Your Body is Your Body
The chorus of this song by Peter Alsop is “My body’s nobody’s body but mine. You’ve got your own body, let me run mine!” It’s a good little bit of song to keep in your head for times when someone else seems to think that your body should look or act a different way than what is right for you.
All Bodies Need Care
Clara Barton learned in the Universalist church she was raised in that God is love, and that all lives are precious. As she grew up she took those lessons seriously, recognizing that we are called to care for people’s bodies, not just their souls.
Clara Barton cared for bodies as well as souls.
Clara Barton became a teacher, but when the Civil War broke out she was horrified to learn that food and medical supplies weren’t getting to the soldiers, and that many suffered and even died for lack of food, water, and treatment for their injuries.
Although people at the time didn’t think women were strong enough to handle being in the midst of war, Clara raised money for supplies, and snuck in at midnight to a battlefield in Virginia, where she set about cooking food and treating the injured. She even learned how to remove a bullet from a person using just a pen knife!
Clara Barton cared for soldiers from both sides at 14 battle sites. And when the war was over, she was the person who founded the American Red Cross, bringing to the United States the idea of an organization that would care for all people in a crisis, restoring safety and health to bodies.
169: UU Talks with Peter Bowden and Twinkle Manning
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Peter Bowden and “Twinkle” Marie Manning join The VUU to introduce us to the new UU Talks. This initiative helps congregations and other organizations share their own UU values and ideas with the world through Ted Talk-like live events. The videos that are produced can then be distributed both online and on television.
UU Talks provides coaching and mentoring for all the pieces that go into producing, promoting and distributing an event. It is an ideal tool for both small and large organizations to enhance their fundraising incomes, community outreach, and publicity.
UU Talks is hosting their first model event on April 28 with the theme, “Collaboration.” It will be used as an example for how others can host their own UU Talks at their own location.
Learn more at UUTalks.org or on their Facebook page.
The VUU is hosted by Meg Riley, Joanna Fontaine Crawford, Aisha Hauser, Hank Peirce, Michael Tino and Alicia Forde, with production support provided by Terri Burnor. The VUU streams live on Thursdays at 11 am ET. This episode aired on February 2, 2017.
Note: The audio above has been slightly edited for a better listening experience. View the live original recording on YouTube.
The CLF Invites GA Delegates
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Would you like to represent the Church of the Larger Fellowship at General Assembly (GA) this summer? Read more →
Did You Know?
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…that you can listen to Quest Monthly or read (and share) it online? Read more →
Embodiment
February 2017
If anything is sacred, the human body is sacred. —Walt Whitman
Articles
Rise in Body or in Spirit
It was never my goal to become an elder. Over the years I have looked at older men, older than I am, and thought: Someday that might be me. Read more »
Uses of the Erotic
You run into interesting conundrums in church life. For instance, in planning readings for a Valentine’s Day service that honors the erotic, you find that it’s not at all hard to locate some pretty great erotic poems; it’s just a challenge to come up with ones that you can read aloud in church. Read more »
The Least Embodied Church
The CLF is perhaps the least embodied church you will ever find. Read more »
From Your Minister
I’ve always thought that God the Father had a really sick relationship with Mother Earth. Read more »
Biscuits and Star Stuff
“Mama,” said Quinn. “What’s up?” Mama asked. She could see the sun shining on the top of Quinn’s curly hair. She measured another spoonful of mayonnaise into the bowl. Mama was making drop biscuits. Read more »
The CLF Invites GA Delegates
Would you like to represent the Church of the Larger Fellowship at General Assembly (GA) this summer? Read more »
Did You Know?
Did you know that you can listen to Quest Monthly or read (and share) it online? Read more »
168: Prophetic Faith Development with Judith Frediani
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We talk with Judith Frediani about religious educators as community organizers and how they apply an intersectional lens in curricula that benefits all parts of congregational life. We also go deep into rankism and the many ways people assert their superiority. In our UU faith movement, this manifests itself around credentialing for religious educators and potential fragility of ministers.
Judith has long been a staunch advocate for religious educators and the importance of their leadership in UUism. At the 2016 UUA General Assembly, she was recognized for her outstanding contributions to religious education.
Show notes:
- Judith’s Odyssey presentation at the 2016 LREDA Conference
- 2016 LREDA Conference YouTube playlist
- UUA Tapestry of Faith curricula
- Our Whole Lives (OWL) Sexuality Education
- TEDxBerkeley talk with Dr. Robert Fuller, who coined the term rankism
- Childism: Confronting Prejudice Against Children by Elisabeth Young-Bruehl (Amazon)
The VUU is hosted by Meg Riley, Joanna Fontaine Crawford, Aisha Hauser, Hank Peirce, Michael Tino and Alicia Forde, with production support provided by Terri Burnor. The VUU streams live on Thursdays at 11 am ET. This episode aired on January 26, 2017.
Note: The audio above has been slightly edited for a better listening experience. View the live original recording on YouTube.
167: Black Lives of UU
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Leslie Mac and Lena K. Gardner join The VUU from the Black Lives of UU organizing collective. We talk about assumptions around authority, decentering whiteness, humility and the need for liberal white folks to first do the work within and not expect kudos for not voting for Trump.
Show notes:
- Inaugural Black Lives of UU Convening in New Orleans, LA on March 9 – 12, 2017
- Safety Pin Box
- Recording of Standing on the Side of Love’s pre-march webinar with Lena K. Gardner, Caitlen Breedlove and Rev. Ashley Horan
- “Liberals love to kill movements with bureaucracy, not outright resistance.” — Rev. Ashley Horan
- What’s Next After All the Marches? Organize by Brittney T. Oliver
The VUU is hosted by Meg Riley, Joanna Fontaine Crawford, Aisha Hauser, Hank Peirce, Michael Tino and Alicia Forde, with production support provided by Terri Burnor. Tom Shade joined the hosting crew this week. The VUU streams live on Thursdays at 11 am ET. This episode aired on January 19, 2017.
Note: The audio above has been slightly edited for a better listening experience. View the live original recording on YouTube.
166: The Religious Right with Peter Montgomery
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The VUU talks with Peter Montgomery about religion and politics, the global impact of the religious right, the religiosity behind fascism, and the countering power of the arts and beauty. Peter is a writer who has studied religious conservatives for close to two decades. In this past presidential campaign, he attended the GOP Convention and a number of Trump rallies.
Peter is a well-regarded writer/thinker and a source for national media. Follow his work:
Peter finds inspiration and hope in this quote by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (referenced at the end of the show):
A [person] should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of [their] life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.
The VUU is hosted by Meg Riley, Joanna Fontaine Crawford, Aisha Hauser, Hank Peirce, Michael Tino and Alicia Forde, with production support provided by Terri Burnor. The VUU streams live on Thursdays at 11 am ET. This episode aired on January 12, 2017.
Note: The audio above has been slightly edited for a better listening experience. View the live original recording on YouTube.
