Clapping

Drew a cartoon today with the following dialogue:

"I must warn you that worship at this UU church is quite raucous. They start clapping before the last verse of the hymn."

Since I have limited experience with worship at other UU churches, I wonder if it's just my church that waits until the last verse to clap? This assumes that the hymn is suitable for clapping.

I've clapped by myself when appropriate but I don't clap very loudly because I end up clapping to the up beat rather than the down beat. Sometimes I clap to both.

Speaking of joyful noises, a woman ran, walked and danced on the treadmill next to mine yesterday. She clapped, too. My initial annoyance went away when I realized that exercise - even on a treadmill - should be fun. As long as she continues to make it fun for her, she will reach her fitness goals.

I bet she wouldn't be afraid to clap loudly in a UU church.

Actually Read UU World

The TV fast has opened up some time for me to actually read UU World. Instead of watching TV during breakfast, I read an article. I just finished the latest issue. I've been a member for a decade and this is the first or second time I've read an issue of UU World.

I found the articles interesting but not enough for me to remember in any great detail. The article about isolation in these economic times struck a chord.

The structure and tone of the magazine seemed vaguely familiar. Then I remembered, Highlights for Children. I spent a lot of time in waiting rooms as a kid and at one time my mother bought us kids a subscription.

UU World is Highlights for Adults complete with a suggested activity section in the back (discussion questions) and a pull out for younger people. All it needs is hidden pictures and labels like "John Brubeck, Boston, MA., Age 57" next to the poetry and art.

Not that this is a bad thing. I just found it funny.

A hidden pictures puzzle would make a good edition.

For the art director: I'm an UU and I draw pictures.

Lent experiment

I've never been a Catholic and did not understand this whole Ash Wednesday (just a funny name on the calendar for a day that sometimes fell on my birthday. Also found Palm Sunday rather mysterious as a kid)/ Lent thing until adulthood.

I find the whole giving up something for a period of time an interesting spiritual practice. I'm giving it a try this season for personal growth reasons. See what happens in my life.

I'm giving up television for Lent. Not for the reasons Catholics celebrate but to satisfy my own curiosity and possible growth. I suppose I should call it something else since I'm not Catholic. This seemed like a good a time as any to try this and the idea of Lent is what prompted my desire to do this. This would certainly cause me to evaluate my habits and lifestyle.

I believe I don't watch much TV anyway but it will be interesting to see what happens.

As a Unitarian-Universalist, I'm free to make caveats. (Just the sort of attitude that turns some people off our religion. Makes us sort of a religious Borg Collective.) I have to make an exception for the last episodes of Battlestar Galactica. I could record them then watch them after April 11 but there's only 4 episodes left.

I've told Walter about this and posted on Twitter. Stating my intent in public should improve my chances since the fear of public humiliation is a powerful motivator.

This day in history

On January 13th, 1854, Anthony Faas patented the accordion.


When the Mayan Calendar ends all accordions, knowledge of accordions and accordion music will vanish from the universe ushering an era of peace and prosperity. Not at all the cataclysm predicted by many.


On an unrelated note:

Some UU bloggers have asked what Unitarian Universalism can offer. Agnes' friend has a good set of suggestions:

1. Teach me to be useful
2. Teach me how to laugh with true joy
3. Teach me how to make a really good pie

Unitarians have great butts...

January 2, 2009 edition of The Devil's Panties

I guess the last panel is how one young woman perceives Unitarians.

The perfect UU holiday hymn

If it does them I'm the most ethical eater ever even if I refuse to eat tofu.

From Medium Large, a brilliant comic from the writer of Sally Forth:

I think we have the perfect all-inclusive holiday hymn that some UUs have been on a quest to find. The fact that it comes from a non-UU source increases its perfection.

Vigil

Unitarian Universalist Church of the Brazos Valley will have a candlelight vigil (6:30 pm, Tuesday, July 29) for the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville. A brief announcement was published in both the print and online version of the Bryan - College Station Eagle People of all faiths are welcome to participate.

Someone asked in the comments section under the announcement, "Where any of the dead from College Station?"

I did not wish to respond in comments section because I do not want to encourage the Eagle. I really hope they drop that feature because it has been nothing but a whole lot of ugly recklessly driving a truckload of stupid.

The question above is the most benign comment that I've read in the Eagle comments or any other news site's comments regarding the shooting in Knoxville.

In answer to the commenter's question, as far as I know, none of the dead or wounded have ties to College Station. According to the Dallas Morning News, some of the wounded and one of the dead, Linda Kraeger, had ties to north Texas and the Unitarian Universalist Church in Denton. Our minister was a member of that church. I don't if Rev. Eric knew these people.

Whether or not the dead were from College Station (or the city of Bryan, Brazos, Robertson, Grimes, Madison, Washington, Waller counties or the state of Texas) is not relevant. UU churches all over the world are holding vigils because a member of our denominational family has been hurt. Churches and people of other faiths have held vigils or prayed because members of the human family have been hurt and killed in a sanctuary. A sanctuary! A place of safety.

We grieve with and pray for TVUUC. We will try to deal with our own emotions. We will support each other.

Obama's relationship is with church

Link to article in Bryan-College Station Eagle: http://www.theeagle.com/columnists/Obama-s-relationship-is-with-church

Published Thursday, March 27, 2008 6:49 PM

Obama's relationship is with church

By The Rev. ERIC POSA
Special to The Eagle

As a minister serving a local church, I'm surprised by some aspects of the recent controversy surrounding Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ, its pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and its most talked-about member, Sen. Barack Obama, who eloquently put the controversy in its appropriate larger context during his March 18 speech.

I'm neither endorsing nor denouncing the senator's presidential campaign here. It's the reaction to Rev. Wright's comments that I find striking.

Admittedly, my view of Wright is influenced by having had the pleasure of hearing him speak on two occasions. He preached at my seminary, and lectured at a recent clergy conference I attended. And it truly was a pleasure. At both of these events, during which Wright spoke to predominantly white audiences, he was engaging, insightful, inspiring, and not the least bit inflammatory.

This is just one reason why, while I did disagree with a couple of Rev. Wright's comments recently quoted in the press, I was not at all troubled by them. They sounded (to this white man's ears) like brief, perhaps over-stated sound bites lifted from the kinds of passionate, prophetic sermons that I've personally heard Pastor Wright preach so well.

Yet, even if Jeremiah Wright had been the white-hating, anti-American demagogue who some pundits describe, I still would be puzzled by those who question Sen. Obama's apparent decision to stay with this pastor.

Such a question misses a fundamental point: Obama did not stay with Jeremiah Wright. He stayed with Trinity United Church of Christ. When people join churches, synagogues, mosques, etc., their commitments are not to the clergy serving those congregations, but to the congregations themselves. Put simply, it's not about me as minister, because I'm not the church.

In many churches, including the Unitarian Universalist church I serve, we speak of the "free pulpit," the right of a minister to preach the truth, faithfully, as he or she sees it. But we always speak of the "free pew."

That doesn't mean you're encouraged to walk out on a sermon you think is wrong-headed. Rather, it means you are free to disagree with the minister, faithfully, and still stay part of the church. This is a basic recognition that the commitments we make to our church communities are just that -- commitments to communities, not to individual pastors.

I hope that no person leaves the membership of our church over any theological or political disagreement they may have with me as its minister. Not to be self-deprecating, but I'm not worth someone losing their relationship with the church.

Nor is it worth it for Sen. Obama to end his relationship with Trinity United Church of Christ over anything Jeremiah Wright says, whether or not it's quoted on YouTube. I commend Sen. Obama for staying with Trinity.

I do recognize that it's difficult to sit through sermons you find objectionable. I'm glad that, even through his strong disagreements with Rev. Wright, Obama acknowledges his pastor's freedom to preach what his pastor saw as truth, while also maintaining his own freedom to dissent from those views as a parishioner.

Ultimately, though, my biggest fear about the responses to Sen. Obama's speech is that we'll be so distracted by Wright's political views, we'll lose sight of the greater good served by this profound speech. Sometimes an opportunity arises for deep discussion of the difficult subjects that divide us, the systemic flaws forcing us to engage the deep pain that cause a society powerful anger and hurt.

Sen. Obama has opened such an opportunity for all Americans to engage in authentic dialogue on how racism continues to impact our society. I am grateful to the Illinois senator for his insightful, clear-headed, and penetrating comments on racism.

If we can be in dialogue on these hard but vital issues, we will be a better nation for it.

• The Rev. Eric Posa is pastor of the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Brazos Valley.

They say dogs can smell fear...

...which leads me to believe a lot of people must have fear coming out of their butts. Quote from Mark at the Shoebox Blog. It made me laugh out loud.

Counselor Troi is either on Riker's right off panel or getting a box of Junior Mints from concessions. [Warning: Major ST:NG geekery on display] They visited this movie theater during the third season as evidenced by the uniforms, Dr. Crusher's hair style, and Worf's ridges and hairstyle. They also carried the Type One phasers into the theater. I wonder how the vibrate setting works on a phaser? Does the phaser vibrate or the person receiving the blast? Picard uses his captain's prerogative to use both arm rests. Data cannot feel irritation but Geordi seems a bit annoyed.

Slither a UU, perhaps?

Garfield minus Garfield is a funny blog featuring Garfield comic strips with Garfield and his dialogue removed. The removal of Garfield sometimes makes a funnier strip or a sadder one. For this particular strip Garfield's thought balloons should remain.

Mary Worth and Me recaps the simple actions and small words that led to this couple getting together. Summary: Mary Worth is a home wrecker. Mary Worth is a Dark Lord of the Sith and has chosen Toby as her apprentice.

Nice to see the pool make a brief appearance at the pool party. The toy bunny has more life and soul in it than the people and it scares me.

Zippy, you are in none of those strips. Your surroundings are too well drawn.

Also, He Can Levitate

aperfectworld.org is down. Very annoying. My host is doing some kind of transition and has set up a "transition kiosk" to let their customers know about the status of their transition. Good intentions - poor execution. Going to the kiosk only sends me back to the site telling me about the kiosk. I do not get any useful information about my site's transition and attempts to log on to the old control panel are unsuccessful. I hope the site is back up soon so that I can put up my latest cartoon.

Now about other people's cartoons:
Mary's scarf has lengthened since rescuing the dog. The lady with the cat in the first panel is irritated because she has been waiting for hours, despite patronizing this animal hospital for decades, while Mary Worth and her stray get to see the vet immediately.

A fun look at the first UU principle.

For the first time in months, I took time to write some cartoon gags. Some of them are funny.

I think the time change helped because I did not experience the 9:30 - 11:00 wall of sleepiness this morning. I felt a bit more focused this morning.

The Community Shadow

I want Drew's swordfish t-shirt. I guess this is how the young doctor remains hip. The universe would have collapsed in on itself if Giella put this on Drew. That would be funny and we can't have intentional funny in Mary Worth.

Where is Drew calling from? Pink curtains and flowers in a bachelor's place?

Where has our title character been lately?
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I've been reading, "The Issue at Hand: Essays on Buddhist Mindfulness Practice" by Gil Fronsdal.

Yesterday, this passage jumped out at me:

As soon as a group of people gathers as a community, there is a culture, and cultures always have blind spots, or "shadows." If you avoid being involved with a community because it has a shadow, no community will ever be adequate. If you relate only to the light of a community, you are doing yourself a disservice. If you relate only to the shadow, you are also doing yourself a disservice.

Fronsdal refers to a sangha but I found it relevant to UU church community. People in true community should not be afraid to display both their light and shadow.

I was reminded of the shadow aspect of the UU religion by this blog posting. It was not the first time I read such sentiments. Often we forget that our political views are as diverse as our theologies.

Water Ceremony

The church had its annual Water Ceremony. The source of much contention among the worship committee and the church as a whole. I had forgotten about it only to be reminded upon entering the sanctuary. My feelings on the ceremony are rather neutral but I understand the tension and its sources.

The worship committee had its annual discussion and debate about the ceremony and one of the people who voiced objections ended up serving as co-service leader. The other service leader was a person who in years past very vocally opposed any radical changes to the ceremony.

The short talk before the actual ceremony consisted of two parts. The first presenter shared his experiences and impressions of the first water ceremony he attended. He was not impressed and said why. He had made a mental note not to attend the next one but his wife wanted to go so he went and felt a bit better about it but still not quite impressed. The first time he felt unwelcome because he was new and he had concerns about the classist overtones, water from the Amazon or the Nile? He hadn't really gone anywhere that year.

He shared his objections with the other presenter. They had a dialogue (at meetings) and it was decided that she would present her reasons why the ceremony as it is moved her to the congregation.

[I leave out names because I haven't received permission to use them]

She gave a lovely short talk about how the water people brought from exotic lands, conferences, taps and other sources represented the journeys we as people took and transitions we experienced that year and that we shared the results with each other when we come together as a community. She stated that while she would enjoy being there for hours to listen to everyone's stories, she acknowledged that our time was limited and others may not have the same joy.

Some of the more memorable sharing of water:
Water from the Southwest UU Summer Institute. That water was from all the churches from the Southwest District represented at SWUUSI.

One of the gentleman, also expressed some class concerns about the ceremony but he realized that he always conducted a private water ceremony after a loss or transitions and that the water he poured symbolized those losses and transitions.

A newer member who recently moved to our community shared water from her refrigerator door. She said that through most of her marriage they lived in pre-1900 houses. She said it can be romantic at first but dealing with the problems of a pre-1900 structure can get old after a few years. When she moved to this community she decided she would live in a modern house and she knew she arrived when she could use a refrigerator with an in-door water dispenser.

Another member brought water from the tap out of gratitude that we live in a society where clean water is readily available and in remembrance of all the people who do not have access to clean water.

Another newer member shared that the water came from the water cooler in the back of the sanctuary and it symbolized the spiritual home that embraced him and his wife.

Others brought water from taps of new homes they bought (transitions), conferences they attended (personal growth), and family vacations and reunions. The water represented losses, joys, transititions, growth and realizations.

Some totally new people shared water. People who had not come to a service before.

I shared a bit of water from a family vacation (symbolic water because I forget to water even though the annual family vacation is at a lake) and talked about the sustaining power of water and thought of all the volunteers at various races who made sure I received my cups.

I think the worship committee and the two presenters did a wonderful job of addressing the concerns about and maintaining the tradition of the water ceremony while adding a spiritual element.

After the service I shared PeaceBang's (http://www.peacebang.com/2007/09/09/a-mystical-place-indeed/) story with folks after the service. A native Spanish speaker and the other not-so fluent people thought it was funny and agreed that the person in the story would not have been able to pull that off in our district without provoking a lot of giggles. It is the restroom but not necessarily the toilet, according to my source.

Which came first?

I'm sure people in that line of work refer to themselves as cheese slicers. Machines probably do that kind of thing but someone has to run the cheese slicing machine. I bet the person who runs the machine has heard every cheese cutting joke there is. After 38 years on this planet I still giggle at "cut the cheese" jokes so maybe the cheese slicing machine operator really enjoys his/her job and loves to tell people that he/she cuts the cheese for a living. I would.

On the topic of UU classism and humor - would the hypothetical cheese slicing machine operator feel welcome in our churches and would we laugh at the cheese cutting jokes?

Great parody of Family Circus and playing with a semi-regular character.

The Egg McMuffin. I'm old enough to remember a world without the Chicken McNugget. I was in high school when the McNugget was introduced. I also worked at a McDonald's and know what a Chicken McNugget would turn into once it has passed its freshness time. It would turn into a briquette (a McBriquettte) when thrown with some velocity would leave a nasty bruise. It was unnatural the way the McNuggets would be fine at 19 minutes, 59 seconds but then suddenly turn into these little bricks at exactly 20 minutes. I ate and still eat McDonald's food but the short shelf life (7 minutes for a burger to 1 hour for a pie) of the food really bothered me during the time I worked at McD's.

Now that's some green living I can get behind.

Fleas and Parking

Aurora is in a new foster home. We are battling fleas here so we will not be fostering until things clear up. The flea situation has improved but according to a vet, the fleas this year are Frontline resistant. It will be easier to get the situation cleared with only one dog. We thought about using a fogger but we have birds and would have to leave the house for several hours with two birds in tow so we opted for a carpet powder. I think Loki enjoys having the house and his people to himself.

I helped with football parking at our church. The church is located within walking distance of Kyle Field so football season is a great source of revenue for us and some nice exposure for the church. I try to be extra nice and friendly. That attitude is a hold over from my days as an evangelical Christian. One should always behave kindly because you could be the only Christian that someone meets. I was not wearing anything identifying me as part of the church or standing on the end of the driveway that has our church sign (Only those who actually parked would have guessed that I was part of the church.) but I still felt compelled to smile, wave and say "Howdy" to everyone that passed by. I could be the only UU some of these folks ever meet.

The other two people working parking did a great job of maximizing space and collecting money. I just held the sign. We have a bit of an informal contest at church to see which team (thanks to the efficient recruiting efforts of our parking czar everyone usually has to work only one game per season) could get the most number of cars in our parking lot on game day. Today we got 43 in our lot and 14 in the lot next to ours (we share the revenues with the tenants or realtor (depending on occupancy) of the house next door) for a total of 57 cars plus a motorcycle. Last year the record was 47 cars in our lot.

Parking was $15, the smile, wave and howdy were free.

This was the first game (non-conference against Montana State). The parking lot filled a lot sooner than last year. The game started at 6:00pm, four cars were in the lot by noon, the lot was full by 4:00pm. I got a nice sunburn on the back of my neck. Yes, now I'm a redneck.

Walter's father will be leaving the hospital soon and will be back in his own apartment. Walter spent most of the day cleaning his father's apartment.

Popeye the Sailor Man

Interesting story from another blog: http://www.danielharper.org/blog/?p=981

Rich Hall in one of his "Sniglets" books from the 1980's referred to it as barcuuming - using the dog as a vacuum cleaner. I use Loki like that from time to time. I don't spill that much on the floor. Loki's first adoption anniversary approaches. I will see to it he receives something special.
Drew and Vera enjoying a meal at one of those fancy revolving wall restaurants.Does reading homoerotic undertones in Popeye's statement in panel two indicate a mental problem? Does using the terms "homoerotic" and "Popeye" in the same sentence indicate even more serious problems? The implied homo-eroticism in panel 2 caused me to ignore Olive's exorcist like movements in panel 3. I need to get my mind out of the gutter.

Wax on, Wax off

Not even the sudden rearranging of the room between panels can remove Dr. Whitepant's focus on Drew's sex life. In the unseen third panel Drew completes his "wax on, wax off" karate move to wipe that goofy grin off of Dr. Whitepant's face.
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I have a homework assignment from the new minister. Something about looking at the congregation as a system. I will try to work on it later today and encourage Walter to complete his assignment as well.

I will miss Rev. Teri but I look forward to Rev. Eric and the future of the church. Rev. Teri's last sermon was an open discussion about ministry. A few people spoke about what Rev. Teri has given our church and Teri spoke about what we have given her. She solicited comments about any one's thoughts about the future of the ministry of Brazos UU but time ran out.

My hope is that we become known as the church in Bryan/ College Station that meets certain needs. I want others to recommend us to gay, agnostic, questioning, curious, non-religious, wounded people because they know that we would welcome them and provide a safe community where they can heal their wounds, wrestle with questions without condemnation and find community regardless of what they are. I want others to say to people, "You need x or you are x? Go to the UU church. They will accept/ help you."

That last statement could have a variety of intentions behind it but at least someone is not just banished out in the wilderness without any prospect of refuge.

1,000th post

A great article by Rev. Sean: 10 things we can learn from Mormanism

This kind of article is what I enjoy about the UU blogosphere and keeps me interested in perspectives of other UUs - minister and laity.

In regards to Rev. Sean's article - I think my church could learn some of the same things from Evangelicals and Baptists. Yes, Baptists and Evangelicals are looked upon as separate entities in this region. Everyone makes fun of the Baptists, even other Evangelical faiths. I know this as a former Evangelical Christian. We made fun of them because they did not dance. The services I used to attend included dancing. Sometimes, I miss that element of worship. I've been clapping during appropriate hymns hoping others would follow suit. I need to clap louder. Sometimes, I feel awkward being the only set of hands clapping. Others do eventually start clapping but by the time everyone finds the beat the hymn is over. At Evangelical churches I've attended, the words to the songs are projected on to a screen or wall, thus freeing the hands for clapping and the body for moving.

Rev. Sean's article has spurred me to think about the gifts that my religious past has given me. There could be a sermon or service there or maybe just a blog entry.

Beware Evildoer!

I've enjoyed my adventures in the UU blogosphere so far. I find the great "brown bag" debate amusing. Ms. Theologian has links to the original articles and responses here. (Thank you for putting it in one convenient place).

I'm more in the "this silliness diminishes serious anti-oppression work" camp. I wonder if all oppression were eliminated what would the anti-oppression people do? I support removing oppression and racism and discrimination but the thing missing from all these eradication plans are benchmarks. What does a world without these evils look like? I can imagine it but is my vision the same as anyone elses's? How will we know when we get there?

Aside from those musings, this image popped into my mind while watching the conversation:

I can see a costumed crime fighter shouting, "Halt, evildoer! or I shall smite you with my BROWN BAG O' JUSTICE!" Imagine the voice of Patrick Warburton (Brock Samson from Venture Brothers) or maybe Charlton Heston. Just for fun shout it to a co-worker with a sense of humor or to your partner while in the bedroom.

I have found that progressive types do not react very well to my attempts at levity. I'll see what happens.

UU Blogs and Gratuitous Grainy Dog Photos

I've subscribed to UUpdates, a blog aggregator for UU blogs. I've suggested my blog even though I do not often talk about Unitarian-Universalism. philosophy, theology or religion. I rarely write about serious topics. I suggested it on the basis that I'm a UU lay leader and that I do write about church life and quite interested in reading other UU blogs and interacting with bloggers. I hope that this humble little blog gets added.

I came across this entry Why I Hate Al Gore? from Ms. Theologian. I can relate. I cannot say that sort of thing in church but in the wider community it's perfectly acceptable, even applauded. For me, he gives off an air of sanctimoniousness (what a word!). He's all about being green but then acts like every other American, except for buying carbon offsets.

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I promised dog photos and I deliver. I took these with my cell phone while playing on the floor with the dogs.

Abbey the Beagle in profile

One of three positions that Abbey often assumes (the other two are variations on laying down and standing).

Okay, four positions - this is the scratch my butt position. Abbey can be adopted via Woodstock Animal Foundation of Texas.

Loki demanding that I get away from the computer and pay attention to him. Loki is a Bullmastiff/ Pit Bull mix. He was adopted through Woodstock.

What soulless creature can say no to those eyes?

Okay, okay, Loki you have to get your head off my lap in order for me to get up and play with you.

What you get when you try to photograph and play with an 80 pound dog at the same time.

I've been listening to "Drive Time Essays 2", a CD featuring various readings from "Interconnections", a publication for lay leaders in Unitarian Universalist churches. I made several copies which is encouraged and permissible by the UUA.

"Interconnections" calls itself a "relentlessly useful publication". The absurdity of Dilbert intersects with the absurdity of liberal religion. Conservative religion is absurd, also. I'm a UU. I'm allowed to say that religion is absurd. I'm even allowed to hold a position of responsibility within an UU church community. My problem is not with religion per se but with inappropriate adverb usage regardless of the theological leanings of said religion.

Most of the readings and Interconnections itself is quite useful in a non-relentless way. Some of the readings do nothing more than point out the inadequacies in my church. It is a great church but damn listening to some of the things that other churches are doing puts a great deal of doubt on that. My church has enough self-esteem issues.

I have listened to 15 of the 18 tracks on this CD. The solution to every problem highlighted in the CD involves various combinations of committees, meetings, potlucks, paid staff, chalice lighting, and social justice projects. Maybe, I'm becoming too cynical for this faith. Maybe, it's my Gen-X soul that is incapable of viewing anything non-ironically. [Insert snide anti-baby boomer tirade here]. Maybe, it's my introversion (Oh, God! more meetings! Hummus and fried chicken, mmmm.) that prevents me from looking at this more positively. Maybe the managerial bullshit at work has become too much to bear and it pisses me off when something that smells similar invades my religious life. Maybe I have read too much Dilbert.

In fairness to the UUA, our congregation can use some of the information and I made several copies of the CD to give out to leaders in the hopes that something on the CD will inspire them or help them. If I really thought the whole thing was useless I would not have made the copies. My view of the CD is colored by my somewhat negative attitude at the moment. I did find one reading especially useful and it has reignited my interest in a project. I want to revisit this project and reading once my term as Board President is over.

More information about licorice can be found at uua.org/leaders.