Click here for Stefanie Bell-Egge and new members Brook and Mike Wheeler’s responses to, “5 Qs with UUs,” and discover how members and friends of UUCM embody the theme of COMMITMENT in the Creative Reflections section of this month’s newsletter.
UUCM values courageous love. With the display of these three powerful words, UUCM furthers its commitment to racial justice and pledges with this public statement to stand in solidarity with all people of color and fight oppression wherever we find it. We invite you to join us in this work. For more information, visit our website.
On Sunday, March 21 Kira Berglund, Hennepin County Composting and Recycling Specialist led a presentation about how to compost in your backyard and participate in an organics program. If you missed the presentation or would like a refresher, click here to view a copy of Kira’s slides.
SAVE THE DATE Join us next Sunday, April 11 at 11:15 AM to hear from Neely Snyder, Executive Director of DWH. A Zoom link will be published in next week’s Friday Update email newsletter.
Dream of Wild Health (DWH) is a non-profit organization with an office in Minneapolis, Minnesota and a 30-acre organic farm in Hugo, Minnesota. Their mission is to restore health and wellbeing in the Native community by recovering knowledge of and access to healthy Indigenous foods, medicines and lifeways. Surrounded by plants and medicines grown from the seeds of their ancestors, DWH partners with dozens of urban and tribal organizations on programs that work to restore the mental, physical and emotional health of the Native American community.
Each year DWH teaches Native American youth about gardening, cooking and culture while developing job and leadership skills.They run the Indigenous Food Share CSA and sell produce at 3 farmers markets, including corn, beans and squash from a collection of rare seeds provided by Cora Baker, a Potawatomi elder. DWH is a founding member of the indigenous Seedkeepers Alliance dedicated to returning indigenous foods to the community.
Their relationship with traditional foods, lifeways, and medicines has only grown closer during the COVID-19 pandemic, and they have expanded their efforts to increase food access. At Dream of Wild Health, we grow seeds and we grow leaders.
How to Donate: You can donate online using a credit card at bit.ly/giveuucm. You may also mail a contribution to UUCM at 2030 Wayzata Blvd E, Wayzata MN 55391. Simply make your check out to “UUCM” with “Social Generosity” in the memo line.
Each month, a member of the board will share a reflection on the Soul Matters monthly theme and the state of the church. The theme for April is Becoming. This month’s post is offered by Betty Hartnett.
“Real isn’t how you are made, said the Skin Horse (Velveteen Rabbit, by Shaenon Garrity). It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.”
In this scenario, both the Skin Horse and the child change. The Skin Horse becomes Real over time as the Child first plays with, and then, loves him. Both are slowly evolving into something better. To be sure, the Skin Horse didn’t have any agency himself (or did he?) to become Real. It’s what happened to him as a result of being there for the child and the child’s love over time. It appears as if the child is not consciously growing his love; his love simply continues as a result of the ongoing close relationship. Sometimes agency is not clear. Sometimes, perhaps, we may not be aware of becoming something different until we are. Continue reading →
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