After the Fire

Welcome to March! It's been nearly two months since I've posted here. As so often happens in our busy lives, many things have gotten away from me and I'm slowly trying to get caught up again.

We are recovering well from the fire in our Religious Education building on January 25. The renovations and repairs are progressing on schedule, and we expect to be back in our large classroom by mid March. I am so impressed with the resilience of our community, and how well we have come together to meet the challenges of loss of space.

On the Sunday following the fire, our two youngest classes met together. Steve lead the children in sharing their concerns and worries about the fire, then had them act out being fire with their bodies. They all drew pictures of the fire, complete with images showing them roasting their favorite foods over the blaze. I wish I had taken some photos to post here! The Discovery class has continued to share their space with the Treasure Hunters class, and some Treasure Hunters have joined with the Explorers class. There are important lessons here about hospitality--our children and their teachers have demonstrated how welcoming we can be, especially during difficult times.

The Spirit Play class, despite losing all of its materials in the fire, has continued to meet as well, in its temporary home in room 3. The teachers contributed donations of materials and time, and we quickly gathered the basics needed to continue running the class. The children have adapted well to the space as well. Last Sunday they strung beads representing the creation and evolution of the universe, and their own life journeys. Again, I wish I had photos to share!

We have some exciting events planned this month (see the "events" box, to the left). I hope you will consider attending. I look forward to seeing you soon!

Growing Community Together

Do people ask you why you bother going to church? With so many things we could be doing, why set aside time for church attendance? Perhaps you've asked this of yourself, especially on mornings you'd rather stay in bed (or your children would).

This question is really about the purpose of church. For me, being part of a religious community like Saltwater challenges me to focus on why I am here and what I am called to do in the world. Connecting with other Unitarian Universalists reminds me we are all connected with one another and all of life. Talking with our children helps me remember that each of us is a unique gift of creation. Singing together and hearing inspirational words helps me sustain hope. Being with others who care deeply about life helps me find hope despite more suffering in the world than I can address on my own.

For our children and youth, coming to church regularly communicates that faith and religion are central to our lives, not something extra that is tacked now and then. It allows them to connect with the community, and to feel more comfortable at church. It teaches that attending church is a spiritual practice, something we do over and over again, as a way of helping ourselves feel connected to something larger than ourselves.

What about mornings when it doesn't seem worth the effort? Perhaps we were up late the night before, or have too much to do before Monday, or are feeling more worn out than usual. Why come to church when we aren't that excited about the day's sermon topic or the focus of the religious education class? Because, on any given Sunday, there is someone here who needs a smile, a hug, or a word of encouragement. Someone who needs to see that others are working for justice in our world, or to hear voices raised in song, or to talk about their search for truth. Someone who needs to be reminded that we are part of something larger than ourselves. We need one another, as community. And we cannot build that community by attending only when it is convenient.

Of course there are times when we have to miss church. Regular attendance does not have to mean perfect attendance. What it does mean is, on most Sundays, you come to church. It's your routine, it's what you do religiously, it's a spiritual practice. With the emphasis on practice—no one is expecting perfection.

Starting this month, we will acknowledge commitment to regular attendance. Each Sunday children and youth will record their presence on our "growing community" wall. Every three Sundays, each will receive a temporary tattoo representing an aspect of our faith community. I hope this will be a fun way to visibly reinforce some of the religious values we share, while reminding us of the importance of showing up.

I encourage you and your family to commit to regular attendance. For most of us, that will mean three or four Sundays a month. For some, due to family configurations, work commitments, or other factors, this may be once or twice a month. Whatever your situation, consistently showing up will benefit you, your children, and our community.

Kwaanza Celebration

This Sunday our children celebrated the holiday of Kwaanza, an African-American celebration of family, community, and culture. We discovered that the seven principles of Kwanza, called Nguzo Saba, are very similar to our seven Unitarian Universalist principles:

Umoja (Unity)
To strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation and race

Kujichagulia (Self-Determination)
To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves and speak for ourselves

Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility)
To build and maintain our own stores, shops and other business and to profit from them together.

Nia (Purpose)
To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.

Kuumba (Creativity)
To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.

Imani (Faith)
To believe with all our heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.

Ask your child about the principles and how they apply in your lives. If your child was at our celebration, read together the booklet they made.

Youth Cook Up Souper Lunches

Last Sunday the junior and senior youth contributed their cooking talents to create a hearty soup lunch of vegetarian and meaty chili for all to enjoy following the congregational meeting. Donations collected for the lunch went to benefit the Guest at Your Table program, sponsored by the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee. If you have not already picked up a box to have on your dinner table at home, please do so, and continue to donate until the new year!

The youth of Saltwater will continue to provide lunch as a service to the community on the first Sunday of alternate months. The next lunch will be the annual sub sandwich sale in February. Watch for order forms in January.

Diwali Celebration

Last Sunday, Dolly Mangla and her husband Sanjay, who moved here from India a few years ago, visited the Lighthouse to help us share the celebration of Diwali.



Dolly explained that Diwali is a 5-day festival celebrated all over India. It's like Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years all rolled into one. People give thanks to the gods for the food they have and pray for good fortune in the coming year. They give each other presents, buy new clothes, make special foods, and shoot off firecrackers.




Dolly introduced us to Lakshme, goddess of fortune. Diwali is called a "festival of lights", because people light candles and hang lanters, so Lakshme finds her way to their house.



During the class time, children made paper lanterns to hang at home, and clay lamps (called "diyas") that are put at the altar. They also made sand paintings called "rangoli", which are decorations in the house to welcome Lakshme.


After the diyas were done, we took a break from crafts to assemble the altar. Dolly showed us how to do "pooja", which is a ritual honoring the gods. We lit candles and incense, and put an offering of food on the altar, to represent being grateful for what we have, before we eat. Then Dolly put a red dot on the foreheads of all the gods at the altar, and on her own forehead. That demonstrates honoring the gods, and giving the same honor to ourselves. We played special, joyful music and moved a candle in a circular motion around Lakshme, while everyone clapped.

After pooja, we had a special snack. It was an exciting day! Thanks to all the extra adults who helped us manage a very busy class!

Diane Schairer,
Teacher, Treasure Hunters Class

Creating the Universe

Our Spirit Play class has been exploring stories of creation from different times and cultures. The story in the photo comes from Northern Africa. In this story, Nana Buluku, the Great Mother, created the world. Her twins, Mawu and Lisa, were the sun and the moon. They were mother and father of all the other gods--seven pairs of twins. Each pair was given a piece of the earth to rule and care for. Mawu-Lisa took care that none of the lesser gods were ever seen by people. That is why people speak of the sky as a spirit, and storms and lightening as spirits too.

Ask your child to tell you about the creation stories we've shared in class. Why might so many ancient cultures told creation stories? How are the stories similar and how are they different? How do you think the earth came to be?

This week, we explored a scientific story of the creation of the universe. Ask your child about the great blast of heat and light, the particles, the exploding volcanoes, and the first raindrops that fell to earth helping to cool the crust and prepare the planet for the coming of life.

Next week (November 30) we'll be doing experiments to help illustrate the big ideas from this story. Come join us if you are in town!

The Sounds of Discovery

The world seen through the eyes of a preschooler is full of wonder ready to be discovered! Our Discovery class have been exploring how we experience life through all of our senses. By connecting with teachers and classmates who know and care about them they are growing spiritually. Today the children took a listening walk around the church and shared what they heard. Then they made shakers filled with beans and played music together. We learned that "if you are so quiet that you can hear your own breathing, you are being quiet enough to pay attention to the other sounds around you." We experienced the joy of making music together.

Ask your child what we heard on the listening walk. Take a walk around your home and discover what you can hear when you are quiet enough to listen. Enjoy playing some music together.