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From "Brave Clara Barton" by Jack Murphy with illustrations by Sarah Green Sometime in the early morning hours of February 28 th , US and Israeli airstrikes began decimating targets in Iran in a military campaign named “Operation Epic Fury.” The bombing has continued, with administration officials issuing ominous warnings, like “today will be the most intense day of strikes yet,” and “death and destruction from the sky all day long.” There’s an almost meaningless debate over whether Operation Epic Fury is a war. One can argue it isn’t a war because Congress has the Constitutional authority to declare war, and Congress hasn’t done that. Indeed, the Administration made no effort to get Congress’ approval, let alone build public support. Some officials refer to it as a war on occasion. Others say it’s not a war. This week the President referred to it as an excursion. Officials are using all sorts of euphemisms, mindful, I assume, that if they call it a war, it’s blatantly unconstitutional and illegal.             I call it a war. Given the scale of the attacks, the cost, the impact on energy prices and global commerce, the impacts on food distribution in the region, the long-term environmental consequences, and the sheer human suffering, I don’t have any other word for it. It’s a war. But let’s let the lawyers work on the legal questions which I’m sure will be with us long after the bombs stop falling. I want to speak to our moral and spiritual assessments of this war. To frame my thoughts, three things jump out at me.             First, I’m concerned about the tone with which our leaders talk about the war, and what that tone suggests about their regard for the legal guardrails that protect civilians. Most notably, in his March 4 th  press conference, Secretary Hegseth said “Our rules of engagement are bold, precise and designed to unleash American power, not shackle it. This was never meant to be a fair fight, and it is not a fair fight. We are punching them while they're down, which is exactly how it should be.” [1]  Our rules are designed to “unleash,” not “shackle.” This is highly loaded language from Secretary Hegseth who famously told troops under his command in Iraq to ignore guidance from military lawyers regarding how to uphold the Geneva Conventions on the battlefield. In his 2024 book, The War on Warriors, Hegseth  wrote  “If our warriors are forced to follow rules arbitrarily and asked to sacrifice more lives so that international tribunals feel better about themselves, aren’t we just better off winning our wars according to our own rules?! Who cares what other countries think?” [2]             Second, while it is difficult to get accurate information from the midst of a war zone, by many accounts, Operation Epic Fury is not limited to military targets. On Monday, according to Al Jazeera, “Iranian Deputy Health Minister Ali Jafarian [said] United States-Israeli attacks  across his country have killed and wounded mostly civilians and the bombardments on oil facilities have caused toxic smoke to spread across the capital, Tehran…. Jafarian said at least 1,255 people have been killed in Iran, including 200 children and 11 healthcare workers. Their ages ranged from eight months to 88.” [3]  On Wednesday, Al Jazeera reported that nearly 10,000 civilian cites has been bombed and that the civilian death toll was over 1300.” [4]             Third, allegations that the US, Israel and Iran are violating international law are mounting. On March 4 th , for example, a group of United Nations legal experts “condemned military attacks launched by the United States of America and Israel against Iran” as unlawful. “Unprovoked attacks by the US and Israel — launched amid diplomatic negotiations and without authorization from the Security Council — violate the fundamental prohibition on the use of force, sovereign equality, territorial integrity, and the duty to peacefully settle disputes under Article 2 of the UN Charter. They also violate the right to life.” [5]  The statement says “Civilians are bearing the brunt of this war with their lives, their safety, their environment and their health. In a country that has already lost thousands to violent repression following the nationwide protests that began on 28 December 2025, these attacks deepen an already profound human tragedy.” [6]             This war has very little support in the United States. People across the political spectrum reject it for a wide variety of reasons. Unitarian Universalists, especially since the Vietnam era, have generally opposed US war-making, especially in the Middle East; this war is no exception. There’s something deep in our spiritual DNA that leads us to oppose war in general and this war in particular. Part of our opposition stems from our left-leaning or progressive analyses and critiques of American abuses of power on the world stage, American imperial aspirations, American corporate domination, American hubris. That’s the intellectual part. But there’s a more fundamental source of our opposition, which is Unitarian Universalism’s basic concern, care and compassion for people and the planet. Our opposition is not just analytical. It’s something we feel. It’s in our bodies. It’s spiritual for us. We express it in our first principle, “the inherent worth and dignity of every person.” We express it in our sixth principle, “the goal of world community, with peace, liberty and justice for all.” We express it when we say “Love is the power that holds us together and is at the center of our shared values.” Human dignity, world community and love--that's who we are. Not war, not violence, and certainly not “punching them while their down.”             I have a theory that Unitarian Universalism inherits this emotional, physical, spiritual opposition to war—at least in part—from a cadre of 19 th -century Unitarian and Universalist women leaders, and likely thousands more women who engaged in similar activities but weren’t as well-known. I’ve been reflecting on this for a while and decided to share it with you this morning after reading a March 7 th New York Times  interview with the writer Rebecca Solnit. She said “Maybe changing the world is more like caregiving than it is like war.” [7]   Her statement made me think of these women. They are: the Unitarian and Transcendentalist writer, Louisa May Alcott, most famous as the author of Little Women ; the Unitarian abolitionist Julia Ward Howe, who I spoke about in January, most famous as the composer of the “The Battle Hymn of the Republic;” the less well-known Universalist Mary Livermore, a committed pre-war abolitionist and a post-war leader with both the temperance and the women’s suffrage movements; and the Universalist, Clara Barton, the “angel of the battlefield,” founder of the American Red Cross, and early innovator in the field of disaster response. All four served as battlefield nurses during the American Civil War. All four witnessed directly the horrors of war—the carnage, the suffering, the death. Their witness shaped their post-war lives: their writing, their lecturing, their ongoing activism. When I say there’s something deep in our Unitarian Universalist spiritual DNA that leads us to oppose war today, I think it originates, at least in part, from the witness of these spiritual ancestors.              Regarding Alcott, an article on a Civil War photography website says, “Her letters from this period reveal a sobering view of war. Alcott, like other nurses, had no formal medical training. She worked twelve-hour shifts tending to wounds, bathing patients, writing letters for them, and offering comfort as many succumbed to infection or trauma. The war brought no nobility or glory—only bloodshed, cruelty, and exhaustion. In a letter home, she wrote: “A more perfect pestilence-box than this house I never saw… wounded men, dying men, and decomposing flesh made the air oppressive….” Though her nursing career ended abruptly [due to illness,] it gave Alcott the raw material for one of her earliest successful works:  Hospital Sketches …. The sketches blended humor, realism, and sorrow in a way that captured the public’s imagination and revealed the emotional cost of war—especially through a woman’s perspective…. Alcott’s vivid descriptions of the wounded, her observations of military doctors, and her reflections on grief and human endurance offered a rare look into the Civil War hospital system.” [8]             Regarding Howe, an article on the website of The Peace Alliance says she “nursed and tended the wounded during the Civil War, and worked with the widows and orphans of soldiers on both sides of the war, realizing that the effects of the war go far beyond the killing of soldiers in battle. The devastation she witnessed … inspired her to call [on] women to ‘rise up through the ashes and devastation,’ urging a Mother’s Day dedicated to peace.” [9]  She issued her Mother’s Day Proclamation of Peace in Boston in 1870. We’ve offered Sunday services on this in the past. This was the original Mother’s Day. The text of the proclamation is in our hymnal, #573. It begins with these words: “Arise, then, women of this day! Arise, all women who have hearts, whether our baptism be that of water or of tears! Say firmly: We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies. Our husbands shall not come to us, reeking with carnage, for caresses and applause. Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience. We, women of one country, will be too tender of those of another country to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs. From the bosom of the devastated earth a voice goes up with our own. It says: Disarm, Disarm! The sword of murder is not the balance of justice.” [10] Mary Livermore served as a leader in the northwestern office of the United States Sanitary Commission, a private relief agency created by federal legislation at the outset of the war to support sick and wounded soldiers. [11]  Livermore’s 1887 book, My Story of the War, detailed the sheer agony of the conflict, described the horrors of hospital life, and documented the various ways women sacrificed to help achieve the Union victory. [12]   I love a very simple quote from her book: “It is better to heal a wound than to make one.”             Finally, Clara Barton, the angel of the battlefield. She really needs a full sermon. The children’s story I read earlier [13]  just scratches the surface of her achievements, really her ministry not only to wounded and dying soldiers in the Civil War and later on European battlefields, not only to the families of more than 20,000 missing American soldiers whose remains she helped identify after the Civil War, but to all the people of the United States with the founding of the American Red Cross and her later work responding to disasters. One article mentions that throughout her life she traveled to many disaster and war scenes to bring and administer aid, including the Johnstown flood, the Galveston tidal wave, the Cincinnati flood, the Florida yellow fever epidemic, the Spanish-American War , and the Armenian massacre in Turkey. [14]               If you find Secretary Hegseth’s disregard for the international rules of war and the Geneva Conventions morally objectionable, there’s an important piece of our history you need to know. Most of these international conventions, including the current Geneva Conventions, were written and adopted following World War II. However, the original Geneva Conventions treaty was written and adopted by 12 European nations in 1863. The treaty declared medical personnel neutral and … that sick and wounded soldiers would be cared for regardless of their nationality. The treaty also established the symbol of the red cross on a white background as a sign used by medical personnel to indicate their neutrality when aiding the wounded in war zones.” [15]  The United States did not sign onto the Geneva Conventions until 1882. The primary advocate for the United States to sign this treaty? Our spiritual ancestor, the Universalist Clara Barton.             When I say there’s something deep in our Unitarian Universalist spiritual DNA that leads us to oppose war today, I think I’m on solid ground when I say it originates, at least in part, from the witness of these spiritual ancestors. And what is the heart of that legacy? In the words of Rebecca Solnit, changing the world looks more like caregiving, than it looks like war.             Amen and blessed be. [1]  Hegseth, Pete, Transcript, “Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine Hold a Press Briefing,” US Department of War, March 4 th , 2026. see: https://www.war.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript/Article/4421037/secretary-of-war-pete-hegseth-and-chairman-of-the-joint-chiefs-of-staff-gen-dan/ . [2]  Quoted in Wilson, Jason, “Pete Hegseth told US soldiers in Iraq to ignore legal advice on rules of engagement,” The Guardian, December 2, 2025. See: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/02/hegseth-us-soldiers-iraq-rules-engagement . [3] Aljazeera staff, “Iran says 1,255 people killed in US-Israeli attacks, mostly civilians,” Al Jazeera , March 9, 2026. See: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/9/iran-says-1255-killed-in-us-israeli-attacks-mostly-civilians# [4]   Melimopoulos , Elizabeth, “Iran war: What is happening on day 12 of US-Israel attacks?” Al Jazeera, March 11, 2026. See: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/11/iran-war-what-is-happening-on-day-12-of-us-israel-attacks . [5]  Statement from the United Nations office of High Commissioner for Human Rights, “Iran: UN experts call for de-escalation and accountability,” March 4, 2026. See: https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2026/03/iran-un-experts-call-de-escalation-and-accountability# . [6]  Ibid. [7]   Marchese , David, “The Interview: Rebecca Solnit Says the Left’s Next Hero Is Already Here,” New York Times , March 7, 2026. See: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/07/magazine/rebecca-solnit-interview.html ?. [8]  Winn, Melissa A., “I Set Forth in the December Twilight” Military Images Digital , September 11, 2025. See: https://www.militaryimagesmagazine-digital.com/2025/09/11/i-set-forth-in-the-december-twilight/ .   [9]  “History of Mother’s Day as a Day of Peace: Julia Ward Howe,” The Peace Alliance, May 8, 2015. See: https://peacealliance.org/history-of-mothers-day-as-a-day-of-peace-julia-ward-howe/         . [10]  Howe, Julia Ward, “Mother’s Day Proclamation,” Singing the Living Tradition  (Boston: Beacon Press and the UUA, 1993) #573. [11]  The US Sanitary Commission was founded by the Unitarian minister Henry Whitney Bellows, though it had its origins with an organization called the Woman’s Central Association of Relief. Ullman, Douglas, Jr., The United States Sanitary Commission, American Battlefield Trust, February 26, 2026. See: https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/united-states-sanitary-commission . [12]  Read and excerpt from Livermore’s My Story of the War at https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3-euw1-ap-pe-ws4-cws-documents.ri-prod/9780415896009/Document3-4.pdf . [13]  Murphy, Frank (author) and Green, Sarah (illustrator), Brave Clara Barton (New York: Random House, 2018). [14]   Lewis, Jone Johnson, “Clara Barton: Civil War Nurse, Humanitarian, Founder of the American Red Cross,” ThoughtCo, Feb 4, 2019. See : https://www.thoughtco.com/clara-barton-biography-3528482 . [15]  Friedman, Sarah, “Clara Barton and the Geneva Conventions” Library of Congress Blogs, December 22, 2023. See: https://blogs.loc.gov/law/2023/12/clara-barton-and-the-geneva-convention/

Illustration by Sarah Green from "Brave Clara Barton" Gathering Music Dorothy Bognar, piano Welcome and Announcements Annual Appeal Pulpit Testimonials Robin Byrne Centering Prelude "For What it's Worth" by Steven Stills Dorothy Bognar, piano Chalice Lighting and Opening Words To Remind Ourselves What Is Real by Elena Westbrook Opening Hymn #360 "Here We Have Gathered" Words by Alicia S. Carpenter Music: Genevan Psalter, 1543 Here we have gathered, gathered side by side; circle of kinship, come and step inside! May all who seek here find a kindly word; may all who speak here feel they have been heard. Sing now together this, our hearts' own song. Here we have gathered, called to celebrate days of our lifetime, matters small and great: we of all ages, women, children, men, infants and sages, sharing what we can. Sing now together this, our hearts' own song. Life has its battles, sorrows, and regret: but in the shadows, let us not forget: we who now gather know each other's pain; kindness can heal us: as we give, we gain. Sing now in friendship this, our hearts' own song. Time For All Ages "Brave Clara Barton" by Frank Murphy illustrations by Sarah Green Hymn #1057 "Go Lifted Up" by Mortimer B. Barron Go lifted up, Love bless your way, moonlight, starlight guide your journey into peace and the brightness of day. Joys and Concerns Musical Meditation Offering The recipient of our community outreach offering is the CT Alliance to End Sexual Violence. Their mission is to create communities free of sexual violence ad to provide culturally affirming, trauma-informed advocacy, prevention, and intervention services centered on the voices of survivors. Offering Music "Theme from "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Elmer Bernstein Dorothy Bognar, piano Sermon "On War, Women and Witness or Do UU Know Your History? Part III" Rev. Josh Pawelek Closing Hymn #212 "We Are Dancing Sarah's Circle" Words by Carole A. Etzler Music: African American spiritual We are dancing Sarah's circle, we are dancing Sarah's circle we are dancing Sarah's circle, sisters, brothers, all. Here we seek and find our history... We will all do our own naming... Every round a generation... On and on the circle's moving... Extinguishing the Chalice Closing Circle (music by Dorothy Bognar) May faith in the spirit of life And hope for the community of earth And love of the light in each other Be ours now, and in all the days to come.

Gathering Music Welcome Centering Prelude "Come, Come Whoever You Are" by Lynn Ungar Arr. by Mary Bopp Chalice Lighting and Opening Words "This Faith" by Heide Cottam Opening Hymn #21 "For the Beauty of the Earth" words by F. S. Pierpoint music by Conrad Kocher For the beauty of the earth, for the splendor of the skies, For the love which from our birth over and around us lies: Source of all, to thee we raise this, our hymn of grateful praise. For the joy of ear and eye, for the heart and mind's delight, For the mystic harmony linking sense to sound and sight: Source of all, to thee we raise this, our hymn of grateful praise. For the wonder of each hour of the day and of the night, Hill and vale and tree and flower, sun and moon and stars of light: Source of all, to thee we raise this, our hymn of grateful praise. For the joy of human care, sister, brother, parent, child, For the kinship we all share, for all gentle thoughts and mild: Source of all, to thee we raise this, our hymn of grateful praise. Time for All Ages "The Rabbit Listened" by Cori Doerrfeld Musical Interlude Announcements Introduction to the Service Welcoming Visitors and Joys & Concerns Musical Response Offering Continuing our practice of sharing our gifts with the community beyond our walls, fifty percent of our Sunday plate collections for the month of March will be shared with the CT Alliance to End Sexual Violence. (The Alliance) works to prevent and eliminate sexual violence in our state through education, legislation, advocacy, trauma-informed care, and a state-wide network of support for victims and survivors. Offering Music "With Open Arms" by Mary Bopp First Reflection - Emmy Galbraith Wisdom from Our Experts: Families & Religious Educators Second Reflection - Vivian Carlson Supporting Family Systems Closing Hymn #298 "Wake Now My Senses" words by Thomas Mikelson Traditional Irish melody Wake, now my senses, and hear the earth call; feel the deep power of being in all; keep, with the web of creation your vow, giving, receiving as love shows us how. Wake, now, my reason, reach out to the new; join with each pilgrim who quests for the true; honor the beauty and wisdom of time; suffer thy limit, and praise the sublime. Wake, now, compassion, give heed to the cry; voices of suffering fill the wide sky; take as your neighbor both stranger and friend, praying and striving their hardship to end . Wake, now, my conscience, with justice thy guide; join with all people whose rights are denied; take not for granted a privileged place; God's love embraces the whole human race . Wake, now, my vision of ministry clear; brighten my pathway with radiance here; mingle my calling with all who will share; work toward a planet transformed by our care. Extinguishing the Chalice & Closing Words The flame in our hearts never ceases burning. Closing Circle May faith in the spirit of life And hope for the community of earth And love of the light in each other Be ours now, and in all the days to come.

MUSIC + MANTRA KIRTAN AT UUSE A welcoming community of music, meditation, and connection Join us for an uplifting, meditative experience blending contemporary music with the call-and-response singing of mantras. Mantra set to music opens the heart and lifts the spirits. The MUSIC + MANTRA series is a welcoming community gathering where contemporary live music meets the ancient practice of kirtan — call-and-response mantra singing rooted in India’s devotional tradition. No musical experience, spiritual background, or prior knowledge is required. You are welcome to sing along, dance, listen quietly, or simply be present. WHAT YOU'LL EXPERIENCE: • Relaxation through sound – Quiet the mental chatter and de-stress. • A sense of belonging – Singing together fosters connection in a way that feels natural and inclusive—there's no pressure and no performance. • Accessible participation – Sit in a chair, relax on a cushion, or move and dance—engage in whatever way feels right for you. • Tradition shared with care – Rooted in the Indian devotional practice of kirtan and offered in a warm, contemporary community setting that honors its origins. ABOUT THE MUSICIANS:  HEART CENTERED KIRTAN • Libby Volckening — vocals and keys • Ezra Landis — guitar • Nico D'Amico — bass • Chris Ball — drums Together, they offer contemporary arrangements that honor tradition while remaining approachable for newcomers. ABOUT THE SPACE Hosted at the Unitarian Universalist Society East — a welcoming, community-centered venue committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion. • Wheelchair accessible • Scent-free space • Chair seating provided (feel free to bring a cushion if you prefer the floor) • Free parking on site Whether you are spiritually curious, musically inclined, or simply seeking a peaceful and welcoming evening out, Music + Mantra offers a low-pressure way to connect—with yourself and with community. EVENT DETAILS Sunday, March 22 - 3pm Free-will donation ($20 suggested) at the door. No one is ever turned away.

This morning, we launch our 2026 Annual Appeal, during which we ask every UUSE member and friend to make the most generous financial pledge possible for the coming fiscal year which begins July 1 st . This is our largest fundraiser. The Annual Appeal raises the vast majority of dollars we need to operate from day-to-day, to provide decent salaries and benefits to our staff, to maintain our meetinghouse, to carry out our mission, to achieve our vision—the dollars we need, as the Annual Appeal theme suggests, for belonging and thriving together. Raising the money is never easy. Our Stewardship Committee does an amazing job running the Annual Appeal. Thank you, thank you, thank you to Stewardship chairperson, Patricia Wildes, and committee members Louisa Graver, Phil Sawyer, Larry Lundern, Jerry Myers and Stan McMillen. Raising the money is never easy, but I don’t want to understate the celebration at the heart of this moment. Your generous financial pledge to the Annual Appeal is a celebration of this Unitarian Universalist congregation, this spiritual community, this open, liberal, loving faith, grounded in our UU principles and values. Your generous financial pledge to the Annual Appeal celebrates the value of this congregation in your life and the value of Unitarian Universalism in your life. It celebrates your commitment to this place, these people, this faith. That’s why we made the decision to worship in the round today, all the generations, face-to-face. That’s why we invited the Atrium Brass Quintet to join us. It may just be me, but brass music on Sunday morning is always celebratory. I hope you feel similarly. As is the case every year, we need to raise more money in this year’s Annual Appeal than we raised last year. That’s the hard part. (By the way, in my entire career, I don't remember an annual appeal that ever sought to raise less money than the previous year!) In addition to the usual cost-drivers (inflation, cost-of-living adjustments for our staff, anticipated health insurance increases, etc.) there are a number of essential new expenses I want to flag for you. First, our Finance Committee and Policy Board have decided that the tasks of day-to-day financial management at UUSE are too big for volunteers to effectively manage. We’ve known this for a long time. We’ve tried to make it work. But the job is too big and there’s too much at stake. It is time for us to hire a professional bookkeeping service. The search for that service is already underway. Depending on what kind of service we ultimately hire, we anticipate a cost of anywhere from $8,000 to $25,000 annually. This is a big jump in our budget, and it is essential. Second, because we continue to anticipate a variety of building repairs over the next decade, we are hoping to raise significant funds for our building reserve in this year’s Annual Appeal. While we have other ways to increase this critical reserve fund—we are establishing an ongoing building reserve campaign—we believe a percentage of the Annual Appeal needs to be dedicated to these reserves every year. We’ve also being naming this for a while. It really is essential. We were hoping to dedicate $25,000 to this reserve. But to get us closer to a balanced budget, the board cut it back to $10,000.   There are some other new expenses, like building safety improvements and the one-time hiring of an amazing curriculum consultant, Kamora Herrington, to work with our Children and Youth Ministry program during the coming year. The proposed budget for next year will be available during the Annual Appeal. We are hoping for a 5% to 7% increase over last year. That is ambitious, we know. But we also believe we can do it. One of the reasons we believe we can do it is because we have gratefully and joyfully received a $15,000 grant to encourage us to increase pledges!  Pledge increases of 5% or more will be matched 100% from this grant. I want to pause for a moment, and invite all of you to weigh in. I have two questions for you to ponder. The first is about Unitarian Universalism. What do you love about Unitarian Universalism? The second is about this congregation, the Unitarian Universalist Society East in Manchester, CT. What do you love about this congregation? I invite you to turn to a neighbor and share your answers to these questions. Kids, you can talk to your parents or caregivers. Or you can talk to each other. Or you can talk to other adults you might know. Folks online, we invite you to type into the chat your answers to these questions. What do you love about Unitarian Universalism? What do you love about this Unitarian Universalist congregation, UUSE? We’ll share some of your responses in a moment. Alright, talk amongst yourselves!   [Discussion]   [Sharing]   Before we close, some logistics: Please sign up for one of the pledging potlucks. These meals in members’ homes are a great way to meet new people and discuss these questions in more depth. For folks online, please contact Stan McMillen. If you can’t make one of the potlucks, we ask you to respond to the Annual Appeal letter by March 17 th . If we don’t hear from you, an Annual Appeal steward will reach out to you. Please remember the stewards are volunteers with full plates. Please respond to them quickly. They appreciate it. The Stewardship Committee appreciates it. And, as a way of continuing the celebration, please note that near the end of the Annual Appeal, Sunday March 29 th , we are bringing back the chocolate auction. Watch the newsletter and eblast for more information. Logistics aside, what is most important to me, always, is that our Annual Appeal enables our congregation to continue as a place of belonging and thriving; that our Annual Appeal enables us to continue all the ministries we rely on (Sunday Services, Children and Youth Ministry, Music, Small Groups, Affinity Groups, Pastoral Friends, Buildings and Grounds, Sustainable Living, the Verplanck Partnership, and all our connections to social and environmental justice organizations and coalitions in the wider community). My fondest hope, year in and year out, is that our Annual Appeal enables us to continue serving as a beacon of liberal religion, spiritual searching, and community engagement from our physical home here on Elm Hill, on the Manchester-Vernon line, above the Hockanum River on its way southwest to the Connecticut River. Belonging and thriving. That is my hope. Please make the most generous pledge you can to this year’s Annual Appeal. Amen and blessed be.

Gathering Music "Canzona Bergamasca by Samuel Scheidt Welcome and Announcements Centering Prelude "Ricercard Del 12 Tono" by Andrea Gabrieli Chalice Lighting and Opening Words "This Faith, This Place, These People" by Rev. Josh Pawelek (based on "This Place, These People" by Paul Dalzell) Opening Hymn #128 "For All That is Our Life" Words by Bruce Findlow; music by Patrick L. Rickey For all that is our life we sing our thanks and praise; for all life is a gift which we are called to use to build the common good and make our own days glad. For needs which others serve, for services we give, for work and its rewards, for hours of rest and love; we come with praise and thanks for all that is our life. For sorrow we must bear, for failures, pain, and loss, for each new thing we learn, for fearful hours that pass: we come with praise and thanks for all that is our life. For all that is our life we sing our thanks and praise; for all life is a gift which we are called to use to build the common good and make our own days glad. Time for All Ages "What Things Cost" Musical Interlude Joys and Concerns Music "Prayer for Connection" Words by Cyndi Krupa Music by Mary Bopp May peace, love and light Infuse all living beings With a feeling of connection And knowing we are one. Offering Mindful that March is Women's History Month, the recipient of our community outreach offering is the CT Alliance to End Sexual Violence. Their mission is to create communities free of sexual violence and to provide culturally affirming, trauma-informed advocacy, prevention and intervention services centered on the voices of survivors. Offering Music "The Four Seasons -- Spring" by Antonio Vivaldi Sermon and Dialogue What do you love about Unitarian Universalism? What do you love about UUSE? Closing Music "Allegro Maestoso from Water Music" by George Frideric Handel Extinguishing the Chalice The flame in our hearts never cease burning Closing Circle May faith in the spirit of life And hope for the community of earth And love of the light in each other Be ours now, and in all the days to come.

Our November ministry theme is nurturing gratitude , which aligns very obviously with the Thanksgiving holiday later this month; though for me, it’s not the holiday that gives us the theme. For me it’s all the features of autumn—changing, falling leaves, dropping temperatures, decreasing daylight hours, increasing darkness—and perhaps most importantly, the conclusion of the growing season in these northern latitudes—the harvest, the reaping, the preparations for winter—all of it ancient, all of it familiar to human beings for millennia. All of it gives rise to feelings of gratitude, if we let it. All of it gives rise to our collective instinct to acknowledge and celebrate the blessings of our lives, to give thanks.             Over the years I’ve come back again and again to a meditation entitled “Thanksgiving” by my colleague, the Rev. Lynn Ungar, originally published in 1996 in her Skinner House book entitled Blessing the Bread . I shared it in my newsletter column this month. I love how, for her, seasonal changes in the land speak to gratitude deeply ingrained in our hearts: I have been trying to read / the script cut in these hills— / a language carved in the shimmer of stubble / and the solid lines of soil, spoken / in the thud of apples falling and the rasp of corn stalks finally bare. / The pheasants shout it with a rusty creak / as they gather in the fallen grain, / the blackbirds sing it / over their shoulders in parting, / and gold leaf illuminates the manuscript / where it is written in the trees. / Transcribed onto my human tongue / I believe it might sound like a lullaby, / or the simplest grace at table. / Across the gathering stillness / simply this: “For all that we have received, / dear God, make us truly grateful.”             In the end, the patterns of this autumn season give rise to a very simply prayer: May I be grateful. ****             I assume that feeling gratitude is good for us. I assume the practice of rituals that center our gratitude is good for us. I assume expressing our gratitude out loud to others is good for us psychologically, emotionally, physically, spiritually. There’s solid data to support these assumptions, including a landmark 2003 study entitled “Counting blessings versus burdens: An experimental investigation of gratitude and subjective well-being in daily life,” published in the  Journal of Personality and Social Psychology . [1] The authors are Robert A Emmons at the University of California Davis (also editor in chief at the Journal of Positive Psychology) and Michael E McCullough at the University of California San Diego. The study’s abstract explains how participants in three separate studies were randomly assigned to various experimental conditions and asked to keep records of their moods, coping behaviors, health behaviors, physical symptoms, and overall life appraisals. Participants in what they called the “gratitude-outlook” groups exhibited heightened well-being across several, though not all, of the outcome measures relative to the comparison groups. “The effect on positive affect appeared to be the most robust finding. Results suggest that a conscious focus on blessings may have emotional and interpersonal benefits.” [2]             I found a 2023 New York Times article entitled “Gratitude Really is Good for You: Here’s What the Science Shows,” by the journalist Christina Caron. She mentions the Emmons-McCullough study and sums up the results of numerous other studies over the past two decades. She finds substantial evidence that gratitude practices have a positive impact on mental health, reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety, increasing self-esteem and improving satisfaction with daily life. Gratitude is also known to improve sleep and lower blood pressure. “Multiple studies have shown,” she writes, quoting Sara Algoe, a psychologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, “that expressing gratitude to acquaintances, co-workers, friends or romantic partners can offer a relationship ‘ boost ’ and ‘helps bind us more closely.’” [3]               If you’re skeptical or weary of all the talk about gratitude in this season or at any time of year, I’m simply pointing out that scientists have run peer-reviewed experiments on the ways gratitude practices impact our lives; these studies have been repeated and expanded upon over the years; and there is solid data to support the claim that gratitude is good for us.             And yes, in addition to the science, there is a lot of talk about gratitude and, at least for some, it is wearying. I used to get annoyed at how ubiquitous the admonition to be grateful is in our wider culture. Of the tens of millions of self-help and personal wellness books on brick-and-mortar and virtual shelves, I wouldn’t be surprised if half of them either have the words “gratitude,” “thankfulness,” or “blessings” in the title or subtitle or, minimally, feature a chapter about gratitude, thankfulness or blessings. I notice Dr. Emmons has published many books in this genre: The Little Book of Gratitude: Create a Life of Happiness and Well-Being by Giving Thanks , Thanks: How Practicing Gratitude Can Make You Happier , Gratitude Works , and Words of Gratitude for Mind, Body and Soul , with an introduction by the Benedictine monk, Br. David Steindl-Rast, who has a wonderful website, “Grateful Living,” [4]  and an excellent Ted Talk, “Want to be Happy? Be Grateful,” which has been viewed over 10 million times. [5]  Which reminds me that in addition to all the books, the virtual and online worlds are overflowing with articles, blogs, podcasts, day-time talk shows, Pinterest Boards and Ted Talks. Some of it is really good. Some of it less so. Some of it comes from multi-millionaire pop psychologists and pseudo-spiritual gurus just trying to cash in. I used to roll my eyes, smugly—not only because so much of this content—like so much of the self-help genre in general—seems so corny—platitudes with no real substance—but also because it always made me feel, as an ordained clergy-person, that anytime I wanted to talk about gratitude, I couldn’t do it without sounding like a self-help book. Nurturing gratitude is one of the purposes of religion. Nurturing gratitude requires deep spiritual engagement. Get out of our lane you self-help hucksters! Leave gratitude to the clergy and the psychologists!             I don’t roll my eyes anymore. I’m no longer annoyed. The prayer is really very simple: May I be grateful. If any message ought to be ubiquitous, the message that there are benefits to nurturing gratitude in ourselves and our communities is certainly one of them regardless of where it comes from. How better to counter in our own lives the many negative health and wellness impacts of the daily authoritarian onslaught emanating from our nation’s capitol? How better to fortify ourselves, to build up our resilience, to stay calm and focused, to stay hopeful? It really doesn’t matter where the message comes from, as long as we learn to say our version of the prayer: May I be grateful. ****             Last weekend a number of you forwarded me a link to a piece published in “The Morning” newsletter of the New York Times  titled “Personal History,” subtitled “The good things in our lives are the result of fantastic webs of interconnected prerequisites.” [6]  The author, Melissa Kirsch, who writes “The Morning” newsletter and describes her beat as “broadly about how to live a meaningful life,” is also a bit skeptical and weary of all the talk of gratitude. She’s sharing her gratitude practice, but she says “I get a little uncomfortable talking about it because I’ve seen the same hashtags and semi-smug social media posts that you have, the same living-room art with cursive script on distressed wood about the ‘attitude of gratitude.’ The concept has been so commodified, overprocessed, merched-up, that it seems as if there’s little else to say about it — call it the platitude of gratitude.” So, she rolls her eyes too! But I really like her practice and I want to commend it to you.             She describes her practice as more ornate than the typical gratitude journal or jar. She says “I will think of something small — say, this weird little deck of “wisdom cards” that I draw from each morning as a sort of daily fortune cookie. Then I think about how my friend Melanie gave me the deck and how generous and playful she is, and how lucky I am to know her. But I wouldn’t know her if I hadn’t taught creative writing with her in a summer program in the 1990s. I wouldn’t have had that job if my friend Alden hadn’t recommended me for it, and I wouldn’t know Alden if I hadn’t gone to graduate school with her, and I wouldn’t have gone to graduate school without the encouragement of my undergraduate writing professor, and I wouldn’t have taken her class if not for … you get the picture." She continues: "It’s almost a game, tracing the present-day gratitude back through all the causes and conditions that gave rise to it. It’s also immensely satisfying, and mystifying — look how many things had to transpire in order to bring this deck of cards into my life. Simple gratitude is focused on a one-to-one relationship: These cards make me happy. Thinking through this circuit of prerequisites amplifies the gratitude, scales it, brings me into contact with the multiple interdependent factors necessary to bring these cards into my life.” I invite you to take a moment and contemplate something in your life that offers a simple pleasure. For Kirsch it was her deck of wisdom cards. Maybe it’s a favorite coffee mug, a bird feeder, a particular song or piece of music you love to listen to, a special recipe, a neighbor you spend time with, a lamp in the corner, a favorite book—a simple pleasure. How did it come into your life? What was the source? And then ask again, what was the source of the source? And then ask again. Follow the path back as far as you can. Notice the connections, the relationships, the dependencies. Notice the precariousness of it all: If I hadn’t gone on my walk that day, I never would have met that person…. If I hadn’t been in that accident, I never would have gotten that gift…. If that total stranger didn’t track me down to return my wallet…. Kirsch says “We’re all connected, related, dependent on one another, but of course we forget this all the time. We forget that every action we take has a whole cascade of unintended consequences. We forget that we’re a factor in someone else’s circuit of gratitude, a link in innumerable chains. And so often we feel separate, lonely, disconnected. One way to challenge that feeling is to start with one small thing you’re grateful for. Then trace the gorgeous, improbable but very real sequence of variables that brought you the object of your gratitude. It may seem a little corny at first, but it works.” [7] Again, I commend this practice to you. I suspect, if you can trace back far enough, you’ll come eventually to the script cut into the hills, the thud of falling apples, the pheasants’ rusty creak, the departing blackbirds’ song, the trees’ gold-leaf illuminated manuscript. I suspect you’ll come in time to that ancient human insight that it is good and right to acknowledge and celebrate the blessings of our lives. If you can trace back far enough, I suspect you’ll come in time to the plainest of utterances: a lullaby or a simple grace at table . And across the gathering stillness, I suspect you’ll come to Rev. Ungar’s prayer: “For all that we have received, dear God, make us truly grateful.” Amen and blessed be.   [1] Emmons, R. A., & McCullough, M. E. (2003). Counting blessings versus burdens: An experimental investigation of gratitude and subjective well-being in daily life.  Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84 (2), 377–389.  https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.84.2.377   [2]  Read the abstract at https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2003-01140-012 . [3]  Caron, Christina, “Gratitude Really Is Good for You. Here’s What the Science Shows,” New York Times , June 8, 2023. See: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/08/well/mind/gratitude-health-benefits.html . [4]  Visit Grateful Living at https://grateful.org/brother-david/ . [5]  View Brother Steindl-Rast’s Ted Talk at https://grateful.org/resource/want-to-be-happy-be-grateful/ . [6]  Kirsch, Melissa, “Personal History: The good things in our lives are the result of fantastic webs of interconnected prerequisites,” New York Times, The Morning Newsletter, October 25, 2025. See: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/25/briefing/personal-history.html . [7]  Kirsch, Melissa, “Personal History: The good things in our lives are the result of fantastic webs of interconnected prerequisites,” New York Times, The Morning Newsletter, October 25, 2025. See: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/25/briefing/personal-history.html .

This sermon is about generosity. Just to be clear, this is not my Annual Appeal kick-off sermon. That sermon happens next Sunday when we launch our 2026 Annual Appeal. Of course, that sermon is also about generosity, specifically your generous financial giving to this congregation for the coming fiscal year. This morning I want to talk broadly about generosity as a religious value and practice. I also want to name some of the forms generosity takes here at UUSE. And I want to invite you to participate in two new efforts we’re rolling out to meet the needs of some longstanding neighbors, as well as some potentially new neighbors here in central-east Connecticut. I should also point out that Kate Kimmerle purchased a sermon at last year’s goods and services auction. For her auction sermon, Kate asked that I preach on generosity. This is that sermon.             The Muslim holy month of Ramadan commenced this past week. Last Sunday, a few of us took some of our Affirmation youth to the Ramadan  Bazaar at the Windsor Community Center. The Bazaar offers local Muslims an opportunity to come together in community in preparation for Ramadan , though anyone can attend. There’s shopping, food, family activities. The two youth who were stuck in the car with me on our drive to Windsor had to endure me lecturing on the five pillars of Islam: The confession of faith or shahada  ("There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the Messenger of God"); prayer five times daily, salat; fasting during the daylight hours of Ramadan, sawm ; the pilgrimage to Mecca, hajj ; and the giving of alms, charity, zakat, which many Muslims engage in during Ramadan . In short, Islamic law dictates that Muslims donate a fixed portion of their income to community members in need. [1]  [ Check out this recent guide to zakat from Aljazeera .]The theme of charity is prominent in the Muslim holy book, the Quran . The divine call to generosity is prominent in the Quran . One of the more well-known passages appears in the second sura  or chapter, known as The Cow , verse 267, often translated into English as “O believers! Give from the best of what you have earned and of what We have produced for you from the earth.” [2]             This foundational call to generosity is certainly not unique to Islam. I asked UUSE’s resident expert on Buddhism, Nancy Thompson, to identify Buddhist teachings on generosity. She said, “In Buddhism, generosity is considered an essential part of a happy life. The Buddha placed generosity first on his list of 10 paramitas, qualities known as ‘perfections of the heart.’ He told his monks, ‘If people knew as I know the results of giving and sharing, they would not eat without having given nor would the stain of stinginess overcome their minds. Even if it were their last bite, their last mouthful, they would not eat without having shared, if there was someone to share it with.’ He taught that there are three main types of giving: the gift of material things; the gift of fearlessness or protection, and the gift of wisdom, through sharing his teachings.” [3]  Thank you Nancy. [For further reading on generosity in Buddhism, I recommend these articles here and here .] Though I haven’t had a chance to explore this further, I understand generosity in Buddhism, as well as the Jain and Sikh traditions, has its roots in earlier Hindu teaching . The ancient Sanskrit word dāna, which appears in some of the earliest Vedic texts, refers to cultivating the virtue of generosity or practicing generosity, or the guilt one feels in not being generous to those in need. [4]             Similarly, generosity figures prominently in both the Hebrew and Christians scriptures. Deuteronomy 15: “If there is among you anyone in need, a member of your community in any of your towns within the land that the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted towards your needy neighbor. You should rather open your hand, willingly lending enough to meet the need, whatever it may be.” [5]  And in the words of Jesus, Matthew 25: “Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come … inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world,   for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’” [6]               Strip away the institutional structures and histories of any of the world’s great religions. Strip away the centuries of compromise and collaboration with earthly rulers, with kings and queens, with imperialism, with colonialism; strip away all the religious justifications for violence and war-making: strip it all away: a spirit of generosity lies at the foundation. “I was hungry and you gave me food.”             That spirit of generosity lies at the heart of Unitarian Universalism. The actual word ‘generosity’ (or something akin to it like charity or munificence) does not appear in the Unitarian Universalist principles. However, I’ve always felt that pursuing our second principle, ‘justice, equity and compassion in human relations,’ requires that we draw from deep wells of generosity in our engagement with the wider world; and that pursuing our third principle, ‘acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations,’ requires us to draw from those same wells in our engagement with each other. The new statement of Unitarian Universalism’s shared values (passed at the 2024 General Assembly) explicitly identifies generosity as a foundation of our faith. About generosity, the new statement says: “We cultivate a spirit of gratitude and hope. We covenant to freely and compassionately share our faith, presence, and resources. Our generosity connects us to one another in relationships of interdependence and mutuality.” [7] Earlier I read a passage on generosity from the Unitarian Universalist theologian, the Rev. Dr. Sheri Prud’homme. She writes: “In a theological framework which understands that this world is the locus of the holy, that struggle and salvation are present here and now, and that all life is sacred and interconnected, generosity, gratitude, and hope are ways we honor these truths and the blessings of our lives.” [8]  That is, in our this-worldly, here-and-now Unitarian Universalist faith, our generosity enables us to carry out our mission, to keep our promises, to fulfill our vision.             I’ve said it many times from this pulpit; I will say some version of it next week when we launch our Annual Appeal; and I will say it now: you are generous people. I know this about you. You are financially generous to this congregation. You are generous with your time and participation. Many of you take on leadership roles when asked—on the Policy Board, or the Program Council or as committee chairs, or on task forces—and there have been a lot of task forces in recent years! When we need volunteers for the holiday fair, you appear. When we need volunteers for the goods and services auction, you appear. When we need volunteers for Mayfair, you appear. When we need volunteers for the Buildings and Grounds committee work parties, you appear. When we need volunteers in the Children and Youth Ministry programs, you appear. When we need volunteers for the tutoring program at Verplanck Elementary School, or when we’re raising special funds for Verplanck’s gift drive or their book fair, you appear. In recent years, as we’ve been inviting people to show up at vigils and rallies, at the legislative office building to testify on important bills, or for various trainings on accompanying immigrants to court hearings, or mental health first aid, or bystander training, you appear. A spirit of generosity underlies your engagement both here among ourselves, and as part of our witness and activism in the wider world. Years ago, when we voted as a congregation on a resolution to support the Black Lives Matter movement, that spirit of generosity was alive and well and still moves through these halls.  Later, when we voted in support of a resolution to become a sanctuary congregation, that spirit of generosity was alive and well and still moves through these halls. You are generous people. It means the world to me as your minister. I hope and trust it means the world to you. Finally, I said earlier that I want to invite you to participate in two new efforts we’re rolling out to meet the needs of some longstanding neighbors, as well as some potentially new neighbors here in central-east Connecticut. Both efforts originate with our Social Justice / Anti-Oppression Committee in dialogue with me. I’ve been hinting at both for a while. First, in response to the slowly increasing number of immigrant neighbors who are being detained and deported, we’re proposing to create what we call Good Neighbor Teams. Imagine that 150 of you decide to participate. We divide you into fifteen teams—ten people per team. Then, one of our partners organizations in the immigrants rights movement contacts us to say there’s a family in East Hartford or Manchester who has had their primary breadwinner detained. They need financial support for the next two weeks. Can we raise $500? We activate Team 1. Some people can give $100, some can give $50, some can give $10. But in a few days Team 1 has raised the money. Or it may be that Team 1 goes grocery shopping for a family that is fearful of leaving their home. Or it may be that the family’s primary need is diapers, so Team 1 does a diaper drive. There are any number of ways this could work. These are short-term commitments. The team meets the goal, and then they are done. If the need is longer-term, maybe another group at another church raises money for the next two weeks, and so on. Next month, we get a call from a different partner. Can we contribute $300 for legal fees? We activate Team 2. They raise $300 and they are done. A week later, another call, we activate Team 3. A month later, another call. We activate Team 4. If you’re on a team, you’d likely be activated twice a year at most. The UUSE Policy Board supports this project, and the chair of our Stewardship Committee gave it her blessing. We also recognize that next year, when the Medicaid and Snap cuts specified in last summer’s HR1 go through, the financial need in our larger community will likely go through the roof. It will be good to have this kind of infrastructure in place at that time. “I was hungry and you gave me food.” Second, there is an increasing movement of transgender people, or families with transgender children, leaving states with anti-trans laws and relocating to more friendly states. While governmental attacks on trans people have been less visible in recent months due to the focus on immigration enforcement, those attacks are ongoing. People are fleeing, and many of them need support. In partnership with Unitarian Universalist congregations and others across Connecticut, we are proposing to develop the infrastructure to receive what are essentially internally displaced refugees. We would not be the first to do this. There are models from other parts of the country for us to follow. We will be looking for people who have space in their homes to host these “travellers” for up to six months as they look for work and housing. We know that helping a person resettle in this way requires fundraising. We know that we will eventually put teams together to help people with housing and job searches, perhaps with helping place children in schools, find doctors, etc. As I said, we’re engaging in partnership with other congregations across the state, and will share more information as it becomes available. Members of our Social Justice / Anti-Oppression Committee will be at a table in the lobby following the service. If you would like to participate on a Good Neighbor Team or with our trans relocation efforts, or both, please visit them, get more information, sign up. If you’re joining us online and want to add your name, please do so in the chat and we’ll add you to the list. These are two new opportunities, designed to be as accessible as possible, so that as many of you as possible have avenues for putting generosity into action, for living out the promise of our Unitarian Universalist faith. Amen and blessed be. [1]  Ali, Marium, “A simple illustrated guide to zakat, answers to 7 common questions,” Aljazeera, 23 Mar 2025. See: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/3/23/a-simple-illustrated-guide-to-zakat-answers-to-7-common-questions . [2]  The Quran, 2: 267. In addition to “give,” I also see English translations that use the word “donate” or “expend.” [3] I also found these two articles very helpful in understanding generosity from the Buddhist perspective. Fronsdal, Gil, “The Practice of Generosity” at the Insight Meditation Center. See: https://www.insightmeditationcenter.org/the-practice-of-generosity/#:~:text=The%20Buddha%20emphasized%20the%20joy,without%20expecting%20anything%20in%20return ; and Ambrosia, Gloria Taraniya, “There’s More to Giving Than We Think” at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, winter 2006. See: https://www.buddhistinquiry.org/article/theres-more-to-giving-than-we-think/ . [4]  Acharya, Kaushik, “ Impact of Vedic Culture on Society ,” Wisdom Library, 2020. See: https://www.wisdomlib.org/history/essay/impact-of-vedic-culture-on-society/d/doc1121346.html . [5]  Deuteronomy 15: 7-8 (New Revised Standard Version). [6]  Matthew 25: 34-37 (New Revised Standard Version). [7]  See the bylaws of the Unitarian Universalist Association. Article 2, lines 54-57. https://www.uua.org/files/2025-07/uua_bylaws_12082025.pdf [8]  Prud’homme, Rev. Dr., Sheri, excerpt from section on “Generosity” in “Theological Reflection on the Proposed Revision to Article II,” (2024), p. 8. See: https://www.uua.org/files/2024-01/articleII_theo_reflection.pdf .

Greetings CYM Families & Friends! I have a few things to share!  First, please note a change to the CYM program schedule: Sunday, March 1st will be an All Ages Sunday service, instead of a classroom day .  Classroom teachers: I will be updating the curriculum schedule to account for this. The nursery will be open as usual on this day, but all other classrooms will be closed and families are invited to attend Sunday service in its entirety together. Next, I wanted to give more information about the upcoming Nightlight Mission than many are excited about, myself included!  This is an event I have previously communicated about with a “mark your calendars” date of Saturday, March 28th from 2pm-9pm.  (But you do not have to stay the whole time to participate.)  This event is being planned and sponsored by our sister congregation, the Unitarian Society of Hartford.  It is modeled after NYC’s successful program“Midnight Run”, and USH has done their own local Nightlight Mission before.  I am so grateful to be invited to engage with this activity! Beginning this coming Sunday, you will see collection bins in the Lobby for donations to the Nightlight Mission.  Needed items include warm socks, gloves, boots, small fleece blankets, hand warmers, snack packs, sweaters and other good quality clothing.  The three area UU congregations are collecting items over the coming weeks, and we will bring what we’ve gathered over to USH on March 28th at 2pm.  At USH, all of the donation items will be sorted and organized by the group of volunteers gathered there.  During this timeframe folks will also be working in the kitchen, cooking up soup, sandwiches, and coffee.  Once all the work is done, we will load up into USH vans and family vehicles and caravan to an area inhabited by unhoused people in Hartford.  A Hartford police officer who specializes in working with the unhoused will accompany us there.  With his assistance we will distribute the goods directly to the unhoused people there.  They are familiar with this process, and it is always appreciated.  And that is the plan!  Families can choose to participate in whatever parts they would like, and its open to all ages.  If any older children or youth would like to attend but need an adult chaperone, I would be happy to bring them with me in my car.  Just let me know! And now, here’s some news from the CYM Committee : General Assembly (GA) is the annual meeting of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA), where participants gather to worship, witness, learn, connect, and make policy decisions for the Association through a democratic process. UUSE is looking for people to attend virtually or at a satellite location. The 2026 GA will be held virtually June 14th-21st.  Check out https://www.uua.org/ga for some info. Are you interested in representing UUSE at this year's General Assembly? Would you be interested in supporting a group of children of youth to attend virtually together from UUSE? Questions? Email Desiree at desiree.holian@gmail.com Stewardship : The CYM steward, Desirée Holian-Borgnis, will be holding "office hours" on Sunday March 15th and 22th from 12-12:30 in the Garden Level Lobby to collect pledges, answer questions and help in any other way. If you have questions or need to meet at a different time please reach out to Desirée at desiree.holian@gmail.com or text 203-206-3605 And now onto this coming Sunday: Here's What's Happening in CYM this Sunday, February 22nd: Children’s Chapel will *NOT* be held this Sunday Nursery : Childcare will be available in our nursery at 11 AM for children age 3 and under.  Sunday Service : “The Generous Spirit” - Rev Josh explores the many ways we manifest generosity and why it matters that we continually cultivate generous spirits.  Kate Kimmerle purchased this service at the 2025 Goods and Services Auction. Coordinator: Rev. Josh Pawelek Time For All Ages : Children and youth in grades 2-12 will attend the beginning of the Sunday service in the Sanctuary on the Main Level. The first two rows on the right are reserved for children and youth to sit together, and families are welcome to join them. After the “Time For All Ages” segment of Sunday service, children and youth will be dismissed to the Garden Level to attend further programming. Spirit Play : “Jetpig Comes to Spirit Play” - Spirit Play children will go directly to their classroom at 11 AM for the day’s lesson, a story about new UU character “Jetpig”.  You may have seen a crocheted pig hanging around the Garden Level, wearing a rainbow jetpack!  Jetpig introduces children to the new UU values language, and a handy tool to remember them!  (JETPIG stands for: J=justice, E=equity, T=transformation, P=pluralism, I=interdependence, G=generosity) Young UUs: "Signs of Welcome: Part 2" - Welcoming others is a sign of our Unitarian Universalist faith. In this session, the children hear a story based on a Hawaiian tale in which Pele, the goddess of fire, visits two families in disguise to teach a lesson of welcoming.  They will also start some of their own art pieces featuring signs of welcome! Jr Youth Group : “Hoot" - O ur Junior Youth will watch a film in two parts, based on Carl Hiaasen’s novel “Hoot” - a tale about a group of middle school children trying to save a burrowing owl habitat from destruction by a developer.  Junior youth are invited to wear their comfiest clothes and hunker down with popcorn and friends in the junior youth classroom this Sunday for part one of the film screening. High School Youth Group: Meets this Sunday, February 22 in the couch room after attending TFAA in the Sanctuary. Bring your imaginations and creativity for a group vision board activity!  Next Affirmation Meeting: Sunday, March 8th will be a full group class in the couch room from 12:30-2. Bring a lunch!  Tentative group outing scheduled for March 21st at 10am. Next OWL Teacher Team Meeting: Sunday, March 8th at 12:45 in classroom #7! See you Sunday! Seasonal Happenings : FEBRUARY Sun, Feb 22: Annual PFLAG "Love is Love" Roller-skate at Ron-A-Roll located at 85 S Frontage Rd, in Vernon, CT. For all ages! "Get ready for our annual LOVE IS LOVE roller skating event! This year’s theme is K-POP DEMON HUNTERS! We will be hosting an auction for everything from themed banners, standees and more! Get your tickets today at the QR Code and message us with any questions." PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) is a longstanding civil rights organization and this family and kid-friendly event is always a fun and fabulous time. See the graphic at the top of this email for the QR code for more info and to buy tickets for the event. MARCH Sun, March 8, 2026: Interfaith Film Series: Soul Co-presented with the Connecticut Council for Interreligious Understanding. Location: Wadsworth Antheneum Museum of Art at 600 Main Street, Hartford, CT Joe Gardner, a middle school music teacher, finally gets his big break playing jazz in New York City, only to find himself unexpectedly separated from his body and transported to the realm where souls develop before birth. There, he teams up with a reluctant soul named 22 to rediscover what it means to live a full and purposeful life. Soul offers a moving reflection on creativity, destiny, and what truly makes life worth living. Free. Museum admission not included. Registration encouraged. 1 hour, 40 minutes. Rated PG. Sat, Mar 28: Nightlight Mission in partnership with USH (Unitarian Society of Hartford): Families with children/youth meet @ 2PM to sort clothes & prepare soup, coffee and sandwiches; @8PM distribute clothing and food to the unhoused. Be on the lookout for an announcement of an upcoming zoom call with CYM for initial talks about logistics for this event.

Gathering Music (Jenn Richard) "Call it Dreaming" by Iron & Wine "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" by Tears for Fears "Today and Every Day" by Dar Williams   Welcome and Announcements   Centering   Prelude “All Will Be Well” Words and music by Meg Barnhouse Song leader: Jenn Richard Chorus: And all will be well And all will be well. All manner of things Will be well.   Chalice Lighting and Opening Words Excerpt from “Generosity” By the Rev. Dr. Sherri Prud-homme Adapted by Rev. Josh Pawelek   Opening Hymn #18 “What Wondrous Love” American Folk Hymn with words by Connie Campbell Hart What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul, what wondrous love is this, O my soul? What wondrous love is this that brings my heart such bliss, and takes away the pain of my soul, of my soul, and takes away the pain of my soul.   When I was sinking down, sinking down, sinking down, when I was sinking down, sinking down, when I was sinking down beneath my sorrows ground, friends to me gather’d round, O my soul, O my soul, friends to me gather’d round, O my soul.   To love and to all friends I will sing, I will sing, to love and to all friends I will sing. To love and to all friends who pain and sorrow mend, with thanks unto the end I will sing, I will sing, with thanks unto the end I will sing. Time for All Ages    Musical Interlude   Joys and Concerns   Musical Interlude   Offering We do not gather our gifts only for ourselves but to share with the larger community. Continuing our practice of sharing our gifts with the community beyond our walls, fifty percent of our Sunday plate collections for the month of February will be shared with Manchester’s African American and Black Affairs Council or AABAC. AABAC is a community-based organization whose mission is to uphold all aspects of the lived experiences of Black people in Manchester through advocacy, education, the arts and community events.   Offering Music “Kind and Generous” By Natalie Merchant Jenn Richard, guitar and vocals   Sermon “The Generous Spirit” Rev. Josh Pawelek   Closing Song “Sanctuary” (adapted) By Randy Scruggs and John Thompson   Love prepare me, to be a sanctuary sure and steady, tried and true With thanksgiving, I’ll be a living sanctuary for you.   Extinguishing the Chalice   Closing Circle May faith in the spirit of life And hope for the community of earth And love of the light in each other Be ours now, and in all the days to come.

Welcome to our Annual Appeal for Fiscal Year 27!  Our theme this year is “ Belonging and Thriving - Together .”  As we are confronted with national uncertainty and discord,  it is vitally important that we build and strengthen our connection to one another and to other supportive communities.  Our shared dedication to community outreach and social justice is essential. Here are the key dates for this year’s Annual Appeal: 03/01 Sunday Service kickoff & signup table for pledging potlucks 03/06 & 13 Pledging potluck weekends 03/17 Pledges due to Annie in the church office 03/19 Stewarding outreach begins 04/06 Annual Appeal ends You can submit your pledge forms by mail, by dropping off into Annie’s inbox, by attending a pledge potluck, or through a steward visit. We are encouraging in-person visits this year!   If you would like to have an in-person visit to discuss your pledge and/or your ideas about the church, you can contact Phil Sawyer at Psawyer215@gmail.com  or 860-633-8655 Our financial goals for the FY27 fiscal year include contracting professional bookkeeping services and restoring some of the financial cuts that were made last year.  The targeted goal is to restore the salary “bump” increases; restore professional expense budgets to 90% of the typical amount; fund the B&G reserve at $10,000 (request was $25,000); and fund the emergency response  equipment at $1500 (request was $3000).  Achieving the FY27 budget rests on an increase in pledge income of 5% with a pledge rate increase of  5-7%.  Here are some examples of the monthly  increase amount: Annual Pledge 5% 7% $500 $2 $3 $1000 $4 $6 $3000 $13 $18 It is with gratitude and joy that we share that we have received a $15,000 grant to encourage us to participate in the increase pledge rate of 5–7% for this year!    Pledge increases of 5% or more will be matched 100%. Please join this challenge grant if you can and if you are not able to meet this rate, please know that your pledges add up to a powerful contribution.  If you would like to establish another pledge match grant for this year, you can contact Louisa Graver at lgraver163@gmail.com  or 860-645-1377. We appreciate your patience and understanding as our church works through the process of balancing our aspirations and our available resources.  Later this year, Trisha Corey-Lisle will lead us in a “ reimagined method of budgeting” to help us achieve this balance.  If you have any questions, you can contact any one of us on the Stewardship Committee. Yours in Spirit, Patricia Wildes (chair), Louisa Graver, Larry Lunden, Stan McMillen, Jerry Myers, and Phil Sawyer

Gathering Music Welcome Centering Prelude "Winter Morning Meditation" by Mary Bopp Chalice Lighting & Opening Words #429 in Singing the Living Tradition by William F. Schultz Come into this place of peace And let its silence heal your spirit; Come into this place of memory And let its history warm your soul; Come into this place of prophecy and power And let its vision change your heart. Opening Hymn "Come Sing a Song With Me" #346 in Singing the Living Tradition Words & Music by Carolyn McDade Come, sing a song with me, come, sing a song with me, come, sing a song with me, that I might know your mind. (Chorus) And I'll bring you hope when hope is hard to find, and I'll bring a song of love and a rose in the wintertime. Come, dream a dream with me, come, dream a dream with me, come, dream a dream with me, that I might know your mind. (Chorus) Come, make a plan with me, come, make a plan with me, come, make a plan with me, that I might know your mind. (Chorus) Come, share a rose with me, come, share a rose with me, come, share a rose with me, that I might know your mind. (Chorus) Time for All Ages "Brave Irene" Written and Illustrated by William Steig Musical Interlude Announcements Joys and Concerns Introduction to the Service Reading "Our Roots of Resilience" by Kimberlee Anne Tomczak Carlson Imagine a Majestic Tree with strong roots Feel the gravity of the earth holding you in place. Wiggle your toes as if they were roots. Roots connect you to the earth lending you strength. Gently sway in the wind, turning your body like a trunk of a tree, Leaning this way and that, bending as the air pushes and pulls. What surrounds you, may sway you, Make you bend and feel unbalanced Wiggle your toes. Know that your roots can hold you as you grow and learn. A tree is nourished by the soil and water. You are nourished by the food the earth grows and the water it provides. You are cared for and loved by many people. Breathe deeply Still yourself Know that your roots are strong. Wiggle your roots. Musical Interlude Reflections from Stan McMillen Musical Interlude Reflections from Jen Edgerton Offering "We do not gather our gifts only for ourselves but to share with the larger community." Continuing our practice of sharing our gifts with the community beyond our walls, fifty percent of our Sunday plate collections for the month of February will be shared with Manchester's African American and Black Affairs Council. Offering Music "The Majestic Tree" by Mary Bopp Reflections from Trisha Corey-Lisle Closing Hymn "May Nothing Evil Cross This Door" #1 in Singing the Living Tradition Words by Louis Untermeyer, Music by Robert N. Quaile May nothing evil cross this door, and may ill fortune never pry about these windows; may the roar and rain go by. By faith made strong, the rafters will withstand the battering of the storm. This hearth, though all the world grow chill, will keep you warm. Peace shall walk softly through these rooms, touching our lips with holy wine, till every casual corner blooms into a shrine. With laughter drown the raucous shout, and, though these sheltering walls are thin, may they be strong to keep hate out and hold love in. Closing Words #684 in Singing the Living Tradition by Duke T. Gray The blessing of truth be upon us, The power of love direct us and sustain us, And may the peace of this community Preserve our going out and coming in, From this time forth, until we Meet again. Extinguishing the Chalice Closing Circle May faith in the spirit of life And hope for the community of earth And love of the light in each other Be ours now, and in all the days to come . INSERTS Vision Statement Unitarian Universalist Society East will be home to a spiritually alive, richly diverse and growing congregation. We will send forth energy, spirit and strength into our beloved communities. We will love, be present to suffering, comfort, heal, bear witness to oppression, and boldly work toward social and environmental justice Adopted by the congregation May 20, 2018 Mission Statement UUSE is a welcoming, open-minded, spiritual community seeking truth and meaning in its many forms. We share responsibility for building a more equitable, peaceful, and sustainable world.