Send in the Clowns
Most of us only see clowns in parades and circuses. But for refugees and people who cannot go back to their homes, there are not many parades or circuses, and the children who live in the refugee communities don’t get to see many clowns-or have a lot of fun in general. It’s a hard life for anyone, especially for children, but these clowns are clowning for a cause!
Clowns without Borders is a troupe of performers who visit refugee camps and displaced communities and perform for them. They juggle, they do magic tricks, they make everyone laugh and smile. For more than 20 years, these joyful folks have brought joy to the loves of people who have experienced great struggles and loss. They call it Resilience Through Laughter.
Why is this posted in the UU & You section of Family Quest? Because there are UUs participating in Clown Without Borders today! Here’s an interview with lifelong Unitarian Universalist Sarah Foster:
Sarah Liane Foster, a lifelong Unitarian Universalist, traveled as a professional clown with Clowns Without Borders to Haiti, Turkey, Colombia, Swaziland, and South Africa where children have experienced conflict and injustice. “Laughter is a critical way to heal trauma,” Sarah said. You can read more about Sarah’s story in the Spring 2016 Family pages of UU World as well!
A Forgiveness Ritual
Rev. Rob Eller-Isaacs wrote a ritual of forgiveness for Unitarian Universalists, based on the Jewish Yom Kippur service. In this ritual, everyone repeats: “I forgive myself and I forgive you. We begin again in love.”
When someone hurts us, or we hurt others, the goal is not only that the person who was hurt forgives, we also need to forgive ourselves, and to start over in love. For those times when someone hurts you, or you hurt someone else, you might want to keep this in your pocket: “I forgive myself and I forgive you. We begin again in love.”
Anne Lamott and the Pee-Pee Tweet
OK, honey, you know we love you, right? We love your novels and your essays and your memoirs and your wonderful Facebook posts. We love that you see your own imperfections, which look so much like ours, and that you are so clear that God treasures each of us in the presence of those imperfections, not in spite of them. Read more →
Healing
April 2015
“Healing yourself is connected with healing others.” —Maya Angelou
Articles
The Healing Touch
For most of my childhood and adult life, I had been very dismissive of miracles portrayed in the New Testament, including the healing stories. Read more »
Notice of Annual Meeting
Per Article VII, Sections 1 and 2, of the Church of the Larger Fellowship (CLF) Bylaws, the 42nd Annual Meeting will be held via conference call and screen sharing on June 18, 2015 at 6:00PM Eastern Time. Read more »
We Go to the Sea
When my dad was a kid, his father had a stroke. Everyone in their church clucked their tongues. It’s too bad, they said, that God had seen fit for that to happen. Read more »
Praying in the Wind
Today, howling winds, too often heard in these parts, tear through the glass windows sealed for comfort. Incorrigible. Read more »
Healing
Don’t speak to me of “healing” racism, Or “wounded souls” or the “painful hurt” Until you are willing to look at my skin Read more »
From Your Minister
I told someone with a long-term illness—in this person’s case, chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)—that I was writing a column on healing. Healing, she said. I’ve come to dislike that word intensely. Read more »
REsources for Living
There are plenty of things to wonder about in the Easter story, but here’s one of them. If Jesus was a miracle healer, someone who cured everything from blindness to skin disease, someone who even raised a man from the dead, then why didn’t he heal himself? Read more »
A Refuge of Spiritual Reflection
Quest Monthly is a refuge of spiritual reflection for thousands, and CLF’s online presence has been a healing sanctuary for many across the globe. Read more »
Did You Know…
Did you know that archived CLF online worship services are available to view at any time? Search on YouTube for “Church of the Larger Fellowship” and click on the “Playlists” tab. Read more »
A Tomb Is No Place to Stay
A tomb is no place to stay, Be it a cave in the Judaean hills Or the dark cavern of the spirit. Read more »
The Healing Touch
Podcast: Download (9.9MB)
Subscribe: More
For most of my childhood and adult life, I had been very dismissive of miracles portrayed in the New Testament, including the healing stories. Read more →
Notice of Annual Meeting
Podcast: Download (1.8MB)
Subscribe: More
Notice to all members of the Church of the Larger Fellowship, Unitarian Universalist
Per Article VII, Sections 1 and 2, of the Church of the Larger Fellowship (CLF) Bylaws, the 42nd Annual Meeting will be held via conference call and screen sharing on June 18, 2015 at 6:00PM Eastern Time. Read more →
We Go to the Sea
Podcast: Download (12.6MB)
Subscribe: More
When my dad was a kid, his father had a stroke. Everyone in their church clucked their tongues. It’s too bad, they said, that God had seen fit for that to happen. Read more →
Praying in the Wind
Podcast: Download (3.1MB)
Subscribe: More
Today, howling winds, too often heard in these parts, tear through the glass windows sealed for comfort. Incorrigible. Read more →
Healing
Podcast: Download (1.9MB)
Subscribe: More
Don’t speak to me of “healing” racism,
Or “wounded souls” or the “painful hurt”
Until you are willing to look at my skin
And see the whip marks on my great-great-grandmother Laury’s body. Read more →