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We have just a few more announcements that we'd like to share with you...
These Bulletin Bloopers were taken from the Camp Unirondack listserve: They were compiled by Ann Perry.
Grey. It slips through your fingers with mysterious grace
Leaving behind, an odd sense of confusion. Dazed, but not
Totally lost. Like losing a map, but still clinging to the compass.
It does not give off gloom, or sadness, only emptiness,
Longing to be filled. Grey is a vent, with a surprisingly
Good temper. But anger does drift through. Coming swiftly,
Enveloping it with a cool, silky, cloak.
Grey causes darkness, but not pitch darkness. It is the compromise.
It doesn't choose sides. It paces between soot black and cloud white.
Undecided. Panicked. Finally with rising anxiety, it scuttles away,
Pitching white into black. White stabs black like a knife.
Snow-white blood creeps across black. Black fights back.
White and black wrestle until they've whipped into grey.
Soft slippery grey, whispering and hissing in triumph.
Black and white are dead. But now there is grey.
"Dear Diana"
My life hadn't really been going so great lately and neither had my best friend Diana's. We both were having the usual problems, guys, family, and school, but for both of us they had been getting worse. We told each other everything no matter what it was. I had been feeling kind of bad lately though because it seemed like I was pouring my problems out on her more than I was listening. So I decided to go to the local drug store to buy a cute yet sensitive card. I got one that said...
When I'm with you,
The sky is bluer,
The grass is greener,
The sun is brighter,
The me is happier.
Then the next Monday morning I gave it to her before homeroom. I told her to read it in private and not to show anyone. I didn't see her until later in the day, and she gave me a note. Since she and I didn't have any frees together, we talked after school. That's when she told me that she was planning on killing herself that night. The only reason why she wasn't going to now was because I had shown her that I really loved and cared for her. I was so upset, I could not believe that my best friend might not have been in school the next day. She told me how she planned to do it and that she had written notes to all her friends. We walked home together to my house and talked about everything. Sometimes I guess you don't even realize how much a piece of paper and a pen can mean to someone else.
I can't count how many people say every day that they can't stand their parents. The conversation kind of goes like this: "Listen to what I did...oh, my god...listen to what my parents did." "I can't stand them!!" And sometimes it goes like this: "If my parents left me with money, a place to live, I would be okay." For a long time I pondered this idea and really began to like it. Wow! No parents! But as I kept thinking about it, I realized I couldn't live without them. Who would pay my bills? With the amount of money I spend a week, I wouldn't be able to pay bills, let alone buy a take-out dinner. And with the amount of money I have in my bank account I don't think I could buy much of anything. And income taxes? I don't think I could even tell you what they are, let alone pay them. Who would do my laundry? I can't even use the washing machine. The more I think about it the more I realized I couldn't live without them. I don't know what I'm gonna do when I leave for college? Who would cook and clean for me, considering I don't do that now? Mom, can you still do my laundry? Just look for that Fed-Ex box with the address of "Mom" on it! As much as we hate admitting it we can't live without our parents. Yeah, sometimes, they make us angry. But if it weren't for them we wouldn't be anything, or, for that matter, be here. And I wouldn't be here talking to you. We all need them; but speaking for myself, I really love mine!
Walking in the grass during summer, ice skating, and swimming on a hot day. These are all things that we take for granted. Little gifts that make life enjoyable. Gifts given by some uncanny force. Yet they are still gifts, and are not essential. One can survive if they are taken away.
But something humans cannot do without - these are the worst things to take for granted. These are the bonds that we create with our fellow humans. The loves and friendships that are based on unconditional love.
If you've ever been through some sort of ordeal, or had a low time in your life, these are the people who are there through the worst of it, and help you through it - the people you go home and bug every night - the people whom you remember smiling and laughing when you picture them - the people that you love, and love you back. Your relationships with these people are the worst thing to take for granted. Because it truly hurts one's heart and soul to lose one of these relationships.
It hurts so much to lose these people, because they are what make life's gifts truly enjoyable. Swimming in the ocean with your brother, competing with friends in a game of football, and ice skating with a love are all made truly enjoyable for one reason. You can enjoy them with people who mean the world to you. So, the next time you run into someone you love, give him or her a hug and think of how you love them.
Hey, I'm Kelly Asprooth-Jackson
Before I begin, a disclaimer. The views expressed from this pulpit are not necessarily those of this Church, its Youth Group, the Unitarian Universalist Association, or myself, for that matter. If, however, you are particularly taken with one or more of the views expressed today, then you may have them, they are yours.
What is God, and what does God want us to do with ourselves? These are the questions you will hear addressed week after week in most of the other houses of worship in this city. You can listen to hymns of divine glory, quotes from canon texts and an explicit, if not necessarily clear explanation of what is and is not right. I hope, that by this time in our service, all of you have realized that this is not your average church, and you won't find much of that here.
So what question do we struggle to answer? What is it that we pay our ministers, Dick and Helena, for, if not a running discourse on the almighty? If we have no book of answers, no binding contract with eternity, no cosmic cheat sheet if you will, then why on earth do we get up early on Sundays just to come here?
I would submit that we come together every week because we believe that before we can answer questions about God, or Gods, or Goddesses, there is a more pressing question which we must address. I would further submit that our question is as follows: "Who are we, and what do we want to do with ourselves?"
That having been said, I find myself faced with something of a quandary. If we are, as I suspect, a welcoming, liberal organization which would rather understand itself than define the undefinable, why don't we make that clear in our name? We call ourselves Unitarians, which means we reject the doctrine of the Trinity. Granted, that was late breaking news 300 years ago, but nowadays it's not exactly a unique characteristic. Besides, are we really going to turn away a prospective member who just happens to really like the idea of three Gods in one?
We also call ourselves Universalists, which, in a very oversimplified way, means we believe that everyone goes to heaven when they die. Now, while it's certainly a beautiful thought, how can we believe that every soul goes to a place that we don't all agree exists? It seems somewhat contradictory, even by the standards of religious theory.
So, you may ask, and I certainly hope you do, because I'm going to answer the question anyway, what would I suggest as a new name for this neat little religion we have going here? Well, as I see it, our defining trait is our bond as a community, our ability to coexist and to work with similar goals in mind, to function as a society. But what are we a society of? We are at odds too often to always be allies, yet we have too much in common to call one another family. Perhaps there is only one word for what we are to each other, for how we strive to treat one another: friends.
So there you have it, our new name: the Society of Friends. Of course, that won't work, because the Quakers, a denomination diverse enough to give us both Susan B. Anthony and Richard M. Nixon, already have the rights to that name. Yet all is not lost, for you see, I, in an effort to clearly understand just what sort of face we were showing to the world, looked Unitarian Universalist up in the dictionary. There was no entry for that, but there were separate entries for Unitarian and Universalist, and by piecing them together, I was able to find a definition which I am happy with.
Unitarian Universalist: a member of a religious denomination which emphasizes complete freedom of religious opinion, the importance of personal character, the independence of each local congregation, and the belief that good will triumph universally.
Does that effectively summarize the views of our fractious body politic? I don't know, what do you think?
This is the fifth and final draft of my sermon. If there is something I want to say, I better say it now. This is my last chance. But, you know, no pressure or anything.
I have agonized over this task of writing a sermon for about three months. So after much thought and anticipation this is what I have come up with.
I am more than halfway through my junior year of high school. And all of a sudden I am supposed to choose what I want to do with the rest of my life. Are you kidding? I have to plan for the future. What college? What major? If you ask me, I think college is completely overrated. I understand that it is important, and I plan on going. But people my age are so freaked out about it all of a sudden. The other day I had the most brilliant idea. A Unitarian Universalist University. What a good idea. But as my thoughts on this progressed, I realized that it could never work. The student government would be a disaster in of itself. I know; I've been on the committee of a committee for the committee.
I think what I'm most afraid of is the fact that I have to leave. I have to go be on my own. I have to go someplace completely new, and that scares me to death. But the worst part will be having to leave all of my friends. Everyone says, "Oh, I'll come back and visit, we'll keep in touch." But it is inevitable that we will lose touch. Everyone reassures me that I'll make new friends. But I don't want new friends. There is nothing wrong with the ones I have now. So what it all boils down to is that I don't want to say goodbye. But I have to learn to let go.
One more thing I have to say before I go is thank you to Dick and Helena, two of the bravest people I know. Last spring they took fifteen teenagers to Boston for five days. Thank you to Elizabeth Bock for making sure that RE in our church is top notch. Thank you to any and all parents who volunteer their time to the RE program, you have changed our lives. But last and not least, thank you to my friends. I will always remember the fun and the spirituality that we shared. I will always remember how much I laughed and cried. There is no better place for me to grow up than here, in this church, this loving, caring community. Thank you for helping me find my way, and helping me to feel completely safe with being lost every once in awhile. I will always come back. Blessed Be.
Hello, I'm Ian Sollenberger, and I recently read a book that really made me think about what we are all doing here and what our goals and interests in life are, or should be. The Color of Water, by James McBride, is an autobiography about a boy whose mother is a white, Jewish woman and his father is a black man whom he never knew.
The parallel that I see between this and the lives of every other person in this world is the fact that no one can ever know who they are until they find out about where they came from. That's where the subject of my sermon comes in: Different Generations: Comparisons and Contrasts.
Every new generation has new problems and pressures that they must deal with. It is not a given that every new generation will have a greater number of them, or more difficult ones, but it is, however, set in stone that the stresses and pressures will be totally different. The old saying goes, parents always know best. LAUGH. I doubt very much that any of you here in this sanctuary believed that when you were kids. But you all believe it now. Ponder that for a second, will you.
I also doubt that anyone up here on this stage believes that at this point in his or her life. But most likely, the minute our first child says they want to go to a sleepover, or a first date, or drive the car, what will we say: "Well, your mother and I have talked about it and we think you're still too young. You understand, don't you?" NO. The answer is no.
On most big issues, adults and kids will never understand each other. That's what makes life interesting. What we kids have to understand is that the older generation paved the way for us, and we have to respect that, and try to see where you are coming from. Not necessarily like it, but at least try to put ourselves in our parents' place, and give it a little thought.
And parents, you must do the same. The thing you have to understand is that kids do things in order to find out what they like, don't like, and want to continue doing. If you keep someone too sheltered, then have you really protected him or her? I don't think so. I think all that does is build up a false sense of security that will be shattered the first time they must face real issues. Let kids learn from experience. Let them live their own lives, so they can look at all their options and pick the best one.
In The Color of Water, James always knew his mother was different, but until he visits her hometown and listens to the stories of her hard life as the daughter of an abusive rabbi, he hasn't discovered the Jewish side of himself. James is walking along a wharf and suddenly realizes his grandmother, yet another example of a tough life, had walked there 50 years before.
Life is hard - life in school is harder. And when all your actions are being judged by people who know you and will see you every day for the rest of your life, as you know it, you expect to be cast out any day now. Talking among friends is usually a mish-mash of jokes, complaints, the strange and weird. It becomes impossible to speak of anything that might mean something in twenty years, let alone twenty minutes. After all, it's much easier to talk of movies and pretend insanity with those who understand than to talk of the future with those same people who might not agree with you and may even ridicule your ideas.
Now, I don't know how it is for everyone, but for me, the biggest fear of my life is that I will enter a room, say something, and everyone will turn and stare at me. I have committed the ultimate of sins - I have said the phrase that will be whispered throughout the school, along with phrases like, "How could she?" "Did she mean it?" What an idiot!" Even though, somewhere deep down, I do realize that everyone here is probably thinking the same thing, and is too busy to notice my little error because they have just gotten a new haircut and they know that it looks awful and everyone must have noticed how could they not?
Peer pressure in its most subversive form. The most debilitating accident of all - the embarrassing incident. Because the teenage life is very society conscious, we remember these things - long after everyone else has forgotten that anything ever happened. Even the little mistakes can hurt - if they happened when someone you liked was there, or a lot of people, or at an important event. Or perhaps all three. Everyone's life contains some giant incident that they look back on and cringe, and wonder, how could I have done such a terribly stupid thing like that?
At least once a year we hear pep talks about how we've got to resist peer pressure. But it's always there - even if it's only that you listen to the popular station when you really like the unpopular station, but don't want anyone to know about it. As teenagers, our basic need is for acceptance - it makes life just a little easier.
A lot of the things that happen to us don't make very much sense. In fact, this world of ours makes very little sense in general. Why does a commemorative Barbie have a diamond-studded gown while people starve? Does anybody really understand computers? Why won't Milosevic just see it our way? I fear that in our modernity we have lost a sense of seeing the big picture. We lack wisdom. We should use technology and science to improve the work for everybody. We need people to oversee the whole world and make it make sense. But today's wise woman or man would have quite a job. Let's just say that I might seek such a position. What ought I to study in college? Well, let's see what it would require to understand all of today's world. Economics, philosophy, math, literature, psychology, religion, science, law, classics, literature, art, politics...the list goes on.
I know deep down that I cannot do it all myself. We'll have a committee! And this, in the end, is what I would like college to be: a great big committee full of excited, exciting people who will meld their specialized knowledge to cast a coherent image of the world which encompasses the entire gambit of human experience. We will listen to our elders. We will read the great books. We will meditate. And we're going to make the world make sense.
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