april 15th, 2008 Vol 49, no 31
Spiritual Celebration and Program
April 20th - EARTH DAY
9:15AM - Spiritual Celebration: "This I Believe" Mitra Rahnema of All Souls UU Church in Kansas City will present the program. Is it true, Unitarian Universalists can believe whatever we want? It is true that we live with tension between building our own theology and the messages and traditions of our religious ancestry. As a result we sometimes have a tendency to create dualities between ourselves and others within and outside of our community. Today, we will look at how contemporary polarities are both a gift and limitation of our tradition, growing theologies, and community.
10:45 a.m. Program: Earth Day. "Acting Locally to Preserve Native Prairies", a panel discussion including Ken Lassman, author of "Douglas County Wild" and Hillary Brown, owner of Local Burger. The program was arranged by Angie Babbit.
Celebrate our Building Dedication!
Save Sunday October 19th for our Building Dedication!
The third Sunday in October is when we hope to celebrate our new addition. The latest projections show a completion date of mid July, giving us a couple of months to settle in before the official dedication. Stay tuned for much more information in the coming months.
Children's Religious Education Brainstorming Meeting
Please join the RE Committee on Sunday, April 27th for a planning/brainstorming meeting immediately following the program in the Wollstonecraft room. We will be discussing ideas for Fall 2008 programming including reworking Sunday morning activities for children, ideas for enhancing the teaching experience for adult volunteers, and possible topics for children's social action. Snacks and childcare will be provided. All are welcome. ~Carol Eades
Just Food
JUST FOOD is moving toward a regular twice a month delivery of food from Harvesters in Kansas City, MO. This means taking a Ford van and getting roughly three pallets of food.
Volunteers from the participating partners do the driving, loading at Harvesters and unloading at EKAN where it is shared with the other participating food banks in Lawrence.
Volunteers are welcome, especially for the unloading at EKAN. Persons willing to sign on to volunteer may call the Fellowship office or Forrest Swall.
Plant Exchange and Refreshments!
Sunday, May 11th, at 3 pm at the Fellowship Do you have bare spots in your garden? Do you have extra plants to trade or share? Let's pot up those extra plants and bring them to the Fellowship. Among the common perennials that can be transplanted in the spring are columbines, coneflowers, coreopsis, daisies, hollyhock, hosta, lamb's ear, lamium, moneywort, sedum, vinca minor, and many, many more. If you have questions about what you can dig up, you may want to ask a masterful gardener like Janney or Arthur Burgess, Ruth Scott, or Stuart Boley. If you want to consult the master gardeners who are members of the Fellowship, they are Valerie Roper, Marilyn Roy, and Mary Beth Musick.
Kids Needed for Earth Day Parade
If your children are interested in being on the Lawrence Coalition for Peace and Justice float, for the Earth Day Parade in downtown Lawrence, please bring them to the Train Park at 10:45. The parade starts at 11:00, so all of us should be ready to hop on.
This parade isn't very big and you may not have any trouble spotting us, but our coordinator, Christine, will be standing with a big red flag (with a blue peace sign on it) to help children figure out where to go. Find the flag, and Christine will help you find the float.
Children will be dropped off at the earth day festivities at South Park. Please pick them up there right after the parade (if you're not riding on the float). If you have any questions, please contact Retta at retta@sunflower.com.
If your little ones want to dress up as fairies or elves or earth spirits, that would be fun.
Thanks very much for your help in making the float beautiful by adding its most wonderful element: children. ~Anne and Retta
Sinkford to Speak in May
The President of UUA, Rev. William Sinkford, will speak in the commons area of Lawrence High School at 4:00 on Sunday afternoon, May 18th. This date was selected by his office in Boston as he will be traveling through the Midwest then, with at least three other major speaking engagements. The historic Unitarian bell will be a backdrop. A nationally recognized 
leader in the field of race relations and social justice issues, Rev. Sinkford will speak on the role of liberal religion in 21st Century America. It is emphasized that this is a public address, not a religious ceremony. Community leaders and members of all UU congregations in our cluster are being invited. The "I-70 choir" will perform a short concert before he speaks and there will be a chance to enjoy light refreshments and meet Rev. Sinkford at the conclusion of his remarks. We realize that this is K.U. commencement day, but our K.U. experts assure us that will not interfere with our event. Save the date!
Book Club Forming
As part of the planning for next Fall's activity line-up, the Adult Religious Education and Wednesday Activities Committees are asking for your input on 2 different types of Book Groups.
1) Adult R.E.: Books or LUUF Curricula Series that would explore the vast variety of faiths, spiritual practices, personal essays by well known writers like Matthew Fox, Joseph Campbell, Sister Helen Prejean, etc. Also, possible: memoirs, biographies, studies of women in the Bible...
2) Reading For Enjoyment: Almost anything is possible, but we would limit the reading to one book/month. An idea might be to use the local library's "Book Page", or another book review magazine to choose selections. This could be a very flexible group; each member reading and reporting on a book of their choice, or all sharing a single book.
Please contact Judy Wilson: jwilson@sunflower.com, or call Marilyn: 838-3057.
We could offer either group, or both; childcare/activities could be provided if held at the Fellowship on Wednesday afternoons or evenings. Meetings could also be in homes, and/or Presbyterian Manor. We look forward to hearing from you!!
Peace on Mother's Day
Kansas and PSD District UUs Work to Reclaim Mothers Day as a Day for Peace
Mothers Day 2008
May 11th, 2008, 3:00
Overland Park, KS
Are you a Mother? Have you ever had a Mother?
If you can answer yes to one or both of these questions, you can be a part of the Mothers Day celebration as it was originally intended, a voice for peace and against war. Julia's Voice is sponsoring an event to stand for peace at 3:00 on Sunday, May 11th in Overland Park.
Julia's Voice, a group of "mothers and others" is dedicated to reclaiming Mothers Day as it was intended by Unitarian Julia Ward Howe. The group is guided by Howe's vision to establish a day to promote peace and speak out against war. Howe was an active abolitionist, suffragette, poet and author of the Battle Hymn of the Republic.
On May 11, 2008, an event will be help to honor the work of mothers to teach, in Howe's words, "patience, charity and mercy". The event, Moms Against the War will stand for peace along the public sidewalk at 3:00 in Overland Park on 95th Street between Nieman and Quivera, in Overland Park, rain or shine. This is also the location of the district office of Kansas Senator Sam Brownback.
Send a message for peace by standing with fellow Unitarian Universalists. Join with us as we standing shoulder to shoulder, lining the sidewalks of this busy intersection and with "mothers and others", Julia Ward Howe re-enactors, musicians and other special guests.
Sponsors include the Shawnee Mission Unitarian Universalist Church, True Blue Women of Kansas, Iraq Veterans Against the War, the All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church and American Friends Service Committee of Kansas City.
Summaries
APRIL 6, 2008 10:45 a.m. LIFE TRANSITIONS: THE LATER YEARS
Jeff Lewis introduced Helen Gilles, Early Nehring, Janney Burgess and Arthur Burgess, who spoke about life in their 80's. Fittingly, today's program showed a picture of wise owls. Helen, a retired physician, said health maintenance takes more time now, but it helps counteract changes in flexibility, strength, and balance. Helen's advice: Be upbeat, and keep up social contacts with other people. And be matter-of-fact and not falsely cheerful when talking to someone with Alzheimer's Disease.
When Earl retired, he and Harriet enjoyed travelling, until Harriet got Alzheimer's Disease. Earl then took care of Harriet until she died in 8-2007. Earl now enjoys helping Kansas Advocates for Better Care. Earl's advice: "You have nothing to complain about if you have lived 88 years." Janney got a Masters Degree at age 57, and later she and Arthur enjoyed going places in their motor home, which has 265,000 miles on it. Janney is also on the board of Lawrence Interdenominational Nutrition Kitchen, and is a Hospice volunteer. Her advice: Keep sharing your wisdom with others. Arthur delivered mail at the Senior Center, until his knee replacement. His love of astronomy continues, and he shifted from a homemade telescope, to his new computerized telescope. He credits much of his happiness to his and Janney's couple relationship. And all of our speakers noted the positive contribution that the Unitarian Fellowship made to their lives.
Afterwards, the audience enthusiastically shared insights on aging: You're not old until you give up... or until people raise their voices when talking to you. How can Arthur use a computerized telescope when I can't fathom a cell phone?! Get a big screen t.v., to see and hear more. Keep your sense of humor. A retirement home brings new programs and new friends. It's not what happens to you that matters, but how you take it. ~Summary by Jean Dirks