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Mission Peak UU – Fremont, CA
The Home of Liberal Religion in the Tri-Cities and Beyond!
April 3, 2019
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Ministerial Musings
Have you ever had one of those weeks where everything seemed to go awry? I’ve had a cold with a cough and I’m on Day 23. It has made life more difficult; all I want to do is sleep or watch TV or cough and blow my nose. It’s harder to concentrate, more difficult to focus.
I’ve had to make greater strides in being mindful when I have times like this. When I cannot focus, when I have work that needs concentration or is important to get right, and my mind wants to go in different directions or I feel like I can’t think, that will not be productive at all.
When I first began wearing contact lenses as a teenager, I went to my eye doctor one day and he asked some process questions to see how my eyes were adjusting to the lens. He asked, which one do you put in first in the morning and which one do you take out first in the evening? I told him I always put the right one in first in the morning and took out the left one first in the evening. He found that rather odd and asked me why. My 15 year-old self didn’t have the answer. A few years later though as I was pondering his question still, wondering why I didn’t always start with the right, why did I reverse the order and still do to this day, I came across the solution inadvertently. When I take out my contacts at night, I would place the left contact in its side of the case and I would move the case around so that when I took the right one out, I placed it in its side of the container. In the morning when I went to put them in, the container was still in reverse order so I just took out the one on the left, which just happened to be for my right eye. All those years I had not seen that my habit caused me to move the case around and that determined the order in which I put my contacts. It was a simple movement that was such a habit I didn’t even notice what I was doing. Sometimes our days can be like this. We go down a path by habit, not seeing how we are traveling but we are traveling none the less and years later we may not even have a clue as to how we got there. Mindfulness will keep us out of that state of unawareness, can keep us focused on our task at hand or even our thoughts at hand.
Awareness of a pattern, awareness as we move through life creates mindfulness, a deliberate consciousness of what we are doing gives us greater insight and knowledge. We can look at these with fresh eyes and see change where we hadn’t thought to look before.
In the months to come I’m going to be asking all sorts of questions to determine what you think your identity as a congregation is, what your vision is, what path you see the congregation traveling down. When you know this, you can determine what type of minister will fit with your identity and your goals.
Being mindful will help you to come to these answers and will make the road easier to traverse. Being mindful will actually make your life easier.
May THAT be so!
Blessings to you all,
Rev Jo
Please feel free to contact me
By phone: 510-972-3890
Rev Jo Green will be at a minister’s conference in Boston at the UUA from April 7th through April 11th. Please contact the below officers for any immediate needs.
For an emergency please contact Rev. Barbara Meyers at 510-796-5722
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One Person’s Change is another Person’s Straitjacket
Allow me to introduce you to the scariest word in the English language: CHANGE. The hardest task to accomplish and seldom managed. Supposedly constant but always resisted. Yet we all agree on the need and we spend huge amounts of money around it. And the older we get, the harder the task. So let’s take another look at it and hear one person’s story of change not sought and not desired yet managed.
Leading the service will be Mark Rahman and assisting will be Ilze Duarte. Peak Performers willl provide our music.
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“What Will Our Legacy Be? Celebrating silver and going for gold.”
The last Canvass Dessert Parties are happening this week. If you haven’t signed up for one already do so right away! The form to do so is here: https://goo.gl/forms/26PIHC65RiJIPIIR2. These parties will give us a chance to gather in small groups to discuss pledges and our collective vision for MPUUC. Pledge cards will be handed out at the dessert parties, please plan to turn pledge cards in at the dessert party or in the offering plate at church the Sunday after your dessert party. Remember that any pledge increase will go twice as far this year thanks to matching donations.
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You aren’t going to want to miss this! What it takes to do social justice
right!
Susan Bartlett Foote author of The Crusade for Forgotten Souls – Reforming Minnesota’s Mental Institutions 1946-1954, University of Minnesota Press, 2018, will be speaking at Mission Peak
on Saturday, May 11, 2019 from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm. You are warmly invited to attend. The talk will be videotaped for those of you who can’t make it in person.
Susan tells the story of how Unitarians in Minnesota helped to reform snake-pit conditions in state mental institutions, organizing many effective activities working with the Governor, other agencies of the government, the press and other religious institutions in principled activism. This is how it is done when it is done right! She also will tell about how many reforms were later overturned by tightfisted conservative politicians and bureaucrats. But, as she explains, there are many important lessons that emerged and which apply to us today, the chief one of which is the necessity of being eternally vigilant.
Susan dedicates the book to her former father-in-law Rev. Arthur Foote the minister at Unity Unitarian in St. Paul, Minnesota who spearheaded the effort, and whose notes led her to research and write this book when she found them in a closet of her home. You can read a UU World article about the book at
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https://www.uuworld.org/articles/history-book-reviews-spring-2019
Contact me if you have any questions.
Rev.
Barbara F. Meyers
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| Celebrating Mission Peak’s 25th Anniversary – Save These Dates!! |
2019 marks 25 years of MPUUC’s existence as a congregation and we think that’s a milestone worth celebrating. We will have many different celebrations throughout the year. Please reserve the following dates on your calendar now. You won’t want to miss them!
May 5 – Charter Sunday
– Come celebrate the Charter that started it all with a special service and a Potluck BBQ afterwards.
June 28-30 – MPUUC’s annual Campout!
This year we’ll be back at Puma Point at Anthony Chabot Regional Park so that we are close enough for those of you who are not so excited about camping to join us during the day on Saturday, June 29. We will have many fun activities planned and will end the day with a potluck BBQ and campfire.
September 8 – 25th Anniversary Picnic Celebration
– After the annual Water Ceremony at Cole Hall we will gather at one of the reserved picnic areas at Lake Elizabeth for a Picnic/BBQ celebration. We will have games for the kids, a jam session & sing-a-long, and other fun activities. Come join us and enjoy hanging out with friends & family and celebrating MPUUC.
[More details regarding these events will follow closer to the dates. If you have questions or suggestions for additional events or you want to help with an event, please contact Jen King].
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Earth Day Events
“Along with spring blooms and green hillsides, April brings us Earth Day and the birthday of John Muir, the Sierra Club’s founder. To celebrate, we’re taking part in a bevy of events across the Bay Area, from film festivals to tree-plantings and panel discussions. As always, we also have a full calendar of hikes, bike rides, backpacking trips, and other outdoor adventures for all ages.”
Here are a few coming up:
Fun Environmental Programs for Kids
RSVP for our April 11, April 25 (ASL interpreted), & May 9 programs
10:30 – 11:15 AM
Bay Chapter office, 2530 San Pablo Ave, Berkeley
Green Friday: Intergenerational Solutions to the Climate Crisis
Fri, Apr 12, 7:30 – 9:00 PM
Bay Chapter office, 2530 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley
$3 requested donation
Plant a Tree with the Sierra Club
Sun, Apr 14, 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM
1045 Derby Ave., Oakland
John Muir Documentary Screening
Thu, Apr 18, 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Landmark Albany Twin
1115 Solano Ave, Albany
Celebrate John Muir’s Birthday with Bagpipes!
Sat, Apr 20, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
John Muir National Historic Site
4202 Alhambra Avenue, Martinez
Family-Friendly Earth Day in Fremont
Sat, Apr 20, 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM
Washington Hospital, Anderson Auditorium
2500 Mowry Ave., Fremont
Please see Sierra Club’s online calendar to view all events and outings online calendar..
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All Church Work Day
FUMC is planning an All Church Work-day on
Saturday, April 13 from 9 AM to 2 PM. If you are available, please join members from FUMC. FUMC is planning a light lunch about 12
noon in rooms 7 and 8.
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Turning Love Into Justice:
The Tri-City Interfaith Council (tcicouncil.weebly.com) is a grass-roots organization bringing together people of diverse religious beliefs from Fremont, Newark, and Union City (California). Rev. Jo Green, Rev. Barbara Meyers and Paul K. Davis are members. Join in!
Call your Elected Officials!
Calls can make a difference! Contact your representatives to alert them to your views!
Congressperson Eric Swalwell 510-247-1388 or go to
house.gov
Senator Kamala Harris
(202) 224 – 3553
Senator Diane Feinstein (202) 224-3841
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Mission Peak UU | 2950 Washington Blvd Fremont CA | 510.252.1477 | missionpeakuu.org
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