Learning and exploration are about the transformation of the individual, our community, and the larger society. Participation helps us grow in wisdom, compassion, and ethical living. See below for our April activities, programs, and workshops for adults.
To contact the facilitator in regard to any offering, you may email AdultRE@UUSM.org with the title of the group in the subject line. Your email will be forwarded. Please note that currently, all offerings are facilitated through Zoom. Contact Teri Lucas for more information and the link to the Zoom meeting.
Do you have a passion or an expertise? Are you a chef or a gardener, a historian or an actor? Would you like to offer some help, support, or some frivolity to our UU community via Zoom? We’re seeking programming that is fun, informative, and engaging. Please let us know if there’s something you’d like to offer and the Adult RE Committee will help you to do it. Email the Adult RE Committee (AdultRE@UUSM.org) or Teri Lucas (uusmREassist@uusm.org) and we can work with you on presenting your ideas.
Special Offering for April:
Parenting your Challenging Child/Teen: Building Resilience Wednesdays April 7, 14, 21
Parenting can be a challenging experience for all of us. It requires us to be patient, empathetic, and resilient, especially when conflicts arise. Join us in a discussion about these challenges in a safe and supportive space. We will share tools and strategies for dealing with the inevitable conflicts that arise in parenting. The group will be carefully facilitated and guided by a highly experienced clinical social worker who, herself, has dealt with many of these challenges. Resa has been a psychotherapist with Kaiser Permanente for 40 years. This group will meet from 6:00 – 7:30 pm. Contact Resa Foreman.
Community Building Through Personal Development:
Nature Journaling – Sunday, April 18
Come and join us in observing, learning about, and enjoying nature. Whether you are spending some time outdoors or not stepping out your front door at all, you can still enjoy and appreciate nature. You are welcome to join even if you have no knowledge of nature, botany, drawing, or writing. Spring has arrived and flowers are everywhere. We will spend this session learning about, thinking about, and observing flowers. Flowers have tremendous diversity and are fascinating to look at closely. We will do a little botany, some drawing, and some writing. You are very welcome to join even if you have no knowledge of flowers, drawing, or writing. The nature journaling group has been meeting monthly to contemplate, write about, and draw various aspects of nature. It is a way to slow down and come to a deeper appreciation of the world around us. No knowledge, skill, or experience is necessary and new participants are always welcome. People who attend these groups remark that they are reminded of times in childhood when they had the time to get lost in wonder at the natural world. As adults, we rarely give ourselves that permission. We will meet from 2:30 – 4:00 pm. Contact: Dorothy Steinicke.
Ukulele Strum and Sing Along Saturday, April 24
Come and play ukulele with us or join with another strumming instrument. We recommend a familiarity with the ukulele for this online format but all levels are welcome (beginner to advanced). Bring a ukulele to our Zoom meeting and chords and lyrics will be provided in advance with a few folks prepared to lead some songs. We will share tips and support each other, pulling from a wide range of music. We will need your email contact information by April 23rd, so that we can send you the music ahead of time. This event is for ages 15 and up, or 10 and up if accompanied by a guardian. We will gather from 9:30 – 10:45 am. Contact: Kim Kalmanson.
Exploration of Ideas:
Science Non-Fiction Book Discussion Tuesday, April 20
We will discuss “Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams,” by Matthew Walker. The important role of sleep is increasingly seen to ward off Alzheimer’s and COVID-19. What happens when we sleep? That is becoming more possible to determine as technology advances. All are welcome. We meet from 7:30 – 9:00 pm. Contact: Rebecca Crawford, sci-nonfiction@uusm.org.
UU Men’s Group Thursdays, April 1 and 15
The Men’s Group offers a special opportunity to the men of the congregation and other like-minded men to join our welcoming group in provocative and stimulating discussion and to get to know others with UU perspectives in a more meaningful way. The topic for Thursday, April 1 is: “Try to sum up in a few sentences what it was like for you growing up as a boy (i.e., the years preceding high school). What is one fond and one negative memory that especially stands out in your mind? In what ways has your recollection of your boyhood shaped your adult life?” The topic for Thursday, April 15 is: “An old philosophy of education was summed up by the phrase ‘a sound mind in a sound body.’ Did anything you learned about physical education in high school or college lead you to an exercise regimen and goals for your physical conditioning as an adult?” We meet the first and third Thursdays of the month at 7:30 pm via Zoom. For more information, contact Jim Rheinwald.
Meditations:
Open Meditation Mondays, April 12, 26
We gather twice a month to sit together quietly for 20 minutes, to walk with gentle awareness for seven minutes, and to explore the integration of meditation with ordinary life through reading and sharing. Anyone who senses they would benefit from 20 minutes of silent, non-guided sitting is welcome to join us. We have found that this time of quiet meditation and shared exploration can be deeply nourishing – a time of simply “being” amidst all the “doing” of our lives. We meet from 7:30 – 9:00 pm. Contacts: Bev Shoenberger or Carol Ring.
Open Meditation: Wellsprings All Wednesdays and Fridays
These are exceptional times. Taking this time for quiet meditation and sharing in the intimacy of having sat in silence together can help sustain and ground us during these difficult days. We trust each of you will use this group in the way that fits your needs. We listen to brief readings, sit together quietly for twenty minutes, journal, and share with each other what’s on our hearts. We simply sit together in our shared humanity. We call off the struggle to become other than we are. These are drop-in groups. You are welcome to join us when it feels right to you. If you come in late or need to leave early, just do so quietly. We meet every Wednesday and Friday afternoon from 12:00 noon – 1:00 pm online. Contact: Bev Shoenberger.
