Dateline Tampa, FL: Spring Returns, UUs Celebrate!
By Russell Kirby, BoT President

Another month in the annual cycle has passed.  It's harder to notice the differences in the seasons around the Florida annual calendar, but rhinologists and allergists throughout the region confirm that business is indeed better than usual.
 
Things are looking up at UUCT too - we're in the process of freshening up the sanctuary with a new stage and carpeting, with the help of a revitalized Aesthetics Committee and an energetic group of volunteers from the Buildings and Grounds Committees.  

Watch for information about the Emerson Center of Tampa Bay's lecture series on end-of-life and palliative care starting this fall, and also make plans to participate in Adult Religious Education programs coming up.  And the next Blues and BBQ all-church family oriented event will be on Saturday April 14th from 3-8 p.m.  Rumor has it there will be pulled pork BBQ as a highlight, and it is possible that the No Name Trio (Faye Turk, Bill Blymiller, and Russ Kirby) will appear although at press time these performers were not booked.
 
On March 25th after the Sunday service, we will have a special congregational meeting to address two issues. A Conversation with the Board will follow. Our regular annual congregational meeting is scheduled for after the service on Sunday, May 6th.  

As we are a dynamic community, opportunities to volunteer or serve on committees abound.  If you are interested in volunteering or taking a leadership role, please talk to me, or Ed Benedict, chair of the Leadership Development Committee.  We are also taking nominations for the Betty Lee Award through April 1st, so please let me know if you have a nominee you'd like to put forward.
 
So take a deep breath, exhale, and then jump into the swing of Spring! 

Betty Lee Award Nominations

The Betty Lee Distinguished Award acknowledges a member of our church for "high standards of diligence and dedication" to the well-being of our church. 

In recognition of our past Betty Lee Award winners:  

Read a Good Book!

By Carol Baker

Thank you for contributing these great selections this month.
 
Pat Busbice:  I love history nonfiction, and after reading Churchill by Paul Johnson last year, I wanted to know more about Churchill's life and times. I indulged this wish by reading Franklin and Winston, an Intimate Portrait of an Epic Friendship by Jon Meacham. The Churchill biography by Johnson is a slim 170 pages, a fast read. But Franklin and Winston, with pictures, fleshes out the context of World War II, with details of the families and political situations of each man. It explains how their relationship enabled the Allies to win the war and build the world we live in now.

Carol Baker, Your Good Book Editor:  The Temple Terrace Wednesday book group recommended The Dressmaker of Khair Khana, by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon.  I've just read it and can recommend it.  It's a true story about a woman in Afghanistan overcoming tremendous odds during the time of the Taliban's strict enforcement of women's behavior.  She managed to set up a dressmaking business and found she was so successful at managing a business, she went on to work with many Afghan women to help them begin businesses of their own.  It's an inspiring story written about the women of Afghanistan who daily defy the setbacks to improving their own lives and the lives of their families .
 
Ron Hammerle:  Reckless Endangerment, by Gretchen Morgenson and Joshua Rosner.   Times Books, 2011.  The untold story, with names of the prominent (un)accused, on how and why the U.S. financial meltdown happened.  The authors are the New York Times' Pulitzer Prize-winning business reporter and one of the earliest independent researchers to identify problems with the government-sponsored Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  

Rev. Sara Zimmerman:  I've noticed in the Bible for Skeptics class that there's a lot of interest in comparative religions at UUCT. I can recommend Marcus Borg's Jesus and Buddha: The Parallel Sayings by Marcus Borg. Amazon currently has it in Kindle available for around $9.00 and paperbacks starting at $11.
While looking it up on Amazon just to be sure it is still available, I noticed another book with a similar title: Jesus, Buddha, Krishna, Lao Tzu: The Parallel Sayings by Richard Hooper. I'm planning an April or May sermon on the some of the points of convergence in Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Taoism.
I'm also reading in the area of medical science and the brain these days in preparation for the curriculum I'll be writing in the fall called "Medical Science and Religion." Today (March 14) on the Diane Rehm Show, I heard two neurologists speaking of their book, The Emotional Life of Your Brain by Sharon Begley and Richard Davidson. They mentioned mindfulness practice as a method to decrease emotional charges to your brain. (Since 2007, we have had a Mindfulness Meditation group at UUCT, Tuesday evenings.) The book sounds great. I plan to purchase it and could offer a review next time.

 If you have a book you've just read or have read previously that you liked, please send me an e-mail at cbanddave1@verizon.net 

Adult Religious Education  

Many, many questions were raised during the program and I want to share a few of the ones that engaged me.

Why the Bible, for god's sake, it's thousands of years old with stories about desert dwelling tribes of religious heretics?

Well, that may be so, but it does serve (along with Shakespeare) as the most quoted source in Western literature and the primary religious document for about a third of the people on the planet.  And, importantly, it is not going to go away.  Much as I would prefer a culture based on some other myths, this is the one I have.

How can it possibly be relevant?   

Well, it turns out that human beings have not changed much in the past 4,000 years.  We still
* are stuck with strife, good things happening followed by bad things happening - seemingly at random
* have to find ways to deal with our parents, our kids, and the crazy friends we have
* have to define duty, love, obligation, awe, powerlessness and that sense of awe and connection we sometimes (too rarely) feel.
There are stories about these things--stories that many people know.  So whether or not you think the Bible is correct, it provides a common point - a Rosetta stone - for talking with religious friends about the major issues in life.

You know this is a dangerous book! 

Actually, as you begin to study it the Bible loses some of its mystique . . . and threat. This is no more than a collection of stories about the Jewish people as they discovered their own identity, fought with everyone, conquered some and were massacred by some. They looked to some power to help them, but who didn't (and who doesn't)?  Their god evolves through the book and makes mistakes and is an awful, nasty guy who slowly turns nicer and then, in the Christian Bible, starts talking about love more than death. This is a dangerous book only if you listen to what others say it says and only if you read it as truth.  The only truth there is the truth of human beings trying to come to grips with what this life is all about.

Lest you worry, I finished the program without becoming a Jew or Christian.  I am still an atheist, but one who knows a little more about the book that underlies society.  And one who is much more comfortable in talking about the Bible.  Something gained, nothing lost.

Peace

Bill Blymiller  

SABBATICAL COMMITTEE UPDATE 

By Ed Benedict

Friendship Dinners

Let's revive the tradition for good times around the table with fellow UUs.  We have two hosts for the weekends of April 14 and 21, and are looking for one or two more.  The host will open his/her house and designate how many diners he/ she would like to have. Sign-up sheets for guests will be posted in the church lobby on the bulletin board.  Host will provide an entree; guests will each bring a dish to round out the meal. This is a great way to get to know people you see briefly in church. See Pat Busbice if you would like to participate, 813-994-0355, pwbuzz77@gmail.com.