Return to Dear Friends index.

March 16, 2009

Dear Friends,

“From moment to moment, from day to day, we search the eyes of others for that certain Yes!”

Martin Buber was a Jewish theologian/philosopher (1878 – 1965) whose work centered on our human religious sensitivity and spiritual consciousness; he emphasized the human-relations aspect of religion: the intentional creation of community.

That’s what we’re about, as a religious people.  We’re working at the never-ending task of creating a caring community.

On Saturday, April 4, we will gather in groups, large and small, to continue that work in a program we’re calling “The Essence of Us.”  Have you heard about it?  Have you marked your calendar, or entered it electronically into one of those tiny, hand-held computers that can contain so much of your life in the palm of your hand?

There will be a congregational fair, set up in the sanctuary, with tables representing the dozens of groups and activities that keep us so alive, that are at the center of our community.

There will be morning and afternoon participatory workshops where you will be invited and encouraged to contribute your questions and concerns, and most especially your ideas for the improvement of our shared ministry.

I’ll be leading workshops in both morning and afternoon sessions, inviting a conversation about ‘us,’ about who we are, where we’ve come from and where we’d like to go together.

Others are offering workshops on chronicling the history of our congregation since its inception in 1949, through the growing years leading to the planning and creation of our wonderful and inspiring architecture.  There will be a timely seminar on dealing with stress – and a sing-a-long in the sanctuary with Ed, which promises to be a stress-reducer in itself.

There will be a hands-on workshop to restore donated bicycles to be donated to needy kids in Bridgeport, and an afternoon sex-ed for grown-ups with a chance to ask everything you always wanted to know about sexuality in the older years.

Other workshops include helping with our adopted school projects at Beardsley School, creating a new website for our religious education program, writing your own sermon, making your own home green, Sufi dancing, and helping to work on the Tent of Hope for Darfur.

You won’t be able to participate in everything, but your presence will significantly increase the success of this special day, and the success of this day will have a significant impact on the success of our shared future.

I’ll close with lines from my favorite hymn, ‘O Life That Maketh All Things New,’ by Samuel Longfellow: “From hand to hand the greeting flows, from eye to eye the signals rung, from heart to heart the bright hope glows, the seekers of the light are one.”

Yours,

Frank

Return to Dear Friends index.