[Fuusm-l] Three ways to access May 24 Memorial Day Service and Order of Service

Fri May 22 14:40:53 CDT 2020

How to Access the Service

This week the service is pre-recorded and will be available from three sources.

1) Youtube: Only available with this link (i.e. not  searchable):        https://youtu.be/1LGK3eYaHI8

2) The church's Facebook Page, (a direct link to the page is at the bottom of the home page of our website  fuusm.org), and

3) Ralph Olander will play it via screen share at the usual ZOOM session starting at 11:00 (or so).

Sun. May 24, 2020 (11am) Join Zoom Meeting

https://zoom.us/j/92574076629?pwd=UWM3ZnJBM0dLMEdzVk4yOFJ6V2dGUT09

Meeting ID: 925 7407 6629 Password: FUUSM2323

Dial by location   +1 301 715 8592 (Germantown)    +1 312 626 6799 (Chicago)

Meeting ID: 925 7407 6629 Password: 267064

This info will also be available on the FUUSM website Homepage in the Announcement for this service.

First Unitarian Universalist Society of Marietta

232 Third Street, Marietta, OH     www.fuusm.org

Order of Service for Memorial Day Remote Service on May 24, 2020

The Reverend Kat Hawbaker and Martha McGovern

"Accepting the Torch"

*Recorded Gathering Music - "Down A Country Lane" - Randall Kidder

Welcome:  Welcome to the May 24th service of the First Unitarian Universalist Society of Marietta.  Our minister, The Reverend Kathryn Hawbaker, and I,  Martha McGovern, will be leading the worship together today.  

As part of the Marietta Community, we acknowledge that our building occupies the traditional land of various Native American tribes, and we try to walk respectfully and lightly upon that land.  Though our building is historic, we seek to be a liberal religious voice and example in the Mid-Ohio Valley community by interacting with open minds, loving hearts, and helping hands.  

Today's service observes Memorial Day, a day dedicated to honoring  those who served in the armed forces and to mourning those who sacrificed their lives for our country and its ideals.  This year, we realize in a new way the meaning of "service" to the common good of our country.  We are filled with gratitude and admiration for all those on the front line of battle against the pandemic and for all those doing their parts - large and small - in this common public health effort.  

Chalice Lighting:  #434                (Anon.)

            May we be reminded by the chalice flame of our highest aspirations, and inspired to bring our gifts of love and service to the altar of humanity.  

May we know once again that we are not isolated beings but connected, in mystery and miracle, to the universe, to this community and to each other.    

*#360 Here We Have Gathered - verses 1 and 3  

            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.

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.

Homily/Reflection

For many of us, Memorial Day stirs up a mixture of emotions.  Perhaps some of us are more inclined to expend our efforts to build peace than to take up arms for battle.  Perhaps for some of us it is difficult to think about the scars and sorrows that wars have visited upon our friends and families.  Nevertheless, Memorial Day calls for us to face reality and to give respect to those who have fallen.

The reflection today will consist primarily of two poems.  The first poem is "Take Him, Earth, for Cherishing."  It is a variation on a poem by Roman Christian poet Prudentius of the 4th Century.  The solemn words of the poem describe surrendering  the bodies of fallen warriors to the embrace of the Earth: 

Take Him, Earth, for Cherishing

Bodies, human, do I bring thee.  

Take them, Earth, for cherishing; 

To thy tender breast receive them, 

Noble even in their ruin.

Take, O take them, mighty Earth.

Take again thy servants' souls.

Engrave their names and pour a fragrant

Balm upon their icy stones.

Take them, Earth, for cherishing;

To thy tender breast receive them.

Noble even in their ruin,

Bodies, human, do I bring thee.

Take them Earth, for cherishing.

The second poem is reading #583 in our hymnal, "The Young Dead Soldiers" by Archibald MacLeish.  This poem emphasizes that we, the living, inherit the responsibility to carry on, to defend the ideals of our republic, to learn from the past and to take steps for the preservation of the health not only of our nation but also of the greater world.  The word "health" in this context refers to all aspects of a healthy democratic society. 

 The Young Dead Soldiers  by Archibald MacLeish

The young dead soldiers do not speak.

Nevertheless, they are heard in the still houses: who has not heard 

            them?

They have a silence that speaks for them at night and when the 

            clock counts.

They say: We were young. We have died. Remember us.

They say: We have done what we could but until it is finished it is 

            not done.

They say: We have given our lives but until it is finished no one can 

            know what our lives gave.

They say: Our deaths are not ours; they are yours; they will mean 

            what you make them.

They say: Whether our lives and our deaths were for peace and a 

            new hope or for nothing we cannot say; it is you who must 

            say this.

They say: We leave you our deaths.  Give them their meaning.

We were young, they say. We have died. Remember us.

Interlude - "Where Have All The Flowers Gone" - Peter, Paul & Mary

I recommend to you the children's book The Poppy Lady: Moina Belle Michael and Her Tribute to Veterans by Barbara Elizabeth Walsh.  

            During World War I, Moina supported the soldiers in many ways - knitting socks and sweaters; rolling bandages for the Red Cross; delivering books, magazines, and candy to their camps; wishing them well as they departed from the train station.  (Her actions remind me of the mask-making, food distribution, and cheering that many have done in recent days.)

Then, when she was considered too old to be a canteen worker for soldiers on leave, Moina wondered what else she could do to be supportive.  She read the poem "We Shall Not Sleep" by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae about soldiers buried in Flanders Field.  The poem ends with the words:  

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields.

Moina realized what she could do.  She committed herself to using the symbol of the red poppy as a way both to honor the fallen and to raise funds for the needs of returning service-men and women and their families.  Now - at both Memorial Day and Veterans Day - we can make donations to veterans' groups and wear red poppies to show our appreciation for the service they have given.  

We can also act on our own commitments to ongoing service in defense of the common good and toward the strengthening of peaceful, just societies worldwide.  The pandemic has revealed many weak spots in our safety nets and many holes of injustice in our economic and social fabric.  Let us move forward with the faith and quiet strength of flowers toward transformation.

Interlude - "Tears Next Door" by Maggie Baugh (from Youtube)

Extinguishing of Chalice/Benediction 

Words of #184  Be Ye Lamps Unto Yourselves  (words of Gautama Buddha)

As we, warriors all, extinguish the chalice and rejoin the world, let us heed the words of Buddha:

            Be ye lamps unto yourselves; be your own confidence; hold 

            to the truth within yourselves as to the only lamp.

Remembrance in the Memorial Garden

"When We Are Gone" - Rev. Kat Hawbaker

"Remembering Our Own"  -  Music: "Be Ye Lamps Unto Yourselves" by Chancel Choir 1st UU Church of Oakland

Memorial Garden

Rev. Benjamin Clark,    Hilda Feaster,    Ruth Tepley,    Allen & Jean Rupp

Viola Stegner,    Esther & Lee Walp,    Dr. Robert Putnam,    Clyde Cokeley,

Ethel Goddard,    Jules & Mary Simon,    Ethel & Raymond Guthrie,

Ruth Barry,    Golda & Eleanor Barrows,    Mildred & Louis B. Kalter,

Mabel Weinstock,    Dawn Inabnet,    Goldie Haas,    Iva B. Dutton,    Gen Mills,

Luana Maddox,    L.P. McGovern,    Doris Gracey

The Harrison Family,    Cynthia & Darryl Ting,    Nancy & Ernie Novak

Please join us for Check-In on Zoom immediately following the service.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Many thanks to Ralph Olander for patiently recording the service, for skillfully creating the final video for today's service, and for successfully identifying a way to share it with the congregation.

Cakes for the Queen of Heaven

Mondays (6:30-8pm) via Zoom Meeting (May 4 - June 8 2020)

https://zoom.us/j/9062049940?pwd=MVNHektOdjhtY2tzaHh1OEU1S2NkZz09

Meeting ID: 906 204 9940 Password: fuusm2323

Dial by location +1 929 205 6099 (NY) +1 301 715 8592 (Germantown)

For phone call access- Meeting ID: 906 204 9940 Password: 478151

May 25 Session 3 

Wed. Noon Meditation Link

Join Zoom Meeting

https://zoom.us/j/99767681123?pwd=aXpHYk5weEJBRW1uc2FZNG9zUE9Odz09

Meeting ID: 997 6768 1123 Password: OmWed12

Dial in by phone +1 929 205 6099 (New York) +1 301 715 8592 (Germantown)

Meeting ID: 997 6768 1123 Password: 814151

Sun. May 31 Annual Meeting (11am)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://zoom.us/j/92574076629?pwd=UWM3ZnJBM0dLMEdzVk4yOFJ6V2dGUT09

Meeting ID: 925 7407 6629 Password: FUUSM2323

Dial by location   +1 301 715 8592 (Germantown)    +1 312 626 6799 (Chicago)

Meeting ID: 925 7407 6629 Password: 267064

Please notify the office (fuusm)

Please register/RSVP for the Annual Congregational Meeting and answer 2 questions for UUA data collection purposes. If we don't ask, we are only guessing.

Your registration will help us manage this new kind of meeting and enhance our democratic process. While only members are authorized to vote, friends and guests may speak and listen at meetings.

Do you plan to attend the Annual Congregational Meeting by Zoom? 

(1) Do you identify as a person of color (which may include African Descent, Asian/Pacific Islander, Caribbean, Latinx, Hispanic, Middle Eastern/Arab, Native/American Indian and other indigenous ancestry, and Multiracial)?

(2) Do you identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer (LGBTQ)?

The Today's Issues group is resuming its regular meetings, Sunday at 9:30, in Zoom until such time as in-person meetings are advisable.

The Zoom Room opens at 9 a.m. at the following URL: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88222987556

Discussion goes from 9:30 to 11, at which time you can switch to the UU church service.

If you prefer you can dial in by telephone (but you won't see the pictures):

+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) or +1 929 205 6099 US (New York) Meeting ID: 882 2298 7556

Building and Grounds meeting is this Sunday, May 24th, at 9:30am. We will meet via Zoom and I will send out an agenda and a Zoom link later in the week. Please let me know if you have items for the agenda.

Thanks, Joe

LOOKING AHEAD

Sat. June 6 Plant Sale

Sun. June 7  Flower Communion

Due to coronavirus concerns, the plant sale committee has decided to postpone our big plant sale until the fall. However, we will be holding a smaller members and friends sale: online presales only with pickup on June 6. Please stay tuned for details.

If you were planning to donate plants to the sale, hooray! We can always use more plants to sell. 

However, because we are creating an online catalog, we will need very specific information from you:

. plant name

. number of plants/clumps/containers (because we can sell only as many as we have)

. size of plant/container (to allow us to price them for the online catalog)

. plant description-& if you have a photo, that is even better!

. whether it is a native plant (if you know)

. growing requirements (sun/shade, how much water, that kind of thing)

Please send your list of plants to me (bennphil at hotmail.com) no later than 11:00 PM Sunday, May 24. 

The online catalog should arrive in your e-mail inbox on May 30. Details on how to order will

arrive in a later message

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