Eastrose Fellowship
Unitarian Universalist
WE ARE A WELCOMING CONGREGATION
WE ARE A WELCOMING CONGREGATION
Monthly Letters to the Congregation by Rev. David Maynard
This Year's Letters
| December 2006 The minister’s view… Hell and Happy New Year
As a New Year’s gift, I’d also like to share the following short column from my colleague Rev. Burton Carley in Memphis. We Unitarian Universalists have some theological answers, too: "The other day I was asked if Unitarians offered salvation from hell? Sometimes I struggle with such questions because the very framework they arrive in encourages a negative response and does not represent the depth and maturity of our faith. This time however I remembered a scene from the novel by Georges Bernanos, “The Diary of a Country Priest.” The priest encounters a woman who is completely turned in on herself. She has been abandoned by her daughter and betrayed by her husband. Death has claimed her young son. With so much loss and grief her heart has hardened. So the priest urges her to unlock her hardened heart, pleading: “Hell is not to love anymore.”May 2007 be a year of compassion, meaning and reaching out to others for you and yours. Love and Happy Holidays, David P.S. After several excellent years of editing The Petals, Lurene John has requested a new editor. Please thank her for a job well done! What a great gift she has given. |
| December 2006 The minister’s view… WWSD?
“WWSD” is “What Would Santa Do?” As we enter the holiday season replete with images of gifts, spending, decorations, parties and occasionally a baby, I can find myself a bit bewildered. It is easy to lose our way morally, ethically and financially when the advertising and cultural pressures are turned up so high. My wife thinks ignoring it all is the healthiest choice. I resist and want to celebrate, drawn back by romantic Christmas memories and an occasional reminder of WWSD? Since contemporary Christianity has by and large ceded Christmas to consumers and the non-Christians just enjoy the ride, I think perhaps only Santa can save the holiday. Being fair and even-handed, staying jolly when under pressure, being inherently kind, and desiring nothing more than people be good and happy – these are the answers to "WWSD?". Santa, of course, is a model for eating that extra cookie and taking just one more swig of the eggnog before climbing on the sleigh. He even makes an attribute of his big round belly. Santa also typically puts in only a seasonal appearance though the need for WWSD thoughts is year-round. I have noticed that some of the Christmas-based charities now make a point of taking action in July. This is good. While we cannot fight the holidays – nor do we always want to – we can keep ourselves in moral and spiritual balance. Thinking of WWSD allows me to keep perspective in the rush of weeks to January 1. Let me know if WWSD? helps you. I already know writing this has helped me. Love and Happy Holidays, David |
| November 2006 The Minister's View ... Three Hundred Million People and a Cello
On October 16 the United States welcomed its 300 millionth citizen according the Bureau of Census calculator. Whether this was a birth or an immigrant is unknown. What is known is that in a mere thirty-nine years we have added 50% to our collective size. While the economy may absorb these extra bodies, the impact on our social and emotional well-being is still unfolding. In fact, we are so politically divided about population that commentators about world problems are prohibited from mentioning birth control when pondering social solutions. This is more than a bit bizarre. When the news brings another account of proposed anti-immigration legislation I hear the emotion of fear in the voices of legislators and vigilantes. When a review of health care in our nation again increases the number of the uninsured and those going without medical attention, I read about people so caught up in securing their personal futures that their neighbors are forgotten. The sheer complexity of our food distribution system to feed 300 million Americans was starkly revealed when contaminated spinach was withdrawn from restaurants and grocery shelves. I find myself easily drawn toward despair that we can solve these issues equitably. The increasing reliance of younger people on isolation rather than community (or, on an ipod and blog rather than a concert and conversation) leaves me without much hope of the next generation figuring all this out. While I may not have much hope at times, there are reminders I may be wrong. During the Sunday service a few weeks ago Owen Hofmann-Smith traded his choir hat for the cello. I sat just a few feet in front of him transfixed by the deep tones and the melodies of Bach’s 2nd Suite. The resonance of the cello in our chapel reminded me that acoustically we have a wonderful worship space. As each segment came to a close I found myself only wanting there to be more. All the fine words we utter about truth and beauty seemed to come to life as the cello played. For me that memory is the contrast with the population explosion. In the midst of problems we must appreciate beauty and awe as we find them. Even as we take action to restrain birth rates, we must also encourage artistic talent and fine crafts work. As Unitarian Universalists we inherit the spirit of the Transcendentalists. This means as religious people we are partly responsible for nurturing the ties that bind all humans even if we pursue social justice for those left behind. While 300 million people is a real challenge, the sound of a single cello reminds me that there are 300 million individuals adding their part to our collective American soup. I am glad we get to remember this source of hope together rather than despair alone. See you in church! Love, David |
| October 2006
The Minister’s View … A Matter of Scale Beside me as I write this column are two newspaper photographs. One is of mouse brain cells and their connections to other neurons. The other is a computer model of a portion of our current universe with galaxies and so-called dark matter. The scale of the first is in nanometers. The scale of the second is in billions of light years. The reason they are side-by-side in the newspaper is apparent: they look almost identical. Although their scale is different beyond comprehension, the common need of all matter to connect is shared regardless of scale. They are beautiful and awe-ful at the same time. My definition of “spiritual” is “nourishing and healthy relationships with other people and with our environment.” Thus these connections between matter and between people are fundamentally spiritual for me. While I do stand in awe of such connections, I also need to remember that scale is always an important element of relationships. No matter how hard I try, I will not be able to relate in any direct way to either the neurons nor to the galaxies in the two photographs. Nor can I relate to the whole population of China or even to the whole city of Gresham. Although, there are I times I want to do so – getting our UU message out to Gresham seems so appealing. Scale, however, intervenes. Due to lack of ready connections I cannot even relate to the smaller number of people who live around our Eastrose Fellowship property, though I do meet them one at a time. Scale involves both distance and connection points. The poet Robert Frost understood scale. His poems link us, through him, to a woodpile, a pair of country roads, a moth, a snowy woods and even a hired man among others. In the frontispiece poem of his collected works he invites on a country walk and adds “I shan’t be gone long. -- You come too.” The proper scale for Frost is inter-personal, involves taking action, and is limited in time. So it is for us mere mortals, I believe. We find our faith or our spiritual life in inter-personal, active and discrete events. Having a conversation, taking a walk, sharing a meal, discussing a book, attending a worship service: these are all human scale activities. While I experience awe (rightly so) when seeing neurons and galaxies reaching out, I actually thrive in human scale connections each and every day. I hope you do, too. Love, David |
| September 2006 The Minister's View ... All Aboard!
This past July my wife Jane and I took our first-ever cruise. We sailed from Seattle to Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan, Alaska and into Glacier Bay National Park. With 2,500 other guests and 1,150 crew we read, ate, played, gawked and walked in some really remarkable places. This was our introduction to the only state neither one had visited. It was great. However, in many ways the best part of the whole voyage was not the itinerary but the humanity on board. The crew came from sixty-two different nations (visible on their nametags): Philippines, India, Romania, Canada, West Germany, United States, South Africa just to name seven. They worked at sea ten-hour days, seven days per week for contracts ranging from four to ten months. They would get shore leave and, unlike some cruise boats we learned, were allowed to mix with guests when off duty. When we talked with the staff they had been aboard from one year to twenty-four years. In conversations they had a mix of praise and complaints about their jobs. Remarkably they all reported being treated with respect and as equals in their common task of caring for guests. Similar diversity applied to the guests. Although ninety-five percent held U.S.A. passports, the range of ethnic, racial, social class, wealth, age, national origin and other traits was astounding. Perhaps more accustomed to traveling, many were obviously immigrants. We also had guests from India, China, Japan, western Europe and elsewhere. There was an easy equality of conversation, table companions (we ate where and when we wished), and life interests. While in many cases we were people who would not mix, we talked at the rails and on the tenders or in the spas. Several family reunions with sixty to five members meant that some guests of modest means were subsidized by relatives. There were quite a few in wheel chairs or other wise of limited mobility. There were lots of young children and active teens who had their own areas and programs. There were bridge players, addict Friends of Bill Wilson, gay and lesbian Friends of Dorothy, and folks of every stripe gambling in the casino or warbling in the karaoke bars. Blacks, browns, whites, and Asian hues mixed comfortable and affably. The boat provided an egalitarian equality in an atmosphere of respect and curiosity. “All Aboard” took on an additional meaning for us. Though obviously money was the common denominator, we were bound together by manners, English (with some limits) and a desire to travel. Jane and I both realized we were seeing a model for the world we hope for where people can live in peace and acceptance and find common interests in the midst of diversity. Though a cruise boat cannot be a solution for world problems, it is proof that all human beings have the capacity to live together – if only we can find the ways to do it. All Aboard!, with love, David P.S. A wonderful crew (Terry and Brandy Barrett, Avis Frein, Rita and Dick Alm, Carol and Dean Knox) cleaned and painted my office at the end of July. Thanks! It’s a big change and looks wonderful. We are slowly getting the electronic gear back in order, too…. |
| August 2006 The Minister’s View… The Pursuit of Happiness
My colleague in Memphis Burton Carley shares this list: “The philosopher Mortimer Adler said that the single most important thing he learned in the living of his life was the "right understanding of happiness." So here are my top ten right ways for the pursuit of happiness: (10) The source of happiness is not having a good time but living a good life. (9) Depend less on the hope of results in the good you do and focus on its value. (8) Happiness is not a formula for getting it right but being in right relationship. (7) Humility and curiosity bring people together while judgments push apart. (6) We cannot always choose circumstances but we can choose how to respond. (5) Be present rather than stuck in the past or preoccupied with the future. (4) Thankful people are not so out of happiness but happy out of thankfulness. (3) Love what cannot be kept, then let go and love all the more what is mortal. (2) Happiness is not far off but is the union of everything already given to us (1) Work less on your resume and more on growing your soul.” Peace and love, David |
| July 2006 The Minister’s View… Gifts As we congratulate family members and friends completing various levels of education, I find myself pondering “gifts.” It’s a truism to say we each have different gifts we bring to the human family. It is our using the gifts that makes the real difference, however. Helping hands, active brains and generous emotions all are gifts that sustain and enrich us. I am glad for them all. I also am aware of gifts to Eastrose Fellowship. Just in the past year we’ve seen an amazing array of material gifts to our congregation. Some are memorials such as the new chapel table to match our pulpit donated in memory of Don James. Others are significant contributions to the well-being of our UU group: the HVAC system and natural gas line; the fence around the cooling unit; the water fountain; the extensive landscaping and tree trimming; the DVD recording system; the children’s books and toys; the thirty chapel chairs; the credit card system; the new computer software and choir music are some of them. These are in addition to the thousands of volunteer hours donated toward our office work, Sunday music, finances, children’s education and the myriad special groups that allow Eastrose to hum a happy tune. Thank you for the gifts. Thank you for allowing Eastrose Fellowship such a special place in your life – and in our lives together. May this richness be its own reward as well as an on-going blessing to this fifty-year-old congregation. Peace and love, David During July, Jane and I will be on vacation. The office and Board president will know how to reach me and can help with ministerial backup for emergencies. |
| June 2006, The Minister’s View… Third Responders
Recently on NPR’s Weekend Edition a story aired about a Southern Oregon man Peter Springer who lost his bass-playing twenty-three year old son to cancer four years ago. After the Katrina-Rita hurricanes he realized he wanted to give something to flood victims in New Orleans. He runs a piano and musical instrument business. So, he collects, repairs, and gives away band instruments and pianos. A classified ad in the local papers offers these to musicians and any others in need. The radio interviewer recorded three beneficiaries of the instruments. One man, whose family and home are still a mess, took an alto sax. He immediately went to a local park, played non-stop for six hours, and called friends all over the nation to let them hear him play. A woman jazz and blues player in a local hotel received a piano, which was an enormous gift after six months of very bad fortunes. A spinet piano went to a disabled widowed father for his seven-year old son to play – fulfilling the last wish of his deceased wife. Each recipient expressed amazement and pleasure for the gifts. Mr. Springer said, “I’m a Third Responder. I don’t do danger and I don’t want to do cleanup. I want to do morale restoration. When I tell people about my son’s death, they realize I’m not here to take anything or to get anything – just to help people feel better.” Third Responder. We are all possible Third Responders. For me there are at least two moral lessons here: first, we can act as a result of our grief and loss, not despite them. Working out of our immense pain to benefit others is how we are healed. Second, all we need to offer is our existing strength and hope to others in need. We don’t need any formal schooling to be a Third Responder except the school of hard knocks. Find those who need what you have (it may take some effort – that’s okay) and then give slightly more than you think you can give. It works every time. Peace and love, David During July, Jane and I will be on vacation. The office and Board president will know how to reach me and can help with ministerial backup for emergencies. |
| May 2006 - The minister’s view… Peace Full Thoughts
Recently while attending a Unitarian Universalist ministers’ retreat, I sat quietly in the early morning watching two blackbirds eating bugs in the grass outside my window. They went methodically, if somewhat randomly, about their business of getting breakfast. I thought about how many organisms, from minute bacteria to forty UU clergy just go about their business every day. Eating, sleeping, moving, reproducing, staying warm and wet, and sometimes socializing. Indeed, some of them eat others – that’s part of the nature’s balance. If the blackbirds outside were not doing their part, the rest of us beings would be driven even more buggy than we are already. It’s tempting to view “peace” primarily as the absence of war. To some extent that’s true. We do need to focus on that. I am so pleased that the Social Justice Committee has chosen to join a UU-inspired local group called People of Faith for Peace. They include clergy and laity from several different religious groups in the Portland area who are engaged in working for peace. They plan a number of actions to raise the prominence of religious voices for peace in the Portland area. The Committee has asked that the congregation consider affiliating also – this will be on the May 21 Annual Meeting agenda. I personally hope that happens. Peace, however, is also staying in a living balance. One of my great heroes is the late Peace Pilgrim. She wrote some rules for peace: "Live in the present. Do the things you know need to be done. Do all the good you can each day. The future will unfold." Like those two birds, we can know peace by paying attention to what’s going on and doing what needs to be done. Most wars stem ultimately from too many people following leaders with selfish motives who foster past hatreds and future fears, while ignoring the needs and everyday tasks of the present. Whether it is Iraq, Bosnia, Darfur or Israel, or any of the other places where violence reigns, the rules of peace are being violated. We can work together and remind one another: pay attention to today; do the work in front of us; do so to increase the common good. The resulting peace can send waves through our whole culture. Perhaps then we could complement nature’s picture as beautifully as the birds. Peace and love, David |
| April - The minister’s view… The Same Old Stories
Last week my wife and I attended a musical performance of “The Wizard of Oz” at St. Mary’s Academy – we had a great niece and two great-nephews in the production. As the familiar plot unfolded I found myself pondering the nature and meaning of such well-known sagas. Stories define a culture. In every land there are creation stories, morality stories and hero stories to name just a few. When we do the crossword puzzles, clues such as “the first woman” or “the first murder” are easily answered by the Genesis story. Aesop’s fables and Dorothy’s brave trek are similarly familiar. Over thousands of years the common experiences of people around the globe are captured in stories. We also revel in hearing the stories again and again. Even though we know the plot of the Nativity or of King Lear or of Oz, we watch and listen attentively. Certainly novelty is fun – but novelty is also unpredictable by definition. When it comes to role models and some answers to life’s dilemmas we favor the predictable. That’s one reason the Golden Rule is so common and important: if we expect others to do to us what they want for themselves, we are less anxious about what is next. And, if they don’t, we often feel betrayed, at least in our expectations. Though we know the lines, know the tensions and the resolutions, and even know the outcomes, we still desire to hear the stories. With every telling the barrier between us and the storyteller is briefly lowered and we travel with them down the road of adventure and destiny. It’s quite reassuring, actually. We watched Dorothy reject her Kansas farm life and struggle with human frailties. We watched her life suddenly go into turmoil. We watched her deal with death, impending death, temptations, frustrations and the deep meaning of friendships. We watched her rush into ecstasy and despair repeatedly. We watched her finally make some inner changes and return to her every day life as a new woman. When she repeated “there’s no place like home” I felt goose bumps and my eyes watered. The struggles of growing up and living with others all came together in the so familiar words and ways. The same old stories – and the same need to hear them. Some mystics say God made humanity because of a love for stories. I can believe it. Peace and love, David Dale Rhodes threw the I Ching for Eastrose Fellowship using a question about going to double Sunday services. The hexagram was #41 Decrease changing to #26 Taming the Power. You can look them up…. |
| March 2006 ... The minister's View… Freedom
The United Nations wants our government to close the Guantanamo Bay prison for war prisoners. The State of Virginia is preparing to join Oregon is placing a ban on same-sex marriage in the Constitution. The U.S. Congress plans to renew the Patriot Act and to legalize warrant-less spying by the National Security Agency. Federal web sites are prohibited from mentioning condoms as a form of birth control. And so forth. At my home Unitarian Universalist church there is a plaque on the front door with a quote from Thomas Jefferson: “I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man [sic].” A similar relevant Jefferson thought is “eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.” Thus, we are called to be hostile and vigilant if we want to keep our freedom. How are we doing? If the multiple e-mails daily from TruthOut are an indication, we are vigilant. The hosts on Air America similarly raise freedom alarms as well as various newspaper columnists. With the retirement of Bill Moyers and the emplacement of political conservatives in executive positions any television vigilance is cursory. As one might expect, most vigilance appears in book form even if most are largely unread. Hostility toward loss of freedoms, however, is a different story. Code Pink gatherings for women are pretty hostile toward tyrannies. When the Iraq war was being planned mass gatherings and rhetoric were hostile. In private, lots of Americans are hostile toward the current administration regarding loss of freedoms. Publicly, however, the warrant-less detention of American citizens and the electronic spying and the constant justification of war powers and war fever takes a toll on those opposed. Hostility, often including my own, is muted due to fear. Arden Benson has a poem in the current Street Roots remembering when it was other nations that tortured, rendered invisible and manipulated citizens. Today, for whatever reasons, it is our nation that does these things. We must find ways to match vigilance with hostility toward tyranny if we are to keep the freedoms we so value. It's a challenge facing every patriotic American. Peace and love, David |
| February 2006 The Minister's View ---- Naming
Several of you have described to me how you “name the year.” For a few this is done in January when the mood for the next twelve months sets a certain tone. One member tells me this year is “synchronicity.” For others it might be “healing” or “maturing” or “letting go.” As the year unfolds, events are experienced as consistent or divergent from the name and, in any case, seen as part of a life pattern. For others a name is given in November or December when the events of the previous months are history. Two bereaved members in the past few years have described “a year of losses.” A year might also be one of “hope” or “joy” or “achievement,” depending on events. Joan Didion’s prize-winning book “Year of Magical Thinking” describes naming well. I support naming and any similar tools to help us in this most human of activities: to mentally stand ever so slightly away from ourselves and “observe.” In my counseling practice much of what I share with clients encourages them to develop better skills in watching oneself. The power of observing adds a special human dimension to our lives and also is the source of compassion and even love. My wife found this poem in a recent New Yorker, which captures this spirit of naming and observing our lives: A NOTE Life is the only way to get covered in leaves, catch your breath on the sand, rise on wings; to be a dog, or stroke its warm fur; to tell pain from everything it's not; to squeeze inside events, dawdle in views, to seek the least of all possible mistakes. An extraordinary chance to remember for a moment a conversation held with the lamp switched off; and if only once to stumble on a stone, end up soaked in one downpour or another, mislay your keys in the grass; and to follow a spark on the wind with your eyes; and to keep on not knowing something important. -Wislawa Szymborska (Translated from the Polish, by Stanislaw Baranczak and Clare Cavanagh.) Peace and love, David |
| January 2006 The Minister’s View… Joining
Why join Eastrose Fellowship? Every year new people decide to sign the membership book and become an official part of our congregation. Others discover us, become regular visitors, and then choose to be active participants in our Eastrose life without formally joining. Over the years I’ve read quite a few columns and articles on this question. As we begin 2006 I wanted to share my thoughts with you. The most basic reason is that we join Eastrose Fellowship because some important personal need is met in our liberal religious community. These needs cover a wide range: some want an inclusive and tolerant religious education for their children. Some want the stimulation of ideas and ideals during Sunday services without feeling judged or manipulated in their own beliefs. Some want the companionship of like-minded adults in pursuing social action or social services. Some want a religious tradition which provides rituals and caring for births, coming-of-age, marriages, families, tragedies, divorces, and deaths. Some want a church where all persons, regardless of gender, race, sexual orientation, ethnic background, ability limitations or any other prejudicial divisions of society, will be welcomed and affirmed. Some want adult education which expands their views and allows a chance to encounter new ideas and find supportive comrades for our path. Some want a place for music and the arts to be celebrated in community. There are undoubtedly more reasons to join or participate and more needs that can be met than those above. If you read over this list, however, you’ll immediately see a difficulty. One can participate fully and meaningfully without actually joining. There are many reasons why an individual might not formally sign our membership book, including family concerns, an allergy to memberships, caution about the inevitable tensions in any congregation, and even an uneasy sense that perhaps something better will come along. If one can have needs met, why join? Fifty years ago a small group of Unitarians and Universalists formed Eastrose Fellowship. They did join. They did so for all the reasons above and for two more. First they wanted to unabashedly and unashamedly support the congregation – with their enthusiasm, hard work, volunteer efforts and plenty of money. Meeting any or all of those needs adequately requires the qualities of structure and continuity. These qualities don’t just happen. Bringing them about demands commitment and that leads to joining. The second reason to join is identity. Having the power to vote, which is the immediate benefit of joining a congregation, means openly identifying as a Unitarian Universalist and accepting the responsibility of shaping the church. Identity and responsibility help each other and benefit the individual and the congregation. My favorite benediction is: “Since what we choose is what we are, and what we love we yet shall be, the goal may ever shine afar -- the will to win it makes us free.” Certainly every one of you is welcome and important to our Eastrose community – and certainly those who join take a special role in supporting, identifying and moving us into each new year. Thank you. Peace and love, David P.S.: Quite a few of you, both anonymously and by name, sent me very pleasing 60th birthday cards – Thank you! Over 70 arrived from all over the nation – Jane, my wife of thirty years, planned this out well and it was a total surprise. The letter carrier held the cards until December 8! |