Many Mountain Vista UU events are open to the public. When yours is, just send your write-up to publications@uucnwt.com. One of us (Elizabeth Reed or Valerie Powers) will then add location and direction information and get it out to the media.

Margaret will put it in the Mountain Vista UU News if you haven't already sent it to her, and it will get on the website, too. If you add a shorter version and mark it "For OOS" with the Sundays it should appear, it will get there, too--all in one e-mail from you. Please include event date, time, and location; as well as contact person, phone, cell phone, and email address.

Coffee Sales End Another Successful Year

Make sure to visit the coffee sale table on April 3 to get your summer supply. This is the last sale until the fall.

Again this year we have supported the Café Justo co-op founded in 2002 to provide a sustainable wage for growers and processors. Your purchases are a passive way to help support Social Justice on the border, acknowledge our "green" commitment, and accrue a small amount of money for the church.

This year, in addition to the Hospitality coffee supply, church members and friends, between September and March, purchased 125 lbs of coffee. Many thanks go to the loyal ones who pre-order their coffee each month. They bought two-thirds of total. Thanks

Immigration

Several members of our congregation have been participating in the UUA's course called "Immigration as a Moral Issue," currently being given at the UU Church of Tucson: John and Margaret Fleming, Donna and Milt Francis, Josh Gormally, David Greene, and Olegario Morales.

The course includes a great deal of factual background material, as well as field trips to Nogales and to the Streamline program at the downtown Federal Courthouse.

We plan to offer the same course here at our church in preparation for GA in Phoenix in 2012, which has adopted the immigration issue as a theme. If you are interested in taking this course, please let one of the above persons know.

Karla Brockie's Ordination

Karla is UUCNWT's student minister and has been a member since 1998. Karla also served as VUU's ministerial intern 2007-8. We've witnessed her journey to become a Unitarian Universalist minister, and now is the time to celebrate!

The ordination service will be held at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tucson (22nd St and Swan) at 5:30 on Sunday April 17, with a reception to follow. The Rev Rod Richards, minister, UU Congregation of SE Arizona, will lead the service; Kellie Walker, Director of Music Ministries (VUU), will lead the music with combined choirs. We hope many of you will join with us in this celebration. To RSVP and to request childcare for the event, please email BrockieOrdinatn@cs.com.

We are raising funds to support this wonderful event (about $4,400)!! Send your donations to UU Congregation of NW Tucson. Make out the check to UUCNWT, and put "Brockie ordination" in the memo line.

UUA/UUSC Japan Relief Fund

The UUA has been in contact with our religious partners in Japan to express our concern and our willingness to partner with them in recovery efforts. Our partners, including Rissho Kosei-kai, Tsubaki Grand Shrine, the Konko Church of Izuo, the Tokyo Dojin Church, and the Japan Chapter of the International Association for Religious Freedom are all in discernment about the specific efforts they will be taking to support recovery work.

The UUA and UUSC will walk with them in the directions that are ultimately chosen and will make all appropriate decisions about the distribution of the funds. Please join with Unitarian Universalists throughout the United States by contributing to the UUA/UUSC Japan Relief Fund by making a gift online at www.uua.kintera.org/japan, or over the phone by calling UUA Stewardship and Development staff at (888) 792-5885.

Rev. Joy Interim Minister's Column

Words of Joy

Why, who makes much of a miracle?

As to me, I know of nothing else but miracles...

To me every hour of the light and dark is a miracle,

Every cubic inch of space is a miracle,

Every square yard of the surface of the earth is spread with the same,

Every foot of the interior swarms with the same.

To me the sea is a continual miracle,

The fishes that swim--the rocks--the motion of the waves-the

ships with the men in them,

What stranger miracles are there?

Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said that if the stars were to appear only once every thousand years, what an incredible wonder it would seem to be when it finally happened. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow said a similar thing about spring: "If spring came but once a century instead of once a year, or burst forth with the sound of an earthquake and not in silence, what wonder and expectation there would be in all hearts to behold the miraculous change. "

What if springtime came only once a century? Just imagine the anticipation, and then the gladness and rejoicing and deep gratitude for this miracle--a miracle so commonplace in our lives that we may forget to notice it.

I am starting to notice and enjoy the emergence of spring in the desert, an event that is new to me: plants blooming into color that seemed dry and barely alive weeks ago, the stately saguaro suddenly wearing almost comical crowns of flowers, a greater abundance of rabbits and other creatures I haven't identified romping at twilight, birds carrying twigs to make their nests, warm days and balmy nights.

It's a miracle here as elsewhere that we do have spring once a year, and twinkling stars on many nights, and gently swaying trees, and glowing comets visiting now and then. It is likewise miraculous that we can enjoy the blessings of friendship and love, and a candle of hope now and then to light us on our way. May the arrival of spring remind us not to take life's gifts, and the gift of life itself, for granted, but to be genuinely grateful for each gift, and each day that is given to us. In this season of renewal, may we learn to see the gift of life as the miracle that it is, as the poet Walt Whitman saw it when he sang out ecstatically:

The ocean fill'd with joy-the atmosphere all joy!

Joy! joy! in freedom, worship, love! joy in the
ecstasy of life!

Enough to merely be! enough to breathe!

Joy! joy! all over joy!

Have a joyful, renewing and miracle-filled spring!

Sale Dates

Barn Sale Saturday, April 2, 2011

7 am to 1 pm. This is our annual de-clutter your house and donate stuff to the church sale.

Book Sale Sunday, April 10, 2011

9 am to 1. Open to the public before, during, and after church.

Drop off your donations at the church on Sundays or at the barn on Mondays and Wednesdays, from 1 - 3 pm, until the Yard Sale on April 2 and the Book Sale on April 10. We will need volunteer help to sort, set up, sell and take down. Call Catalina, 572-1881.

"Everyone's a Greeter" Workshop
April 16

Mark your calendar now. Save Saturday, April 16th, from 9 am - 12 noon to gather at Mountain Vista UU for a congregation-wide workshop, "Everyone's a Greeter." Rev. Joy will lead, with the assistance of others from our congregation.

Activities and Events

First Friday Hikers April 1

We will walk the trail at King's Canyon in the Saguaro National Park West. The trailhead is located across the road (Kinney Road) from the Desert Museum. We will walk for an hour in and an hour out. The trail is a sandy wash with some rock dams, and bypasses around the dams. Some petroglyphs. If there are any spring flowers they will be there, but with the dry weather it is not likely that there will be many.

We will meet at the trailhead at 9 am. Let me know if you want to meet at the church at 8:15 am and I will attempt to arrange a car pool. Wear weather-appropriate clothing, good walking shoes, and bring plenty of water and a snack.

See you then,
Hobie Denny ("Rain Bird")

Movie Outing April 24

"Of Gods and Men" Sunday, April 24, time to be announced, at the Loft, 3233 E Speedway. This subtitled film is about Trappist Monks kidnapped by Algerian terrorists and about their faith under duress. We will aim for a late afternoon showing and go to a nearby restaurant for supper after the show. Look for a poster, review, directions and a signup at Mountain Vista. Please sign up to be notified of the details. john.wilcox2008@comcast.net 531-1413

Bookaholics Unanimous April 27

Unbelievably, he walked away from fame and fortune to go to war; it made the headlines everywhere. Jon Krakauer's Where Men Win Glory; The Odyssey of Pat Tillman fills in all the details everyone else left out. There's much to discuss here, so decide which points you'd like to make, then turn up to make them at 3:45pm in the Fireside Room on Wednesday, April 27th. On May 25th we plan to gather to talk about that month's book: The Novel Bookstore by Laurence Cosse. What if you had a bookstore where only good books are sold and no bad book choices can be made? We've had fantasies about this, but now we get to read about it. We'll talk about it, too, on May 25th. Put down that tennis

Mountain Vista Members' Art Exhibit Coming Up!

Attention Mountain Vista Members and Friends. You all are invited to participate in the Seventh Annual Mountain Vista UU Art Exhibit. The exhibit will be hung Saturday April 2 and close Saturday May 14. Share your pictures, paintings photos, collages, textile work, and computer art with the congregation. Art may be for sale or not at the artist's discretion. Please stay after church on April 3rd for a gala reception. (You can buy books and art!)

Artists: bring your art Saturday morning April 2nd, 10 AM to noon. It must be in hangable condition and labeled on the back with title and artist's name. We will have you sign in with artist's name, title, medium and price (or NFS, not for sale) information. We will make the placards to be placed by the pictures. Artists should also bring a brief bio (a paragraph) about themselves, which will be displayed during the exhibit. Contact Anne Leonard for more information: anne@alartworks.com, 520-825-3449

RE News

Upcoming events:

On April 3, the Tigers, TAMS, and YRUU will have a chance to help with planting of the landscape on the west side of the sanctuary. Josh Gormally will be spearheading the project. Thank you, Josh, for your continued support of this project.

On April 10, the Tigers and TAMS will have a guest speaker from the Tucson Wildlife Center. In May they will visit Withers Sheep, Llama and Goat Ranch.

RE Committee Meeting: Wednesday, April 13th, 7:00-8:30 PM in the Goldblatt Building. Everyone is welcome.

A special thank you to Steven Ballesteros for his recent assistance in the TAMS class.

A big thanks to Bonnie Grant-Baird for donating Goldfish Crackers. And thank you, too, to all the others who somehow sneak in their donations! The RE Department really appreciates your help!

If you have any questions or suggestions for the RE Department, please contact Donna anytime at mklo@earthlink.net or 867-1400.

Gateway Media Projects

O computer disk ur media communication capabilities continue to expand. We now have high speed video with Internet connections in both the Fireside Room and the large R.E. room. There are computers in both rooms; one is on a movable stand in case we need to use it in the other room.

We are planning to make a documentary video on the topic of immigration, with our youth participating. We have applied for a grant from PSWD to help finance this, and we have also applied for another year of the original Gateway grant from the UU Funding Project so that we can continue working toward our goal of linking congregations through technology.

On Saturday, March 19, a Facebook workshop, using one of the new computers, was attended by 6 persons. 83% of the participants were over 65, and were shown some of the many possibilities of Facebook by the other 17%. We may have another workshop soon. Let John Fleming know if you are interested.

Exploring the Tao--What is Te?

The words that form the title of the bible of the Taoists, Tao Te Ching, may be simply translated as path or way-virtue-text, scroll, or book or The Way of Virtue. The previous (November 2010) article looked at Tao. Now let's consider Te.

When we consider te (pronounced "duh") translated as virtue, most of us think of the usual definition "conforming to a single acceptable norm or standard of right morality." This definition of virtue actually evolved from its archaic meaning of "inner potency" or "divine power" (as in "healing virtue of a drug"), "personal character," "inner strength" (virtuosity), or "integrity." The older definition more closely resembles the concepts embodied in the Chinese character for virtue, which most scholars agree is the Taoist intention or philosophy surrounding te.

In Jonathan Star's translation of the Tao Te Ching, he lists the uses of te in the various chapters most often as virtue, power, and success. From chapter 51:

Tao gives all things life; Te gives them fulfillment. . . . .Though Tao gives life to all things, Te is what cultivates them. . . . . Te is that magic power that raises and rears them, completes and prepares them, comforts and protects them.

Victor H. Mair provides a broader view in the introduction to his translation of the Tao Te Ching-this one from the oldest and most recently discovered silk manuscripts. He recounts how he spent two full months trying to arrive at a satisfactory translation of te:

Walking through the woods, riding on the train, buying groceries, chopping wood-the elusive notion of te was always on my mind. In certain instances perhaps another word such as "self," "character", "personality," "virtue," charisma," or "power" might have been more befitting. But "integrity" is the only word that seems plausible throughout.

By "integrity," I mean the totality of an individual including his or her moral stance, whether good or

bad. . . . The term signifies the holistic inner quality or character of a person-the strengths of an individual, one's personhood. Te is determined by the total of one's actions, good and bad-so we can cultivate our te-our self-nature or self-realization in relationship to the cosmos. Te is the embodiment of the Way and is the character of all entities in the universe. Each creature, each object has a te that is its own manifestation of the Tao.

The Tao Te Ching or The Way of Virtue thus guides us to seek our own "virtue," leaving each of us to determine how best to understand the Way from our own life's path and our own moral understanding-from our own integrity and uniqueness of being in the universe. We each have our own virtue, our own self-nature, and our own validation.

If you have questions or comments about Taoism that I could address here, please e-mail me at reedeliz@gmail.com.

	Basics of Genealogy Join us on Tuesday mornings, as we continue to explore the fascinating process of researching our Family Histories with Karen Hahn, long-time genealogy researcher, and a member of our Congregation. Questions: contact Karen Hahn (Kayelache@aol.com).

Books for Music

Stop by the book table and pick out something that interests you--meditation, philosophy, religion--you name it. The books are published by UUA's Beacon Press, and all proceeds go to help buy music for the choir. Want to hear the choir sing something new? Well, buy a book! Books will be for sale on March 27, April 3, April 24, May 8, and May 15.

Sunday Services for April

April 3, 2011: Buddha's Birthday

"The Empty Cup"

Rev. Joy Atkinson and Barbara Gates

The service will include a celebration of the Buddha's birthday with haiku, meditative silence, koan (Zen stories) and a homily on Zen, which has been called "the religion of no religion," and which many Unitarian Universalists have an affinity for. LB will direct the choir.

April 10, 2011
"Sacred Waters: Arid Lands"
Vince Pawlowski

We will reflect on water as a special strand in the interdependent web of all existence in this arid land. In its 2011 Earth Day 40/40 campaign, UU Ministry for Earth is asking at least 40 members of our congregation to commit to small and large daily actions related to conservation of water over the course of 40 days, beginning with Sunday, April 17, and continuing through Thursday, May 26. How will you participate?

April 17, 2011: Palm Sunday

"Not My Will..."

Rev. Joy Atkinson

We accomplish so many things by sheer acts of will. But what happens if we can't control a situation? How can we let go enough to let something unfold in its own time, of its own accord? The sermon will explore the sometimes useful discipline of yielding and surrender. Paula Trahan is Worship Associate.

April 24, 2011: Easter Sunday Intergenerational Service

"Practicing Miracles without a License"

Rev. Joy Atkinson

Join us for an intergenerational service of story, reading and song, as we gather to celebrate Easter, and the everyday miracles of our lives. John Clark is Worship Associate. LB will direct the choir.