——————————————————
FYI
——————————————————

Help Needed

Jim and Lisa Fuller are in need of some support. Jim is nearly immobilized with pain and awaiting surgery. Jim continues to struggle with (as yet) undiagnosed pain. They are awaiting a surgery consult. So far pain meds/injections have not been effective. He cannot sit or stand without severe pain, but does get relief on his back with his legs up. He gets to the bathroom with difficulty. He is walking bent over on a walker. He is at risk for falls.

Lisa is working out of town for the next few months. She is home weekends. If you can assist Jim with a weekday visit your help would be much appreciated. Click this link to sign-up for a day/time, or just call Jim at 269-876-1514 to ask about his needs. This nifty site is called Take Them a Meal, but most meals are covered. Lisa mostly needs someone to check on Jim as his mobility is severely limited.

“You are our treasured friends and family. We will need your support over the next few months. Any help stopping in to check on Jim and the animals will be greatly appreciated.”

——————————————————

Response to Las Vegas Shooting

I have just heard about the shooting in Las Vegas. Reports say that fifty are dead and over 400 are wounded. Little is known about the motives of the individual responsible. I am, however, reminded of an old saying from the Christian Bible. “As ye sow, so shall ye reap.

We currently live in a very divided and divisive time in our society. Those in power seem intent on sowing the seeds of dissension. We are reaping that bitter harvest, now.

There are two questions for us, as people of faith. The first is: Where do we find hope? The second is: What can we do about the cracks and fissures that threaten to reduce our democratic society to rubble. Interestingly, both questions have the same answer. We will find hope and we will mend our divisions by becoming healers.

We become healers by tending to the principles of our liberal religious faith. It has been my experience that by lovingly adhering to our principles, such as, “The inherent worth and dignity of every person” and seeking guidance through communion with the “Interdependent Web of Existence” we can heal the wounds in our own psychological lives as well as in our society, at large.

Though they said it in ways that are a bit different from ours, this is the same great truth that Victor Frankl demonstrated while interned in Nazi prison camps during WWII and Martin Luther King shown in the streets of Birmingham. Love and respect for the humanity of those we are tempted to hate (even the truly despicable) is the sure pathway to healing and hope.

It is good thing to hold in our hearts and minds the victims of this horrendous act, in Las Vegas. It is an equally important thing to hold the shooter in our hearts and minds and to really understand, by looking to ourselves, his pain and broken humanity.

Martin Luther King Jr. said it best of all. “Darkness cannot drive out Darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

-Rev. James McConnell

 

—————————————————————-

Upcoming Events

—————————————————————-


Benton Harbor Soup Kitchen
Saturday, October 7
9am-1pm

BUUFers prepare and serve lunch at the Benton Harbor Soup Kitchen. All are welcome!

—————————————————————-

BUUF Board Meeting
Sunday, October 8
8:30am

—————————————————————-

Sunday Service
Sunday, October 8
10:30am

Join us this Sunday for special guest Kunga Drotos. Kunga is a social worker with Hospice at Home, who will speak about his time working in hospice care. Harvey Johnson will lead service.

 


Planning Ahead

—————————————————————-

Red Tent Event
Creating Your Inner Goddess at Red Tent
7-9 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 11

A joyous and meditative women’s circle at Berrien Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 4340 Lincoln Ave., St Joseph, MI 49085.

Discover your inner goddess and create your own altar cloth or wall hanging to celebrate her. A love offering will go to our local Safe Shelter. Please bring a snack to share. All women of the community are welcome. Bring a friend!

Led by Gretchen Ohmann and Nan Lundeen. If you have questions, email nanlundeen@yahoo.com.