“Moral Values in a Pluralistic Society” was the title of a weekend workshop at the UU Congregation of Santa Fe last spring. I was sorry I couldn’t attend. Steve Furrer, minister at Santa Fe, published in their newsletter a quotation used at the workshop. Margaret J. Wheatley, an organizational consultant and researcher, wrote it and I think it worth passing on:

Ask ‘What is possible?’ not ‘What’s wrong?’ Keep asking.

Notice what you care about. Assume that many others share your dreams.

Be brave enough to start a conversation that matters. Talk to people you know. Talk to people you don’t know. Talk to people you never talk to.

Be intrigued by the differences you hear. Expect to be surprised. Treasure curiosity more than certainty.

Invite in everybody who cares to work on what’s possible. Acknowledge that everyone is an expert about something. Know that creative solutions come from new connections.

Remember, you don’t fear people whose stories you know. Real listening always brings people closer together.

Trust that meaningful conversations can change your world.

Rely on human goodness. Stay together.

Rev. Dale Arnink
Transition Minister, Minister Emeritus

‘Tis the Season to be merry and bright; to be grateful and generous. In December, Knife and Fork members partied the first Sunday. The next Sunday we celebrated the inclusion of fourteen new members, and then made merry during the all-church party. These were bright beginnings of this season, for which we are grateful.

Friedrich Fröbel, the father of kindergarten (a children’s garden), would have brought to the child in a manger Fröbel’s Gifts. I played with my mother’s set when I was a child. These boxes of geometric shapes in maple are gifts to encourage the development in preschoolers an uninhibited curiosity through play. Fröbel considered play the highest expression of human development in childhood, for it alone is the free expression of what is in a child’s soul. He was not referring to structured play as in video games. Fröbel believed that the mind grows by self-revelation: in play the child ascertains what he (she) can do, discovers possibilities of will and thought by exerting his (her) power spontaneously. In work a task is prescribed by another – another’s proclivities and inclinations are revealed. In play, original power is revealed. A lovely Fröbel quote: “Today is a good day. Yes, this truth is endless and cannot be exhausted by thought.”

Reward yourselves for the contributions you have made during the year by indulging in spiritual soul food. Find a quiet time to light a candle and review your joys and sorrows of 2006. Come alive in the company of family and friends – share the follies of the year with laughter. Let your imagination enter unfamiliar terrain and reap figments. Ponder how this church community enables your search for meaning and elevates your sense of worth. Is there a personal commitment that would light up your life and the lives of others? Make one resolution that you believe will make our congregation a more beloved community.

Remember the less fortunate with a goodwill gift. Peace will seem closer to those that are assisted and those that are rescued by the UUSC. The Guest at Your Table program helps the threatened at home and abroad. Share your abundance with a generous contribution. “Let there be Peace on Earth, and let it begin with me.”

Carl Newton
2006-2007 Church President

by Kok Heong McNaughton

DRUUMM, with two U’s and two M’s, is an acronym for Diverse and Revolutionary Unitarian Universalist Multicultural Ministries, and it’s pronounced like “drum” except you let the sound linger over the last “m”. And yes, we sometimes sit on the floor surrounding by blankets and pillows and participate in drumming circles, and we have also adopted the picture of a drum in our logo.
So what is DRUUMM?

In 1997 a racially diverse group of approximately 30 religious professionals (ministers, religious education directors, seminary students, UUA and associate organizations staff) gathered to create a support and advocacy organization for People of Color working in professional capacities within Unitarian Universalism.

In 1999, DRUUMM’s leadership became aware of the growing need for all People of Color to gather, meet, and form religious community with one another. In particular, People of Color participating in or providing leadership for the Journey Toward Wholeness felt the need to affirm and strengthen the racially diverse community within Unitarian Universalism. Today DRUUMM includes not only religious professionals, but also adults of all ages, youth and children.

What is our mission? We unite to:

• Work for self-determination, justice and equal opportunity,
• Empower our various ministries,
• Celebrate our diverse heritages,
• Overcome racism through resistance,
• Transform and enrich Unitarian Universalism through our multicultural experiences.

The Rev. Denise Hall (one of our new UU Ministers of Color) and I have just started to organize a DRUUMM Chapter in the Mountain Desert District (MDD). With the support of our District Executive, Rev. Nancy Bowen, we began with an email list that now has seven subscribers.

Why do we need to organize?

Mountain Desert District spans over a wide geographical area and there are so few UUs of Color that we often find ourselves isolated, the only person of color in our congregations. It’s therefore important that we network together to support one another in our struggles for justice and equality. We are using our email list to plan an anti-racism workshop for the next Urban Ministry Conference in Denver in February, 2007.

Nancy Bowen wrote: “We are in the midst of an inventory and assessment of the Anti-racism, anti-oppression, and multi-cultural work in the district through the last 10 years as part of the national Journey to Wholeness Committee review. Your sponsorship of a DRUUMM chapter is a small foothold from which we can begin a new initiative in the district.”