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Unity Spiritual Life Center
January 29, 2014 ~ Weekly Update
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MISSION
To be a center of positive, practical, progressive Christianity devoted to helping people awaken to the Spirit within and to inspire one another into a grater experience of God and life through prayer, meditation, education, and service to others.
VISION
To create a loving and engaged Unity Truth Community that transforms the spiritual consciousness of the planet...one thought, one word, one action at a time.
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Sunday, February 2, 2014, 10:30 am
UNITY THEME FOR JANUARY 2014: Expect Good
Affirmation: I affirm my good and accept the best!
Check out unity.org/resources.
LESSON FOR TODAY: Radical Self-Awareness
This first practice in Robert Brumet's
book Living Originally asks us to become aware of our seeing, hearing, feeling and thinking AND to become aware of the meaning we assign to these experiences. It is a radical shift because most of the time we operate from our limited sense of the external world. Let's learn several strategies to practice radical self-awareness.
SPECIAL MUSIC: Sandy Hemenway
Childcare provided for the service.
MEET & GREET follows the service ~
spend time munching and mingling,
as you greet old friends and meet new ones!
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PAULA'S PERSPECTIVE
YIELD
Yield means to give way to...and in this case to give way to the current moment...to make this moment the most important. Yielding to the current moment puts us at the center of living like nothing else can. We can look around and see and feel exactly where we are. I think that clarity comes out of being present to the moment we are in...especially when we can be in that moment without judging it.
I was listening to an interview on NPR, Here and Now this week. Jeremy Hobson was interviewing David Menasche, a high school teacher diagnosed with a deadly brain cancer in 2006 at age 34. He suffered a stroke in 2012 that left him mostly blind and partially paralyzed. He decided after that stroke to travel across the country to visit his students as they are what means the most to him. Read the full story at http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2014/01/22/teacher-david-menasche.
David said this in the interview: "Being diagnosed with terminal brain cancer gave me a sense of urgency. And I realized that if there was things I wanted to say, I had to say them now; places I wanted to see or things I wanted to do, all I had was the moment to go and do it. And I've come to realize that the only moment any of us are truly guaranteed is this one."
All we have is this moment and then the one connected to the next and the next until they are no more. Yield to it, be grateful for it, let it inspire greatness in you, hug the ones you love, take a deep breath and feel the cold in your lungs. Really look around and see and feel this moment. Use it to be all you can be and let it be the springboard into the rest of your life.
Peace always
Paula
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Silent Meditation: 9:30-10am Sunday
First Friday of every month: 7-8:30pm - Fun First Friday
SPECIAL EVENTS
MARK YOUR CALENDARS
ANNUAL MEETING, FEBRUARY 9TH
SMALL GROUP OR INDIVIDUAL BOOK STUDY: LIVING ORIGINALLY BY ROBERT BRUMET. Two Book Study groups will be meeting...one on Tuesday evenings at 7pm and one on Thursday evenings at 7pm. The Tuesday meeting will be held at the home of Janice Escott, 126 Essex Drive, Chapel Hill, 27514...10.6 miles from the Center (google). The Thursday meeting will be at the home of Jeanie Rodgers, 605 Quartz Drive, Durham, 27703...8.3 miles from the Center (google). Join us as we discover how to "live originally".
FUN FIRST FRIDAY, February 7th, 7pm. Share the Love! Join us for our \February Fun First Friday as we create valentines to share with the community. You've heard of Random Acts of Kindness - now we will share Random Acts of Love! Materials will be provided for you to create valentine cards and share them with anyone you happen to meet in the coming week - store clerks,
mail people, random strangers on the bus, etc. Let the power of our love for all of humanity radiate through Durham this month!
ANNUAL MEETING, Sunday, February 9th. Get involved at USLC...let's build community! Jim Kimbrough is our nominee for Board service. Ginny Brendlen will present our 2014 budget. Jeanie Rodgers has a few words to share about ministry teams. And Rev. Paula will make a short presentation on where we've come from and what we are moving toward in 2014. Please
commit to being here for this important meeting. All are welcome.
DINNER AND DISCUSSION, Wednesday, February 19th. Sign up for this fellowship event! We will be serving chili (meat & vegetarian), side salad, crusty bread, and tea or coffee. BYOB...Bring your own BOWL! Cost is $10.00 Reservations required by Sunday, February 16TH. Topic: Getting to know Rev. Paula and USLC 2014.
COMING SOON
BOOK GROUP MEETING with Rev. Paula - Monday, February 24th,
7 - 8 p.m.
ON-GOING
PRAYER AND HEALING MINISTRY GATHERING. Healing prayer, guided meditation, and opportunity for hands on healing. Be still and know. Every 1st Sunday at noon and 3rd Monday at 7pm, Fillmore Chapel. Next meeting: Sunday, February 2nd at noon.
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WOW!
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"Every time you are tempted to react in the same old way, ask if you want to be a prisoner of the past or a pioneer of the future."
Deepak Chopra
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YOU CAN HELP USLC GET FREE MONEY
***HOW?***
* Pick up a gift card from Carla; $5 is already on it to get you started.
* Take it to Kroger Customer Service Desk and put your grocery money on
the card.
(Be sure you do this at least 12 hours before you plan to use it. It takes time for it to be put in Kroger's system.)
* Go grocery shopping with the gift card.
This does not affect your regular rewards from Kroger.
Every time you use your card to buy groceries or gas at Kroger, the amount is credited to USLC toward a 5% reward when our total reaches $5000...that's $250 for the Center.
You continue to receive all your regular Kroger rewards. Encourage friends and family to join our fund drive.
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Opportunities to Serve at USLC
Sunday Service Ministry
Co-directors Rev Paula and Renee Piere. This ministry takes on the responsibility for an exciting and inclusive experience for all who attend Sunday Services. Most team members arrive at least 20 minutes before the start of the service and some stay after everyone is gone to put our space back in order.
* Hospitality Team: Sets up coffee, tea, refreshments, and snacks and puts hospitality area and kitchen back in order at the end of fellowship time.
* Collection Counting Team: Two members count the Sunday collection and fill out the forms necessary for accurately recording tithes and love offerings.
* Greeter/Usher Team: Greets visitors and members, hands out bulletin, and collects the offering during the service.
* Sound Team: Sets up microphones, checks sound with musicians, provides sound control during the service, records service ,and provides CD's for purchase after the service.
* Worship Assistant Team: Reads announcements, provides inspirational reading, and hands out welcome packets.
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Please check out our Facebook Page -- and Click "LIKE" We want to grow our readership! | | |
Join us on Meetup.com
And forward this newsletter to your friends!
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COMMUNITY ZONE
GRATITUDE RECEPTION, Sunday, February 9 at 11:30am honoring Renee Piere...4 years as President of the USLC Board of Trustees. Please join us in thanking Renee for her enduring commitment and outstanding work during times of change at USLC. The Annual Meeting will be held at 12:30pm.
PRAYER AND HEALING MINISTRY SCHEDULE
The Prayer and Healing Ministry will be offering bi-monthly gatherings for all who are interested. We will be meeting in the Fillmore Chapel on the first Sunday of a month (after service) and the third Monday of a month at 7:00 p.m. The hour includes time for healing prayer and a guided meditation with the opportunity for a brief hands-on healing. Very relaxing and uplifting. NEXT GATHERING: SUNDAY, February 2, 2014.
CD's of Sunday Lesson available for $3.00. Check at the Sound Booth after
the service.
KEEPING UP: What's happening in your neighborhood? Are you traveling, hosting visiting friends or relatives, having a yard sale, announcements, other activites? Send your information to rodgers.jean@gmail.com by Tuesday of each week.
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FEATURE
Life, A Ministry
Imagine a great reservoir fed inexhaustibly from ever-living springs within itself. Leading out from this reservoir but never separated from it are innumerable little streams, each ending in a fountain. A fountain is simply a receiving and distributing station; it is never self-existent or self-feeding.
Each one of the fountains is an individual center for distributing the water it receives. It is constantly renewed from the one great source without any effort on its own part. Its sole business is to distribute what it receives.
At its external extremity, each little fountain is separate and distinct from all the others, but at its inner extremity, at the center, it is one with them all.
This is exactly God's relation to His children. He is the reservoir; we are the receiving and distributing stations; He is the vine; we the branches. He is the "one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all" (Eph. 4:6). "We too are his offspring" (Acts 17:28). "Call no one your father on earth, for you have one Father-the one in heaven" (Mt. 23:9) ...
An excerpt from Life, A Ministry, by H. Emilie Cady
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MINISTRIES
Creativity and Play Ministry: Director: Robin Johnson. This ministry schedules an event each month that is fun and provides an opportunity for fellowship.
Bookstore Ministry: Director: Janice Escott. Many people love to browse our books and gifts after the service on Sunday. Team members are available to ring up and record purchases.
Music Ministry: Works on special singing projects during the year including Christmas and Easter. Team members sing on Sundays.
Healing and Prayer Ministry: Co-directors Lisa Giragosian and Rev Paula. Twice monthly this team conducts healing and prayer service. Team prays with members requesting prayer one on one and also prays for requests dropped into our prayer box. One member carries the prayer box at the Offertory during the Sunday Service.
Youth Education Ministry: This essential ministry provides Sunday lessons from an established curriculum for our youth during the 10:30 service.
Adult Education Ministry: Director: Rev Paula. Unity classes are offered for credit and other classes for spiritual enrichment by Rev Paula and other teachers.
Media and PR Ministry: Co-director: Jeanie Rodgers and Renee Piere This team handles all things media...social, print, electronic and visual.
Earthcare Ministry: This team is focused on activities related to caring for our planet. If you are called to this ministry you can help guide us into the next greatest expression for how we accomplish this goal.
Community Service Ministry: Giving to our community and to the world is important at USLC. This team helps identify ways we can do this and organizes our efforts.
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| Sundays:
9:30
Silent Meditation
Fillmore Chapel
10:30
Celebration Service & YOU/Uniteen classes
(Childcare available) | | |
Directions: Exit 175 off of I-85. Turn NORTH on Guess Road; Turn right onto Carver Street. Go approximately half a block; USLC is located in the small business park on your left. |
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