Originally Blessed!
 

  January 23, 2015     
  eNewsletter from 
EVOLVE,
  the Creation Spirituality Ministry of 
  The United Church of Christ of Annapolis
In Creation Spirituality...    
 
  "The Universe is a blessing. You are all a gift. God is immanent and
   transcendent. God is a mystery in all forms and beings, beyond all words
   and images. We find our true selves in spiritual practice. Our inner work
   involves awe, suffering, creativity, and healing. Everyone is a mystic, an
   artist, a prophet. Diversity is the nature of the Universe. The work of God 
   is compassion. Divine wisdom is the deep ecumenism in sacred traditions
   of the world. Ecological justice is essential for life on earth."   
                                                           ~ from the Compassion Box of Anne Hayes, at the 
     Creation Spirituality Communities Gathering in June 2014      
IN THIS ISSUE
Sacred Gathering January 25th
From the Minister's Keyboard
Marcus Borg's Death
Weekly Food & Goods Collection
Chant Circle January 25th
Open Arms January 27th
Creation Spirituality Communities
Excerpt from Dr. Martin Luther King speech
Support our Ministries
Interfaith Power & Light Workshop
"Beauty is Found in Sleep..."
"We Look with UnCertainty"
Feedback from Program on "Rising Tides Threaten Annapolis Area"
Covenant Dates
Visit our Facebook Page and Website
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Join our Sacred Gathering on Sundays normally at
6 PM at
8 Carvel Circle
Edgewater, MD 21037

Quick Links
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January 25, 2015
6:00 p.m.

Sacred Gathering 
imagination, 
co-creativity, play, seed planting, cosmogenesis,
on the Path of Creativity 
art as meditation, discipline, birthing, possibility, aesthetic

 
United Church of Christ of Annapolis
8 Carvel Circle
Edgewater, Maryland 21037

Reflection by the Rev. Dr. Wayne Schwandt

Gathering Leaders:
Set-up/Put away: Rick Dove and Tom Good
Greeter/Usher: Suzie Robertson
Reader/Communion Assistant: John Petrosillo
Offering Invitation: Rick Dove
Community Hour Host: Dave Miller   

We continue our progressive spiritual journey!  
From the Minister's Keyboard
The Rev. Dr. Wayne Schwandt 
 
It is with deep sadness that I learned on Thursday morning that Marcus Borg died Wednesday at age 72. (See the related article below.) Marcus deeply influenced my study of the historic Jesus through his work at the meetings of the Jesus Seminar I've attended over the years, his presentations at Jesus Seminar on the Road programs, two lectures in Annapolis (the most recent at the First Presbyterian Church), and his prolific writing.  
 
At the core of his being and heart, Marcus was a follower of Jesus.  His faith resonated with me even as he and I struggled to know the historic Jesus more clearly.  His mind was brilliant, his communication skills exemplary. Through decades of college teaching and lecturing, he had developed his skill as a communicator.  The extent of his learning was incredible to me.  I give thanks for his ministry and work in the world and I will be forever thankful that our paths crossed.  I am glad I got to know him and see Jesus through his eyes and mind. Blessed rest in your Creator, Marcus!
 # #  #
Wednesday evening I returned from a thirteen day whirlwind trip to Wisconsin, Illinois and Colorado. After a couple days with my family in Wisconsin, I attended the week-long course on History and Polity of the United Church of Christ and then participated in the Board of Directors Retreat in Golden, Colorado.  As I left Wisconsin for Chicago, I was aware that this trip was a pilgrimage of journey from my roots to my future as a minister.  I visited my home United Methodist Church on Sunday, January 18.  It is the church where I was baptized on December 24, 1949, where I first preached, where I loved to sing, and where the church ladies nurtured and loved me.  
 
My Aunt Louise asked me at our dinner together our first evening, "Is there anything that the old church in Genoa City gave you which still informs your faith?"  I couldn't answer her then because the restaurant was so noisy I feared she wouldn't hear me correctly, but I will answer her question in a letter in the next few days. But I'll share with my readers now a brief answer to that question:  "YES!" The Methodist Church in Genoa City gave me a foundation for my faith and following of Jesus.  It is summed up in two words:  love and community. That church, before they knew anything about me, baptized me into the Body of Christ. I was only 2 months old!  They told me over and over by their actions, by their teaching, by their music, by empowering me to speak of God in my life, that God loved me.  No matter how hard my life was with bullying at school or low self-esteem or anything else which I struggled with, I learned to trust the God whose presence I felt in my heart and life.  
 
As the refrain of the old hymn, "Are Ye Able? said the Master," which we loved singing with enthusiasm says, 
 
"Lord, we are able.  Our spirits are Thine.
Remold them, make us, like Thee, divine.
Thy guiding radiance above us shall be
A beacon to God, to love and loyalty."
 
My life has not been without struggle and pain, but through it all the foundation I learned there of love and community has gotten me through. My commitment to loving God and walking my life in that love comes from that original of Christian communities where I first experienced that love.   
 
My theology has changed a lot since those days. As a gay man who grew up in a church which to this day still rejects my call to ministry, the foundation of my faith work for justice comes from the Genoa City United Methodist Church and I shall be forever thankful for their love.
 
Peace, Wayne
Death of Marcus Borg, progressive theologian and historical Jesus scholar  

(RNS) Marcus J. Borg, a prominent liberal theologian and Bible scholar who for a generation helped popularize the intense debates about the historical Jesus and the veracity and meaning of the New Testament, died on Wednesday (Jan. 21). He was 72 and had been suffering from pulmonary fibrosis.  
Click here to continue reading on the Religious News Service.
 Weekly Food/Goods Collection  
 
The need for food is urgent at this time.  Please bring a donation with you this Sunday to put by our Community Table and it will be delivered to the Food Bank.
& 
UCCA will be collecting new gloves and underwear for homeless people cared for by Larry Griffin of We Care And Friends.  Bring them with you on a Sunday during the next few weeks.    

Chant Circle meets Sunday, January 25 at 4 PM

If you would like a prayerful and fun experience of body prayer, chant and drumming, join our chant circle.  We meet in UCCA's Caton Hall on the 4th Sunday of the month from 4:00-5:30 pm, ending a little before our Sacred Gathering at 6 PM.

"The gift of body prayer for me is that we sit with each one long enough to enter into the Presence together. Calming ourselves is one of the goals so that we can experience that thin place of Divine-Me connection or, in less binary thought I can become aware of the Divine Presence which flows from within me and encircles me."    - Rev. Dr. Wayne Schwandt

NOTE:  IF ANYONE COULD LEND US A DRUM FOR OUR CHANT CIRCLE, WE WOULD BE SO PLEASED!  EMAIL SYLVIA IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO DO THIS: EvolveSylvia@gmail.com.  WE NORMALLY MEET THE 4TH SUNDAY OF THE MONTH AT 4 PM.  ALL ARE WELCOME!


Open Arms resumes Tuesday, January 27                

You're very welcome at "Open Arms," a small discussion group which meets the 4th Tuesday of each month for dinner at 6:30 pm, followed by a discussion around some interesting topic.  We always have fun, get to know each other better, and learn something as well. We share the cost of dinner together with any overage going to support Evolve's ministry. The Jan. 27th Open Arms will be held at Charlie Green's home.  R.S.V.P. would be appreciated. If you'd like more information, contact the Rev. Wayne Schwandt at:  SchwandtW@aol.com.

CSC banner
Creation Spirituality Communities

is a network of communities ranging from intentional groups to alternative churches, which are grounded in the tenants of Creation Spirituality and revere the sacredness of all creation. Through study, ritual, celebration and action, these communities support justice,  
compassion, transformation and sustainability for the Universe and for all living beings.  It is both tradition and movement, celebrated by mystics and agents of social change from every age and culture.  Our online community, Chesapeake Creation Spirituality Community, is waiting for you to join.  Click on:   http://originalblessing.ning.com. 

"Paul's Letter to American Christians," Martin Luther King's speech delivered November 4, 1956 at Dexter Avenue
Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama 
"You can work within the framework of democracy to bring about a better distribu-
tion of wealth. You can use your powerful economic resources to wipe poverty from the face of the earth. God never intended for one group of people to live in superfluous inordinate wealth, while others live in abject deadening poverty. God intends for all of his children to have the basic necessities of life, and he has left in this universe 'enough and to spare' for that purpose. So I call upon you to bridge the gulf between abject poverty and
superfluous wealth."
           Photo by Creative Commons/InSapphoWeTrust.                             Read the full text.                                                           
Fundraising for Evolve's Ministry

SHOP OR SEARCH ONLINE WITH THE IGIVE BUTTON.
Join iGive and be a part of the first and largest online network of shoppers, online stores, and worthy causes dedicated to turning online shipping into much-needed donations.  iGive is totally free.  You can also raise a penny per search at iGive every time you search the web.  Try iGive's search engine and you'll see that fundraising for Evolve can be easy and free.  Click here for more information about iGive. As of January 23, we have earned $1,732.63 through iGive. 
         
Photo by
Rick Dove 
  
CHECK OUT THE BOOKS AND PHOTO CARDS. 
On our Welcome Table in Caton Hall there are books for sale by Bruce Chilton, Matthew Fox, John Shelby Spong, Marcus Borg and others.  You'll also find Rick Dove's large selection of  nature photography.  Rick's 5 x 7 photo cards are $3 and his matted photographs are $10.  See his pine cones photo at the bottom.

YOUR USED CELL PHONES AND EMPTY INK JET AND TONER CARTRIDGES can also help fund our ministry. These items fit nicely in the offering basket along with remembrance of time and talent you have offered to our ministries and your financial gifts.  Bring them to Sacred Gathering with you. 

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord 
and my spirit exults in God my saviour, 
because he has looked upon his lowly handmaid.... 
He has pulled down the princes from their thrones 
and exalted the lowly. 
The hungry he has filled with good things, 
the rich he has sent away empty. 

Mary, in Luke 1:46,47,52,53
A MESSAGE FROM INTERFAITH POWER & LIGHT
Workshop to Foster Climate Resilience through
Mindfulness and Prayer
Saturday, January 31, 9 am - 4 pm 
St. Mark's Episcopal Church, 301 A St SE, DC 
(Metro: Capitol South)

Where does our deep human resilience lie that will allow us to face the climate crisis and create a hopeful future? Join with dedicated activists for a daylong workshop designed to help us touch the sources of our personal resilience and our ability to act in the face of uncertainty. The day will include mindfulness meditation, prayer, ceremonies, and practices to evoke our deep, heartfelt love of life and our planet home. For more information or to register, visit here. Registration fee is on a sliding scale from $75-95.

Event is co-sponsored by the St. Mark's Meditation Center, St. Mark's Episcopal Church, and the Insight Meditation Community of Washington.

 From Erine
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Beauty is Found in Sleep, too.  Photo by Erine Sedicum

We Look with UnCertainty

We look with uncertainty
beyond the old choices for
clear-cut answers
to a softer, more permeable aliveness
which is every moment
at the brink of death;
for something new is being born in us
if we but let it.
We stand at a new doorway,
awaiting that which comes...
daring to be human creatures,
vulnerable to the beauty of existence.
Learning to love.

                                                     ~ Anne Hillman

 


My Feedback from "Rising Tides Threaten Annapolis Area" Program 
Presented on January 20 by Dr. Melanie Fitzpatrick of the Union of Concerned Scientists and Sponsored by the Severn River Association and the Climate Stewards of Greater Annapolis
 
Dr. Fitzpatrick, a climate scientist specializing in glaciology and atmospheric physics, spoke to a packed audience.  Following her presentation we heard from Anne Arundel County and the City of Annapolis officials about plans and programs to deal with flooding and climate change.  Numerous questions were taken from the floor.

Our Challenge:  to get people concerned about climate change.  We are feeling the consequences now in many ways, one being the tidal flooding in DC and Annapolis.  Remember the photos from a few years ago of tidal flooding at City Dock?  Deale and Shadyside are areas that will be most affected by sea rise, according to the Department of Natural Resources for Anne Arundel County.

We need to reduce heat-trapping emissions and take the carbon out of the air.  The releasing of carbon into the atmosphere is the biggest cause of global warming, and the United States is largely responsible for it.  We need to create solutions, e.g. renewable energy, and share them with other countries.  This is an equity issue.  The technology is there.  What is lacking is political will.  Congress is locked; there's nothing happening on the federal level.  However, our cities and states, as well as countries around the world such as the Netherlands and Denmark are acting. 

The Climate Rally last year in New York City was a groundswell and a definite sign of Hope that a new generation is becoming activated to do something.  This is a call to step forward responsibly and radically change the way we live.  We can do this.  It is a big opportunity.
                                                                                                                                    -Sylvia Oliva  

January Covenant Dates
Birthdays, Anniversaries, Covenant Dates
            
Jan.  6  Marvin Roger Woods Birthday (d. 2001)
Jan.  7  Cindy Kuzma Birthday 
Jan.  8  Zybia (Cy) Hosley Death (2013)
Jan.  8  Delores M. Van Steenburg Death (2001)
Jan.  9  Lee R. Warren Birthday (d. 2006)
Jan. 12  Lee R. Warren Death (2006)
Jan. 13  Esther J. Hosley Death (2006)
Jan. 14  Cynthia Greene Birthday
Jan. 17  Linda J. Kahl Birthday (d. 1998)
Jan. 18  Jacob Taylor Abell Birthday (2000)
Jan. 26  Suzie Robertson Birthday
Jan. 28  Rick Dove Birthday
Jan. 28  Richard Cashen Birthday

Thank you to all who are reading Originally Blessed!! and all who send contributions that liven it up!  Send your poems, articles, news, photographs, announcements, etc. to: EvolveSylvia@gmail.com by Thursday night.  Your ideas on how we can improve our newsletter are also very valuable and welcome. 

Visit our website:  www.EvolveChesapeake.com