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INSIDE THIS WEEKLY MISSIVE
- Reflection
- RE Corner
- HUUF Zoom Opportunities for Connection
- Climate Action Campaign News/ UUA Climate Justice
- From the HUUF Board of Trustees
- Caring Connection
- Virtual Green Sheet
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| ~To the Beloved Community,
This week’s reflection is an excerpt from a longer piece by Nigerian writer & speaker Bayo Akomolafe.
The full-length piece can be found here.
“I learned, a long time ago, about a particular saying from the continent I grew up on: “The times are urgent; Let us slow down.” The first time I heard this African saying, I knew I had happened upon something important – something that needed to be shared at this time when the theme of urgency, the subject of the eleventh hour, and the prospects of an apocalypse scenario (World War III? Climate change disaster? Hadron collider mishap? Trump?) are now familiar tropes in our conversations about the future.
So, everywhere I was invited to speak, I offered an invitation to ‘Slow Down’, which seems like the wrong thing to do when there’s fire on the mountain. But here’s the point: in ‘hurrying up’ all the time, we often lose sight of the abundance of resources that might help us meet today’s most challenging crises. We rush through into the same patterns we are used to. Of course, there isn’t a single way to respond to crisis; there is no universally correct way. However the call to slow down works to bring us face to face with the invisible, the hidden, the unremarked, the yet-to-be-resolved. Sometimes, what is the appropriate thing to do is not the effective thing to do.
Slowing down is thus about lingering in the places we are not used to. Seeking out new questions. Becoming accountable to more than what rests on the surface…. The idea of slowing down is not about getting answers, it is about questioning our questions….“What if the way we respond to the crisis is part of the crisis?”…An even more troubling question to ask is, “What if ‘crisis’ is the ‘wrong’ way to think about the challenges we face?” The figure of crisis calls on panic, hasty reactions, bleeping lines and tick-tocking sounds….The modern figuration of crisis has enrolled reactionary platforms, where the urgency of a situation is the sole argument for sidestepping complexity and ‘doing something’ now. We’ve been hit by climate change, we’ve got to hit it back; we’ve been used by the 1 percent, we’ve got to overturn the tables;…we are experiencing sadness, we have to ‘get over it’ quick.
… That way of relating with the world is now being haunted and increasingly being called into question. The world around us matters; it’s not merely decorative. …The world is a going-on together. A becoming-together. This has vast implications for how we think about ourselves, others and the world. Perhaps, today’s new openings in thought and action afford us an opportunity to build sanctuaries, places where people can feel safe and held… [where] we [can] embark on a collective quest … to slow down.
…We might find how we are being ushered into what some are calling a ‘multi-species salon’ – a world wherein complexity arises by infection, where a becoming-with is how things change, where we are not in charge of the outcomes but an ephemeral aspect of the process.”
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 This Sunday! May 23rd
Join us for another fun, uplifting Mindful Movement time with Miss Jessalyn at 10:15 before the 11 am service. Open, as always, to children of ALL AGES. Same link as our service. |
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Our final monthly Parent Group meetup for this “school” year will take place on Wednesday, May 26th.
On the Porch – A monthly Soulful Home Exploration for Parents & Caregivers
Together, we’ll explore a collective practice to support our efforts within our homes & share in reflections upon the month’s chosen theme. For the month of May, we’ll be looking at STORY. Facilitated by Amy Day.
Join Us!
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HUUF Zoom Opportunities for Connection & Conversation
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The Multi-Generational Song Circle Moves to In-Person in JUNE!
Plan to gather safely outside on HUUF’s beautiful campus as we celebrate being together in song. The June gathering is set for Saturday June 12th time TBD stay tuned . Join us for a chance to rekindle the joy that only music & fellowship can bring
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| CLIMATE ACTION CAMPAIGN/ UUA CLIMATE JUSTICE |
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Congratulations to HUUF for Commitment to our Sixth Principle
HUUF has been recognized as a UU Sixth Principle Congregation for 2020-2021. The award is granted annually by the UUA Office at the UN (UU@UN) to congregations that show commitment to our Sixth Principle (goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all) through actions and financial support of the UU@UN.
(Look for the full article on how this came to be in the June HUUF Newsletter)
Thanks to the hard work and dedication of Sue Lee Mossman, the HUUF CAC, and the congregation at large –WE ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE TOGETHER!
John Schaefer is offering his time and talents to demonstrate the fun and informative virtual climate action game En-Roads. If you are interested in learning and playing, please email Sue Mossman syl1@humboldt.edu ASAP. We will try to schedule this for early June if there is enough interest.
En-Ro ads is a fascinating online simulation of climate change and the potential effectiveness of climate activism work.
John says “Everyone will have the chance to try policies like electrifying buildings, reducing coal, or capturing carbon, among others. MIT predicts a global temperature rise of 7.3 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100 for their business as usual outcome. Can we do better? For a preview, look at: https://en-roads.climateinteractive.org/
 BIPOC Caucus on Climate Justice Session 4: The Seventh Principle and Racial and Climate Justice Work
Thursday, May 27 at 5pm PT / 6 MT / 7 CT / 8 ET
All are welcome to attend the 4th session of the Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) Caucus, convened by Paula Cole Jones (All Souls Church DC) and Rashid Shaikh (First Parish Cambridge). Session 4 will cover The Seventh Principle and Racial and Climate Justice Work, and include both a BIPOC and White caucus space. The BIPOC caucus is inspired by the UU Seventh Principle (respect for the interdependent web of all existence) and the proposed Eighth Principle (accountably dismantle racism and all other oppressions). REGISTER HERE |
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FROM THE HUUF BOARD OF TRUSTEES
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HUUF 2021-2022 Pledge Drive Update
We are more than half way to achieving our Pledge Drive goal of $180,000 for the fiscal year beginning on July 1.
Despite all the challenges of this pandemic year, the fulfillment of pledges to HUUF has remained positive, and we expect to end this year with our income exceeding our expenses by a small amount. Many thanks to all of our members!
As you know, we will have more bills to pay in 2021-22, since we have retained the Rev. Peter Farriday—and we expect to open up our children’s and youth RE programs, which require paid staff. We ask that you send in your pledge now for our next fiscal year at the level that you are able.
Next spring we will hold a more typical Pledge Drive Celebration, and we will be able once again to offer our pledges while we enjoy the company of our Fellowship community.
Many thanks!
HUUF Board of Trustees:
Berti Welty David Marshak Sally Williams Rebekah Paez Peter Gillis
Kate McClain Debi Cooper Chris West |
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CARING CONNECTION
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Members and Friends and invited to welcome Rehema Tinkamanyire to our extended Fellowship family. Rehema, a Pennekamp family relation, who recently moved to the states from Uganda, will be arriving in Humboldt on May 29th. She has offered up her time and talents to care for Marianne full time. She will be living with Marianne but will know no one else (aside from Peter Pennekamp) in the area. Please extend your grace and make her feel welcome! Contact Marianne 442-6212 or Peter 616-1360 for more information. |
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~ Virtual Green Sheet ~
- “Living into Our Values” – Plan to attend this special event! A Cooperative Decision Making Workshop with Cooperation Humboldt- hosted by HUUF – Saturday May 22 10am to 3pm., in person, on the HUUF campus . To find out more about this dynamic opportunity, contact Fellowship Engagement Coordinator, Amy Day @ comm@huuf.org or Cooperation Humboldt Education Coordinator, Ruthi Engelke @ CoopHumEd@gmail.com . More info can be found here. Register for the event HERE
- Can You Push a Wheelbarrow for an Hour?
 Our next grounds work party is scheduled for Saturday, May 29, 10 am to 1 pm. If you can join us for even an hour, we 70 year olds could really use your help! It’s getting harder to load and push loaded wheelbarrows of mulch over to our beds, but it sure helps to keep the weeds down, and easier to pull them out, too. We could also use some muscle to carry around the backpack propane torch to burn the weeds in our walkways; kinda’ fun, too. If you can let us know in advance, call or email Val: polkaqueen@gmail.com, 707-825-7446. But drop in unannounced too; we’ll welcome you with an open elbow bump!
- COMING UP – Join Us: May 30rd 11:00 AM for next Sunday’s Service: Ministry History and Mystery: HUUF has a rich history of lay leadership. Before there was ever a person in the official seat of “minister,” it was a task taken on by the collective, and this has happened time and again through the years. Everything from pastoral care to managing our resources to proclaiming wisdom at the pulpit, we have held those spaces with what gifts we have to give. As we tentatively exit the isolation of Covid, and we eagerly await the coming of the Rev Farriday, we sit inside the question: What is our ministry in this time? Together, we’ll mine stories of the past for insight and inspiration and craft a vision of what can be when not just one person steps into the powerful work of ministry, but many. *Zoom links for Sunday Services are now being posted on our website
- Got Compost? In reviewing the recently collected CAC surveys, a common obstacle has emerged. Many at HUUF would like to compost their kitchen scraps but have no way to effectively do so. Look for an article in the upcoming HUUF newsletter to find out how YOU can become a better steward to the earth through composting,,, even if you live in an apartment or environment where it seems impractical.
- Save the date: Virtual Humboldt Trails Summit with State Senator Mike McGuire: Please join HUUF’s own Karen Underwood and others for the virtual Humboldt Trails Summit on Saturday, June 5th, 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. via Zoom and Access Humboldt, channel 8, or Facebook Live. This year’s theme is “Enjoy and Engage” and we will be highlighting places for you to get out and enjoy trails as well as ways to engage in efforts to expand our regional trail system. On-location videos will connect you with ongoing work to develop trails and inspire you to engage with other trail enthusiasts in supporting visionary efforts to connect communities through trails. The public is encouraged to send their questions about trails in advance to: TrailsSummit@humtrails.org. Register at https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_UAt7CXK8ToOohZAO2weoGw. More details about the event and how to connect will be available at https://www.humtrails.org/ or Facebook page: Humboldt Trails Council – Home.
- Save Paper- Submit your 2021/2021 fiscal pledge online!: It’s Easy.. just click HERE . Once you complete the form, click the submit button and your pledge promise will be received, recorded and tracked by the office.
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