Joe Zahka in the cloud forest near the equator.

Earthwatch is a non-profit with an interesting charter – to connect people to issues about their environment. It is Ecotourism with a scientific slant. Joe Zahka, physics and engineering teacher and a UUCiA member, journeyed to Ecuador’s “cloud forest” last month to work with a team of researchers for the nonprofit conservation organization Earthwatch. Joe will describe Earthwatch and its mission Sunday, August 1 at 9:30am at 6 Locke Street.  Come and share your stories of connecting with the environment. How has it changed the way you live your life in the USA.

Our annual Cape Cod Retreat in Brewster, Massachusetts proved once again to be a splendid time for all.

As is our tradition, all are welcome to share a joy or a concern with the congregation as a pebble is dropped in the communal water while standing, or sitting, where you are seated.

Let us remember to hold in our hearts the joys and sorrows of the whole company of humanity, whether they are spoken and shared or silent and solitary. May we find peace, wisdom, joy, and compassion along the way in our journeys. So may it be.

At the 2010 Unitarian Universalist General Assembly, the delegates chose “Immigration as a Moral Issue” as our Congregational Study/Action Issue for the next four years.  What does it mean to Stand on the Side of Love with our immigrant sisters and brothers?  What is the spirituality of welcoming the stranger?  What does the New Sanctuary Movement, a coalition of interfaith religious leaders and congregations responding to the suffering of our immigrant brothers and sisters, have to offer us?  On Sunday, September 26 at 10:30am, [Directions] Rev. M. Lara Hoke will lead us in worship as we begin to think together about immigration as a moral issue.  Please join us.

In the past few months, we have witnessed a surge in anti-Muslim sentiment in this country. We saw the fear and furor around the discussion of a Community Center and Mosque being built in New York City two blocks from “Ground Zero”. More recently, we have learned that a small congregation in Gainesville, Florida, plans to burn copies of the Qur’an (the holy Scripture of Islam) on September 11.

As Unitarian Universalists, it is our calling to speak against bigotry; it is our calling to speak out for religious tolerance and interfaith understanding; it is our calling to stand on the side of love with our Muslim sisters and brothers who are being persecuted, scapegoated, and targeted for hatred.

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