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Reverend Susan Manker Seale, Minister
Reverend Susan Manker-Seale
May 2008
I've been taking lessons at the Apple computer store each week when I've been in town, learning to create and publish the website among other new techie things. My learning curve has shot almost straight up, but I'm keeping at it, since the internet is the communication tool of our century. This first web-based newsletter is a critical step in bringing our congregation up to date, but it is also just another step in a long list of internet-age requirements we need to catch up on.
Somehow, I decided to go ahead and put my sacred spaces work directly into my own website, and not try to write a complete piece which I then sit on until finished and then try to find a publisher who would look at it. Instead, it has turned into a creative joy to add my own photos and be able to tweak ky work as I go along, using an almost entirely new medium to do it. And, this allows an interactive experience, since you can comment if you wish, on each blog, inviting conversation on what makes sacred space. Some of you won't get a clean web page, and you might not even be able to download the pictures. I'm working with the latest Apple software with this new computer, which guides you easily into creating interactive media, including podcasts and movies which I will add to the web page when I learn then. One step at a time. Most of you don't have the software, so I hope you can download at least a readable version of the website, and maybe I can bring my laptop to church sometime so you can see what it looks like with the proper software.  I miss you, and it's hard to "stay away," but I know that the sabbatical works both ways and you need to have the space away from me as well, time to experience other preachers and to think about what is important to you in our relationship and congregation. I plan to spend these last six weeks focusing on more Arizona Sacred Spaces and adding to my blog. I am also plowing ahead on my fantasy novel, on which I've been working for several years. All of this is a lot of fun and a lot of learning. Don't forget to do your own sabbatical ponderings. See you in early May. Love, Susan
07 October Musin’s My daughter, Kat, dressed all in black this morning (September 20). I said, “You look nice!” and ze* told me as ze* pulled on a pair of black socks that a friend on Facebook, an internet community, had invited per* to join in protesting the sentencing of one of the Jena Six. I had just cut out an article in the paper to read more about it, but I had already heard this incredible story through one of our UU ministers serving in New Orleans , who invited us to try to come down there in solidarity and support for the six students being unfairly tried. Today, thousands are expected to march in protest. How on earth, in this day and age, can a whites-only tree be tolerated on any school campus? The African American student who asked that he be allowed to sit there, the three nooses that then appeared in the tree branches, the African American students protesting under the tree, and the district attorney threatening them, a fight in which a white student is beaten, and then six African American students are charged with second-degree attempted murder for the beating. One is tried as an adult by an all-white jury even though he was only sixteen at the time. Jena, Louisiana, is now in the nation’s eye, and racism is once again an issue that can no longer be hidden, ignored, or assumed to be dead and gone (as if Katrina didn’t prove it). This issue will be around for a while, since the justice system is involved, and that takes time. The incident happened last fall, in 2006, and the beating was December 4. I heard about it for the first time last month. Over the years people in our congregation have participated in vigils against the war in Iraq (we just did one on the corner of Thornydale and Ina two weeks ago), candlelight vigils of protection for the Campus Mosque, rallies and interfaith worship services against the Marriage Amendment, the Ribbons of Resistance caravan to the anti-war rally in Washington D.C., participation in interfaith panels on the environment, and on-going service in the community such as volunteering for Interfaith Community Services and serving dinners for Primavera’s Five Points program. This is not an exhaustive list, by any means. The point is, there is plenty to do, and the times often demand a response, no matter how small or trivial it may seem If Kat hadn’t dressed in black, I might not have felt the serendipitous pull of both per* action and the newspaper article to motivate and encourage me to write about it here. And maybe one of you will carry the flame for us in this issue, or even inspire us to do more in our own congregation around racism, as I’ve been asking every year in the Journey Toward Wholeness services each January. We have money sitting in the budget for just such educational activities. Even though we are focusing on Green Sanctuary this year as a congregation-wide action of environmental justice, our social justice work continues. Don’t hesitate to dress in black, tell your neighbor, stand on the street corner, or lead an action. It’s how justice is demanded, with one person motivating another until there are enough of us to make ourselves heard. And believe me, there are always lives at stake.
* “ze” and “per” are gender non-specific pronouns equivalent to he and she, her and his. 07 September Musin’s Welcome back to those of you returning from a summer vacation. It’s the time of year when every week someone comes back to reconnect, lending a joyful tone to every Sunday. We’ve had a wonderful wet monsoon this year, so the desert is joyful as well, blooming everywhere we look and painting the mountain green. It brings to mind new beginnings, with religious education classes starting up again, as well as the First Wednesday Celebrations which will continue this year, still under the guidance of both Worship Associates and Religious Education. Be sure to meet Sara Taetle Schwindt, our new Religious Education Director, and welcome her to our congregation. And if you have children, this is the time to register them for the new year. This is also the time of year when people find new ways to be in relationship with the congregation. There are many committees to join and tasks to sign up for, there are outings to participate in and classes to take. We encourage you to reach out and let us know what you want, and then help to make it happen. I’ve been in the ministry for twenty-one years now, and I can attest to the fact that our congregations are filled with dedicated people who do represent a continuum from the liberal to the more conservative, from the spiritual to the atheist (and some who claim both), from those passionate about justice issues to those passionate about personal growth issues (and some who claim both). After a social justice sermon, I will hear from both ends of our spectrum, from those who are energized and happy that we are making a stand on an issue (or at least exploring one) to those who are unhappy and disappointed that our congregation is speaking out on issues they don’t agree with. The same happens after sermons on meditation—I hear the happy and the unhappy. I have learned to balance my way, so far, between these groups and individuals, trying to get them to understand our depth and breadth as a congregation, to give each side a voice at times, but it is a balancing act. For many years I tried to balance each month’s services this way: one social justice service, one personal growth service, one theology or religious history service, and the last was for the Worship Services committee to determine. I still look at the topics that way, but in creating Worship Associates, we have been trying a thematic approach to services, on which we will need your feedback as well. This year’s theme is the same as the sabbatical theme: “What Makes Your Heart Sing?” As you consider this theme in your own lives, consider also how you can be in relationship with our congregation in a positive helpful way, working to create the programs and actions that have meaning to you, knowing that not everyone will agree with you, but some will. We will be engaging in writing a vision and mission for our congregation in early October, and this is your chance to have a say in who we are as a congregation and where we should spend our energy, even as we recognize our differences. The most important thing, though, is to talk with each other and own those differences, still treating each other with respect. If you have concerns that you have not been able to work out, especially regarding the minister or ministry of our congregation, please see one of our Ministerial Relations Team members: Margaret Fleming, Chair; Anne Tatum; and Gary Kern. And, once again, welcome and welcome back. Susan 07 June Musin’s The first cicadas started their high-pitched droning on Friday, May 18th, heralding the start of summer in my book. I wondered if the thunderstorm we had two days earlier had anything to do with their waking up, but usually May and June are endless days of sun and blue sky, so that by the time the monsoons come early July, we’re desperate for the rain and lighting (or any clouds). Today, though, the cicadas mark the change in season once again. This summer will be fun both for those on vacation and those staying in Tucson and attending our services and classes. The Worship Associates had the entire summer planned and scheduled with speakers by early May. They really know what they’re doing, and I have no doubt that next year’s sabbatical will be smooth under their leadership and coordination. We accepted the applications of four (or was it five?) new Worship Associates who will start in the fall, adding to the experienced skills of those Associates staying another year in the program. The summer’s Religious Education program is also well under the control of our two summer substitute Directors of Lifespan RE, Kristi Gerrard and Emily Ricketts. They have been recruiting adults and older youth to lead classes every Sunday. Summer is usually more relaxed and more activity-oriented, so we hope you will consider lending your special talents to the program. We have hired a new Director of Lifespan Religious Education: Sara Taetle! She has a Bachelor’s in Music Education and two years’ teaching experience at Marana High School , and has worked closely with parents, teachers and students in an education, but also a creative, setting. Most of you will recognize her as our interim choir director from last fall. She and Joel Schwindt got married on May 27! We offer them our congratulations and all best wishes in their married life. Sara will start work officially on July 8, but Karla will be spending at least 25 hours training her at times most practical for them both. Welcome, Sara! And thanks to our Search Team, Suzanne Borth and Tom Bunch (and me). I will be on vacation May 30 through June 15 and June 25 through August 5. Those ten days in mid-June will be spent at our UUA annual General Assembly in Portland , Oregon . Twenty-eight members of our congregation will be going – amazing, isn’t it! Expect to witness lots of energy and new ideas from these people when they return (me, too). This year at GA, I will be finishing up my three years as continental Good Offices Person on the UU Ministers Association Executive Committee, and will be presenting a report at the UUMA Business meeting concerning the new Committee on Ethics and Collegiality which I helped create this past year. This committee of ministers will be a mid-level resource to work with ministers on issues of ethics violations and concerns which couldn’t be resolved on the local level, and before the difficult process of filing a grievance against a colleague. I have really enjoyed my service to the ministry and UUA, and am very glad to be finished. My sabbatical next year is also a sabbatical from any associational service, since I have been in continuous continental service since 1996 when I first came to UUCNWT, first as VP and then President of the Ministerial Sisterhood UU, and then as a member of the 2002 Ministers Convocation Planning Committee. Continental service is funded entirely by those organizations so as to not be an extra burden on our congregations. As to the sabbatical next year, which will begin January 6 and end May 4, we sent in a grant proposal to the Lilly Clergy Renewal Program, and will hear in October whether they funded us to the $45,000 we requested (the maximum). By the Board meeting June 6, I will be presenting a no-cost version of the sabbatical program since October is too late to wait to see if by some miracle we get chosen. For example, there is an informal Arizona Cluster ministers’ sabbatical agreement which could provide six of my colleagues at travel expenses only to preach while I’m away (and I would preach for them when they’re on sabbatical). We’ll be creating a sabbatical brochure to help inform you of the plans and contacts for that period of time. Ron Meikle has accepted the role of Sabbatical Team leader! I wish you all a very good summer. I have been super busy with the DLRE Search and transition as well as the sabbatical plans and Lilly Grant application on top of my usual duties, so I’m ready for a rest and to catch up somehow. I’ve enjoyed working with our President, David Greene, and all of this outstanding Board, as well as great committee chairs, team leaders, and staff, and I look forward to new and continuing leadership in August. I hope all of you find rest and renewal this summer, and time to enjoy nature, the monsoons, the cicadas, and all that we love about the desert.
07 May Musin’s Our newsletters of the last two months carried articles written by our Ministerial Relations Team on the topic of sabbaticals. Sabbaticals are sometimes a sensitive subject, raising fears and concerns on many levels, not the least of which is the question, “Who is going to keep things going while she’s gone?” The other question we hear just as often is, “Why? Why does she (or any minister) need a sabbatical?” April 2007 Susan’s Musin’s Sometimes people don’t notice what’s REALLY going on in a congregation. The surface level appears to be one of meetings, worship services and classes for all ages, with an occasional rally or two. The staff are there, it seems, to create and maintain those programs and events. But in looking a little deeper, one realizes that there is a deep and abiding network of relationships that is the real structure and strength of the religious community. In living and working together over the years, people find themselves becoming woven into the fabric of this community. The more respectful and loving and compassionate and fun and gently challenging those relationships are, the more tightly woven we become with each other. These relationships are what feed the programs and define the mission of our congregation. They are also what brings us back to what is important, to the meaning of our lives here together. We have been very fortunate to have staff who have been able to weave themselves into the fabric here in ways that strengthen our community. Now one must move on, and the hole she will leave will be felt keenly, especially, I think, by our children. Some of them have, after all, grown up with her, and what stronger ties are there than a parent figure in our children’s lives? Karla Brockie has been our Religious Education Director for six years. That is a long time in a child’s life. It’s a long time in a congregation’s life for a part-time RE Director. But Karla found her call to ministry among us, and though this has gifted us with a leader who has brought more depth and understanding to her work, it also now is taking her away, for a time, so that she can gain the experiences required of all who pursue ministry as a profession. She begins her full-time internship in September at Valley UU Church in Chandler with my wonderful colleague, the Rev. Lone Jensen. Karla has therefore resigned as of June 30. She writes about it in her column so please be sure to read it. I’ve tried to prepare myself for it, but it’s hard. I, too, like the children, have become attached. I’m sure many of you have, too. How could we help it? If we’re truly doing ministry together, we become interwoven. If our relationship is one of mutual respect and love and compassion and fun and gentle challenge, what more can you ask for? On all our behalf, I thank Karla for her dedication and care with which she has directed our Religious Education program. I thank her for all the times she has listened when a child, mine or yours, has needed an ear. I thank her for hanging in there with the impossible demands of a job that overflows with passion and possibility, far more than 25 hours a week can accommodate. And I thank her for each time she was able to gently prod one of you to commit to our children, whether in volunteering your time or in bringing your kids and teens. Ministry of this kind is a dance, and Karla is a master dancer. I wish her the best in her internship, and look forward to when she returns next spring to continue as a member, but also as our student minister. And one day, she will be my colleague in the UU ministry! Yea! Susan’s Musin’s March 2007 Hanging from the rearview mirror in my Toyota Solara is a Buddhist bell that appeared one day after my son, Benjamin, was driving around. It has a tiny but clear and vibrant ring that chimes every time I hit a bump in the road or go around a curve. I love to hear it ring, and often, I feel as if it’s telling me to pay attention, to be mindful of my driving, of the world around me, and most especially, of the thoughts I’m thinking. Sometimes, it becomes an exclamation point to whatever thought I’d just had.
It drives my husband crazy. After he uses my car, I find the bell’s red cord wound around the mirror so the bell is tight against it and can’t ring. I just unwind it and let it go again. I do admit that when the air conditioner is on in the summer, the bell rings way too much in front of the vents, so I do have to silence it in the same way Curtiss does.
But, I love this bell, not least because my son hung it there. It also reminds me of one of my best retreats, which was at the Green Gulch Zen Center north of San Francisco, near the redwoods and the ocean. To stay there you had to work half a day, in addition to sitting zazen several times a day in meditation. I worked in the kitchen, and every now and then the kitchen leader would go over and ring a bell, at which point we would stop what we were doing and be mindful, present, grateful for our lives and what was before us in that kitchen. The mundane within the spiritual, or vice versa.
The bell bowl I ring at services is from Japan , given to me in 1986 by my friends, Rev.s Jopie and Dick Boeke, on the event of my graduation from seminary and ordination to ministry. I visited them this summer when we went to England and I met their colleagues at their British Unitarian Minister’s retreat. When I ring the bell during worship, I sometimes think of them, but more often, I am just loving the sound, and allowing it to define the sacred space of our gathering and the deepening of our community.
We’ve had several deaths among us this past month. At one of the Memorial services, at least three times strangers came up to me to express how grateful they were that the family had connected with our congregation and received such support from us during their tragedy. I thanked them and agreed with them. It is at times of terrible struggle and loss that the strongest reason for our existence as a religious community is clarified. In a sense, times of loss are like the bell ringing in the sanctuary, or the bell ringing in the Dojo, or the bell ringing on my rearview mirror, saying, “Pay attention! This is the true meaning of your lives!”
Each moment of life is our life. Not looking behind (like in the rearview mirror), or too far ahead, but in this moment, now, with the mundane and the spiritual all mixed together. The blessing that we give to each other is to be with each other, in the moment, with compassion and strength, and a dedication to hope.
Love, Susan Susan's Musin's
February 2007 I was thinking about the meaning of “stewardship,” considering we’re entering into that time of year when we kick off our pledge drive, which we now call our Stewardship Program Pledge Drive. What came to mind first were those of you who do the seemingly little, often hidden tasks of caregiving: showing up to teach Religious Education over and over, cleaning the nursery on a weekday morning, tending the garden or bringing flowers every Sunday, making sure the batteries in the sound cabinet are stocked, fixing the toilet when it breaks down, cleaning out the refrigerator or opening up the building for guests, and then making sure every door is locked afterwards. So many of you do very important and also visible tasks such as leading us through service on the Board or committees. So many of you do so many things, over and over, and I know that you do them, mostly, because you care. And that is stewardship. Becoming a good steward is an act of caring. This guides the choices we make on where to spend our time, talent and treasure in this congregation. Often at this time of the pledge drive we ask people to think about what this congregation means to them. But the other aspect of that question, the stewardship question, is to ask people to consider what they mean to the congregation. Are you giving of your best to this UU presence in Tucson? And how can you improve your stewardship, whether that is through giving of your time, your talent and skills, or your treasure in the form of a stewardship pledge. Can we all count on you, on each other, to not just do our share, but to do our best? We’re still building this congregation, in seemingly little, often hidden ways. But we build one act at a time, one program at a time, one pledge at a time. Each is essential. All coalesce into a religious community which meets your needs even as you meet the needs of those people who form it with you. Of course, the vision of this religious community is also important—vital, actually—and we will be spending some time this spring or fall in clarifying our vision with each other to the end that we can either rewrite our mission statement and/or create a sound bite “mantra” that will help us spread the word about what it is we are envisioning. Our Purposes and Principles in the front of the hymnal help remind us of those values we hold in common. But each congregation also needs to clarify over and over who we are as we evolve and people come and go among us. Becoming good stewards means keeping a clear vision of what we are doing, because that vision is what inspires us to care and to act, with commitment and generosity. As always, thank you on behalf of all of us for all the ways you steward us into our future. January 2007 Happy New Year! It’s a time for new beginnings, which isn’t exactly an oxymoron if you consider that we often start something over and over and over again, hoping to actually follow through one of these years. Other resolutions come so easily they are almost done by the time we get started. Mine, well, regarding the desire to write more regularly, happen slowly, sporadically, probably a lot like someone trying to quit smoking, but I’m trying to take up a daily writing practice outside my ministerial musin’s and sermons. This year I got going in September, and have almost kept the promise. Until recently¼. But, that’s what’s great about the New Year coming around again and again. It gives us another chance, and another, and another. I guess there’s a lot of forgiveness in that process, forgiveness and recognition of our human tendencies to try to make changes, fail, try again, fail again, try again, and somewhere along the way, start to make progress, perhaps even to succeed, even when it takes years. New beginnings happen all the time. Our children (adults now), Kat (18) and Ben (20), are making a new beginning up in Flagstaff this December. Ben moved out of his apartment into a big house with five other young adults. He’s planning to take the semester off from school and find his heart, perhaps in music. He loves being up in the mountains with his good friends. Congregations are extended families for so many of us. I’m hoping my kids will connect with the Flagstaff UU congregation and with Wendy Williams, their minister. I know parents who hope their kids attending the U of A will connect with us, as the local UU’s, and that is one motivation for us to support our Campus Ministry. We need each other over and over in our lives, especially when there is a death, or a tragedy, or a major change. We all extend our love to Karla and her family on the death of her grandmother. Every day, our ministry involves the downs and ups of death and life, of sickness and health, of disappointment and delight. Let us cherish this extended family which we create with our presence and our care each day of this New Year. October 2006 Welcome new members and newcomers! We hope you are finding Unitarian Universalism, as expressed and embodied within our congregation, to be a faith that is inspiring to you as well as challenging and supportive. You came to us seeking something—solace, friendship, support, like minds, unlike minds, a place for your children to grow a faith without fear, a welcoming community in which to explore your spiritual or non-theistic path, or [fill in the blank]. We are a diverse community in many ways, but our shared principles of respect, compassion, acceptance and freedom, among others, help bind us to each other and enable us to explore those differences while working together toward the common goals of peace, liberty and justice for the world community. Our Principles and Purposes are listed in the front of our hymnals and are full of wonderful ideas and values to ponder. Our religious community is mostly shaped and guided by volunteers just like you. Some have been around a long time, and some are quite new, either to Unitarian Universalism or to our particular congregation. The classes we teach and the projects we undertake come out of all our ideas and desires for exploring and celebrating life together. The congregation is a living being, in a way, and only becomes what its people pour into it: their hopes and dreams, their inspirations as well as their struggles and frustrations. As in any organization, we create a personality together. I’ve found that staying positive is one way we keep our community strong and survive the inevitable differences we encounter day-by-day among our members and friends. It’s expected and normal to disagree. Those disagreements concern such a broad range of topics as: more or less spirituality in the worship services; whether “worship” is a meaningful word; whether we should grow or not and how fast; the ways we are going about building for our future; how complicated our organization should be; how often to have the children in the service with the adults; whether children’s RE should be classroom-like or more open educationally; how or whether the congregation should endorse social justice issues; and on and on. In a vital congregation, these conversations/disagreements go on regularly and when considered as valuable, can be very inspiring. It’s inspiring that people care enough to be talking about them. It’s inspiring when people share their views and are willing to hear those of others which might be different. And it’s inspiring when they put differences aside (or even celebrate them) and work together in covenant for a better world beyond those differences. The people who stay in a congregation for the long haul learn to do this and to love it. It’s hard to see people who have an idea, and “know” they’re right, get frustrated and leave us. I say to them, and to everyone, that growing an institution like ours (we’re only seventeen years old!) takes time, and even if you really do know a better way to do something, moving a congregation (and me) along with you takes education and patience and a willingness to hang in there while wisdom seeps slowly into the main body and transforms everyone in the end (or at least, most of us). It’s a fun and wonderful thing to witness. May you find your place among us and do good works with us. Welcome! September 2006Our first Intergenerational Second Sunday Worship in August was fun and inspiring for all ages, both for us who created the Stone Suup mini-play and creative new music, and for those of you who attended and let us know you loved it. We are hoping that every Second Sunday Intergenerational Service will be inspiring for all of you from age one to a hundred and oneits a big challenge, but also weve had practice from doing it four times a year for quite a few years and we have new resources to choose from in shaping a service that keeps childrens attention spans in mind while delivering meaningful messages to adults. That means more active participatory music and more creative message delivery. We hope you will join us for the Water Communion on September 9. Religious Education has been undergoing several changes in addition to joining the Adults in Second Sunday Worships. The childrens Lifespan Religious Education classes have been consolidated into the second service time slot on Sunday mornings. If you come for the first service at 9:15, you will find social action projects going on or music or other whole-group activities. The 11:00 program has children in five classes which will be vying for space, yes, but also allowing the children to see each other in critical mass and to maintain the friendships which having two RE class periods last year made difficult. Well be doing a Director of Religious Education Tune-Up led by our District Program Coordinator, Tera Little, on September 9. Karla is excited about this and, under Teras guidance, looking forward to re-defining priorities with her new RE committee and chair, Suzanne Borth. As Karla moves deeper into ministerial studies, her role in the congregation shifts some as well not that her responsibilities as our DRE change all that much, but her outlook on what she does and how she does it begins to take on the lens of ministry, which affects all of us in our relationships with her. This is a good conversation to have, and something to be aware of. The Lunitarian Weekend the second weekend of October (7-9) in Rocky Point , Mexico , has been cancelled, in case you missed that notice. Some of us are still going (we make plans way in advance) and are staying in houses or hotels or other campsites. We hope we can find a new place to hold this annual Arizona Cluster event which my father and David Johnson, ministers in Phoenix and Tucson respectively, started in the mid-1960s. I grew up exploring the tidepools down there every Autumn and singing around the campfire with our Arizona UU extended family. I took my kids, and if we can get Lunitarian going again, maybe they will take theirs. Its one of the few cross-generational intergenerational events we have. We need to be cognizant of the ways we pass along to our children the values we cherish in the religious community. It takes us all, and if we elect not to participate, our warm hands arent available to the children, nor our smiles of encouragement, nor the plain fact of our delight in their existence. There are many ways to be present with the kids, from teaching classes to guiding activities to coming on Intergenerational Sundays. And even to playing on the beach. Lets be here for our children, all of us.
Susan's Musin'sAugust 2006 When I went by the church in mid-July to pick up my checks I was delighted to see a profusion of flowers along the front walk mostly I remember the Mexican Bird of Paradise growing tall and flowering yellow/orange. I find myself constantly in appreciation of the gifts people bring to our congregation, whether it is a green (very green) thumb, or financial know-how (I was also delighted to get reimbursed so quickly for my expenses). Even in the summer, the congregation continues to maintain itself as well as dream its way into this new year. Im looking forward to meeting with the Board in early August to hear committees plans and to make decisions on what issues to pursue in the coming months. Im also excited to have David Greene leading us as the new Board President with his demonstrated insights, wisdom, and sense of humor (and great readings!). He will very competently carry on for Ron, whose leadership we will also miss.
This has been a busy summer for me. Ill tell you about two trips, the Grand Canyon hike and the genealogy adventure, on Sundays in August. Ill save General Assembly for September or so when Karla and Anne Ellsworth can join me. Weve had numerous endings and beginnings, especially this week Im writing (July 20). Benjamin moved to Flagstaff yesterday to share an apartment with a friend and to attend NAU. Kat is flying in the morning (7/21) to Boston to begin her year-long job in the Youth Office at the Unitarian Universalist Association. She also finally got her new tooth implant yesterday, after six years of waiting and orthodontics and surgery. These are both sad and exciting events, as are all endings and beginnings.
The saddest of this week, though, is learning that our German Shepard, Hot Diggitty Dog, has a tumor in his hip and is in a lot of pain. He limps and has a hard time getting up and has lost eight pounds. The cancer vet said he wouldnt have more than a couple of months to live, and since hes in pain, we should put him to sleep (how easily I say that when we are really deciding his death). We made an appointment for next Monday, July 24. Needless to say, were very sad, weepy, but the kids have said good-bye to him knowing they wont see him again. We think well take his ashes to SAWUURA (our UU property up in the mountains). I wanted you to know, since so many of you have known Diggitty as part of our family for all the time weve been here in Tucson .
I heard in June that Julia Meighan had died. She was a long-time member of the congregation who loved art and music and took care of the altar table when I first arrived. I remember doing her granddaughters wedding out in the Rincon mountains. Julias ready smile is what Ill remember about her most, though. Some of you never met her, because she moved to the eastside to be near her children who could take better care of her, but we made her a life member to keep in touch.
Endings and beginnings. They make up our lives, dont they? And now, its the beginning of a new church year (even though we never really end). We start back to two services in August, and begin our monthly intergenerational services on August 13. Ill be preaching the first three Sundays, and then Curtiss and I leave for England for two weeks to sight-see and for me to attend the British Unitarian Ministers retreat on behalf of the UU Ministers Association September 4-7. Were really looking forward to it.
Thanks for the Happy Birthday wishes. We had a great party for my 50th. Another new beginning. See you in church. Love, Susan
Susan’s Musin’s Would you really like it if every Sunday were always the same—the same format, the same types of music, the same speaker, the same message given the same way over and over? We sometimes feel like we’re in a rut, and it is true that traditions are nice and familiar ritual feeds us spiritually, but a creative faith does not thrive in sameness. Susan's Musin's I was up in Phoenix last Sunday (3/19) for Curtiss’ and my families’ reunion and March birthdays celebration, and since my parents had bed-and-breakfast guests, we stayed at the Orange Tree Resort where we have a time-share. While I waited for Curtiss to get ready so we could go to breakfast, I turned on the television to surf for a bit. I don’t watch TV generally on Sunday mornings—you know what I’m usually doing—so I was intrigued to come across one of those televevangelists. I think it was “The New Lakewood Church” in Houston, or something like that, but in any case, the service was held in a convention-center-sized hall that was packed. I listened to the message; it was one of hope and self-respect, and not one I had any issues with, except at the end, they had to pray together to Jesus. After watching the preacher for some time, I realized that the pulpit or podium around which he walked and talked had glued on it a stylized two-dimensional design of the flaming chalice! I wonder if religious symbols can be copyrighted? I guess I could take the Christian cross and put it on the pulpit and preach whatever I wanted and have that be connected visually with Christianity. Was this televangelist a new age Christian with some connection to Unitarian Universalism? When his show was over, I surfed some more. There were probably six or seven preachers talking up the airwaves that morning; one was the North Phoenix Baptist Church. I find this fascinating right now because some of us are actually talking about doing some sort of UU show/service/interviews on Access Tucson, once we get around to it. With so many Christian messages on the air on Sunday mornings, it seems like we ought to get our word out there as well. Or our words. I mostly would like to ask questions, but that’s an old UU joke, as true as it is. Those of us who went to the Mid-Size Congregations Conference in early March came back with loads of ideas for getting our word/s out into the community as well as information on what helps congregations grow and continue to be welcoming, exciting places people are attracted to. The six of us who attended went to different workshops and pooled our insights, which we’re sharing with the Board at a Tea in late March. We also bought a banner to hang on the north wall of the sanctuary, outside, during the Yard Sale, April 7th and 8th, when we expect the community to find their way down Cromwell to our doors. Wouldn’t it be nice if that were the case every week? One of the things we learned at the conference was the nature of transition, specifically of this mid-size transition we’re working on so diligently, the transition of becoming a larger congregation and the changes that entails in how we do everything. Beginnings and endings and the periods in-between are all important. The recognition that what we’re losing in growing is as important as what we’re gaining. But one of the things I felt reaffirmed in came from the workshops put on by “Breakthrough Congregations,” those who have broken a growth barrier and how they did it. One spent thirty-five years on a plateau, and then, boom, grew phenomenally. What did they do? Many things, but one of the most important was that the congregation practiced a positive attitude. People reached out to the strangers and welcomed everyone with true warmth. Sound like us? And they had a clear message which they took out into the community together, actively working on social issues. And they had great music in their worship. We’ll get there. The more we learn about ourselves, both our congregation and our faith, the better. The District Assembly will be held in Las Vegas this month. Go to our district website and check it out: pswd.uua.org. I hope you can join us there this time. General Assembly registration is also up at uua.org. It will be in St. Louis in June. I bet that by the time you read this, flowers will be blooming and spring will really be here, finally, thanks to the rains we’ve had. We all need to be fed to blossom, people and nature alike. Water as well as words of hope and affirmation and challenge will bring us new growth. Happy Easter! Susan’s Musin’s What a surprise! I was wondering why the children were hovering in the back of the sanctuary that Sunday (February 19) and I remember thinking how sweet it was to see them there during the final hymn and closing words and how much I love getting to talk with them when they’re in the service. And then, to have the lights go down and a huge cake and candles come down the aisle – I just wasn’t expecting it, even though I knew we would have a cake for our Covenanting workshop with Angela Merkert that afternoon in celebration of this being my tenth year as your minister. Jeff K made little sculpey chalice candle holders for the cake which were so cute!! Thank-you to everyone! That was really fun! I also want to thank the more than fifty people who attended the Covenanting workshop with Angela Merkert that Sunday, and the thirty-five who stayed to the not-at-all-bitter end. I felt very good about the process and a lot of relief at hearing the lists of commitments members want of me and are willing to offer to me and each other. I also made lists of commitments. The Ministerial Relations Team (Pat D, Marion E, and Mac M) will be putting the finishing touches on the covenant per Angela’s suggestions and we’ll run it by everyone. I really needed to hear where your concerns lay and to express my own, which we did with care and love. We also acknowledged how special this congregation is and how dedicated and experienced are its leaders. In our discussions, we covered all the areas of the ministry we share, from the mission of the congregation to worship to pastoral care to social action and presence in the larger community to communication to self-care to denominational work. We also talked about the changes in my role and yours as we continue to move into functioning better as a mid-size congregation. About the time you read this, I’ll be attending the continental Mid-Size Congregation conference in Phoenix, March 2 – 5, with Karla Brockie (DRE), Dale G (Membership Chair), Paul D (Treasurer), Ellie N (Communications) and Rev. Chuck Gaines (Membership and former UUA Extension Director). Ron Meikle might go at the last minute, but he was really hoping our contender for next year’s President would go, whoever that might be. Even so, we have a core group of leaders to discuss the issues and bring them back to everyone, so watch for that as an upcoming conversation. I put their full names in this column [see hard copy version] so you can look them up in the directory and give them a call about the conference if you are so inclined. We’re having a good and busy month—few months actually—with the pledge drive luncheon and canvassing going strong. We’re trying not to wear everyone out, but at the same time, people are excited with the work we’re doing and wanting to invite everyone to be involved. The more active we are, the more connected we feel, I believe. Of course, the other side of that, we reminded each other at the covenanting, was to keep balance and take care, to not over-commit. It’s good to be aware of how much we love the ministries we engage in and to do those with care and intentionality. As the spring comes to us once again, let it also be a sign of the blooming of our congregational garden and our role as gardeners. It’s a nice analogy to contemplate. Susan’s Musin’s One thing we’re NOT doing this month is celebrating Evolution Sunday, which is February 12, Darwin’s 197th birthday. I felt it would be preaching to the choir, and we already did a service recently on science and religion in early December. I did sign the Clergy Letter Project which is collecting names of clergy who believe that science and religion are compatible, and forwarded it to my colleagues. I also sent that sermon from December 4, which Jeff Chamberlain and I did together, and it’s now on the Clergy Letter Project web list of 29 evolution sermon resources. (It is also on our site: Religion and the Expanding Universe and Mesons, Motes and Miracles) Sometimes, it’s hard to choose what to preach about. There are a million topics, and I have to choose among the ones in my own interest and heart, the ones relevant to the work of the congregation at the moment, the ones mentioned to me by congregants, the ones suggested by worship associates, the ones in the news, the ones which pertain to pastoral needs and those tied to holidays, and try to work in UU principles and purposes and history and religious background sprinkled throughout, if I can. But, in the end, I do have to choose. This month we need to look at our understanding of stewardship, and we’ll do that on the first Sunday, even as we kick off the fund drive on the second Sunday. On the third Sunday, we’ll be looking at ministry, my ministry with you, and try to create a new covenant to help guide us through this growing organization we have become. So, instead of revisiting evolution, with which I would guess 99 to 100 percent of you are on board, I decided it was time for another healing service. I had hoped to have at least four of those a year, services which appeal to our desire for quiet, contemplative experiences in worship, a healing for the soul. Now there’s a metaphor to set next to Darwin’s theory! What do I mean by soul? What do you mean? We define our faith together, in figuring out as we go what works, how to respond to the ministry needs of our congregation, and how to articulate our mission. At the workshop on January 22, entitled “Ministry in the 21st Century” with Dr. Ken Brown, we recognized that we should revisit our mission as a congregation and update it if need be, maybe condense our mission statement into one we can remember. People also expressed what they thought were the most important things a minister should do, even as we acknowledged that I can’t do them all and that, as we have grown, so has my ministry with you had to adapt. Oh dear, it has had to evolve! Darwin would be pleased. (I really truly wasn’t going there when I started this column – writing in the spirit as I do). The biggest adaptation I’ve had to make (and thus, so have you) is the move from being able to minister individually to each of you when we were small, to needing to minister more to the leadership and having the individual ministering take place by laity (that’s you). Someone described it as being coach and mentor to the chairs and leaders. Another point made was that we can only minister effectively to two or three generations, as each one has different interests in worship and gathering, and we can’t meet them all within one congregation – at least, not yet. Soon, will we be able to? It seems like we’ve been talking about that extra different service on Wednesday or Friday for a long time. I was intrigued by the four communication eras — oral, print, broadcast, and digital — and our use (or not) of each in worship and actually all of what we do. Well, come to the Covenant workshop on February 19 and learn more. Come to the Fund Drive kick-off on February 12. Remember to respond kindly and quickly to your canvasser and pledge as generously as you can. There are a million ways to be involved and to give and get in this ministry we do together. I hope you will join us to the best of your ability. And we shall continue to grow this congregation — to evolve our way into the future. Happy Evolution! Susan's Musin's As we start the New Year, there are some exciting things happening in our congregation! This is my tenth year as your minister, and since we have grown significantly during those ten years, and transformed organizationally into what is called a “Program Size” congregation, we decided to spend some time in conversation about what ministry, mine and yours, should look like today and into the future. It’s a different experience ministering within a congregation of 75 to 100 adults and children versus 200 to 250. The Rev. Dr. Ken Brown, who is our Pacific Southwest District Executive, is coming to speak with us Sunday afternoon, January 22, on the topic “Ministry in the 21st Century at UUCNWT.” We will serve lunch and try to get as many of you to join us, since this is transformational work for all of us. Then, on Sunday, February 19, we will meet again with Ken’s colleague, Angela Merkert, to create a new covenant on ministry with each other. So mark your calendars, please! The UUCNWT Board is planning an all-congregation gathering for Sunday, January 8, after the services, the “State of the Congregation." We have new committees and new activities to tell you about. Our Stewardship committee is new as of late summer and chair Anne T is helping guide us toward clearer understanding of what it means to be a member and steward of this congregation. Look for the notice in the newsletter, and note that the pledge drive kick-off date and fun midday event is February 12. Let Anne know if you are willing to help and in what way – the more, the easier on us all. Chuck T is coordinator of the pledge drive this year. So we are calling on everyone, once again, to gather as a community, not just for Sunday morning worship, but for exploring some important issues that confront who we currently are as a congregation. We really want you to be there, if you can. Are you hankering to have a bigger impact on this congregation? Besides planning for a generous pledge, you can also volunteer for the many leadership positions, some of which are coming open this next year. Our nominating committee, composed of Rie G, Gwen G, and Anne S, will be compiling a slate of candidates for the Board over the next couple months, and we need YOU! Let them know. New Years bring new opportunities and renewed resolutions to be more and help more. As you consider your obligations and the requests we and others make of you, remember to take care of yourself, keep your boundaries clear, and volunteer for something you actually WANT to make time for and which will nourish your soul and make you happier. Happy volunteers make a happy congregation! Thanks for all the ways you have volunteered this past year, and for saying thank-you to others. It takes every one of us doing something, big or small, one or many, to move this congregation along and make it responsive to the vision each of us has of what liberal religious community ought to be. Happy New Year! Susan’s Musin’s HAPPY HOLIDAYS! Every year I feel torn when I sit down to write the holiday musin’s column. So much in the world is not right, is struggling and grieving. Dickens’ A Christmas Carol comes to mind, highlighting the fact that Christmas is not a neglect of the poor and hungry, but rather a time to pay attention better to the ways our actions are or are not in line with our values. Are we using our abilities to help the less fortunate in the best way possible? Dickens, by the way, was a Unitarian, and he cared deeply about social justice. I was told by one of our members that the Food Bank is in desperate need right now, so here is an opportunity for us to squeeze some life-saving back into our days and empty our shelves or add cans to the grocery basket. If you bring food to the services on Sundays, someone is making the food box more visible in Goldblatt and will deliver regularly to Interfaith Community Services Food Bank. We also are invited to participate in the Guest at Your Table program of the UU Service Committee. Pick up a box in the sanctuary and put it on your dinner table, add money each meal to represent a guest at your table and we’ll collect it at the New Year. These holidays hold meaning in different ways for each of us. Since some celebrate the Solstice, some Christmas, some Hanukkah, some Kwanzaa, and some nothing and some everything, we might feel like the meaning of these winter days is watered down somehow. I feel it is the opposite. There are seeds of common ground within all the holidays, and these speak to us on a deeper level than the shopping malls and commercials of today. Family, friends and firelight are three of them. Helping the needy is a fourth, but not the last. Even while the world is hurting and we are feeling the pain for our brothers and sisters, we can and should learn to balance that with celebrations of the life we have, the good we can do, and the beauty that surrounds us still, day by day. Even when faced with our own death, we can not let that force us to die all the sooner by giving up our self-actualization. As long as we have breath (that’s a quote from a hymn), we can do for others, even if it’s a smile and a warm hand, and make our life have meaning to the last. I know that a number of you struggle mightily this time of year just to keep a positive outlook. Remember that there are people in this congregation, your extended family, who care about you, and choosing to be with others can help combat the loneliness holidays can bring. Be brave and call someone in the congregation and invite them to lunch. Volunteer somewhere. Hang out at church (we’re open every morning except Thursdays when it’s the afternoon). Do something very nice for yourself, not because you think you might be worth it, but because you ARE worth it. Come to church and get a hug – many people living alone are hug-deprived. I think of that bumper sticker that says “Hug a Tree.” We need to “Hug a Person.” We need to stay connected to the vital human contact that in a very real sense is life-saving. So, in the midst of the turmoil that these holidays bring, find the quiet joy that brings you peace. If you can’t find it, make it! We have holiday events going on at the congregation all December, so pick some and offer a ride to people who are home-bound, and if you are home-bound, get on the phone and ask for a ride – call me at 877-8961, or Dale Golis of Neighborhood Care Circles at 579-7506 -- and we’ll see what we can do. Let’s celebrate what is good and right and beautiful in the world this holiday season, even as we give of our energy and money to help make things a little better for others. Happy Holidays, really! Love, Susan Susan’s Musin’s As I write this, October 20, Hurricane Wilma is hovering over Cancun and due to hit Florida over the weekend. Disasters seem to be on the rise, worrying us about global warming and whether this is a result of decades of carelessness in caring for the planet. Do we really know? Not yet, but awareness is called for, and action is expected if we want to help get the earth back into balance. So many people have been tragically affected by the hurricanes and floods, and the earthquake in Pakistan – unimaginable numbers there! It is frustrating to stay here in the peaceful land of Tucson – at least, peaceful today – and not be able to help one-on-one. Some find ways. The rest of us send money and hope it gets to the right people, those who really need it, and not the government skimmers of so many foreign lands (and that begs the question: and what of our own?) In this Thanksgiving Season, we can take the time to ponder the good things of our lives, from the quiet sunrise (which costs nothing and is one of the incredible daily events of Arizona – maybe rates with the seven-plus wonders of the world), to the rich pattern of life which we often take for granted: dry homes, big homes (each and every one of us – compared to the huts of Pakistan that collapsed in the earthquake), comfortable homes, grocery stores filled with food of every kind, cell phones and theaters, cars and gas (even if it is $2.73 a gallon!), and you can continue the list. Be sure to add our religious community, where freedom of thought and belief is cherished; that is something to be thankful for in the context of the world. I received an email update on the condition of the churches around New Orleans and Biloxi. Two of our colleagues have lost their entire libraries and so ministers are seeing what books we have to give them. And two of the church buildings are filled with mud and totally ruined. Twenty of our congregations are partnering with the four hurricane-affected congregations to help them get back on their feet! When you consider that probably 50% of the members of those congregations will leave in order to get jobs elsewhere, the economic impact is devastating as well. And this is a tiny UU microcosm of the situation that plagues the entire region. In the covenant that we recited when I was growing up in the UU Congregation of Phoenix, we said every Sunday that “service is our prayer.” As we say our Thanksgiving blessings, we will also be giving money to the Guest at Your Table program of the UU Service Committee (UUSC), which begins November 20. Being thankful puts our minds and hearts in better perspective, and frees them to guide our hands toward that service which is prayer in action—to help and change the world for the better in whatever ways we can, from environmental action to economic justice work to rallies for Peace to basic human care and concern. Happy Thanksgiving! Love, Susan Susan’s Musin’s By the time you read this, it will have been a month since Hurricane Katrina destroyed so many lives along the Gulf Coast. It will take a long time to heal from such a catastrophe, and we are reminded once again of how fragile our lives really are. Religious communities pull together to help just as much as civic communities which cross the religious divide. Helping knows no particular faith and justice needs us all. I wish I could tell you about the Washington DC Rally for Peace and Justice, but I’m writing this before I leave. [Follow the caravan on the BLOG]. More and more we (I?) realize that we are a virtual congregation, too, and people find us on the internet and people all over the world read the sermons and notices posted there. Search engines can find one word in that text, like “death” and I get calls from colleagues for permission to use sermons or paragraphs, or even for resources. "Hi, Susan!” say new people on Sunday. "Oh, we haven’t met, but we saw your picture on the website. We read everything there and we’ve come to check you guys out. We think this is what we’ve been looking for.” Did you all know that was going on? Most growing UU congregations I am aware of know about this move toward virtuality (my spell-check says that’s not a word, but we need new ones now-a-days). They already have their activities posted on the web protected with secure passwords. Get on the computer and see for yourself. We’ve decided that’s where we’re going, and though a very few people are still nervous about it, we are learning more and more that this is the world of our future. We have to learn to connect this way. The way people got help fastest during Katrina was through the web. The way we gave money fastest was through the web. The way we stayed up with needs and locations of family and friends was through the web. The UU World magazine is now on the web, www.uuworld.org, so you don’t even have to wait for it in the mail, nor have stories written once a quarter. Don Skinner, who writes many of them, was writing away throughout the aftermath of Katrina to keep us up-to-date on our UU congregations there. I tried something new this month and posted two notices on our website, one regarding Katrina and one regarding the floods in Transylvania. I have made our website my home page so that every time I turn on the computer, I am reminded that we are virtual, and I can check out what's new. Our webmaster, Liz Bustamante, is not only updating the site every Monday, but she also has posted the stories of our Social Action Committee’s Ribbons of Resistance project along with creating the blog. I encourage you all to go there, and to our new Congregation Builder website. Leah will give you our login and password when it’s time. The future is now, as they say. Let’s make the most of it. Happy Autumn to you all! Love, Susan Susan’s Musin’s I hope you all had very restful and invigorating summers, or at least found some time to get away from your busy schedules. Curtiss and I spent a week in Hawaii (thanks to frequent flyer miles and a timeshare) and along with a few other excursions to camp here and there, we had a good summer. Part was spent getting the kids (no longer kids) settled in their respective universities: Kat to a dorm at NAU in Flagstaff, and Ben to a dorm at the U of A. They are both very excited! I am planning on attending the Rally in Washington, D.C., the last weekend of September (24-26) with our Social Action Committee and friends who are traveling there as well with the Ribbons of Resistance, a project they created in response to United for Peace and Justice's call for Mass Action in Washington, D.C., to End the War on Iraq. What a great idea and what great work they are doing for peace! Read about it in Libby’s article in this newsletter and come to the service on 9/11 for more. We hope everyone can join the effort in some way, by sending a Ribbon of Resistance or by coming in person to protest the war in Iraq. I don’t have my ticket yet, nor a hotel, but I plan to fly from my meeting in California that week directly to Washington, D.C., and meet up with our folks who will be driving cross-country and collecting the ribbons from our UU congregations along the way. The gathering in Washington, D.C., is a call to action by a coalition of peace and justice groups around the country, including our own Unitarian Universalist Service Committee which has its own version of events planned for that weekend under the title “Call for Justice Weekend: Stop U.S. Involvement in Torture.” UUSC’s schedule of events for those three days include educational workshops, a “Citizen’s Trial of Mr. Rumsfeld, Mr. Gonzales and Mr. Tenet for violations of international and U.S. laws prohibiting torture,” and visits to Congress, all to coincide and integrate with the activities of United for Peace and Justice and many other groups, which include a massive rally and peace march on Saturday, an interfaith worship on Sunday, and a grassroots lobby day with nonviolent civil disobedience action on Monday. Throughout the weekend there will be an “Anti-war Fair.” Another potentially helpful website (still in the making) is SeptemberAction.org. Tell your friends and family. Plan to come, or sign a ribbon! How many times in our lives can we participate in something that is large enough to really make a difference? It reminds me of the peace vigils we participated in right after 9/11 happened. Moveon.org got us all going…or rather, we got Moveon.org going, didn’t we all? Like Margaret Mead wrote, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed it’s the only thing that ever has.” I believe that is my favorite reading in the hymnal! (561) What better way to start off our year! |
I spent a week writing in Sedona in January and one in Pine Top in February. We just got back from three weeks in New Zealand on March 15, and I will be writing more blog pages with my thoughts on those. If you want to subscribe to my blog, there is a button which says "RSS" near the top of the Blog page. If you click that and put in your email address, every time I update the website, the new blog page I've added will be sent to your email address. Or you can just keep checking it on your own.
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