Newsletter

As I returned from our delegation's visit to Transylvania I began to ponder, which is a better metaphor for life, the journey or the cycle of the seasons?

Having done the most traveling of my life, (from North Dakota, to St. Louis - from Scotland to Washington, DC, and a quick trip to Transylvania to round things out) it would seem that the metaphor of the journey would be pregnant with possibilities. There does appear to be a linear movement to life, through various phases with growth and deepening along the way. Yet all of my travels lead inescapably back to the way our lives move through repeated cycles of birth, growth, death and rebirth.

During my experiences I found myself in an incredibly different state of being, as though all I thought before had shifted to a new place. I've witnessed this in others as well, the result of dramatic experiences or changes in the phase of their lives. Through each phase of life, each experience we have, we're offered new opportunities - or forced to reconsider how we live by the constraints puts on us. The seasons of change through which we pass are not always good, not always bad, and the growth we're offered comes at a cost of things left behind.

In my travels I've seen that this pattern is a shared quality of human life, indeed of the life of our planet itself. We see similarities in every person, in every place. Even though the landscape is different with mountains instead of prairies, with sunflowers instead of corn, even though the accents may make words unintelligible, we're able to communicate those central values important to life.

These values include love, compassion and hope for a better future for humanity. The words may have been different and the expressions unfamiliar, yet the intention was clear, the desire for peace on earth and a chance for us to live together as one family.

I began to see the image of the spiral, revolving back to whence it began yet moving ever onward as well. In these cycles of rebirth we do not return to the place we were before but move on to a new one. So it is with our Fellowship community as well. For last month we began the discussion of how we might best use this new space of ours on Sunday mornings. The topic is familiar, yet we are in a new place. With more than four hundred adults, youth and children in our community, we face new challenges and opportunities. We are in another phase of rebirth. As we move through this phase precious qualities will be left behind, but current opportunities for what we can create in our own Fellowship and our ability to be a beacon of liberal religion in our community are unprecedented. The need for our presence and voice in our community and our world is as vital now as it as ever been.

Brian

I'm reading a book entitled "Choosing Simplicity: Real People Finding Peace and Fulfillment in a Complex World" by Linda Breen Pierce. The foreword is by Vicki Robin, whom many of you may recognize as the co-author of "Your Money or Your Life".

Along with her inspiration for and opinion of simplicity, Linda shares the stories of a diverse group of people that she interviewed regarding how they have simplified their lives. Some of the changes made involved jobs, living locations, and housing options. Financial management, obviously connected with the preceding elements, was often another area of substantial change. For example, regarding living locations, a move to the country where one could become more self-sufficient and grow their own food was the path taken by some. Others preferred small dwellings in urban areas, close to amenities such as the library, markets, and other cultural activities. Some made significant job changes to allow more time with their families, even if it meant less pay. Although there usually was some element to offset the decreased funds, such as less travel required or perhaps a few identified sacrifices were made (less eating out, limited expenditures on outside entertainment, etc.). I would recommend this book to anyone thinking about making a change, be it small and gradual or a major shift. In her writing, the author also cites numerous other books and resources on this topic.

This season, the Green Sanctuary initiative is hoping to sponsor a simplicity circle for sharing ideas and experiences. It may take the form of a workshop with several follow-up discussion groups or there may be regular meetings for a period of time, for sharing and/or a book review, depending on what those involved are interested in. If you have an interest in this topic or would be willing to facilitate or share your successes and failures in this realm, we'd like to hear from you (please contact Lynne Van Valin or Mary Dou. I'll close with a quote, actually a fortune I received in a fortune cookie not long ago: "Simplicity of character is the natural result of profound thought."

Brenda

Welcome back high schoolers! I hope our little room will be sufficient for the new high school class which I think should total about 15-17. One of our goals will be to welcome in the new 9th graders and integrate them into our group. We'll do that with icebreakers and games and sharing pieces of our lives.
Our topic or focus in the coming months is Music---how it activates us, informs us, inspires us, and transforms us. We hope many congregation members will lend us their experiences or expertise as we explore and work with this topic.

As always, older teens have challenges working the Fellowship into their busy schedules. I commend the parents of high schoolers in supporting and encouraging their sons/daughters to make and follow through on their commitments regarding Fellowship life. What the Fellowship offers need not be teens' primary day to day focus, but it should at least offer them security, intergenerational friendships, provocative dialogues, intimate and confidential sharing, a comforting haven, inspiration to do good works, and a place for transformation. "Let it be a dance" between congregation members and teens--let's watch how we all shine with the radiance of giving and receiving.

Sept. 12..........Youth meet in the high school room after the water communion at the ingathering.

Benette Sherman

Youth Coordinator

Welcome back everyone! Now that school has started again family routines become more set and predictable. One of those predictable routines is going to the Fellowship on Sunday mornings for religious education (RE) classes. While old friendships are renewed and new ones are made, children and teenscan find comfort that the Fellowship is still that warm and enveloping space. They'll see some familiar adults who were their Secret Friends or mentors orRE teachers and again find comfort and love with the hugs that are exchanged.

As we start this new church year in the RE program focusing on world religions and how they relate to UUism, it might be profitable for us to remember that our work with the children and teens is primarily relational in nature--that is, their experiences at the Fellowship depends on our willingness to embrace them, to attend to them, to reveal our beliefs, to encourage their sharing of questions. Curricula come and go and offer a framework of valuable knowledge, but it's the total experience (music, movement, nature walks, overnights, field trips, friendships, even fundraisers!) that makes an impression.

While routines and predictability are comforting and reassuring it's also important to make room for spontaneity and a little bit of wildness. I encourage the RE teachers to work within the usual parameters of curriculum teaching, but also to sing and dance, to have parties, to walk in the first snow, to grow plants, to endure long check-ins with the older kids, to create plays, and to have fun as you spend time with these most excellent children and teens.

Many thanks to the RE committee for contributing their time and energy to making this a smooth start up in the RE program. Members of that committee are: Sharon McGuire (chair), Cheryl Lawson, Judy Mongin, Katie Pope, Nancy Schroeder.

Parents, please remember to register your children if you've not done so already. If any information has changed please let me ora RE committee member know.

First RE Sunday................Sept. 12 (kids can meet up with their RE teachers in the Fireside Room for a short session after the water communion and ingathering.)

Benette Sherman

interim DRE

Tis a Gift to Be Simple...

by Mary Doud

Statistics tell us that the US consumes more than its share of resources when compared according to its percent of world population; a reflection of our lifestyles in this highly developed country in which many comforts and conveniences have become the norm. We may often live our daily lives without thinking about the living conditions of millions of others in this country and throughout the world that have very little. This realization, along with a desire to lessen their impact on the earth, has drawn many people towards the "simplicity" movement, a movement that has been around for some time, but seems to gain popularity periodically. Another draw appears to be the longing for a more meaningful life as our lives at home, work, and beyond become "cluttered" with too many activities and material things. We may start our search for simplicity by evaluating what's really important to us in life. Priorities will differ for different people. Thus, the name, "mindful living" is another way to describe this movement.

We are pleased to present a memorial exhibit honoring the life's work of our fellow artist and Gallery-in-the-Round Exhibit Committee member, William Zimmerman. Sharing this retrospective sampling of Bill's art is our way of sharing our memories of a good friend and admired colleague.

William Zimmerman (Bill to his friends) was born in Chicago, Illinois, and from an early age demonstrated a talent for drawing and painting. We have included two of his early drawings, of which he was very proud, to show his early abilities in representational drawing and his great attention to detail. His education was completed at the School of the Art Institute, The Art Institute of Chicago (BFA, BAE, and MFA), University of Chicago, Roosevelt University, and at the University of Iowa (ABD, Art History). Several works in the exhibit illustrate the sound studio-based education he absorbed and knowledge of art history he acquired during his formal schooling.

During his long career, he was also a dedicated teacher. He taught art in several secondary schools in Illinois and Iowa, at Morningside College in Sioux City, The University of Wisconsin at Stout, and finally (from 1973) at Iowa State University. His students benefited from his vast and unique blend of knowledge about studio practices in the visual arts and his deep understanding of the history of art.

Beginning in 1945, his portraits and landscape paintings were exhibited nationally, receiving numerous awards, honors, and acclaim. Throughout his life he traveled extensively in the United States, Canada, Mexico, South America, Russia, Italy, and Greece doing research for his paintings. Many of his paintings now hang in private collections, museums and galleries in this country and abroad.

This sampling of work from the large body of art work Bill left us, we feel, will demonstrate his love of the classical and philosophical foundations of art, his explorations of the sublime in nature, and the continual improvement of his technical and artistic abilities throughout his life.

We hope you will enjoy with us glancing over the shoulder of a very accomplished artist (and teacher) at a life lived in art.

If you want to own a large (21" X 28") reproduction of Bill Zimmerman's painting The Old West, we have many available thanks to the generous donation of Bill's wife, Ellen. They cost $25.00 each from the Gallery in the Round. Contact a member of the exhibit committee or Ellen in the office. All proceeds will go to the Fellowship operating fund. Secure a great piece of art for your home and help the Fellowship in a tight budget year.

-Exhibit Committee
(Gallery-in-the-Round)