Minister's Messages 2006
December
2006
A wonderfully nurturing
Ute Prayer is titled Earth Teach Me.
Like most of you in a technological age, I spend most of my time indoors. I am
largely disconnected from the earth. I still retain my sentimental connection to
our bluegreen home, but I must confess a substantive relationship is scant at
best.
However, of all the seasons, winter grabs my attention the
most. I am a lover of light and warmth. The early darkness and coolness (it
ain’t cold in Texas; I’ve lived in South Dakota!) cause me to pay more attention
to the seasonal mood of the earth.
Earth is teaching us to embrace times of darkness, to
appreciate barren days, to acknowledge that the inner life is vital to renewal.
The Earth-inspired Tao Te Ching instructs, “In pursuit of knowledge, every day
something is added. In the practice of the Tao, every day something is dropped.”
During this season, let us drop our addiction to doing and
spend more time loving our inner being and families. Let us drop the consumer
trap and focus on gifts of the heart. Let us shrink our smallness for a larger
vision.
The Tao is our usher in the dark theater of winter. “Seeing
into darkness is clarity. Knowing how to yield is strength. Use your own light
and return to the source of light. This is called practicing eternity.”
Soulfully,
Chuck Freeman
Earth Teach Me – Ute Prayer
Earth teach me stillness
as the grasses are stilled with light.
Earth teach me suffering
as old stones suffer with memory.
Earth teach me humility
as the blossoms are humble with beginning.
Earth teach me caring
as the mother who secures her young.
Earth teach me courage
as the tree which stands all alone.
Earth teach me limitation
as the ant which crawls on the ground.
Earth teach me freedom
as the eagle which soars in the sky.
Earth teach me resignation
as the leaves which die in the fall.
Earth teach me regeneration
as the seed which rises in the spring.
Earth teach me to forget myself
as melted snow forgets its life.
Earth teach me to remember kindness
as dry fields weep with rain.
November 2006
As the weather turns cool at last, I extend warm thanks for
all of you who have made a pledge to support Live Oak financially. Your
generosity makes all of our programming possible, keeps the buildings up and
running, and covers the payroll.
Rebecca Maze (3/8 time) runs a top-notch music program. She directs and
accompanies the choir, conducts choir rehearsals, and recruits musicians of all
ages whenever she or the choir will not be on stage. Twice a year she
coordinates a Choir Sunday in which they do the entire service. She often
teaches songs to children or advises youth on music for their annual worship
service. Who can imagine Sunday services without the enhancement of music?
Diane Schultz has faithfully prepared an Order of Service every week and edited
a newsletter every month for several years – and all for $100 per month! Who can
imagine keeping up with Live Oak activities without announcements in writing on
a regular basis?
Audrey Jensen (1/2 time) is our first liaison with the public when she answers
phones and handles rental agreements and key deposits. She keeps up the calendar
(not an easy task!), answers hundreds of email messages, and makes sure the
office runs smoothly. Who can imagine handling myriad details without a paid
Administrator?
Nathan Ryan (3/4 time) manages and supervises 60 volunteer teachers at any given
time, who in turn educate some 125-150 children and youth in a spiritual
foundation for a lifetime. He provides teacher training based on leadership
training he has pursued in his own quest for Credentialed Religious Educator.
Anyone here love to learn? Who can imagine Live Oak without lifespan religious
education?
None of these terrific staff members nor your ministers would do any of this if
we didn’t love Live Oak and believe in our vision and mission. We are entering a
second year in a three-year plan to increase compensation to approach the UUA
recommendations for each position. We would like for this to include health
insurance, pension, and adequate professional expenses for all who work 20 hours
or more per week.
Your Stewardship Co-Chairs, Sheryl Mackey and Tim O’Brien, are trying diligently
to encourage generosity according to your ability. If we all give three to five
percent of income, we believe our dreams of fair and just compensation, building
upkeep, delightful programming, and more, can be ours. Thanks so much!
Blessings,
Kathleen
October 2006
“Suppose we’ve chosen the wrong god. Every time we go to
church we’re just making him madder and madder.” This incontrovertible logic by
Homer Simpson helps me understand why our Director of Religious Education (DRE)
Nathan Ryan is a UU! Since we play ball spiritually with all the gods, he is
covering all his bases.
Nathan is a spiritual minotaur; one part traditional UU, one part religious
iconoclast. In one moment he is calling us to social justice by citing an
obscure Universalist minister like Theodore Parson Clapp; in the next moment he
is extolling eternal verities from The Simpsons. We are blessed to have a sacred
beast like Nathan on our staff, with “777” scrawled on his forehead. (The Book
of Revelations meets the 7 Principles!)
We have a concentrated opportunity to support Nathan’s ministry among us and to
navigate with vision toward the future of our Lifespan Religious Education. On
Saturday, October 7, from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm we will host a DRE StartUp,
facilitated by our District staff.
The StartUp process is designed to assist the Religious Educator, church
leaders, and congregants to get to know one another better at the start of their
relationship. This is done through an exploration of the congregation’s history,
its current functioning and culture, and mutual hopes for the future. Through
this process of sharing and familiarization, a set of goals and action steps can
be identified to guide all parties through the initial period of adjustment. The
clarification of expectations, goals, and ways of relating helps to establish a
stable and healthy environment. (See other articles about this opportunity
elsewhere in the newsletter for more information.)
Join us in a day of frolicking for the future of our children, youth, and
forever young adults. If nothing else, you will hear Vegan Ryan exegete Homer
Simpson’s nagging existential question: “If god didn’t want us to eat animals,
why did he make them out of meat?”
Soulfully,
Chuck Freeman
September 2006
A hint of anticipation fills the air as Live Oak moves into
a fall routine that includes choir and other wonderful interest groups. A new
photography club has arisen over the summer and has already scheduled its first
field trip. Though some groups met over the summer, several of them will resume
weekly or monthly meetings this month.
Many years ago, a group of church members who lived in my area of northwest
Houston formed a special bond over monthly potlucks and meetings. We had a
facilitator who led discussions about theology, religion, and ethics. The group
provided grounding for me in a hectic time of work and parenting. We welcomed
newcomers and continued to develop bonds among us. Twenty-five years later, our
group might have been known as a Covenant Group.
Covenant Groups have taken root in many Unitarian Universalist congregations
across the country and a Covenant Group Team (Carrie Stewart, Nathan Ryan, and
yours truly) is planning to introduce them to Live Oak. If you are new to the
community or if you just want to know a few people on a deeper level, this may
be just what you’re looking for.
What’s a covenant? What’s a Covenant Group? A covenant is an agreement based on
relationship. Each group of 8-11 people, with a trained leader, will develop a
covenant to meet at least once a month to build relationships, to grow
spiritually, and to provide service to the church and the wider community. The
covenant provides a framework for the group and consistency between groups. They
prepare to welcome newcomers and plan to divide or replicate the group when it
approaches 12 members.
I am excited about developing an additional way to nurture our Live Oak.
Blessings,
Kathleen
August 2006
Literary wisdom says, “You can’t go home again.” Yet that
is precisely what we try to achieve every August in our congregation.
Dovetailing with the school calendar, August 20 will be the beginning of our
church year, our homecoming service dubbed the Water Ceremony.
You will bring water from across the globe as a tangible symbol of your
sojourns. You have returned to your bed and pillow changed in some fashion. You
have been moved as well to intentionally come back to this household of faith.
Water is a primal element of cleansing, rejuvenation, and fresh beginnings.
Goddess shrines were often associated with wells, springs, lakes, or seas. Often
water is a metaphor for love itself. Water, like love, is essential to the life
forces of fertility and creativity, without which the world would become an arid
desert wasteland.
This revelation from Robert Lax echoes the bond of love and water. “Love had a
compass whose whirling dance traced out a sphere of love in the void: in the
center thereof rose a fountain.” Bathed in this stream we can go home again.
Welcome home, Live Oak!
Soulfully,
Chuck Freeman
July 2006
Summer travel, even if it is for business, has the old
feeling of liberation from the routine of school. The gatherings of Unitarian
Universalists from across the continent or within our Southwestern Conference
resemble the national and regional camps I attended as a child. Liberation!
General Assembly (GA), the annual meeting of our national Unitarian Universalist
Association was in June. Several thousand UUs attend each year, in a different
part of the country. St. Louis this year, then Portland, OR, Ft. Lauderdale, FL,
Salt Lake City, UT, and Minneapolis, MN. My usual practice is to fly to the
city, then my husband Jon Montgomery drives up at the end of the week, and
together we enjoy making our way back home through various parts of the country.
I went to Stephens College in Columbia, MO, about two hours away from St. Louis,
so it was neat to revisit the scene of my first liberation from home.
GA was packed with programs, workshops, worship, and business. Chuck Freeman was
among those recognized for receiving final fellowship as a UU minister.
Congrats, Chuck!
Closer to home, July brings a regional gathering commonly known as SWUUSI (swoo’-see)
– the Southwestern UU Summer Institute. This summer marks the last time we’ll
meet at Lake Texoma Resort, because it has been sold by the state of Oklahoma to
a private developer. SWUUSI is a family gathering for UUs of all ages.
Traditions include activities for children, a separate youth program, and theme
talks and workshops for adults. Brochures are available.
The best part of these gatherings is connecting with UUs from other churches.
What a rich variety of people and congregations! This year’s theme is Living
Free Religiously.
Whether you’re camping out at home or away, I hope you find some refreshment
from your routine. Collect a little water sample along the way, to share during
our community Water Ceremony on August 20.
Blessings,
Kathleen
June 2006
“The good news is that the monologue of the Religious Right
around moral values is now over and a new dialogue is finally beginning.” The
crowd roared in applause at Rev. Jim Wallis’ proclamation as passionate
commitment filled the sanctuary.
I just returned from the Second National Spiritual Activism Conference in
Washington, D.C., where 1,200 people from 39 states gathered at All Souls
Unitarian Church. The event garnered coverage from the New York Times and the
Washington Post. The Post’s front page headline on May 20 heralded, Religious
Liberals Gain New Visibility. The opening line of their story was, “The
religious left is back.”
We literally had speakers and small groups from 9:00 am to midnight. But it
wasn’t just all hot air and preaching to the proverbial choir. On Thursday the
18th, we lobbied Congress with our visionary Spiritual Covenant With America (www.spiritualprogressives.org/rabbi_lerner/news_item.2006-05-15.7487741783).
I got to talk briefly with one of Kay Bailey Hutchison’s assistants and engaged
one of Mike McCaul’s aides one on one for 25 minutes. We then had a three-hour
Pray-In for Peace in Lafayette Park across from the White House, enduring three
small rainstorms. I think even God’s attention span has limits!
I was never so proud to be a Unitarian Universalist or a religious liberal. All
Souls Unitarian Church not only hosted this historic gathering, but when we
convened a UU caucus over 80 people showed up! Our enthusiasm was undaunted by a
meal of paltry, nasty box lunches and not enough pizza to go around. I
fantasized about a “loaves and fishes” miracle! We exchanged ways to cooperate
and I gathered names to establish a UU Spiritual Progressives email list. On
Sunday I co-lead the UU worship service with over 50 in attendance.
This reading from the Tao Te Ching serves as a grounding vision in the
midst of explosive excitement. “Can you cleanse your inner vision until you see
nothing but the light? Can you love people and lead them without imposing your
will? Giving birth and nourishing, having without possessing, acting with no
expectations, leading and not trying to control; this is the supreme virtue.”
Soulfully,
Chuck Freeman
May 2006
Two new women’s groups have sprung up simultaneously to
serve different needs: a Saturday group for working women, facilitated by Sheila
Kannappan (278-0452,
sheilaanddoug@yahoo.com), Melissa Davis, Kristin Hamlett, and me. The
initial meeting was April 29, 2006. Check with Sheila to get on the list for
future meetings. The Working Women’s Group will have monthly meetings on a
Saturday at 3:00 pm, and some activity for another weekend during the month.
We’d like to have a commitment to attend meetings, and if an absence cannot be
avoided, an effort to attend that month’s activity. More details will emerge.
A drop-in lunch group will meet on a Monday each month at the Brick Oven, in the
Arboretum Shopping Center (on Jollyville Road, just south of Braker Lane).
Though most meetings will be on the second Monday, we already have an exception
in May, so that I can be there. The next two meetings are set for May 15 and
June 12. Contact me for more details (478-9231,
revktellis@gmail.com). Sixteen of us
met for the first gathering on April 24.
Happy Mother’s Day to all of our mothers, living on earth or in our memories
alone. If we were lucky, a birth mother or adoptive mother taught us everything
we needed to know during the early years. Some of us had to make do with a
mother-surrogate. Mother’s Day is a reminder to give thanks for the women in our
lives who mean so much to us.
A song in the new hymnal supplement is an uplifting “gospel waltz” for this day
and age. The first two verses: “If ev’ry woman in the world had her mind set on
freedom, if ev’ry woman in the world dreamed a sweet dream of peace, if ev’ry
woman of ev’ry nation, young and old, each generation, held her hands out in the
name of love, there would be no more war. If ev’ry man in the world had his mind
set on freedom, if ev’ry brother stood with brother as a witness for peace, if
ev’ry man of ev’ry nation, young and old, each generation, held his hands out in
the name of love, there would be no more war.”
Blessings,
Kathleen
April 2006
This is the story of a trial marriage that went sweet.
Sometime in 1995 I saw an article in the Lifestyle section of the Statesperson
about a Unitarian Universalist church in northwest Austin whose worship services
engaged varying spiritual paths. The featured service reported on was by a
traveling teacher named Carole Eagleheart who touted earth-centered sacred
paths. I was interested.
On a referral from the Austin UU Fellowship, Jon Durbin invited me to speak at
Live Oak. The sermon was called The In Between Time, a reflection on life as
illustrated by the weeks of waiting between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I was
encouraged.
Having written off organized religion, I was caught off guard by my fantasies of
being the minister for a church such as this. After confiding my desires to
trusted friend Art Kirby, he encouraged me to make a proposal for a six-month
trial ministry with the church. A group of us had lunch together at Mongolian
Barbecue on North Lamar to explore this option. I was excited.
I attended an MLK service in which Franklin Kalk spoke of growing up in Alabama,
seeing the foul treatment of black people. His voice cracked many times during
this testimonial. Deeply moved, I literally sobbed during the sermon. I was
connected.
In February of 1996, I gave my “tryout” sermon called The Groundhog’s Shadow. We
were meeting at Cortez Plaza at this time, and I wore my custom made Hong Kong
suit. Several members kidded me, “We hope this will be the last time we see you
preach in a suit.” I was hooked.
Last month we began our 11th year of co-habitatin’. Our faces wear crevices of
grace and grit, snow flurries accumulate on the rooftops, and we sport the
standard issue reading glasses now. Yet, I am still attracted to you, even when
you have morning breath, your hair is matted, and you haven’t put your makeup on
yet.
Happy Anniversary, Live Oak!
“Your branches grow with all the choicest fruits, and the finest spices; you are
a garden fountain, a well of living water!”
I was a wanderer. Now I am a family man.
Soulfully,
Chuck Freeman
March 2006
Healing is an ancient
art. An early understanding of illness was the patient’s loss of a positive life
force. The shaman’s objective was to restore health and wholeness to the person.
The shaman could be “ecstatic”, standing outside the self in order to escort the
positive life force back to the patient.
A contrasting view was that the patient had been invaded by a negative force;
thus the shaman became a fighter of this negativity. When viewed as a healer,
Jesus demonstrated both of these shamanic images – driving out evil forces or
restoring positive forces to individuals.
If we modern folks wish to rid ourselves of the negative and restore the
positive, sometimes we seek medical advice. Medicine at its best addresses not
only acute care, but also a comprehensive range of care. This includes
prevention of illness, wellness checkups, restoration, and rehabilitation, as
well as treatment.
Prevention of illness calls for our personal attention to health and wholeness.
We know about diet and exercise and other choices regarding health, though we
don’t always apply this knowledge. My own more difficult challenge is the idea
of Sabbath, which in Hebrew literally means “rest”.
Most of us think of Sabbath as one day a week away from our daily routine. We
may also need restful periods during each day to restore our spirits and leave
us refreshed. Excessively busy people may become impoverished in love and
kindness. (Have you ever snapped at your partner or child just because you were
stressed out or tired?)
Invite healing, nourishing rest into your life on a regular basis. Gandhi said,
“There is more to life than merely increasing its speed.” Take good care of
yourself, including regularly scheduled Sabbath time. Remind me to do the same!
Blessings,
Kathleen
February 2006
“I planted, Apollos
watered, but God gave the growth.” FRED, meet St. Paul, meet the wonders of a
vision born. On February 21, FRED – Fellowship, Religious Education, and Dinner
– will get smacked on its hiney and begin to breathe life. (See articles by Mary
McIntosh and Nathan Ryan inside this newsletter for details.) Good ole FRED has
gestated much longer than your average mammal.
Five or more years ago
Jenny Carloye dreamed of this type of mid-week gathering for our church. Mary
McIntosh has kept the garden hose on the seeds, and our current Adult
Programming crew has assisted in tending the soil. This is one of the strengths
of Live Oak’s sensibilities around consensus. Good ideas tend to hang around
until one day they erupt from the Delivery Room!
We have no idea how
this eight-week crop will turn out, but I do believe that its fruit will be
tastier than the sum of its field hands. Science can explain photosynthesis and
church growth experts can map out successful programs. As the harvest
approaches, however, there is a mysterious character to the gleaning. I always
get chill bumps when I read these words of pagan wisdom from Jesus: “This is
what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and
day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does
not know how.”
Come, let us marvel
together!
Soulfully,
Chuck Freeman
January 2006
On December 16 I met
with local clergy and lay leaders at a City Hall press conference sponsored by
Austin Area Interreligious Ministries (AAIM). We spoke of the need for racial
healing and understanding in our community. The letter we signed and have
transmitted to all area churches begins:
“We the undersigned are religiously diverse and yet morally united. Our common
hope is simply that every person in Austin should have access to a decent,
sustainable quality of life.”
The “undersigned” include over 100 religious leaders in the Austin area who are
finding our way past deep theological differences toward achieving a higher
quality of life for all. We will be meeting over the next several months to
reach consensus about specific actions to overcome Austin’s persistent and
profound racial and economic divide. Our next meeting, on January 10, will focus
on issues concerning police and public safety. I invite all Live Oakers to
become aware and involved in this important project. Contact me if you want to
learn more!
Live Oak is a proud member of AAIM, which has worked for 20 years to build
relationships among multiple faith traditions. Perhaps this groundwork will help
us work together in new ways. Your good wishes are most appreciated.
I will also have the opportunity, which is always a joy, to join my Young Adult
Religious Network citywide group on a retreat to our great facility at UBarU
near Kerrville. If you haven’t been to UBarU yet, make plans for an outing soon!
Chuck and I will be at the annual Southwest UU Ministers retreat from January 30
through February 2, where we network with colleagues and get new energy and
inspiration for the coming year.
Happy 2006 to everyone!
Blessings,
Kathleen
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