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The No More Deaths camp in Arivaca, Arizona, provides life-saving medical services and supplies for basic survival needs to migrants lost in the Sonoran Desert while trying to cross the border.
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The No More Deaths camp in Arivaca, Arizona, provides life-saving medical services and supplies for basic survival needs to migrants lost in the Sonoran Desert while trying to cross the border.
Kids are generally fascinated by shadows—how the image of your own body can appear so similar to the real you, but also be so distorted by the angle of the sun.
How do you or those around you distort the image of your body?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
Mountains are there to be climbed, cliffs to be scaled…or not. Sometimes you look at a situation and say: “Nope. Not gonna go there.” Sometimes discretion really is the better part of valor.
What have you contemplated doing that you are happy to have not done?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
“The body is our general medium for having a world.”
―Maurice Merleau-Ponty
What is the most intensely physical way that you explore your world?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
Prayer is the most solitary of activities, arising from the quiet center of the heart. Prayer is also the most communal of activities, connecting us to that which binds all beings together.
How does prayer connect you with yourself? How does it connect you with something larger than yourself?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
It’s just a game, but a game is more fun if you give it your very best effort.
What you do throw your whole self into?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
“Dancing is creating a sculpture that is visible only for a moment.”
―Erol Ozan
What do you create only for the beauty of the moment?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
How might we create communities where each member can contribute equitably in service of mission and vision? Circles are an ancient tried-and-true practice.
With the current resurgence of the Black Lives Matter Movement, the protests and petitions, people are trying to educate themselves on social justice issues in order to be socially and culturally competent. Although tackling a militarized police state and a corrupt criminal justice system are very important, there are some social matters that are so engrained into our history and everyday life that we don’t even realize it.
Continue reading The Intersections of a Black Woman on UUA.org.
“Prayer does not change God, but it changes [the one] who prays.”
—Soren Kierkegaard
How have you been changed by prayer?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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When I first visited Ilze and Oskars on their permaculture farm in Latvia as a WWOOFER, Ilze sent me out to pick “salads” for dinner. When I asked where the lettuce garden was, she told me to pick wild greens. I asked her how I could tell the right ones. She gave me a wry smile and put her pinched fingers to her mouth and said, “just taste!”
An elaborate, gorgeous dwelling carved of snow is a thing of fantasy or dream. Which is probably a good thing, as it is unlikely to be a house you would want to live in long-term.
What do you prefer to admire from afar?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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“Games lubricate the body and mind.”
―Benjamin Franklin
What games do you like to play?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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Smell is our most primal sense, the one with the deepest connection to memory. Scents have the power to relax us, revolt us, energize or cheer us. The nose knows.
What scents do you actively seek out?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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When we fall ill, whether from a simple cold or from a serious or long-term illness, it can feel like our body has betrayed us. And that feeling of betrayal may stop us from offering our ailing bodies the full range of care that could contribute to our well-being.
What is the best care that you have given to your body in a time of illness?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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“Your body is not a temple, it’s an amusement park. Enjoy the ride.”
―Anthony Bourdain
What do you do for purely physical enjoyment?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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Police forces in the U.S. are notoriously more violent and deadly than police in other Western democracies. Over the last seven years, U.S. police have killed at least 1,000 people every year. This is not normal.
Continue reading Why Are U.S. Police More Deadly than Police in Peer Nations? on UUA.org.
If snow is a rare occurrence for you, it is pretty much impossible to resist making snowballs with your bare hands. Yes, your hands will ache with cold for some time to come, but it will be worth it for the pleasure of throwing a snowball.
What activity is worth it to you, even if you have to pay for it later?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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Nancy Combs-Morgan, CRE-ML,
Congregational Life Consultant, MidAmerica and Southern Regions
I recently attended the second part of an online course by the Adaway Group entitled, Whiteness at Work with the MidAmerica program staff. The workshop is designed for white people. The second session introduced us to the “Cycle of Socialization,” how American culture socializes its residents (particularly white residents) to inherit and replicate systemic white supremacy. Not surprisingly, we are socialized before we have words by family, media, teachers, and institutions (including religious).
Continue reading Some Thoughts on Dismantling Systemic White Supremacy on UUA.org.
With 27 participants from all around the state, a new State Action Network has officially come into being in Kentucky! Tentatively named the Kentucky UU Justice Action Network (KUUJAN), the team of volunteers and a part-time paid coordinator (generously funded by TJUC in Louisville) met for the first time in July. There was a lot of energy for working with UU the Vote, providing education and resources for engaging racial justice, and much more.
Continue reading New State Action Network in Kentucky on UUA.org.
Unitarian Universalist Justice Ohio (UUJO), our UU State Action Network in Ohio, is asking their members, friends, and Ohio voters and non-voters to check their registration, register to vote as needed, and then be sure to apply for an absentee ballot as soon as possible if they want to vote by mail.
Continue reading UU Justice Ohio Ready to UU the Vote on UUA.org.
UPDATE! Change of starting date!
Friends, we realized that trying to start our new Extended Leadership Experience (Virtual MidWest Leadership School 2020) in August wasn’t going to make it—so please check below for new dates. Registration should be up by no later than the middle of August, and we hope sooner.
Continue reading Extended Leadership Experience—Virtual MWLS 2020 on UUA.org.
Thanks to all the individuals in the MidAmerica Region whose generous contributions made this past fiscal year’s Chalice Lighter calls and Faithify campaigns a huge success. Through your collective efforts, we were able to help raise almost $100,000 to fund the dreams of MidAmerica congregations. The Fall, Winter, and Spring 2020 Chalice Lighters calls raised a combined $40,000 to support our congregations in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Cincinnati, Ohio, and Columbus, Indiana.
Congregational Leaders Check-ins — Led by Lisa Presley
Every Wednesday afternoon in August at 1pm Eastern / 12pm Central
This webinar series is for all congregational leaders and will respond directly to the challenges that congregations are encountering during this time of finding new ways to be in religious community and responding to this health emergency.
Continue reading August Webinars for MidAmerica Region on UUA.org.
Whether it’s responding to the impact of natural disasters like this year’s tornadoes in Nashville, or helping UU congregations and communities cope with the unequal ravages of COVID-19 through local partnerships, the Disaster Relief Fund can help—but only with donations from Unitarian Universalists like you. Funded by Unitarian Universalists around the country, applications are designed to be easy to fill out, and generally, congregations receive their funds within 10-14 days of the application.
Continue reading Have You Heard About the UUA Disaster Relief Fund? on UUA.org.
The UUA has created a new lay leader spiritual care training entitled Spiritual Care Training for Lay Leaders 310 Part 1: Discernment through the UUA online learning platform of LeaderLab. If you are personally interested in pastoral care, or in developing a congregational pastoral team, this is an excellent resource. The first course is free and helps with discernment for interested people.
The stones that make up this labyrinth are no more (nor less) sacred than all the other rocks scattered on the beach. And yet they have been touched with sacred intention, offered as a place of contemplation or prayer for those who might find them.
What have you made holy by your intention?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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“Poetry and prayer are very similar.” —Carol Ann Duffy
What poem is a prayer for you?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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As Unitarian Universalism has evolved over the past couple of decades, one thing has become clear: People don’t come to us seeking a new religion, they come seeking meaningful connection. Beloved Community is probably the closest thing to a shared theology among us, and it reflects our understanding of our seventh Principle: affirming and promoting respect for the interdependent web of all Life. We recognize our interdependence - and we feel it even more poignantly in the midst of the isolation of the global pandemic. We need one another.
Continue reading It Takes A Village: Our Commitment to Connection on UUA.org.
It turns out that a lot of people who don’t believe in God, and don’t ordinarily pray, find themselves praying as the airplane they are in prepares to leave the ground.
Are there situations in which you are surprised to find yourself praying?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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As fall deepens, the last leaves give up their grasp and are carried away. But the vines clinging to the walls aren’t going anywhere.
What are you prepared to let go? What holds you steady as you do?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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The word Islam means submission. To be a Muslim means to submit your life to Allah, and the practice of deeply bowing in prayer is a reminder of that submission to the Merciful, the Compassionate.
To what do you offer your life?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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Continue reading Opportunities for Connection ~ August 2020 on UUA.org.
As the movement to Defend Black Lives, Defund Police, and invest in and transform our communities gains momentum, violent repressive responses from the state are also on the rise. And, as always, Black/Indigenous/people of color communities, queer and trans people, and other frontline groups are being most directly targeted.
Continue reading We Must Resist Fascist Federal Attacks on our Cities on UUA.org.
Dear Leaders,
I hope that you have had time off in recent weeks or will have some soon. This has been a brutal stretch of months. It is essential that we take time to rest and renew our spirits, because we deserve time to care for ourselves and because shepherding religious communities and working for racial justice are long haul endeavors.
Continue reading A Message from the UUA President: Self-Care Essentials on UUA.org.
“We are all falling. This hand’s falling too—
all have this falling-sickness none withstands.And yet there’s One whose gently-holding hands
this universal falling can’t fall through.
—Rainer Maria Rilke, “Autumn” (trans. J.B. Leishman)
Continue reading Ground Control on UUA.org.
Perhaps the greatest grief of our time is the specter of global disruption due to climate change. Sometimes, in the face of such a huge, seemingly insurmountable problem, all you can do is pray. Sometimes, how you pray is through your actions.
What is your active prayer for this planet?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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“When it’s over, I want to say: all my life
I was a bride married to amazement.”
—Mary Oliver
What would you like to be able to say about your life as it nears the end?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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This article by Sebabatso C. Manoeli was originally published June 29, 2020 on the site Africa is a Country. The post acknowledges the international potential of the current Black Lives Matter movement that originated in the United States and resonates in many countries that share a history of white supremacy and white settler colonialism.
Continue reading ‘We have no Harlem in Sudan’ on UUA.org.
Many religious traditions light candles in prayer—memorializing the dead, asking for healing, expressing gratitude for something special. Light reaches out, expressing our conviction that we touch, and are touched by, far more that our hands can hold.
Who or what would you like to light a candle for today?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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Perhaps you might go to such a place only in your imagination—a place of sacred stones and grass that is the green of life itself. But your life could be richer for that imaginary journey into beauty and peace.
Where do you like to go in your imagination?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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“Prayer begins where human capacity ends.” —Marian Anderson
What spiritual practice helps you when there is nothing that you can do to fix or change things?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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Web-weaving spiders don’t hunt down their prey. They carefully prepare their web, and then they simply wait to see what will arrive, taking everything as it comes.
What have you achieved through a combination of preparation and patience?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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“The scientific observer of Nature is a kind of mystic seeker in the act of prayer.” —Muhammad Iqbal
How does science connect you with the spiritual?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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“Yuri began crying and said in a sorrowful voice, ‘I don’t want stereo. I want terebi.’ She sounded so miserable that my spirit sunk... I wonder if not having a TV makes it hard at preschool. What is the point of being so proud about ‘not buying a TV’ if it makes her feel like that?”
—from my father’s journal, dated June 20, 1964
Continue reading Minding the Gap on UUA.org.
Walking the labyrinth is a form of contemplation—not a maze, which is a puzzle to be solved, but rather a winding path that you might wander toward your own heart’s center.
What form of movement helps you to find your center
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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In 2015, the congregation I was serving as a full-time minister was facing some significant financial strains, and had been for several years. It was becoming clear that full-time ministry might not be financially sustainable for the congregation. Meanwhile, I was preparing to become a parent and realized that full-time ministry might not be sustainable for me either. So, we made a mutual decision to reduce my position to three-quarter time.
Continue reading Reducing Your Minister’s Time - A Suggested Process on UUA.org.
There are times when a congregation needs to adjust their commitment to professional ministry in reducing hours. Here are some considerations from one of our small congregation program consultants.
You might not expect to find the Virgin Mary in a wine shop. On the other hand, it happens pretty often that we meet the Holy residing in places where we did not anticipate discovering it.
Where have you been surprised by the sacred?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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I see commercials sometimes that refer to these as “uncertain times”. I don’t know. I think things are becoming pretty certain. I think it’s pretty certain that we’re suffering, pretty certain that our neighbors and families are sick and dying, pretty certain that we’ll be living in troubled spaces for a long time coming. Pretty certain that our churches will be operating in a different way for a while. Not to say that everything about these times is always bad – more about that later on. But these times aren’t uncertain.
“Prayer is where the action is.” —John Wesley
How do you find prayer in action?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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Intertwine your fingers, so that your hands are clasped together with your thumbs crossed at the top. Note that although your hands are now thoroughly interconnected, there is a sheltered open space there between your palms.
Who do you invite into the sheltered space of your care and compassion?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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The lotus reaches its roots down into the mud and the muck—and blooms with a pristine flower. Without the muck, no flower.
In what ways does engaging in the muck or mess or your life enable you to touch the sacred?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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Dear members of religious communities who are getting tired of our professional leadership and services happening virtually,
Leading religious services and religious education over zoom is five or ten times harder than doing so in person. None of us want to continue doing that a minute longer than necessary.
Also true: none of us want to risk having to do funerals over zoom because we gathered in person too soon.
Also true: it seems that 'too soon' is likely to mean a whole year.
Continue reading What your religious professionals need right now on UUA.org.
In Catholic tradition a rosary is used to keep track of the number of specific prayers one has said. But a rosary or other prayer beads also connects prayer to the body as beads slip through the fingers.
What physical objects are part of your prayer life?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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Sometimes you have to summon up all your courage to confront your demons. But then, sometimes the things that seemed so scary turn out to be all bluster and no bite, and the best thing to do is just walk on by.
Where does your courage take you?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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Stewardship for Us hosted a lively program at virtual GA on June 26th, introducing Edgar Villanueva’s book, Decolonizing Wealth, and his seven steps to healing through money, or using money as medicine. Over 175 people joined our session to learn and discuss the ways in which their congregations can engage in this work.
Villanueva’s Seven Steps are:
Always be yourself. Unless you can be a unicorn. And if you can be most yourself by being a unicorn, then definitely do that.
When do you feel like your most authentic self?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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If you attended virtual General Assembly last month, you probably read or at least heard about the Responsive Resolution that was adopted: Supporting and Investing in Youth and Young Adults in Unitarian Universalism.
Continue reading Supporting Youth and Young Adults on UUA.org.
If you focus on the window itself, you lose sight of the trees beyond it. And if you focus on the trees you will probably miss the view of the sky.
What helps you to gain a perspective that goes beyond your daily concerns?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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“I will lift up my eyes to the hills, from whence cometh my help,” writes the Psalmist. Or you might lift up your eyes to the clouds or the moon or the sky at sunset—whatever helps you past the daily grind and into the grace of the beautiful.
Where do you turn your gaze when you need help?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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NOTE: This month’s Dismantling White Supremacy Culture resource is from UUA President, Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray.
Continue reading Report of the UUA Commission on Institutional Change on UUA.org.
Nancy Combs-Morgan, Congregational Life Consultant, MidAmerica and Southern Regions
Since last March, our MidAmerica regional staff have been actively coaching and connecting with congregational leaders as they have transitioned to a virtualsphere of congregational life. We have been amazed at the resilience and capacity for adaptation of so many congregations. What has inspired me are the countless religious educators who have faithfully helped to provide online, multigenerational, opportunities for UU faith formation.
Continue reading What Are We Measuring in the Time of COVID-19? on UUA.org.
Congregational Leaders Check-ins — Led by Lisa Presley
Every Wednesday afternoon in July and August at 1pm Eastern / 12pm Central
This webinar series is for all congregational leaders and will respond directly to the challenges that congregations are encountering during this time of finding new ways to be in religious community and responding to this health emergency.
Continue reading Upcoming Webinars July-August 2020 on UUA.org.
Because of the novel coronavirus, we’ve had to reschedule our in-person MidWest Leadership School until 2021. But the need for learning how to be a leader doesn’t take a year off, so we’re moving Leadership Experience training online.
Continue reading VIRTUAL LEADERSHIP SCHOOL: MWLS online for 2020! on UUA.org.
The Black Lives Matter Movement began in 2013 after the murder of Trayvon Martin. Trayvon, a teenage African American boy was followed by a suspicious neighborhood watchman. The two ended up getting in a scuffle, and Trayvon was fatally shot.
Continue reading Don’t Let the Movement Die Down on UUA.org.
The Shinto ritual of misogi shugo involves purification by immersion in a waterfall, river or sea, experiencing the power of the water and the sacred nature of the place.
What spiritual practice connects you to a place that feels holy?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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Oops! Oh well. Things happen. Whatever. Excellent words to offer to ourselves. Not so good in place of apology to someone else.
How does the way you talk to yourself when you make a mistake differ from how you address others under the same circumstances?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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"I am only one
But still I am one.
I cannot do everything,
But still I can do something.
And because I cannot do everything I will not refuse to do
the something that I can do."
—Edward Everett Hale
Everyone's cries sound different on the phone. Over the phone I cannot see how their faces change, how their bodies tighten as they try to hold back tears and relax when they finally surrender and let the tears fall. That’s what I’m used to.
Continue reading So Far Apart and In This Together on UUA.org.
“It is unwise to be too sure of one’s own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err.”
― Mahatma Gandhi
What mistake from a hero has surprised or disappointed you?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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“Get In The Way!!!” Congressman John Lewis has reminded us for years that it is our turn to actively make a difference. He stood on the crest of the Edmund Pettus as he marched peacefully for the right to vote. Twice the marchers had to turn back as they suffered the violence of the racists. They finally crossed that bridge and headed for Montgomery to demand their right to vote. This led to the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The Living Legacy Project has continued the struggle for years. The UU The Vote Campaign continues the struggle, today.
“I’ll write it in in pencil.” I understand this is a possibility, but we’re not sure. Of course, few things in life really are sure. And sometimes the erasure is a blessing, and sometimes it’s a tragedy.
What uncertainty in your life is keeping your attention these days?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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“Nowadays most people die of a sort of creeping common sense, and discover when it is too late that the only things one never regrets are one’s mistakes.”
― Oscar Wilde
What mistake are you happiest that you made?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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A Polaroid picture comes out of the camera as…nothing. The magic is in the waiting, to see what develops.
What are you watching, to see what develops?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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“Beware of speaking too much, for it increases mistakes and engenders boredom.”
― Hazrat Ali ibn Abu-Talib A.S
In what circumstances have you learned that it is better to speak less?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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Dear former Youth and Young Adult General Assembly volunteer staff,
In acknowledging your statement and choice to resign from your volunteer staff positions, we regret and are sorry that this experience hasn’t been affirming of you as leaders of our faith. We are grieving the loss of trust expressed in your emails and statement, we feel it personally and deeply.
"Keep fresh before me the moments of my High Resolve, that in fair weather or in foul, in good times or in tempests… I may not forget that to which my life is committed. Keep fresh before me the moments of my high resolve."
—Rev. Dr. Howard Thurman
When my spouse was a little kid, my mother-in-law's father—Grandpa Carter—made a dollhouse as a special gift. The house is two stories, with a stairwell in the middle, an attic that opens with rooftop hinges, and chimneys at either end.
Continue reading The House My Ancestors Built on UUA.org.
“As long as the world is turning and spinning, we’re gonna be dizzy and we’re gonna make mistakes.”
― Mel Brooks
What conditions make you more likely to make mistakes?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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Any writer knows that editing is a crucial part of the process—it’s pretty much unheard of for anything to flow from the brain to page fully-formed and perfect, without so much as a typo. Taking the time to polish and hone our work is an act of dedication and caring. Also, when someone else, unasked, takes a metaphorical red pencil to our work it is annoying as all get out.
What have you learned to check carefully? What have you learned to leave well enough alone?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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It is time to say farewell to you as my position with the Congregational Life staff in the Central East Region of our UUA comes to an end on June 30th. I am passing the baton on to Sana Saeed, who will serve you beginning July 6th. Both the global health crisis and the civil rights movement to end racism and reform policing have changed the nature of this farewell.
“And a step backward, after making a wrong turn, is a step in the right direction.”
― Kurt Vonnegut
When have you reversed course after taking a wrong turn?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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So often, in daily life as much as great cases of national malfeasance, it is the cover up that will get you, rather than the crime. Admitting our mistakes and our failures, apologizing and setting a new course is so much harder—and more useful—than trying to make sure no one finds out how flawed we are.
What mistake do you need to admit to so that you can move on?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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“One mistake does not have to rule a person’s entire life.”
― Joyce Meyer
What is the worst mistake you have forgiven yourself or someone else for?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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The last time Rattler called from Sandstone prison, I had just returned from the first action here in Fargo to commemorate the brutal murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and too many other Black people killed by police. As a political prisoner from the Water Protector Movement at Standing Rock, Rattler spoke of the historic connections between violence against Black people, Indigenous people like himself, and all people of color.
Continue reading All Prisoners are Political Prisoners on UUA.org.
Christian theology suggests that we live in a fallen world, in which original sin means that we are all sinners. Gravity declares that if you drop something it will fall, because that’s just the way things work.
How do you make sense of the fact that things in the world so often go wrong?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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“No pride for some of us without liberation for all of us."
—Marsha P. Johnson
Happy Pride. It feels strange to say that; this moment is anything but happy because of an assault in this country on Black and brown bodies that has never really ended.
Continue reading Claiming Our Names on UUA.org.
“Some of the worst mistakes in my life were haircuts”
― Jim Morrison
What small mistake still bugs you?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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UUA Congregational Life Staff Group
One way UU congregations live our values is through our Safe Congregations committees and policies to create a safer and more welcoming community for all. Visit the Safe Congregations pages for complete information.
Below are some particular areas to pay attention to during online programming for the safety of children and youth.
Continue reading Keeping Our Children and Youth Safe in Online Programs on UUA.org.
Central East Region of the UUA
It's that time of the year again. Your congregation has held its annual meeting and elected new officers, or its on your schedule. You have new committee chairs appointed to lead your work for next year. But have you told anyone outside the congregation about these changes?
Continue reading Has Your Congregation Updated Your Leadership Information? on UUA.org.
The world is full of opinions that are equally valid. But there are other things that are just factually incorrect, no matter how vigorously mistaken people might try to promote them.
What steps do you take to insure that information you share is, in fact, true?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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“So that’s my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make New Mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody’s ever made before. Don’t freeze, don’t stop, don’t worry that it isn’t good enough, or it isn’t perfect, whatever it is: art, or love, or work or family or life.”
― Neil Gaiman
What is a glorious, amazing mistake you have made?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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Side with Love and Love Resists present:
Unfinished Business: A Study of DuBois’ Reconstruction in America to Now
4 Wednesdays: June 10, June 17, July 1 and July 8
"We can disagree and still love each other unless your disagreement is rooted in my oppression and denial of my humanity and right to exist.”
—James Baldwin
Near the end of my sophomore year in high school, I decided to run for junior class secretary. Talked to my guidance counselor, grabbed the required form from the wooden tray on his desk, and took it home for a parental signature.
Continue reading An Awful, Magnificent Truth on UUA.org.
“Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.”
― Mahatma Gandhi
When have you wished for more freedom to make mistakes?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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It’s awfully easy to take a wrong turn, and realize all of a sudden that a mistake you made some while back has landed you in completely unfamiliar territory. This is true in both a literal and a metaphorical way.
What helps you to get back on track when you are lost?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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