Welcome back to coffee hour!
Greetings to all!
I heard Canada geese flying overhead the other day, when the sun was out and the sky was clear. It was chilly, but not bitter cold, and I suppose the geese were headed back north, perhaps to beat the migratory traffic? I do not know the details of such things, but I do know that I have not heard geese in flight since back around Thanksgiving, so I am inclined to think these were headed home to make the early bird special at their summer communities.
Imbolc was a week or two ago, marking the half-way point between the winter solstice and spring equinox, so I suppose it is appropriate for nature’s creatures to begin their seasonal travels. Poor Punxsutawney Phil was dragged sleepy-eyed from his cozy hibernation to squint into the gathered paparazzi before being allowed to return to his slumber until a more reasonable time of the year in which to emerge.
The experiences of these two bits of wildlife offer us an interesting illustration: The geese head where they go on their own schedule and according to whatever kind of (probably lunar) calendar they keep, ignoring any attempts at interference from humans. Poor Phil, though, is rousted from his slumber according to the Gregorian calendar observed by humans for centuries, for their convenience and amusement, before being allowed to go back to bed until his internal clock informs him it is time to get up.
Nature does what nature does, on its own schedule and according to its own rules. When geese fly over in February, we gaze up and think “they’re early this year,” as though geese are too ignorant to read Pope Gregory’s calendar, and we are again entertained when Phil doesn’t give a darn about our calendar, either.
It is as though we cannot imagine that our schedule is not the authoritative one, instead of the motions and machinations of the natural world that animals and plants follow. How much energy do we humans, as a species and as any of a number of cultures, spend trying to get the planet to conform to our schedules? Might we do something more productive with that energy? I wonder if we can.
People can muddle in the affairs of portly, hibernating rodents, but once released from the camera’s glare, nature again takes over and lets Phil sleep until a proper time.
Rev. DC is available for pastoral care appointment Wednesday through Friday 10am to 3pm. Email minister@uucsjs.org to schedule an appointment.
Need Help?
Team members can provide you with support during/after an illness, a death in the family, or other loss or hardship. They can find you resources, run errands, or provide meals in time of need.
Reach out to:
- Tracey Catino at (609) 674-8721 email: Traceysnaps@msn.com
- Denise O'Meara at (610) 316-7495 email: denome53@gmail.com
- Helen Utts at (609) 338-3391 email: HelenUtts@aol.com
- MaryLou DeMaria-Berhang at (201) 247-5635 email: MLberhang@gmail.com
- Tony Zitelli at (201) 463-2800 email: happy85a@aol.com
UUCSJS BOOK CLUB for February
Meeting on Friday, February 18th at 7:00 pm on ZOOM (www.tinyurl.com/uucsjszoom).
Anyone is welcome to join the ZOOM meeting. Questions: email Barbara Morell
ANXIOUS PEOPLE by Fredrik Backman
The author of this poignant, charming novel has an innate ability to capture the human spirit, get under his characters’ skins and relay his characters thoughts and feelings in a way that makes us feel as if we know them, as if we are friends with them, and at times as if we are them.
Barb Morell will be leading the meeting
AMERICAN DIRT by Jeanine Cummins is March selection.
Embracing All That is Colorful
Rev. DC Fortune
Unitarian Universalist leaders spent three years studying how white supremacist culture runs through all parts of our denomination, from the national level down to the smallest committees in our congregations. What does it look like to be truly welcoming? How do we go beyond welcome to inclusion?
To Join ZOOM Meeting ON COMPUTER:
(Meeting ID: 224 677 6604, passcode 306591)
To Join ZOOM Meeting BY PHONE (you do NOT need to have a Zoom account or app):
Dial:
1-929-436-2866 and wait for the prompt. Then dial 224-677-6604#
When prompted, enter passcode 306591
PLEASE NOTE: Sunday service will be livestreamed on Zoom only. There is no in person gathering.
Freedom of Reproductive Choice Act
Call your State Senator and State Assembly representative!
From UU Faith Action NJ:
The Freedom of Reproductive Choice Act (S49/A6260) was signed into law on January 13, 2022. This new bill—separate from the Reproductive Freedom Act (S3030/A4848)—moves our state forward in protecting rights, but it notably leaves many communities without improved access to abortion and other reproductive healthcare services.
The Freedom of Reproductive Choice Act is already being challenged: a request for an emergency injunction to block implementation of the Freedom of Reproductive Choice Act was rejected in Superior Court on January 21st.
Please call your State Senator and State Assembly representative, to thank them for voting "Yes," and to encourage necessary next steps towards reproductive justice in the 2022-2023 Legislative Session.
1.) Find your legislator's names and phone numbers with the Legislator Lookup Tool.
2.) Click here to check if your representatives voted "Yes."
3.) Use the call script below, or write your own.
Call script:
Written by the National Council of Jewish Women, Essex County Section
My name is ______________, with UU FaithAction New Jersey, and I applaud the passage of S49/A6260, the Freedom of Reproductive Choice Act, which codifies in statute the full array of reproductive rights, including abortion, and I thank you for your support.
While personal autonomy and decision-making is a priority, so is the care of others to ensure that their access to these rights is unimpeded. Together, we must break down the financial and logistical barriers faced by too many in our communities, especially Black, brown, low income and undocumented New Jerseyans. Let’s pass access provisions in this legislative session.
Thank you for your dedication to our ongoing work towards reproductive justice.
UU Faith Action NJ Statewide Common Read
Registration is now open for discussion sessions on the common read of The Social Life of DNA, sponsored by the UUFANJ Reparations Task Force. Sessions will be conducted over Zoom on Feb 23, March 9, March 23, April 6, April 27, and May 11 from 7:00-8:30pm.
The common read curriculum is prepared with leadership by Dionne Ford, author, and Dr. Mahdi Ibn-Ziyad, Reparations Task Force Co-Chair.
About The Social Life of DNA
In The Social Life of DNA: Race, Reparations, and Reconciliation After the Genome, Alondra Nelson details how DNA testing is being used to grapple with the unfinished business of slavery: “to foster reconciliation, to establish ties with African ancestral homelands, to rethink and sometimes alter citizenship, and to make legal claims for slavery reparations.” In her deep dive into the intersection of genetic ancestry and racial politics, Nelson gives an overview of US reparations projects over the past century including one in our backyard – the African Burial Ground in New York City. Now a national monument and the oldest and largest known excavated burial ground in North America for both free and enslaved Africans, the African Burial Ground was a major factor in the development of consumer DNA testing, a multi-billion dollar industry.
Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the South Jersey Shore
Email: admin@uucsjs.org
Website: www.uucsjs.org
Location: 75 S Pomona Rd, Egg Harbor City, NJ, USA
Phone: (609) 965-9400
Facebook: facebook.com/uucsjs
Twitter: @UUCSJS