Flutterings

People gathered from near and far,
In small groups and large,
To share their fears and grief
And the darkness in their hearts.

A year like no other, this was,
Testing us beyond what we'd ever imagined.
Day after day, week after week,
We found ourselves growing
And becoming sturdy
Because there was no other choice.

During the Friday morning business, Moderator Jim Key, on behalf of the UUA board, gave a formal apology to victims of UU clergy sexual misconduct. Of course an apology is nothing without follow through, and a few minutes later Natalia (Natty) Averett, Convener of
the Boundaries Work Group, gave a report outlining progress made and future steps. The Rev. Gail Seavey and Anna Belle Leiserson were there, and both were moved and impressed. Gail was particularly grateful to Natty for emphasizing the importance and urgency of this work.

The link to listen to the board’s apology can be found at www.uua.org/ga/virtual/2014/business/iii/296122.shtml. Note that it begins at minute 8:10. The link to Natty’s board report is at www.uua.org/ga/virtual/2014/business/iii/296123.shtml and starts at minute 10:30.

For more information on Safety Net, please see our website at www.uusafety.net.

Why do so many sportswriters seemed miffed that, at 38, you won’t get out of the game?
Now that I'm in a diminished role, everybody says, "He doesn't have it." But I will never take criticism from people who can't do it themselves.

You mean sportswriters?
Exactly. Now if Kareem comes out and says something, then I have to listen. He's a guy that's done more than me. A guy sitting behind a desk writing about what I should do -- I will never listen to it.

Do you find it difficult to be an aging athlete?
A little bit. We live in an impatient world. Everybody is always looking for the next big Kobe, the next big LeBron, the next big Twitter.

Do coaches really do anything?
Yes, they do. They’re the generals. Generals don't panic; then the troops never panic.

When was the last time you panicked?
1981.

When you were 9?
We were living with relatives, and I just happened to steal a lighter from the kitchen counter. I had a teddy bear. My thing was to just light the tail and then blow it out and laugh. Ha, ha. But as soon as I lit the tail, the whole thing caught on fire. It almost caught the house on fire. I got the whooping of my life.

Today's the kind of day when I feel good
about that dazzling stuff I've made down there,
everything so mixed up that even lies
turn out to be the truth...

If you are a member or friend of this church, chances are you have eaten a meal prepared or organized by Jace Burch, served on a committee with him, and/or handed him a check for one of the many fundraisers he’s coordinated. Jace has contributed countless hours to feeding the collective body, mind and spirit of First UU, both literally and figuratively, often with the collaboration of his longtime partner in life and crime, Bill Latimer, and always with panache and style, whether it’s acting as a host for Stewardship dinners, catering Seders and block parties, or shampooing the carpets.

Jace is about to begin his third year as chair of the Fundraising Committee, for which we are immensely grateful; as one admirer put it, he knows how to "turn making money into an opportunity to have fun," whether it’s a campaign for paint or an evening of jazz or a holiday bake sale. As a stalwart of the Caring Committee, Jace is the linchpin of the Senior Breakfasts and has frequently served as Caring Coordinator for the entire church. He’s also contributed his time and talents to the Fellowship Committee, the Nominating Committee, the Finance Committee, Dinners for Nine, Chalice Circles, GLBT and Friends, the Oversight Committee, the Capital Campaign Committee, Wednesday Night Dinners, the Green Team, the Accessibility and Safety Task Force, Solidarity Sunday, holiday parties and brunches, and countless other events and initiatives.

In his professional life, Jace works for the Tennessee Department of Agriculture, and his devotion to the Tennessee Titans almost rivals that of his attachment to First UU.

This country's growing pluralism is a blessing - one that the founders of this country could never have imagined but for which they prepared fertile ground by writing their egalitarian ideals into our foundational documents. What we should be doing in this country is continuing to expand the circle of those we include in the promises made in our Constitution. And I believe that despite the backlash we see every time the circle is widened, it never really shrinks back to where it was before.

- Bill Sinkford

We are a gentle and generous people. But let us not forget our anger. May it fuel not only our commitment to compassion but also our commitment to make fundamental changes. Our vision of the Beloved Community must stand against a vision that would allow the privilege of the few to be accepted as just and even holy. Our religious vision must again and again ask the Gospel question "Who is my neighbor" and strive always to include more and more of us as we intone the words that gave birth to this nation, "We the people..."

We are, and we should be, both a gentle, and an angry people.

- Bill Sinkford -- from a pastoral letter on Katrina, but it applies to many other things as well