a former slave, there isn’t a better time to go back to much further than 1965. That doesn’t mean there weren’t positive experiences to appreciate in the past. The stories of Black Harlem or Black Wall Street were and are inspirational. Yet there is no reason to want to roll the clock back to those days.
Another way to engage the horrors of our history is as stimulation and motivation to change. The pain generated by remembering the crimes and injustice of the past can energize the resolve to respond, grow, change, and develop. Being willing to face that past directly and honestly might drive this nation to live into a beautiful vision of multi-generational, multi-ethnic, multi-racial, multi-religious harmonious community embedded in the heart of who and what America can and even aspires to be.
This approach is grounded in positive, inspirational, core values, practices, and ideals to which our Unitarian and Universalist ancestors aspired and passed forward to us. They may not have been able to create a nation that embodied the values of democracy, equality, freedom, opportunity, peace, and justice. Yet many made those commitments and acted to affirm those values. We can acknowledge their failures, recognize the limitations of their understanding, and appreciate how they put them into action. We can also celebrate the times they did stand up and fight for those values whether they succeeded or not.
May we respond to Samuel Anthony Wright’s challenge to create that future:
We would be one in building for tomorrow
a nobler world than we have known today.
We would be one in searching for that meaning
which binds our hearts and points us on our way.
As one we pledge ourselves to greater service,
with love and justice, strive to make us free.
~ Rev. Sam
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Don't miss out!
ONLY 2 DAYS LEFT TO ORDER YOUR PIES!
LAST DAY FOR PIE ORDERS IS TOMORROW, FRIDAY, OCT 29th!
Order your apple, apple-cranberry and/or pumpkin pies now for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Any questions, contact Sandy Stone (518-489-8293) or Barb Manning (518-439-4226).
October 29 is the deadline for ALL pie orders and
Nov 5 is the deadline to order Soups!
All items MUST be pre-ordered so don’t wait! Order now!
Order deadline is Friday, Oct 29 for ALL PIE orders
Order deadline is Friday, November 5 for ALL SOUPS
All pies are $15.00 each
Soup/Chili - $9.00 per quart, $5.00 per pint
Hot Fudge - $10.00 per container
Please note that those folks who live out of town, we apologize, but we will not be able to ship items at this time.
On Sunday, Nov 21 and Sunday, Dec 5, from 12-3pm each day, you can pick up your order - for everything - at Albany UU. A few distanced, mask-wearing and safety conscious volunteers will be there to give you your order and take your money - for everything - cash or check only, please, and you need only write one for it all!
Thank you for your support!
Next up - Crafts!! Coming your way soon... keep a weather eye...
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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION for
CHILDREN and YOUTH
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Sunday 10/31: Families are invited to our Halloween-themed service for all ages at 10AM, followed by a Halloween Party coordinated by our Youth Group, upstairs in the RE wing. Trick or treat take home bags will be provided to attendees in place of in-person refreshments. A good time for all is in store, and we hope to see you in your Halloween costume, regardless of your age!
Many thanks to Youth Group and their advisors (Tracey Hickey, Becky Edvalson, and Ashley Keegan) for putting on this special event.
To support our Trick-or-Treat with UNICEF campaign: Albany UU Donation Page. Donations will support UNICEF's efforts to deliver 1.4 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses around the world—along with masks, hygiene supplies, treatment, and diagnostic kits.
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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
DISCERNMENT PROCESS
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November Sessions: Explore our religious education future!
Join consultant Michele Townsend Grove and members of the board, religious education council and staff as we dream into our lifespan religious education future. Everyone is invited to be a part of one or both of the November sessions.
Wednesday, November 3, 2021 7:00 PM Session One: What have we learned so far? How does it inform our goals?
Wednesday, November 17, 2021 7:00 PM Session Two: Dreaming and Naming
Religious Education Questionnaire:
Here is another way to provide input. Please take a few moments to fill out this lifespan religious education survey using the GREEN Google form: https://forms.gle/JRpDye4zcV4ZtjmX7
Please note that many of the questions in this survey can be answered with a picture. If you prefer to draw or sketch your answer – then take a picture of your (or a member of your family’s) creation and send to townsendgrove@gmail.com
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UPCOMING WAYS to CONNECT
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Board of Trustees
Use the service link to join:
To dial in by phone: 1-929-436-2866:
Meeting ID: 299 018 7785
Password: 0000
Judy Hanson Memorial Service
Join us in the Sanctuary or on Zoom on Saturday, Oct 30 at 2:00 PM for a virtual memorial service for long time member, Judy Hanson.
Use this link to join remotely:
By phone: 929-436-2866
Meeting ID: 299 018 7785
Password: 0000
Start your Sunday Morning with Meditation 8:30 - 9:15 AM
We will sit together for twenty minutes then have some conversation about the talk, meditation methods or experiences followed by a live loving kindness meditation.
Use this link to join remotely:
By phone: 1-929-436-2866
Meeting ID: 299 018 7785
Password: 0000
The Green Sanctuary Team will be meeting virtually on Sunday Oct. 31 (note date change from previous publications). All environmentally concerned Albany UUs are invited to join us at 11:30.
Use this link to join:
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Philosophy Group
At 10:15 AM every Tuesday, the Albany UU Philosophy Group will meet via zoom to discuss the topic of the day. All are welcome.
Use this link to join:
By phone: 1-929-436-2866
Meeting ID: 987 7102 4708
Password: 0000
Bridge Group
Tuesdays, 1:00-3:00 PM, Room B-8 at Albany UU. No matter how many people come, all are fitted into play. All are welcome and assumed vaccinated. Due to the nature of this group, there will not be an online option offered.
Ps and Qs
At 10:00 AM each Wednesday, Projects and Quilts (Ps and Qs) will meet in Room B-8 at Albany UU.
To join remotely, use this link:
By phone: 929-436-2866
Meeting ID: 299 018 7785
Password: 0000
Albany UU Sings
Join your friends on these fall Wednesdays at 7:00 PM and sing your heart out in Virtual Community! We will supply the music and the lyrics.
Nov 3, 17
Dec 1, 15
Hope to see you there.
Use this link to join:
By phone: 1-929-436-2866
Meeting ID: 979 5961 1765
Passcode: 0000
Walker Book Group
Join the Walker Book Group for a Zoom discussion on Sunday, November 14 at 6:30 pm. Join at 6:15 for additional time to socialize. We will discuss Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell. Learn more here.
Use this link to join:
By phone: 929-436-2866
Meeting ID: 299 018 7785
Password: 0000
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“Covenant and Conflict….At the same time?"
Erica Baron poses this question in an article in the UU New England Region newsletter. She challenges the assumption that we can either be in covenant or in conflict, but not be in both at the same time.
There are various scenarios where we work together, such as committee or board meetings, workgroups, workshops, congregational meetings, etc. We begin with an assumption, based on a written, stated or unspoken covenant, that creates a safe space to do this work together, to “show up and be vulnerable.” Baron suggests that we may secretly have an expectation that covenant will prevent conflict from ever happening. However, she notes that there will always be things that we disagree about. Since congregations are places where we engage in things that really matter, we are likely to have strong feelings about what we disagree over.
Viewing conflict as “falling out of” covenant can have negative consequences for individuals and congregations. It can lead to individuals believing someone else has broken the covenant, or turning on people who have raised issues that need addressing, or feeling a loss of closeness to others in the congregation, walking away from congregational activities or leaving the congregation.
Baron invites us to view conflict in a more transforming way. "If we try to win, control others, disappear from the conversation, or silence others, we lose the capacity to learn from the substance of the disagreement….There is so much richness that we lose by cutting off the possibility of walking into and engaging conflict covenantally.” Compassion and a desire for cooperation can open the door to curiosity about why others feel so deeply about something we may disagree with.
Transforming how we think about covenant provides a way to “hold us through difficulty,” asking us to be our best selves, reassuring us that we are “still in it together - that we all still belong.”
Covenants, and their intentions, can be robust and resilient - if “we keep firm our commitment to belong to each other, to care about each other’s welfare, to treat each other well, even when it is hard.”
Rev. Erica Baron joined the New England region staff in 2019. To read the full article:
…from the Conflict Transformation Workgroup
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Individuals and committees/teams were invited to submit proposals for the use of Strategic Reserve Fund funds
We will have a congregational conversation on November 7, 2021 to discuss the various submitted proposals. Your input will aid the Board in making a decision regarding this unique opportunity.
Read the proposals here:
Congregational Conversation:
Sunday November 7; 12:00 – 1:30pm
Use this link to join remotely:
By phone: 929-436-2866
Meeting ID: 299 018 7785
Password: 0000
Rev. Trumbore and his wife Philomena will be in Rome, Italy, November 15-21, to see Rev. Sam’s sister, Dr. Susan Trumbore, receive the Balzan Prize. Those who may need pastoral care during that time may contact Tammy Hathaway in the office for a referral or contact one of the Pastoral Care Associates directly.
It's not too late to join a learning opportunity with our minister:
Reading Octavia Butler’s Novel “Parable of the Sower” guided by Adrienne Maree Brown and Toshi Reagon’s podcast. Check out the podcast here.
Rev. Sam has organized a book study class to introduce the deep theology and cultural analysis found in Octavia Butler’s Afro-Futurism novels. The source for the class is a podcast called Octavia’s Parables by Adrienne Maree Brown and Toshi Reagon. Both are deeply devoted to her as a writer and a source of inspiration for their activism and their artistic work. The class will meet from 7-8pm on Sunday nights on Zoom. Learn more here. To register, please send an email to registration@albanyuu.org.
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Raise Your Voice for End of Life Choice
Call to action: It’s still not too late to add your voice to the more than 1,500 New Yorkers who signed a petition to urge Governor Kathy Hochul to support medical aid in dying. Sign here.
Volunteer opportunity: Join a Zoom meeting with a New York State lawmaker to advocate for medical aid in dying. No experience needed. To be contacted when meetings are scheduled, email Amanda by clicking here.
Educational opportunity: The Completed Life Initiative (CLI) was founded in 2019 to promote self-determination and dignity at the end of life, and has joined other organizations advocating for medical aid in dying in New York State. CLI is hosting a virtual fall conference from November 4-16 that is open to the public. The conference is composed of two-hour panel discussions from 12-2 Eastern Time. Register in advance here.
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Session 1 – Thursday, November 4: Assisted Dying in the United States: What Happens after Legalization. Stories of assisted dying in the U.S. from the perspectives of patients, their families, and caretakers, as well as healthcare attorneys and policy makers.
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Session 2 – Tuesday, November 9: Narrative Overview of the Right-to-Die Movement in the United States. The historic challenges faced by efforts to establish a right to die.
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Session 3 – Thursday, November 11: Is the Right to Die Being Held Hostage to a Right to Healthcare? The concerns of diverse communities, communities of color, and communities with disabled individuals who may feel targeted or disadvantaged by their lack of access to standard healthcare benefits.
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Session 4 – Tuesday, November 16: Towards a Completed Life: Global Significance of the Right-to-Die movement. What is going on in the rest of the world with regard to aid-in-dying.
Global Population Will Peak Soon
A talk by Chris Bystroff, Professor o Biological Sciences at RPI. Sponsored by the Green Sanctuary Committee
Monday, Nov 22, 7:00-8:30 PM at Albany UU and on Zoom.
The 2020 census data is coming in. Global population growth is slowing down. Birth rates are dropping worldwide. Meanwhile climate change is wreaking havoc on the food supply. When will humanity reach its peak? Dr. Chris Bystroff, Professor of Biology and Computer Science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, has constructed a mathematical model for population growth that factors in climate change and other resource limits. It is a 30,000 foot view of human history, asking the questions:
- How did population grow so quickly?
- What will our future look like if we carry on with business-as-usual?
- What can happen if policies are put in place to save the ecosphere?
Dr. Bystroff will introduce research towards a new long-acting and reversible hands-off contraceptive.
RSVP to attend in-person by following this link
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The Inclusivity Team Recommends:
A book for adults:
What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky: Stories, by Lesley Nneka Arimah. (2018). Winner of the Kirkus Award and the NYPL Young Lions Fiction Award, among others, Arimah laces together traditional stories with magical realism to create a work that shows us relationships --good and bad, real and imagined-- and leaves us feeling we are nearby observers to the events taking place. Available in the Upper Hudson Library System in hard copy, downloadable audio- and e-book formats. Not available in the NLS at this time.
Creative Action Unlimited presents a new movie at the Madison Theater.
Dates and advance tickets are limited. Tickets for remaining seats will be sold at the door.
In November - The Climb
Black Lives Matter vigil in Troy
When: Saturdays,10:30-11:15 am
Where: Troy - corner of River Street at the intersection of Fulton and Third Streets, 12180
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Learn about submitting announcements to for Sunday service and how to reserve a Zoom room for meetings and events here.
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Quick Links
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Publication deadlines
This is an important reminder that the news and article deadline for Windows Weekly is 9:00 AM on Monday. Thank you for your cooperation.
Sign up for an Albany UU class or event
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First Unitarian Universalist Society of Albany |
Parking:
Parking is available on the street. On Sundays (and for some special events) Albany UU has permission to use the University at Albany’s Hawley Parking Lot on Robin Street at Washington Avenue.
Office hours:
By appointment
Our Website:
Zoom use:
To reserve Zoom for an Albany UU meeting, contact the church office (518.463.7135 or office@albanyuu.org).
Building use
To reserve a room for an Albany UU activity or to rent a hall or classroom space, for a personal or non-Albany UU activity, contact Administrative Assistant Patience Pechette (518.463.7135 or office@albanyuu.org).
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Photo credit: Rev. Sam Trumbore
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First Unitarian Universalist Society of Albany | 518.463.7135 | 518.463.1429 Admin@AlbanyUU.org | AlbanyUU.org |
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