Flame on the Water
UU Day of Advocacy
Wednesday, April 23, 2025 10 am - 3 pm Come build community with UU’s from all over the state. Hear from special guest UU’s in state government. Then we’ll continue to the capital to visit with legislators about our UU values.
Keeping Our Connections Strong
Sean Parker Dennison
All we need, all we need is hope
And for that we have each other…
And we'll rise up, rise like the waves
We'll rise up in spite of the ache
We'll rise up… and we'll do it a thousand times again.
—Andra Day, "Rise Up"
And for that we have each other…
And we'll rise up, rise like the waves
We'll rise up in spite of the ache
We'll rise up… and we'll do it a thousand times again.
—Andra Day, "Rise Up"
I feel like I'm on a constant hunt for hope these days. I have to be: every time I look at my phone or open my laptop, I’m overwhelmed by stories of violence, disrespect for life, greed, and selfishness. When I listen to my friends and loved ones or to conversations in coffee shops, it feels like everyone is dispirited and disheartened. And that is dangerous.
The danger of hopelessness is a double danger. First, hopelessness makes us feel it’s useless to take action. It fools us into believing there’s nothing we can do, or that our efforts won’t make a difference. Once we abandon hope, there’s no stopping the momentum of the unscrupulous who are willing to cooperate with evil in order to get ahead.
The other danger of hopelessness is that we can lose each other. In times of hopelessness, it’s easy to get scared of everything and everyone. It’s easy to start believing that your neighbor is the problem and that hoarding is a better strategy than generosity. The problem is that when community starts to break down, we lose the most important source of hope we have: each other.
The message of hope that still blazes bright for me in these hard times is that I am not alone. I don’t have to face the world alone and I don’t have to fix the world alone. When I need hope, I find it in on the faces of my people. I find it in their hearts, when we find each other again and stop hiding out, thinking we are the only one. I find it when we come together in community to sing, to bless one another, to mourn, to strategize. All we need is hope... and for that, we have each other.
Prayer
Spirit of Life and Love, in these times when so much seems difficult, help us remember that we are not alone. We have each other. Help keep our connections strong and remind us that kindness, generosity and trust are antidotes to fear. Help us remember that our hope and our power grow when we are faithful to our deepest commitments and to each other. May we rise up to do the work of Love again and again. Amen.
Do you need a donation report for your taxes? See Bob Antweiler
Beauty Is Our Birthright
Rebekah Savage
Sometimes we awake in the morning with a heaviness in our chest.
Sometimes we awake in the morning with the endless to-do list rattling through our thoughts, the nagging reminders of what was left undone yesterday,
and the pangs of “I have to do it all again today?” pinching at our insides.
Sometimes we awake in the morning, and we’d rather go back to sleep,
We would rather escape under the covers, a rock, the bottom of the closet.
And then,
The first sliver of sunshine may dance across our face. Beautiful.
And then,
The wafting scent of a new day may glide over us. Beautiful.
And then,
Signs of life blossom around us, to include inside of us. Beautiful.
Beauty is our birthright. Just as we are born in love, through love To love;
To nurture beauty is to return to our essence,
To touch, taste and experience creation as beautiful,
As the fragile, wonderful and wild interdependence with the Spirit of Life,
that which is so much greater than ourselves.
May beauty wrap and delight us, and guide our way.
May beauty be yours now and forever.
Amen and ashe.
Sometimes we awake in the morning with the endless to-do list rattling through our thoughts, the nagging reminders of what was left undone yesterday,
and the pangs of “I have to do it all again today?” pinching at our insides.
Sometimes we awake in the morning, and we’d rather go back to sleep,
We would rather escape under the covers, a rock, the bottom of the closet.
And then,
The first sliver of sunshine may dance across our face. Beautiful.
And then,
The wafting scent of a new day may glide over us. Beautiful.
And then,
Signs of life blossom around us, to include inside of us. Beautiful.
Beauty is our birthright. Just as we are born in love, through love To love;
To nurture beauty is to return to our essence,
To touch, taste and experience creation as beautiful,
As the fragile, wonderful and wild interdependence with the Spirit of Life,
that which is so much greater than ourselves.
May beauty wrap and delight us, and guide our way.
May beauty be yours now and forever.
Amen and ashe.
April Adult Forums
4/6/25 - Melinda Jennings, Campaign Director of the Salvation Army, will talk about plans to update their facility.
4/13/25 - Susan Roemer, executive director of the Independent Living Resource Center will let us know about the many services they provide for people with disabilities.
4/20/25 - Betty Cooper on Earth Day. Each year on April 22, citizens worldwide will examine the Earth Charter’s 16 principles as a way to create and maintain a sustainable world.
4/27/25 - Bob Priddy will speak on “Missouri Steamships”. We will learn about plans to excavate the Steamship Malta as well as a possible Steamship Arabia museum in Missouri.
If you would like to schedule a forum, please see Frank Rycyk
4/13/25 - Susan Roemer, executive director of the Independent Living Resource Center will let us know about the many services they provide for people with disabilities.
4/20/25 - Betty Cooper on Earth Day. Each year on April 22, citizens worldwide will examine the Earth Charter’s 16 principles as a way to create and maintain a sustainable world.
4/27/25 - Bob Priddy will speak on “Missouri Steamships”. We will learn about plans to excavate the Steamship Malta as well as a possible Steamship Arabia museum in Missouri.
If you would like to schedule a forum, please see Frank Rycyk
Religious Education, 10:30 am
Children attending are welcome to join RE instructor Dr Samantha Porter for a lesson during the service hour.
Lunch After Services
If you would like to join other members and friends for lunch, watch for postings and announcements, or ask about each week's lunch location. If you have a particular place you’d like to recommend, please let us know.
Message from Frank Rycyk
We create much JOY at UUFJC. We affirm the “Quest for Truth”! How much more JOYFUL can you get? It is a JOY that we have a newsletter which helps us to share our IDEAS. I see the potential for JOY as infinite. UUFJC is a good start.
Our Intersectional Justice Priorities
Climate Justice (inclusive of Indigenous sovereignty and Climate Resilience) with Create Climate Justice
Democracy and Electoral Justice (inclusive of Voting Rights and electoral participation) with UU the Vote
Decriminalization (inclusive of Racial Justice and Immigration Justice) with Side With Love
LGBTQIA+ and Gender Justice (inclusive of reproductive justice and abortion access) with UPLIFT Action
The work that we do together to build a world in which all of us are free and thriving is interrelated. When we ground our spirits, grow our skills, and act strategically for justice in deep relationship with each other and our Movements, we choose to Side With Love.
Action Center is a place where we unite in work towards a world where we all thrive. Together we take action, Side With Love, and make deep impacts in this critical moment.
Democracy and Electoral Justice (inclusive of Voting Rights and electoral participation) with UU the Vote
Decriminalization (inclusive of Racial Justice and Immigration Justice) with Side With Love
LGBTQIA+ and Gender Justice (inclusive of reproductive justice and abortion access) with UPLIFT Action
The work that we do together to build a world in which all of us are free and thriving is interrelated. When we ground our spirits, grow our skills, and act strategically for justice in deep relationship with each other and our Movements, we choose to Side With Love.
Action Center is a place where we unite in work towards a world where we all thrive. Together we take action, Side With Love, and make deep impacts in this critical moment.
Joys and Concerns
If you have a joy or concern that you would like to have read during a service or shared in our weekly email, please submit it by noon on the Friday before through our website here. We will also have paper forms available Sunday morning for submissions. Submissions made after noon on Friday may not be read or shared until the following week.
Insight Meditation
Thursday evenings at 7 pm A meditation group led by Joe McCormack meets weekly in our building, when possible. Zoom may also be available. Contact Bob Antweiler.
UUFJC Board of Directors
President: Logan White
Vice President: Lisa Sanning
Secretary: Amanda Landrum
Treasurer: Bob Antweiler
Director of Religious Education: Samantha Porter
Administrator: Mary Jo LaCorte
Vice President: Lisa Sanning
Secretary: Amanda Landrum
Treasurer: Bob Antweiler
Director of Religious Education: Samantha Porter
Administrator: Mary Jo LaCorte
RSS Feed