UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST FELLOWSHIP OF SAN MIGUEL DE ALLENDE
4NEWSLETTER3
The Mission of this Fellowship is to serve the spirit as each individual understands it;
To serve the educational and pastoral needs of our own community;
and to serve our multicultural community through actions that further social justice.
Sharing Community
Happy Birthday to Donnis Doyle.
Cynthia Sterling. Thanks for sharing this important birthday with your friends.
Welcome to the Steas grandson, Zeus. May he live up to his name!
Helen Morris died yesterday in her home of congestive heart failure. Helen was a regular at UU's for many years. She was an 89-year-old atheist and did not want a service or other recognition of her passing.
Among her most memorable activities in SMA was her sponsoring and mentorship of David Rico Olade through university and graduate school, and helping him get started with the Vagabundos tour group. She and many others were instrumental in starting Jovenes Adelante, with David as their first student. She will be missed.
Thanks to all for sustaining the coffee service with your generous donations. Keep it up. And we have a small but dedicated group washing cups after the service. If you would like to help, just show up in the kitchen after coffee.#
Special Request: We need someone to bring back the new humidifier for our piano from the U.S. Logistics to be worked out. I’m told it’s about the size of a regular suitcase. Please contact Liz Stone or Arlene Van Note at .
Monday, September 21. Each year the International Day of Peace is observed around the world on 21 September. The UN General Assembly has declared this as a day devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace, both within and among all nations and peoples.
For Unitarian Universalists, the exercise of individual conscience is holy work. We believe all people share a moral responsibility to create peace. Mindful of both our rich heritage and our past failures to prevent war, and enriched by our present diversity of experience and perspective, we commit ourselves to an inclusive and transformative approach to peace.
Tuesday Discussion Group, September 22, 10:15 a.m. Next week we will discuss religion: how open are we? Is our acceptance of other religions or customs theoretical or practical? Why does your religion or lack of it make a difference to anyone else? Join us for these meaningful discussions led by Liz Stone at the home of Farley Wheelwright, #24, Quinta Loreto complex, Loreto 15.
Wednesday Comida, September 23, 1:30pm.
Sunday, September 27, 10:30 a.m. Gombos Pizza. Tatanacho #2 , on the corner of Canción India, located in Colonia Guadalupe. Pizza, pasta, Mexican.
Sunday, September 27, 10:30 p.m. Blue Plate Special Day. The basket collection (less pledges) will go to the Lions Club Glasses for Children effort.
The Lions Club of San Miguel de Allende dispenses free eyeglasses to poor children and adults. Lions members and volunteer optome-trists work at the Lions’ Clinic, upstairs in the Patronato Pro Ninos building, to evaluate the eyesight of up to 35 people a day. Together the volunteers dispense 20-30 pairs of eyeglasses eery Thursday. Although they have a supply of over 30,000 donated eyeglasses, it is virtually impossible to find a donated prescription that fits a child exactly.
Some of the children have been told not to return to school until they get eyeglasses. Consequently the club uses donated eyeglass frames and pays the optometrists to make the lenses. The weekly drain on resources to pay for the clinic rent and the eyeglasses is becoming very difficult. So bring some extra pesos for the basket to help this worthy cause.
Sunday, September 27, 10:30 a.m. Service. Ravi Nathwani, Law of Karma/Karma Yoga
The word "karma" means action. If it is action that creates then karma is the force of creation. The cosmic law of Karma can help us in understanding the meaning behind the constant change that we call LIFE.
All life is but an evolutionary process of accepting and embracing the events in our lives as we move towards a higher consciousness. Every cycle of cause and effect is an invitation to accept and surrender.
While action is performed with an eye to gaining happiness. What is the secret of being happy? How does one behave with dignity and grace such that harmony and ease of being is the result?
Ravi Nathwani is a Yoga Philosophy Lecturer who was born in East Africa and raised in India in the Hindu tradition. He lectures and leads workshops on Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita for Yoga teacher training.
Ravi teaches at Tuft’s University, Marin College and JFK University in California. He also leads satsangs, meditations and workshops on a variety of Vedic topics. Ravi has an MBA from Boston University and has lived in Bombay, London, Boston, San Francisco and Mexico.
Special music is flautist Michael Bouchard. #
Women’s Saturday Breakfast Group. The Women's Breakfast Group meets at Mama Mia, Umaran 8, at 9:30 each Saturday morning. All women are warmly invited.
Men’s Saturday Breakfast. Meet at the Jardín at 9:30 in front of the Parroquia and decide where to eat.
Anniversary of Mexico City Earthquake
The devastation of the 1985 earthquake was swift. In just over a minute – in the early hours of 19 September, while the city was still asleep – 100,000 houses crumbled, 5,000 people died and roughly five million residents were left without electricity or potable water. Situated between three large tectonic plates, Mexico is a seismo-logical nightmare, a most vulnerable city built on a sinking lake bed.
Yesterday (Saturday), Mexico City residents commemorated the 1985 disaster with an earthquake drill, marked by the sounding at 11:30 of the city’s seismic warning system, delivered by more than 8,000 loudspeakers located throughout the Federal District. #
President’s
Report
Big Read – We are exploring possible activities around Margaret Regan’s visit here next April. Her newest book, “Detained and Deported, Stories of Immigrant Families Under Fire” is now available at Amazon.com.
Care Team – Rosalie Gifford has been in close communication with several of our members with ongoing difficulties. She supplies encouragement and suggestions. She also has a current file of recommended health care providers, drivers and hospice caregivers for our members’ use.
Circle Cena – Ellen Snyder filled in for the summer and we hope to resume soon. We need someone to organize these enjoyable and important potluck gatherings. Contact Arlene or any board member if you would like to coordinate and be the “hostess with the mostest” for one or more months.
Long Range Planning – The committee held the first Long Range Planning Forum on August 30 following the service. Written comment sheets were gathered and will be compiled with results of the next two Forums in early November and January in order to survey as many people as possible. Recaps and recommendations for actions are planned to be available to the board for the February board meeting. Denise is currently inputting the first set of responses. Questionnaires also are available in the bulletin board area if you would like to fill one in now.
Music Committee – We are the recipients of new microphones, booms and other sound equipment through a directed pledge. Thanks to Eleanor Goodwin and David Garrity for their generosity. The piano still needs additional work and there is sufficient budget to do that this year. We will replace the humidifier system which is ten years old and “Ratty”. (direct quote.)
Social Action Grants Policy We ask members of our congregation to promote organizations in which they are involved to apply for possible grant funding. We allow any organization meeting our criteria, and interested in applying, to do so and will give equal consideration to all proposals. Deadline is November 1st and the RFP (Request for Proposals) is on our website: www.uufsma.org.
Sunday Service Committee has requested that we publish the list of grantees, the seven principles and the board of directors contact info in each Order of Service. Although regular members are familiar with the information, and it is posted on the bulletin boards, many visitors are not, so we will do this as often possible with inserts.
The committee is already working on a special Christmas music program with multiple musicians. It will provide an exciting and enjoyable way to celebrate the holidays together.
Joys and Concerns continue to be a mixed blessing in that some do not restrict their sharing to personal issues, and/or speak for an excessive length of time which shortens the time allowed for our featured speaker. We ask our speakers to hold to a time limit, which allows the service to be over at about the same time each Sunday. This helps our members to go on about their other Sunday activities. We will return to the regular spoken J&C next week. #
Stay in Touch!
UU YAHOO GROUP SITE: Members regularly post updates and information on this site. We also post meeting minutes and announcements there.
http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/UUFSMA.
If you want to send an email, just put this on your address line: .
FACEBOOK: “Like” us at: UU Fellowship of SMA
Website: www.UUFSMA.Org
Mail address: Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of SMA, Apdo 798, San Miguel de Allende 37700 Guanajuato, Mexico
BOARD OF DIRECTORS:
Arlene Van Note, President 154-8504
Bob Leonard, 1st VP 152-3120
Judith Rosenthal, 2nd VP 154-9659
Jane Wilkinson, Treasurer 152-5024
Liz Stone, Secretary 154-8239
Eleanor Goodwin 152-5700
Jim Harper 152-2380.
Jon Sievert 154-5058
John Simsarian 154-4771
Dick Snyder 121-0612