A
2006 Whenona house discussion is scheduled for Sunday, January
20, after the service. This discussion will focus on financing and
possible uses for the house. If you have any questions, contact a
member of the ad-hoc committee: Dirk Herr-Hoyman (chair), Anne
Urbanski, Peter Anderson, Mary Mullen, Gary Peterson, Jim Lyne, Bob
Park, and Barb Park as an ex-oficio member.
The
next Spanish Speakers Potluck will be held on Monday, January 21,
at the home of Ema Pachon, 1459 E. Main St., Madison. Please bring a
dish to pass if you can – everyone is welcome! Please call
Rosemary Dorney at 238-4382 for directions, parking tips, or for more
information. See you there, and Happy New Year!
Prairie's
Board will meet on Monday, January 14, at 7:00pm.
RE
Wild Wintering! On Saturday, Feb. 2nd we'll meet and go sledding
on the big hill at Cherokee Heights Middle School at the corner of
Midvale and Cherokee Drive. Then at 2:30 we'll head over to Prairie
UU Society for cookies, hot chocolate and popcorn and watch a Dr.
Seuss movie on the movie screen upstairs. Everyone is welcome to
attend!
Lost
and Found! A pair of Simmons binoculars
were left on the podium at Prairie. The binoculars are the type used
for watching wildlife. Also found
was a wooden recorder. Both are safe and sound in the office. If
either are your, please give me a call at 271-8218 or email at
admin@uuprairie.org.
The
next Soup Sunday
will be January 13. Stay after the service for a soup lunch and
conversation! A donation of $5 is suggested, but, as always, guests
and visitors are on us! This month's Soup Sunday will have a table
designated as a Talk Back table to continue the discussion from
Madeline Para's talk.
Minister's
Muses
"Along
the Way"
Just
a little over a month ago, I was at the bottom of the Grand Canyon,
where
my sister and I stayed for four days before making the challenging
trek out (a trip that had to be reserved almost 13 months in
advance). And only ten days before that trip, I had finished
the journey between Arizona and Wisconsin in my car with my "stuff",
driving from Flagstaff to Madison. Amazing adventures, all of
them, though I'm pretty sure I'm not in Kansas any more, let alone
Colorado or Nebraska or Iowa. I am really here, in Wisconsin,
at least physically... emotionally and psychologically, well, that
hasn't entirely happened yet. I am still adjusting in so many
ways; thoughts, feelings and emotions keep bouncing around in my
monkey-mind.
But,
you are all being tremendously helpful and I greatly appreciate the
welcome that I have received. You have been thoughtful and
caring about how my settling in is going. Madison is, of
course, not the Madison that I moved to in 1974; I wouldn't expect it
to be. Nor is it the Madison that I left in the summer of 2002,
when I moved to Burlington, Iowa, to be the Unitarian Universalist
minister there. It is not even the Madison that I left a year
ago when I went off to spend a year hiking in the Southwest.
Things
change, not only restaurants and stores -- what, there are no movie
theaters downtown or at Westgate, anymore?... and, there is a new
chocolate shop on the Eastside that I look forward to exploring.
These are easy changes to get used to; far more difficult is
learning to be in a Madison where some of my closest friends are
gone. Some have died; others have moved away; some are not who
they used to be.
Yet,
things also stay the same. Some of my favorite State Street
places are still there. Many people whom I knew fairly well are
still here and healthy. And, Prairie Unitarian Universalist
Society is still here, full of wonderful folks who have high hopes
and aspirations for their faith community. I have been
observing you for the past month, as I try to get my bearings. I
have been attempting to absorb some of Prairie's culture, ambience,
way of being. So far, I like what I see. I am blessed to
have found you at this point in my life. Despite my struggles
with the big changes in my life and my annual wrestling with winter,
I am excited about being your minister and I am looking forward to
working with -- and for -- you.
I
have some goals that will slowly be revealed as time goes by. One
thing I hope to do is have "one-on-ones" with as many of
you as possible over the next few months. Don't worry! I
will not suddenly, unexpectedly appear at your door. But, I
hope to be giving you a call -- and, please don't hesitate to call me
if you would like to get together.
Speaking
of goals, I have some questions for you, as I go through this
adjustment period. Here are the current "Big Three",
in no particular order of importance, although they are intertwined:
(1) is there a social justice project that you would like to
have Prairie get involved in?; (2) how can Prairie become more
visible in the wider community?; (3) what adult religious education
classes might you be interested in? Oh, and some "housekeeping"
questions.... what times of the day and of the week would you be most
likely to stop in and see me in my office at Prairie? (I'm trying to
decide when would be the best times for me to have office hours.)
... and when are the best times to meet for adult religious
education, by which I mean discussion groups about any number of
subjects, such as Universalist history or our different theological
outlooks.
Please
feel free to respond via e-mail, phone, or in person. In the
meantime, I'll keep on turning, turning, hoping, in the words of the
song, to at least come down where I ought to be, if I can't quite
manage to "come 'round right".
Happy
New Year!
Rev.
Sandy
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