A Month of Sundays

November Theme: Healing

November 1: Healing of a Nation, Part 1

In just a few days the fate of our nation will be decided. As we learned in 2016, nothing can be taken for granted; these are days of anxiety and uncertainty. On the brink of this election, Rev. Nori will speak on concrete things we can do, regardless of the result of Tuesday’s vote, to be a part of healing our fractured nation.

Religious Exploration – This Sunday is our monthly day off for RE. Enjoy your Halloween/Samhain/Day of the Dead weekend! See you next Sunday for e-RE.

November 8: Healing of a Nation, Part 2 What Comes Next?

The people have spoken, some are breathing sighs of relief, others are angry. I remember this time in 2016 as many of us vainly sought ways we could make the nightmare go away: electoral judges not voting for the candidate that didn’t win the actual election, ways to invoke conflict of interest, etc. None of that panned out and we were left to face the results many of us had hoped was a nightmare. Again, regardless of who wins, we must now look to future and decide how we can be on the side of history that moves the moral arc of the universe more closely to justice.

Religious Exploration – Soul Matters (1^st-4^th grade): “Let Gratitude Heal You.” When we are sad or have been hurt, it can feel as though “life is out to get us.” It can seem as though life is small and scary. Our faith tells us that gratitude can help guide us back to believing that life is good and “on our side.” By shifting our attention from the sad and scary parts of life to the gifts of life, gratitude heals us.

Crossing Paths (5^th-7^th grade): “Map Day: Christianity.” The aim of Map Sunday is to “get a glimpse” of each religion and explore the core aspects of its “landscape.” There is no way to capture the fullness of Christianity in a session or two. So, as always, this session is about impressions and partial views. The goal is to set the stage for the visits and start the learning.

November 15: Sharing Life with People with Disabilities

As a Fulbright Research Scholar at the University of Toronto, Alec Gewirtz lived and worked as a caretaker at an interfaith community for people with intellectual disabilities. His relationships centered on supporting his housemates through the anguish of many forms of helplessness and uncertainty as a result of physical and intellectual limitations, as well as, emotional struggles related to difficulty in trusting in the constancy of people’s love. Alec will share a few transformative stories living and learning from people with intellectual disabilities, calling attention to profound lessons for all of us.

Guest Speaker Bio: Alec Gewirtz, who graduated with a degree in religious studies from Princeton University, studies the future of community. While in Toronto, he conducted participatory research at L’Arche Daybreak, an interfaith community for people with disabilities — living and working at the community while writing about his experience of sharing life with people with disabilities. He is currently at work on a book about what adults with disabilities can teach young people about maturity.

Religious Exploration: Soul Matters (1^st-4^th grade): “Listen Before You Try to Help and Heal Others.” Our faith asks us to serve others. It’s part of our second UU Principle, “Be kind in all you do.” But sometimes when we try to help and heal others, we assume we know exactly what they need, but we’re wrong! We’ll practice listening to others so we can help and heal others around us.

Crossing Paths (5^th-7^th grade): “Tack Day: Comparing Faiths.” Today we’ll introduce the connections between Christianity and Unitarian Universalism. One of our 6 sources of UU is Christianity, so it will be fun to explore all our similarities!

November 22: Healing of Self Images

As we observe the Transgender Day of Remembrance, Rev. Rost will share about how self hatred is at the core of so many murders of transfolx, especially trans womxn of color. The reality is these womxn and other transfolx weren’t killed because they were trans, they were murdered by people whose own self image is one of loathing and fear. How can we bring the healing of how we view ourselves so that we aren’t fearful or harmful to others?

Religious Exploration: Soul Matters (1^st-4^th grade): “Heal by Telling the Truth of Thanksgiving.” When it comes to healing, so many brave and wise voices have lifted up the importance of telling the true history of Thanksgiving. This is reflected in our Fourth Principle: “Search for what is true.” Our faith has taken up this work and called on UU’s to be especially vigilant about the work of correcting stories that have caused harm.

Crossing Paths (5^th-7^th grade): “Summit & Lake Day: Virtual Visit and Reflection of Christianity.” Today brings our virtual visit to a church as they engage in one of their core spiritual practices. We’ll also be interviewing Roger Butts, a Christian UU minister, about his experiences with this religion. Last, we reflect on our month of learning about Christianity.

November 29: What’s So Amazing About Grace?

In this service, as we celebrate Thanksgiving, Rev. Rost will take a look at grace—how it shows up in our lives, how we can give it to others, and why it’s much more than a prayer of thanksgiving said before meals.

Religious Exploration: FUUN Day (1^st-7^th grade): Today we’ll have our first FUUN Day which brings both classrooms together to play some fun games! There will be a variety of games to play from a Scavenger Hunt to Pictionary!