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When the Apollo 11 lunar module landed on the moon and discharged U.S. astronauts Neil Armstrong and Ed Aldrin onto its surface on July 20, 1969, some Zunis in New Mexico watched the historic event on their television sets with shock and horror. For them, the Moon Mother and Sun Father were sacred beings, the sources of light and life. Before their very eyes, two white men were violating Moon Mother--walking on her body, jabbing an American flag into her belly, stealing pieces of her flesh.
Most non-Native American people in the United States celebrated the moon landing as a triumph of the human spirit, or at least a triumph of America over the Soviet Union. But even some non-Native American citizens felt little enthusiasm for the two white men hopping up and down on the lunar powder. One African-American blues song included the sardonic refrain, "honky's on the moon, and I've still got my bills to pay."
People's view of the world (or the moon) depends in large part on their place and life-situation within it. Their community, religion, race, ethnicity, class, and gender. Their sources of authoritative knowledge. Their history and prospects for the future. Their power or lack of it. Their freedom or lack of it. Their successes and failures. Their allies and enemies. These are the prisms through which people interpret events and other people in this world.
On September 11, 2001, people watched in horror as airplanes flew into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. They viewed these acts as crimes against humanity perpetrated by evil people. Others celebrated these same events because they hated the country in which the Towers and the Pentagon stood. They viewed the U.S. as the source of evil that perpetuated their own suffering and feelings of powerlessness.
Different places in the world, different life-situations, different prisms of meaning, different interpretations of the same event.
Is there an unbridgeable gulf that separates those of us who viewed the events of September 11 as horrendously evil, and the people who celebrated the event because they believed we deserved it? Is there a chasm of meaning so deep and wide that people on both sides believe the other side is beyond redemption? Are we capable of seeing the world only through our own prisms, feeling our own pain, nursing our own wounds, counting our own grievances, and struggling to defeat our own enemies?
Or is it possible to experience our horror, our pain, our anger, our grief, and our utter disbelief that anyone could do anything so shocking and terrifying, and share a common bond of humanity with those who committed and celebrated the act of terror? Can we feel our own suffering, and have compassion for (suffer with) those who caused it and those who cheered when they saw it? Can we see the world through our own prisms of meaning, and attempt to see it through the prisms of our enemy?
These are difficult questions.
A part of me feels that those who committed the acts of September 11, and those who danced in the street the next day, do not deserve any understanding or compassion. But another part of me listens to the one who tells me to love my enemy, the one who forgave his enemies when they nailed him to a cross on trumped up charges.
Part of me believes there are people in the world who deserve no consideration. But another part of me believes there is no hope for the world if we cannot try to see the world through the eyes of our enemies. I know this part of me sounds naïve, idealistic, foolish, and to some people, despicable and loathsome. Yet I believe it's this latter part of me, the part that is listening to Jesus Christ, that I must cling to.
Micah 6
Opportunities are still available for volunteer work at the Micah 6 food pantry. Robin Chapman is our church's volunteer coordinator for the food pantry. Please contact her if you are interested. The food pantry also has a continuing need for plastic grocery bags. Please bring them to church on Sunday and members of the Outreach board will ensure they are delivered.
400 Voices project
The early response has been tremendous for donations of school supplies for the children of the Trepca School, in Stanterg, Kosova. It looks like we'll be filling many backpack's worth of school supplies for the children, who's country was so ravaged by ethnic war. These supplies provide a real ray of hope for their future. Thanks to all who have contributed.
The new Sunday School year has begun! Thanks to all who participated in the Kickoff Breakfast on August 28. And THANK YOU to all of the Sunday School Lite volunteers who taught during the summer. We appreciate your time and talents!
Teacher's assistants: Beginning this semester, we will be enlisting parents and other interested volunteers to help our elementary class teachers during Sunday School. No preparation work is required; just be there to help out and have fun. There is a sign up sheet in the Fellowship Hall, so please sign up for a Sunday or two.
The Board of Christian Education is currently developing a formal set of safety policies and procedures for our Sunday School classes. The project is extensive, so until it is completed, we have prepared Interim Safety Policies for the Fall 2005 Sunday School Semester. These interim measures will be emailed to the congregation, and paper copies are available in the Fellowship Hall. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please call or email Jennifer Howicz (246-3753; jhowicz@austin.rr.com).
Trustees: Pam Tucker
Deacons: Liz Nash
Christian Education: Jennifer Howicz
Christian Outreach: John Goff
FROM THE BOARD OF DEACONS
Visitor and Prospective Member Orientation September 11
The Deacons are inviting all interested visitors to a prospective member orientation after worship on September 11. We will share a light lunch, become more acquainted with each other and the life of this church, discuss (for those who are not already familiar with it) the identity of the United Church of Christ, and share the Christian faith affirmations that we make when we join the church. All visitors who want to learn more about this church are welcome. The gathering is a time to provide those who are interested in possible membership a more complete understanding of this church. We welcome all who would like to come!
The Deacons are also working on the welcoming ministry of the church in a more intentional, organized way. We will be approaching members about how to help out in this area. Your ideas about how to build up this important ministry can make a real contribution right now. We invite you to share them with us.
Trustees are gearing up for pledge and budget time as we do each fall. Building and grounds is working on our ongoing water penetration problems and we hope to have an engineer give us a full report of our problems in the Appel Room and in the choir room so we can start to plan repairs. The sprinkler system is now working so there should be no need for hand watering of the courtyard garden (and grounds) any more. In the very near future, the brick ramp will be improved to eliminate the uneven surface and make it safe.
NEW MEMBER PROCEDURES
Congregational Forum: September 25
Congregational Meeting: October 9
On October 9, we will have a Congregational Meeting to vote on proposed By-Law changes regarding the procedures our church follows in accepting new members. On September 25, we will have a Congregational Forum to discuss the proposed changes and to hear feedback. The proposed changes will be sent to all church members prior to the September 25 Forum. Please make every effort to attend the Forum and the Meeting.
The Moore-Bradford family was scattered across the western states for a week and a half in mid-July. John and Sarah visited friends and family in Durango and Salida, Colorado, before going on to Denver for the Buddhist marriage of John's brother Gary. They shared a guide for a fly fishing adventure on Hermosa Creek and the Animas River. Sarah caught (and released) TOO MANY TO COUNT! They rafted Brown Canyon on the Arkansas River and John got in a game of golf. Suzanne and Travis climbed in and out of the Grand Canyon and feted with Suzanne's cousins and her dad in Flagstaff before driving through Arches National Monument in Utah and finally rejoining John and Sarah in Denver. John, Suzanne, and Sarah were exhausted and recovered at home, but Travis was flown directly to Austin so he could be on time for the start of camp at Camp Longhorn. In addition, Suzanne has been traveling a great deal for her job, but she also got to go back to Arizona for another visit with her dad which included a surprise birthday party for one of her cousins.
Rizer Everett's granddaughter Kate Waldrip Johnson and her two children Megan and Parker arrived in Austin on the afternoon of July 12th for a three day visit after spending three days in Oklahoma City with Kate's grandmother, Barbara Waldrip. They made a trip to the southwest part of Austin to view the Hindu temple that is beautifully constructed in the typical style of Hindu temples in India. The nice surprise there was to see male and female peacocks on the front patio with their two baby peacocks. They went to the Big Stacy swimming pool where the three Johnsons enjoyed their time in the pool while Rizer sat in the shade on a grassy knoll. One day they enjoyed a Tex-Mex lunch and they toured the University of Texas campus and the parts of Austin where new buildings have been constructed in recent years and also visited several friends of Rizer's. Kate was here when the drought broke, so perhaps she brought the rains with her. Rizer took the three Johnsons to the airport and later learned that they had arrived safely in Albuquerque, NM, where they visited the Waldrip and Johnson families. Rizer thoroughly enjoyed their visit.
Look for Jeri Winter in church on September 25th. Jeri will be doing the children's sermon and telling the kids and grown-ups about her work as a Vista volunteer. She reports, "Since it is the summer there are no students around, which makes it easier to get work done with the furniture bank that I operate (called Project Welcome Home). We have grown a lot since I started working there and we are now servicing more than twice as many families as we were before. Most importantly, I have become very popular amongst my fellow staff for baking chocolate chip cookies! I've been keeping really busy outside of work as well. Among other things, I've recently learned how to play disc golf and have been spending time visiting different courses in the area. It has come to the time of year where I have to start making decisions about what I will do come January - when my one-year term as a VISTA volunteer is over. Although I miss Austin and all my friends down there, I don't regret moving back up here for the time being. I have really enjoyed watching my niece grow and spending time with my family. So I guess you could say things are going really well up here."
Eunice Paul reports from Leatherhead, England, that her daughter and son-in-law, Lydia and Dean Tapley, entertained 67 church members for Sunday lunch in the manse garden in late July. The weather cooperated and they just about accommodated everyone. Dean did South Carolina smoked pork with all the trimmings. He is still educating the British! The three of them flew to Connecticut in early August for a ten-day visit with family there.
Marilyn Gaddis and George Carruthers took Allison Carruthers, their ten-year-old granddaughter, on her first Intergenerational Elderhostel in July. Allison chose "The California Experience" and the trio rode Amtrak to Ventura, California. There they learned about sea life and traveled out to Anacapa Island, one of the Channel Islands off the coast of California. The eastern part of the island tour was led by a very knowledgeable marine biologist. Before returning to the mainland, several park rangers in scuba gear presented an underwater video tour showing some of the area's sea life. The tour was "beamed" simultaneously to the Elderhostel group and several area schools. For the last part of the Elderhostel, the group traveled to Disneyland where they spent the day. In the evening, they gathered to watch a marvelous fireworks and light show celebrating the 50th Anniversary! (Marilyn's first visit to the park was soon after it opened!) The trio's trip concluded with a visit to the Santa Ana Zoo, dinner at Knott's Berry Farm, the Bower Museum Egyptian Exhibit, horseback riding with relatives, a tour of the Pomona College campus, and a picnic in Claremont with Marilyn's family. Before boarding the train, relatives gave the Texans a quick tour of downtown LA with lunch at Olvera Street. (It was a wonderful first time experience for the grandparents!)
Jamie and Lauren Adams are almost through painting their house. Michael went up several times to help. When Jamie got tired/punchy enough he started quoting from Lord of the Rings: about evil loose in the world, and growing, but we must fight it anyway. That was about loose paint on the cabinets, of which they found more, as they sanded each bit off. Michael also says that he and Julia never got up to a mile of swimming. Part of the reason was that SOMEONE insisted on a head start for each lap her daddy started. Still, half a mile is something. Julia started fifth grade on the 31st of August at City School.
Frances Alford spent some of the month of August in Vermont at their new house working on some of the moving in details. John stayed home this time. Oddly enough, Frances needed to come back to Austin to cool down. It was horridly hot there and she needed Austin air-conditioning. While there she enjoyed hearing the Yankee Male Chorus singing in the white church across the street from her house. She was in Washington, D.C., for the National Peace Corps Board meetings the end of July.
Mary and Matt Blackstock's granddaughter Kelly Sprinkle is off to college this fall. She is attending LSU in Baton Rouge. Their daughter Clare is definitely noticing that the nest is emptying! Mary is continuing her cancer treatment and is doing OK.
Sarah and Lisa Kirch are safely moved to Alabama, where, Lisa says, the house has a digital thermostat with an IQ much higher than hers. Their new address is 510 Wilson Dam Avenue, Sheffield, AL 35660-6850; e-mail: Kirchaustin@aol.com; phone: (256) 381-6790. Sarah started school in early August and seems to be fitting in just fine. She's excited because all the fourth graders are getting iBooks to take home with them this year--and because in a few months there'll be a 2-day field trip to Montgomery to learn about Alabama government. Lisa had homework that first night: a questionnaire to fill in. Se wasn't exactly sure of the governor's name, and she didn't know the name of their state representative. She also didn't know Alabama's principal crop, but was able to name two Indian tribes that had lived there and the states that border Alabama. Instead of being able to name the state's first woman governor, she wrote, "The first woman governor of any state was a Texan." The purpose of said questionnaire was to illuminate parents on how much their kids will be learning this year. This is in case the iBooks aren't impressive enough. As for Alabama, Sarah likes it, too, although she tells her mom to drive fast whenever they are passing kudzu. It took her more than a week to notice the stuff draped all over a tree across the street. Sarah is quite leery of the creeping plant. Since Sarah was already in school, Lisa had some time to get prepared for her classes which started in late August.
Julia Deisler with Ava, Olivia, and Eric took Amtrak in late July to St. Louis to visit her eighty-eight-year-old Aunt Mae. The trip took 24 hours each way and they sat up all the way. Julia says that the kids were really good sports about it and that they particularly enjoyed celebrating Eric's birthday by eating dinner in the dining car. During their five day trip (2 days were on the train), the other 3 were spent meeting 29 of Julia's cousins--only one of whom she had met (she left St. Louis when she was 8). They had a wonderful time while visiting the St. Louis Arch, the zoo, and the City Museum. Aunt Mae was thrilled with the visit and went on all of the field trips.
Mel and Pat Oakes had a wonderful time at the Winter/Brown family reunion at Coolfont Resort in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia. There were 61 family members there plus 6 friends who visited during the week-long gathering. Nineteen states were represented and four generations. While there they celebrated everything they could think of--Pat's dad's 89th birthday, her sister's retirement, daughter Mardie and future son-in-law Tony's August wedding, a service of celebration of her mom's life--plus going swimming with 14 children under the age of 7, cooking all of their own meals--about 55-60 at dinner each night, going to the county fair--and visiting and visiting and visiting.
It was great to see Ricky Masters back in church in mid-August. He had been in San Antonio for 6 months building an Ashley Furniture Store. He was in charge of all of the electrical work and had twenty folks working for him. He describes his time there as stressful and "an adventure." It took him a few months to get caught back up here so that he could be back with us. Ricky's grandfather, John Towery, pastor emeritus of the church, is still struggling with hip pain, but the tests that they have run have found no major problems. There may be a disk problem in his spine, but John said that he did not see spinal surgery in his future! Our condolences to Eleanor Towery whose seventy-year-old brother, Dick Morgan, died of cancer in Florida last month.
Nancy Edison, soon-to-be member of the church, was delighted to report that her second grandson arrived in mid-August. Logan Daniel Brady joined his big brother (1 year old!), Aidan Michael Brady. Aidan and Logan are the children of Nancy's daughter Dana and son-in-law Michael Brady who live in Round Rock. Nancy has enjoyed baby-sitting for her grandchildren, but now that school has started up, she will be subbing for AISD, pre-K to 6th grade.
Whit Bodman enjoyed sailing in Maine in August but missed Betty who was here in Austin teaching pharmacology at ACC (She's into drugs, he says with a laugh!). He said that there was a nice variety of Maine weather--some fog, some wind, some cooler temperatures. He was impressed with the porpoises and ospreys. In fact, while coming into port at Belfast, an osprey landed and stayed on the masthead for quite a while--an unusual sight indeed. He also got to visit with a number of cousins whom he hadn't seen in years..
Clark and Cathy Hubbs enjoyed attending the wedding of Clark's great-nephew in Boulder, CO, in August. Clark is taking chemo by mouth--3 pills in the morning and 3 pills at night. So far, so good.
Joe McMillan has his 92-year-old aunt, Cora Gordon settled in at his home. Cora was born in Wrens, GA, where she also taught school for almost 40 years. Most recently she has been living in Thunderbolt, GA, near Savannah.
Bee Polomé Weiss continues to cope with her treatment for lung cancer. She, like Dana Reeves, never smoked. She stays upbeat and plans travels around her chemo treatments. She and Milt recently enjoyed a visit to Scottsdale and Sedona, AZ. She often sees Tommie Pinkard in passing while she is on her way to her chiropractor and Tommie is working out at Body Business. Her daughter Marilyn Harris has been struggling with her new house. All kinds of problems have surfaced which have complicated her life considerably.
In fact, Tommie Pinkard has not been working out (Bee had missed seeing her), but she had a good reason. Tommie had her right knee replaced on July 25th. She is being religious about her exercises and rehab and was pleased to be in church on the 14th of August. Everyone was delighted to see her, too.
The Nash family traveled, with a few days "touch down" in Austin, from June 7 to August 11. First, they all went to Europe for two weeks. It was the first trip overseas for most of them, and they visited Paris, Nice, Venice, Florence, and Rome. Their consensus favorite place was Paris, but it was all just magnificent. About two days after they returned to Austin, Liz, Ellie, Annie, and Becky drove out to Biloxi, Mississippi to be part of the church's Back Bay Mission work camp for a week of work, sweat, play, and learning. Right afterward, all of them except Reuel (with Ellie's boyfriend, Taylor, as part of the group) took a trip to Massachusetts with Liz's parents up to visit her mom's family at the summer home in the Berkshires that has been in her family since the late 1800's. It was a joyous return home for Liz's mom: she had been unable to go for many years, and they had thought for several years that she would never make it back. One night, 31 relatives ranging in age from 2 to 82 -- cousins and three of her sisters -- were at their house celebrating her visit. The visit was, for them, "the fullness of time," and they are grateful beyond words for the gift of this time together. Their last trip was to their former hometown, Newark, CA, in the San Francisco Bay area, where Ellie, Annie, and Becky had a terrific time at UCC Camp Cazadero, Reuel went to work for two weeks at the headquarters of his company (NVidia) in Santa Clara, Liz drove kids around and preached at their former church in Fremont, and they all visited their dear California friends and relatives. And now, they are glad to be readjusting to life in Austin!
SEPTEMBER BIRTHDAYS
4 Weldon B. Scheel
7 Marilyn Pickens
8 Ava Jean Deisler
9 Alessandra Herrera
10 Tamya Isenberg
Bill Phillips
13 Seth Murphy
Chris Pinkard
20 Earl Cornwell
21 Ellen Deisler
22 Larbi Sennour
24 Allison Cole Stutz
Mary Halladay
27 Rambie Briggs
Micah 6 of Austin Presents a Special Performance
The Crossing,
a one-act play taking place at a food pantry
Date and time: September 23 and 24, 2005 at 8:00 p.m.
Location: University Baptist Church (2130 Guadalupe St.)
Plan to attend a special performance of the play, The Crossing, a one-act play about the experience of recipients and volunteers crossing the alley behind the church to 'shop' and serve at the Micah 6 Food Pantry and crossing that divide between those who struggle to meet their basic food needs and those who have never personally experienced such insecurity.
The play was written by Charles Locklin to convey the spiritual struggles and the humanity shared by both supporters and recipients of the food pantry. The play is being directed by Julie Holden and will feature Austin actor David Stahl in the lead role. Volunteers from all the Micah 6 church communities are contributing their time and talent to this effort.
The play is free, but donations are appreciated. After the play, the audience can meet the cast and view artwork for sale from the Arts from the Street program. Parking is available in the UBC parking lots on San Antonio St. (behind the church). We encourage you to attend and to invite a friend! Contact Charles Locklin at 343-0782 for more information.
CHANGE THE LIFE OF AN ABUSED CHILD
Each month in Travis County there are more than 1,200 children living in foster care because of abuse and neglect. CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) of Travis County connects these innocent victims with caring individuals who want to impact and improve a child's life. A CASA volunteer can add safety, friendship, and hope for a new future to the life of an abused child - things they may have never had before.
Attend a CASA Open House to learn how you can change the life of an abused child in our community. Open House is an opportunity for you to come meet some of our staff and ask any questions you may have.
Upcoming Open House dates: Sept. 7 Oct. 3 Nov. 9
All Open Houses are held from 11am - 7pm at the CASA office located at 6330 Highway 290 East. Please call for directions or visit www.casatravis.org for a map.
If you are unable to attend an Open House, please feel free to call us at 459-2272 or email us at volunteer@casatravis.org. Attending Open House is not mandatory for becoming a volunteer.
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