Chalice Circle Topic for April 2015

Redemption

By Crystal Neva, Adaptation and Story from, Karen Hering and her prompts in Writing to Wake the Soul: Opening the Sacred Conversation Within

Note: See the Chalice Circle Session Sequence for process guidelines

Gathering, Welcoming (2 minutes)

Business
As needed—checking in about who is coming, where you are meeting, service projects, updating your group covenant….

Chalice Lighting and Reading (2-3 minutes)

God entrusts and allots to everyone an area to redeem:

this creased and feeble life, “the world in which you live,

 just as it is, and not otherwise.”—Annie Dillard quoting Martin Buber

May the spark we ignite today inspire us to redeem our areas, our lives.

Check-in/Sharing (3-4 minutes@ - 30-40 minutes)

This is an opportunity to share recent events and/or current feelings that may (or may not) need to be set aside in order to be most present for the session.

Transition Meditation (optional, depending on the norms of the group—suggested meditation is at the end of this session plan)

Help the group move from check-in preliminaries to silence with directed deep breathing, soft words, music, or other meditative techniques.

Topic—Redemption

Although religious usage of the word redemption may be wanting in some circles, the word has been widely adopted by secular cultural critics today, who frequently describe literature, films, and theater productions as having a redemptive message. What do you suppose they mean?

A story from Naomi Shihab Nye suggests one answer. A Palestinian American, Nye was traveling in the United States some time after the September 11 attacks, waiting in the Albuquerque airport after learning her flight had been delayed several hours. Among the airport’s prerecorded messages about heightened security alerts and the need for passenger vigilance and suspicion, she heard another announcement asking anyone who understood Arabic to please come to gate A-4, which happened to be her gate.

Arriving at the gate, she found an older woman in Palestinian dress weeping on the floor and an airline service person helplessly standing by, unable to communicate. In faltering Arabic, Nye first explained to the woman that their flight had not been cancelled, just delayed. Then the two of them began to pass the time by making phone calls to their family members on Mye’s cell phone and introducing each other to the loved ones on the other end. They told their stories to each other, laughing together, with infectious results at the gate. When the woman opened a bag of homemade cookies she was carrying and passed them around, powdered sugar landing on everyone’s laps, the airline’s staff enlisted two young girls to hand out apple juice. And looking around the waiting area at Gate A-4 that day, Nye noticed that everyone had taken the cookies and no one looked apprehensive anymore about anyone else. “This can happen anywhere,” Nye asserted. “Not everything is lost.”

Redemption, it seems to me, happens in this story because the ending opens into possibilities not easily foreseen in the beginning. And like this story, redemption can occur anywhere and anytime we live through stories of our own that might begin with apprehension of one form or another; with long, unbearable waiting; or with strangers in cold, impersonal settings. And then, often starting with some small act of kindness, the stories open up into a different, wider narrative, where trust and new relationships are again made possible and real.

Deep Sharing/Deep Listening (60 minutes)

As we begin Deep Sharing and Deep Listening, I invite you to reflect on the ways in which your life is being redeemed day by day—the small, unexpected moments of redemption. Here are some questions to consider:

·      What does the word redemption mean to you?

·      If, as Nye said, “Not everything is lost” then what remains—what good exists when things seem bleak?

·      Do you have a story of redemption that you would like to share?

·      Whom or what are you indebted to—how do you redeem yourself?

·      What imprisons you—how do you free yourself?

·      How is your life being redeemed today?

Open Discussion (as time permits—this is the cross talk portion)
This is the opportunity to ask questions, and continue to engage the topic….

Check-out/Feedback  (10 minutes)

Thank the group.   Ask what they liked in this session and what changes they would hope for.

Closing Reading/Extinguishing the Chalice

Excerpt from “Ordinary Time” by Tim Dlugos—writing about recovery from addiction

Which are the magic

moments in ordinary

time? All of them,

for those who can see.

That is what redemption

means, I decide

at the meeting.

Mine consists of understanding

that the magic isn’t something

that I make, but something

that shines through the things

I make and do and say

When I am fearless and thorough

enough to give it room

Meditation: Peace

Take a moment to make sure you are comfortable

Uncross your legs and arms

Place both feet flat on the floor

Close your eyes and

Take a deep breath in and let it go

Take another deep breath and let it go

Breathe-in slowly.  Breathe-out gently. 

As you breathe, allow your body to just let go.

Allow your mind to be peaceful and relaxed.

Now I am going to give you some simple instructions

Breathe in and on the out breath, Say silently - Peace to my thoughts

Breathe in and on the out breath, Say silently - Peace to my heart

So it goes like this

Breathe in Breathe out - Peace to my thoughts

Breathe in Breathe out - Peace to my heart

Breathe in Breathe out - Peace to my thoughts

Breathe in Breathe out - Peace to my heart

Breathe in Peace to my thoughts

Breathe in Peace to my heart

Breathe in Peace to my thoughts

Breathe in Peace to my heart

Now let’s simplify it

Breathe in peace Breathe out love

Breathe in peace Breathe out love

Breathe in peace Breathe out love

Feel peace enter and fill you completely

Feel love flow through you and from you

Become peace

Become love

Become

Breathe in

Breathe out

Take a deep breath in and let it go.

Come gently back into this room

Bringing the love and peace with you

as you slowly open your eyes

Chalice Circle Topic for March 2015

Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship

Chalice Circle topic for March, 2015

Forgiveness

Adapted from Janeane Weprin, Countryside Church UU, Palatine, IL (2009) and from The Community Church of Chapel Hill Unitarian Universalist, Rev. Maj-Britt Johnson, March 2010

Note: See the Circle Ministry Session Sequence for process guidelines.

Gathering, Welcoming (2 minutes)

Opening words and Chalice lighting

“Forgiveness is not always easy. At times, it feels more painful than the wound we suffered, to forgive the one that inflicted it. And yet, there is no peace without forgiveness.” - Marianne Williamson

Check-in/Sharing (3-4 minutes@ - 30-40 minutes)

Discussion (60 minutes)

[See Circle Ministry Session Sequence as a reminder of the structure of this segment.]

First response

Cross-conversation

Concluding statements

Transition Meditation

Help the group move from check-in preliminaries to silence with directed deep breathing, soft words, music, or other meditative techniques.  (See love meditation below)

Meditation: Peace

Take a moment to make sure you are comfortable

Uncross your legs and arms

Place both feet flat on the floor

Close your eyes and

Take a deep breath in and let it go

Take another deep breath and let it go

Breathe-in slowly. 

Breathe-out gently. 

As you breathe, allow your body to just let go.

Allow your mind to be peaceful and relaxed.

Now I am going to give you some simple instructions

Breathe in and on the out breath,

Say silently - Peace to my thoughts

Breathe in and on the out breath,

Say silently - Peace to my heart

So it goes like this

Breathe in Breathe out - Peace to my thoughts

Breathe in Breathe out - Peace to my heart

Breathe in Breathe out - Peace to my thoughts

Breathe in Breathe out - Peace to my heart

Breathe in Peace to my thoughts

Breathe in Peace to my heart

Breathe in Peace to my thoughts

Breathe in Peace to my heart

Now let’s simplify it

Breathe in peace

Breathe out love

Breathe in peace

Breathe out love

Breathe in peace

Breathe out love

Feel peace enter and fill you completely

Feel love flow through you and from you

Become peace

Become love

Become

Breathe in

Breathe out

Take a deep breath in and let it go.

Come gently back into this room

Bringing the love and peace with you

as you slowly open your eyes

Topic: Forgiveness

On Forgiveness by Murray Kennedy

Let me say how I see it.  When one is holding a grudge; feeling victimized, and hurt, and entertaining blame, and resentment, the soul contracts.  That’s the consequence.  And who wants to go around in life with a contracted, hurt, bitter, soul?  Many people do this because they don’t know any other way.  It’s a great human tragedy.  They perpetuate and multiply some original pain. They stay victims for life.  Being for - giving; is the key to freedom from the terrible burden of what happened in the past.  But it isn’t easy.  When you are for - giving what are you giving?  You are giving up your claim to being the injured party. You are giving up your grievance. You are for - moving on.  You are saying “they are no longer in debt to me”… which means you are no longer keeping that old relationship going, you are no longer keeping them in jail.  You are no longer holding on. You are letting go.  It is a matter of what you are for.  If you are for holding on - to grievance and hurt;  if you are for being right and getting revenge, you remain the prisoner of the past. That’s how it works.

Deep Sharing/Deep Listening

We are going to share about forgiveness.  This is very open to whatever you want to share.  Here are some ideas…

• What is forgiveness? 
• What does forgiveness mean to you?
• Should we forgive?  Is it necessary?
• Are some things unforgivable?
• What is the difference between forgiveness and reconciliation?
• How does forgiveness happen?
• Do you have a story you want to share about forgiveness?
• Has forgiveness (or lack of forgiveness) affected your life?  In what ways?
• Has giving or receiving forgiveness changed you?

Feedback (15 minutes)

Thank the group….  Ask what they liked and what variations they would hope for.

Closing (1 minute)

To pass the peace by Clarke Dewey Wells

To pass the peace is a revolutionary act. It means to trust the outsider we fear, to wish well those who have hurt us; and to forgive at last ourselves. To offer the blessing to those around you is to love your neighbor and yourself and to be at peace with God. Pax vobiscum. Peace. Peace.

Chalice Circle Topic for February 2015

 What Makes You UU?

Chalice Circle Topic for February, 2015 adapted from a session created by
Rev. Maj-Britt Johnson

Note: See the Chalice Circle Session Sequence for process guidelines (following this outline).

Gathering, Welcoming (2 minutes)

Business
As needed—checking in about who is coming, where you are meeting, service projects, updating your group covenant….

Chalice Lighting and Reading (2-3 minutes)

We light this chalice for all who are here, and all who are not; For all who have ever walked through our doors, for those who may yet find this spiritual home, and for those we can’t even yet imagine. For each of us and for us all, may this flame burn warm and bright.

            -Erik Walker Wikstrom

Check-in/Sharing (3-4 minutes@ - 30-40 minutes)

This is an opportunity to share recent events and/or current feelings that may (or may not) need to be set aside in order to be most present for the session.

Opening Thoughts and Reading

            This year is a Coming of Age year for our 7^th and 8^th graders at BUF. They are working to understand what they believe and will be sharing their credo statements with us in May. Recently Paul has been asking the adult community to claim an identity regarding our relationship with the outside world—what kind of congregation we are—civic, activist, sanctuary, evangelical….

Sometimes it can be difficult to explain who we are as Unitarian Universalists and especially what we believe—in fact, many of us (especially in our recent past) most likely, when asked what we believe, would instead lay out what we don’t believe.

            Rev. Galen Guengerich, minister at All Souls UU church in NYC writes in his sermon “Gratitude should be the center of Unitarian Universalist theology”:

            “My twelve-year-old was on the playground recently with her Jewish and Catholic friends. The topic of religion came up, and they asked her what Unitarians believe. She found it hard to respond. Is there a playground-ready answer to this question?

            Unitarian Universalism often plays better to a graduate-school crowd than a middle-school crowd. Part of the reason for the enigmatic nature of our theology is that we haven’t worked hard enough to make it clear and simple. I am reminded of a minister who, when asked why he preached a 45-minute sermon, replied, “Because I didn’t have enough time to write a 20-minute sermon.” But there is another reason why this question is difficult. If your child’s friends (and their Muslim playmate) answered the same question about their own faiths, they would probably talk about a God who is revealed through a written scripture (the Torah, the New Testament, the Qur’an) and represented on earth by a prophet or messiah figure (Moses, Jesus, Mohammed).

            Unitarian Universalism has none of these concrete and uniquely defining elements. Instead, our prevailing—dare I say orthodox—view insists on our freedom to believe whatever we want. Indeed, I asked my very own daughter what Unitarians believe, and her answer was orthodox to a fault. Zoë replied, “We believe whatever we want to believe.” This answer is not good enough, and it certainly doesn’t work on the playground. It’s as if your daughter’s friend asked, “Where do you live?” and she responded, “I’m free to live wherever I want.

            ...If we have any sense of mission, we need to be able to say what we believe in language that is positive, relevant, and even playground-friendly. By positive, I mean that we must talk about something other than freedom, which is the absence of something such as coercion. People may be attracted to Unitarian Universalism because we don’t believe in a doctrine they find abhorrent. But they won’t stay because of what’s missing. (People don’t go to Carnegie Hall because of what they won’t hear.)”

            UU’s still have a hard time saying who we are as a group, but these days we’re more likely to have a spiritual practice, and/or claim a theology, and to be willing to share that with others. As we do so, I believe our connections begin to emerge; we gain strength from each other, find food for the journey, inspiration for action, and greater clarity as a faith tradition.

Questions for Reflection—Deep Sharing/Listening (60 minutes)

See if one of the following questions calls out to you:

What would you say makes you a U.U.?

What for you is the fullness of Unitarian Universalism? ie. what “music” do you hear here?

What was your journey like getting to where you are today, as a UU?

Open Discussion (as time permits—this is the cross talk portion)
This is the opportunity to ask questions, and continue to engage the topic….

Check-out/Feedback  (10 minutes)

Thank the group.   Ask what they liked in this session and what changes they would hope for.

Closing Words

“Belief is many things,” said one of our modern leaders, A. Powell Davies, “and so is disbelief. But religion is something that happens to you when you open your mind to truth, your conscience to justice, and your heart to love.” In Unitarian Universalist congregations we do not try to make one another fit a given pattern of experience. But we do discover together that there are religious dimensions in all our varied human experience.

–  from A Chosen Faith by John Buehrens and Forrest Church.