Doug's Place

Sun and Earth, in Photo and Poem

Sun and Earth, Photographed 7 May 2013 from the International Space Station by Col. Chris Hadfield of Canada, the mission commander.

Chris Hadfield, commander of the International Space Station and an extraordinary photographer, writes of this photo taken on Tuesday: "Our Sun is immensely, unfathomably powerful."

It is also beautiful as it embraces the Earth, the other planets, and other celestial members of the Solar System. (Think of Pluto, no longer classified a planet!)

The photo came to mind when I read today's meditation offering from The Rev. Galen Guengerich of All Souls Unitarian Church in New York City. The reading is "Wednesday," by Walt Whitman.

Wednesday

Why, who makes much of a miracle?

As to me I know of nothing else but miracles,

Whether I walk the streets of Manhattan,

Or dart my sight over the roofs of houses toward the sky,

Or wade with naked feet along the beach just in the edge of the water,

Or stand under trees in the woods,

Or talk by day with any one I love, or sleep in the bed at

night with any one I love,

Or sit at table at dinner with the rest,

Or look at strangers opposite me riding in the car,

Or watch honey-bees busy around the hive of a summer forenoon,

Or animals feeding in the fields,

Or birds, or the wonderfulness of insects in the air,

Or the wonderfulness of the sundown, or of stars shining so quiet and bright,

Or the exquisite delicate thin curve of the new moon in spring;

These with the rest, one and all, are to me miracles,

The whole referring, yet each distinct and in its place.

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Tonight's Finale: Our Sun is immensely, unfathomably powerful. twitter.com/Cmdr_Hadfield/…

— Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield) May 6, 2013

'And So The Children Come,' A Poem By Sophia Lyon Fahs

As Newtown recedes (but just a bit), and the Taft, California, almost-tragedy strikes this week, poetry about children strikes me deeply.

Try this poem, by Sophia Lyon Fahs (adapted), printed in the order of service for First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington, Massachusetts, for 16 December 2012. The date was intended to be a child dedication service as well as the Third Sunday of Advent. It was all those things -- and it became Newtown Sunday as well.

Fahs writes:

And so the children come
and so they have been coming.

No angels herald theur beginnings.
No prophets predict their future courses.
No wise men or women see a star to show where to find
the babe that will save humankind.
yet each night a child arrives is a holy night.

Fathers and mothers --
sitting beside their sleeping children's beds
feel glory in the sight of new life beginning. They ask,
Where and how will this new life end?
Or will it ever end?

Each day a child arrives is a holy day.
A time for singing,
a time for wondering,
a time for worshipping. 

Questions to Consider in the New Year

For the first time in many years, I celebrated Rosh Hoshahnah and Yom Kippur a month ago openly and in the company of others. It was comforting, warm, loving, and revealing. Working with other members and friends at First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington, Massachusetts, I explored meanings in the two Jewish High Holy Days that I had not seen when I was a kid. I found community and acceptance I had not known before from Jewish tradition.

Most importantly, I was moved by a set of questions that Marta Flanagan, who is both our minister as well as my partner, prepared for the people studying for these holidays. The questions have been on my desk for well more than a month now, and I thought I'd repeat them here. These are provocative questions.

A Personal Inventory
Possible Queries for a New Year
At the Jewish High Holy Days of 2010

From the Rev. Marta Morris Flanagan

Have I harmed another?
Have I acknowledged the damage I have done?
Have I offered a word, an action, a gift in reparation?

Have I forgiven those who have harmed me?
Have I seen in the other what is worthy as well as what is not?
Do I know my own part?
Have I chosen life?

Have I neglected another in need?
Do I understand what leads me to neglect?
Am I ready to say "yes" to the next invitation to care?

Have I taken advantage of another?
Have I expressed to them my gratitude?
Have I given of myself in return?

Have a broken a promise, a commitment to myself?
Have I fully beheld the consequences of my action?
Am I ready to renew my commitment to myself?

Have I been welcoming of the stranger?
one much richer, much poorer than I,
one more educated, less educated than I,
one who votes differently,
acts differently, thinks differently than I?
Have I opened my heart to one who is different>?

Have I been tender toward those I know?
Have I remembered the good in them?
Have I let go of what is unimportant?

Have I been a good citizen?
caring for the various communities of which I am a part?
Have I taken risks for a greater good?
Have I spoken up when needed?
Have I kept quiet when wise?

Have I engaged in healthy living?
eating what is good for me, for the world?
Consuming what I need and no more?
Traveling by foot, by bicycle, or with others when I can?
Have I planted or tended a piece of the earth?

Have I grown?
Has my heart softened?
Has my mind engaged something new?
Is my innermost life rich and deep?
Do I know joy?

Do I know myself as the recipient of many gifts in life?
Have I given thanks? to another? to perhaps God? to the world?

Do I know the privileges I enjoy?
Do I make room for others?

Do I speak with love?
Do I act swiftly with kindness?
Do I move with patience, avoiding the hurried way?
Do I pay attention?
Do I turn when called?

 

The image above is from firstparish.info

Ringing In Marta's Installation

Last Sunday, I was honored to ring the parish bell at First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington for Marta's installation as the 18th senior settled minister of the church. 

The bell of the church survived the disastrous fire of 1975 that destroyed the century-old elegant fourth meeting house of the church. Now the bell sits protected in the back of the sanctuary of the fifth meeting house, the modern structure where the church worships today. Still, for the bell, it's a comedown. It used to sit in the Arlington spire at the center of the town in what was thought to be the second-highest church spire in the Commonwealth.

I rang the bell 20 times, one for each of the 18 settled senior ministers and twice for the two settled associate ministers who have served the church. That was fun, but it was also a reminder to me of the living tradition of Unitarian Universalist ministry spanning all or part of five centuries in America.

Lida Junghans, a member of the church, took pictures. I'm in my Dad's old wheelchair for the ceremony because I was recovering from foot surgery. Wheeling me around: David Whitford. (Thanks, David!) This was only my second trip outside the house since returning from my surgery on January 14.

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A Few Pieces of (Very Valuable) Silver Fix UU Church in Beverly, Mass.

One of the great untold stories in New England must be the details of the town-by-town contests between the Unitarians and the Congregationalists during the Nineteenth Century for possession of the town square church and its collection of silver.

Driving through New England towns, a quick glance at the sign outside the church on the common tells who won. But what about the silver?

You don't hear much about it — until it's sold to pay for repairs. As at First Parish Church (Unitarian Universalist) in Beverly, Massachusetts. A shame to lose the silver, but the church building is repaired.

Rev. Marta Flanagan to be Installed at First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington, Mass., on Jan. 24

I'm pleased to convey this announcement...