Volume 14, Number 5 – November 2012

We Are a Welcoming Congregation

Upcoming Services

November 4 - 10 am Diane and Ron Reupert, The Human/Animal Bond

November 18 - 10 am Rev. Dr. Bobby Groth

December 2 - 10 am Rev. John McFadden and Dr. Susan McFadden

December 15 - 4:00 pm (Saturday!) Holiday program and potluck

December 30 - 10 am Rev. Denise Tracy

Events

November 9-10 Mondo Zen

November 22 - 4:00 pm Thanksgiving Dinner at the Fellowship

December 1 - 11 am Aging in the Northwoods Talk and luncheon at Senior Center in Woodruff

Adult R.E.

November 11 - 10 am Misconceptions about the Original Populists; Labor in America--A Strange History

November 25 - 10 am Myths about American Isolation and Empire; Early Progressives Were Not Liberals

December 9 - 10 am Woodrow Wilson and the Rating of Presidents; The Roaring Twenties Reconsidered

December 23 - 10 am Hoover and the Great Depression Revisited; What Did Roosevelt’s New Deal Really Do?

Remembering Loved Ones

Dia de los Muertos (Mexico), Dia de Finados (Brazil), Todos los Santos (Phillipines), Bon Festival (Japan/Buddist), Chuseak (Korea), Qingming Festival (China), Gai Jarta (Nepal) or All Saints Day (US and Europe). . .

Many different names, but really it is all about the celebration of memories of our loved ones. The origins of these festivities have been traced back hundreds of years to indigenous observances. Many major cities in the world celebrate in some form or another. Common focus is gathering of family and friends, serving of favorite foods and beverages, decorating, and praying for loved ones who have died.

Our Fellowship has experienced a few losses that are still very fresh in our hearts and minds. In this time of grief it is hard to imagine remembering friends could be a joyous event. I have to look at it as a celebration of the people we loved, in remembrance of the things that they brought to our lives, the things that we shared, and the memories that were created. We celebrate them as we continue to move through our life’s journey, knowing that they will always have a place in our hearts. We can be comforted by the fact that we will join them again one day; when our friends and family will remember us much in the same way. -—Laurie Figueroa

Join Us for Thanksgiving Dinner

Please join us for our annual Thanksgiving Dinner at NUUF on Thursday, November 22, at 4:00 pm. Friends and family are welcome. Last minute additions are no problem. Please contact Elinore or Barb Beutler if you can attend. Hope you can join u

Fellowship of the Arts

The NUUF Gallery continues to be filled with art. Jana Mirs and Pat Bickner invite UU and UU-friendly artists, both visual and literary, to present your work for display. We have planned over a year of themes paralleling UU principles, with each exhibit on display for two months.

You should already have received an email announcing the first exhibit. This is the only one that does not follow the UU principles, but is an opportunity for UUs, friends and visitors to fit our talents to the holidays. Contact Pat Bickner bickner@gmx.com 715-356-9130 or Jana Mirs janamirs@frontier.com 715-356-4746 for more information.

November–December: Silk and Silver

Because I was late getting notice out about this, we will accept contributions for another week. If possible, bring items to the fellowship on Sunday, November 4. Please list each item, tag your items with your name and, if appropriate, a price, and be prepared to sign a release letter releasing NUUF from liability for theft or damage, and we will handle items with great care. Please also leave business cards, so that prospective buyers have a way to get in touch with you.

Below is a preview of the themes coming up, starting in January 2012. All media are welcome, including poetry and prose.

JANUARY–FEBRUARY 2013: “Self Portrait”

The inherent worth and dignity of every person.

MARCH–APRIL 2013: “IN OR OUT’

Justice, equity and compassion in human relations.

MAY–JUNE 2013: “GO WITH THE FLOW”

Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth.

JULY–AUGUST 2013: “WHY ARE WE HERE?”

A free and responsible search for truth and meaning.

SEPTEMBER–OCTOBER 2013: “I AND WE”

The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process.

NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2013: “FLOWER POWER”

The goal of world community with peace, liberty and justice for all.

JANUARY–FEBRUARY 2014: “LIFE IN HARMONY”

Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.

After reflection on the themes listed above, gather the media and put pen to paper, glaze to clay, blade to wood, dye to fabric, quills to birchbark, paint to canvas, beads to metal, or whatever your creativity suggests, while affirming your UU values. As you can see from the list, exhibition titles have been (loosely) based on these concepts.

Pieces will be accepted through the final Service Sunday of alternate months. The shows will be displayed for 6-8 weeks in the NUUF Gallery. In the interests of inclusivity, multiple submissions by a single artist may be limited. While we encourage independent thinking and free expression, selections will also be guided by Good Taste.

Please help us keep the NUUF gallery filled with unique and interesting expressions of ourselves and our UU Principles!

The Human/Animal Bond November 4

The Human-Animal Bond is the dynamic relationship between people and animals which influences the psychological and physiological state of the other. Dr. Ron Reupert, in his experience as a veterinarian for 35 years, will explain the history and importance of the bond between humans and animals.

Please Help with a Meal at NATH

Laurie Figueroa has served every dinner since May, except for October, which Jana Mirs served. We have willingness to support this effort in terms of funding. Food has been purchase in advance when on sale. But we cannot continue without more UUs coming forward to prepare the meals at Frederick Place.

Please contact Jana Mirs or Laurie Figueroa and sign up for a date when you will be available and willing to help out.

Request for volunteers to help at Lac du Flambeau School

I am looking for several people to volunteer at least an hour one afternoon a week to help with a new math intervention program here at the Lac du Flambeau grade school. Anyone interested can get more information from me at 715-439-3078. Thanks, Carol Amour

Aging in the Northwoods: Challenges and Opportunities

John and Susan McFadden will be speaking on “Aging in the Northwoods” on December 1, 2012. The talk will be presented at a luncheon presentation at the Senior Center in Woodruff. The program begins at 11:00 am. Please contact Mary Ann Fields or Joan Hauer if you plan to attend.

The McFaddens will address this overarching question: Does a community that works well for active retirement also work well when frailty sets in?

They will present demographic slides of aging in Wisconsin, particularly in the Minocqua region; Provide statistics about the number of persons in the region likely to develop dementia; Talk about WHO (World Health Organization) age-friendly city study; and Provide an overview of dementia-friendly community efforts in UK and elsewhere, including the Fox Valley initiative.

They will also provide a handout with questions asked in the WHO study and the UK study and ask audience for suggestions on our area. Please consider these questions in advance: What are the community resources you currently enjoy? Will these be available to you if you become frail?

Free Meetings for Parkinson’s Information

There will be a dinner meeting open to interested persons at the Pointe Hotel on November 18 at 6:00 pm with Dr. Sah, an interventional neurologist with Aspirus Clinic, Wausau. It is focused on moderate and advanced symptoms and problems related to Parkinson’s disease.

A breakfast meeting will be held the following morning, November 19, at 9:00 am, focused on early problems and symptoms.

Please feel free to attend and call your reservations in to Mark Strosahl at 715-356-6363. there is no charge for either meetings or meals.

-—Joan Hauer, care committee.

Mondo Zen Discussion and Practice

Mondo Zen Discussion and practice with American Zen Master Roshi Junpo Denis Kelly. Mondo Zen™ is based on Japanese and Chinese Zen, updated for the 21st Century. Mondo Zen transcends the hierarchical/authoritarian, gender biased and constraining monastic aspects of traditional Zen in favor of practical, experiential “in the world” engagement. Relying only on direct personal experience as taught by the Buddha himself it does not allow mythic constructs to complicate its philosophical orientation.

In his Friday evening talk, Junpo will provide an overview of his innovative program bringing together the time-tested traditions of Zen Buddhism with the challenges of living a life of awareness and integrity in the modern world.

The Saturday practice session will feature the Mondo Zen process. Mondo is an ancient koan dialogue practice. A koan is a special kind of inquiry, an enigmatic question designed to awaken one to a deeper truth. To answer a koan one must have an actual realization experience, not just an intellectual understanding of it. Koans are to still the noisy mind and allow the light that is always shining in the silence to enlighten us. The session will begin with a short service and will include several periods of meditation.

Our hope is that you will enjoy a profound, integrative experience that will change your life in ways you want, starting right now! Our primary intentions for this session are

• First, correct understanding of the nature of mind, putting you in control of your internal experience,

• Second, a taste of the actual liberating experience of no self,

• An opportunity to practice with plenty of support and feedback as both belief and experience evolve, and finally,

• Suggestions to help you carry the practice back home, build it into your own life in ways that expand and enrich, and then share it with others.

The Friday talk will be held at NUUF, Friday, November 9, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm, and admission is free. Donations will be accepted.

Practice session is on Saturday, November 10, 9:00am – 4:30pm. Pre-registration required, fee is $30, and lunch will be provided.

Questions/Registration: contact Doyo Ken Morrison, doyo@frontier.com, 715-356-7461. Learn more about Mondo Zen and Jun Po Roshi’s practice community at www.MondoZen.org

What’s all the hubbub about the Doctrine of Discovery?

In the months leading up to this year’s Justice General Assembly, the Unitarian Universalist Association Board and UUA headquarters staff honored a request from our immigration justice partner organizations to lead the association in a period of study and discussion about the Doctrine of Discovery, a principle of international law that is still used today to violate treaties and rights of Native peoples. Hundreds of Unitarian Universalists and UU congregations studied and reflected on the Doctrine, and at General Assembly a resolution was passed repudiating it. A new collection of online resources lifts up ways that congregations, groups, and individuals can continue to learn more and take action on the General Assembly resolution.

Find out more! Doctrine of Discovery: Taking Action on the 2012 Resolution at www.uua.org/multiculturalism/dod/index.shtml

Floral Arrangements

If you are willing to contribute floral arrangements for a service, please contact Jana Mirs (at 715-356-4746, or janamirs@frontier.com) to reserve the Sunday of your choice now!

The Care Committee

Joan Hauer 715-356-6540, Paul Braunstein 715-356-2428, Barb Bratcher 715-356-6110, Mary Ann Fields 715-385-2975, Candice Zahn Cain, Jim Williams, Barb and Dwight Logan, Jan Reed, cereed@centurytel.net; Pam Thul-Immler

When You Shop at Trig’s, Drop Your Receipt  

Trig’s Food and Drug helps our Fellowship earn money with its “Trig’s Supports Local Churches and Schools” Program. Three times a year receipt totals are tabulated and 1% of the total for our Fellowship is returned to us by check. You must record our number (27B in Minocqua; 35B in Rhinelander) on your register receipt before depositing it in the “barometer” at the exit door. Check the list on the box for the correct number if you shop at a different store.

Warm for Winter

Warm for Winter has begun distributing warm coats, hats, boots, -mittens and -bedding to families in need at the Friendly Village in Rhinelander. We will take donations all year long to restock the supplies. There is a bin in the entry at the fellowship.

Milestones

NUUF and NEWSLETTER INFORMATION

Northwoods Unitarian Universalist Fellowship

P.O. Box 1881
Woodruff, WI 54568-1881

https://nuuf.com/joomla4

 Laurie Figueroa, President
president@nuuf.com

The NUUSLetter is published monthly.

 Next Deadline: November 27, 2012 Please send submissions to Pat Bickner. Please put “NUUSletter” in the subject line.

For distribution of announcements between newsletters or email/address corrections, contact Candy Sorensen at sorencan@yahoo.com.