UUFSMA: “The Season of Light”

UU Service
“The Season of Light”

Sunday, December 22, 10:30 a.m.

Hotel La Aldea

by Jon Sievert

This is the season of light and at this Sunday’s UUFSMA service, we will explore the many holidays of light celebrated at this time of year. Our service appropriately falls on the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year when the earth is poised to tilt and welcome the return of the light.

As we walk through town, we see the beautiful lights of the holiday season. Perhaps we hang light in our home or light candles in our windows or on our table. Our fireplaces are burning on the chilly evenings, warming our homes, and we look up and see the stars glittering in the clear night sky. In the words of Tony Perrino:

Candles, fire, and stars

These are the symbols of this most blessed of seasons:

Candles for the banishing of darkness;

Fires to warm hearth and home;

Stars to beckon us, guiding our footsteps to the holiest.

We will light an Advent wreath, a Hanukkiah (Hanukkah menorah), and a Christmas candle and reflect on the star that guided the magi and the bonfires and Yule logs that burned on the Solstice in ancient times. It will be a service full of wonderful music and poetry and reflection on the many different holidays that celebrate the coming or the return of the light. Music from Advent chorales and familiar Christmas carols to Jewish folks tunes, from solos and a chorus from Handel’s Messiah to carols we will all sing, will enrich our service. Our musicians include pianists Paula Peace and Malcolm Halliday, soloists and some chorus members from Chorale San Miguel, and violinist George Figueroa. Our worship leader will be the Fellowship’s Affiliate Minister, The Rev. Tom Rosiello.

Come and receive the beauty and inspiring messages of this most blessed of seasons, and be uplifted by the holiday music and words. Families with children are most welcome, and the morning program includes special activities for them. Whatever tradition or traditions you celebrate at this time of year, we hope that this Sunday you will do so with us. The offering for this service will help fund the newly created Minister’s Discretionary fund to help people in the Fellowship who are experiencing difficult times.

For more information about the UUFSMA, including our Sunday morning Children’s Religious Education program, Social Action outreach, weekly discussion groups, social activities, and Care Team, join us any Sunday at 10:30 a.m. at the Hotel La Aldea or check out our website at uufsma.org.

Our fellowship was born in 1987 when a small group of expatriate religious liberals came together to meet as Unitarian Universalists in San Miguel de Allende. The fellowship has been active and thriving ever since. Every UU church has it’s own flavor, and we are no exception. We are a combination of expats and visitors, each actively engaged and contributing to this wonderful Mexican community we love. Because there is a coming, going, and returning aspect, our spiritual community is extremely fluid.  There is a magic in San Miguel which draws us in and binds us together—both as members of the church and of the larger community. Our programming is led by visiting ministers, community leaders, and church members, so the variety is lively. We have opportunities to meet as UU’s each week at discussion groups, breakfasts, luncheons, and in various other ways. Depending on the season, attendance fluctuates between 40 and 140. Our primary focus is on funding social action within the surrounding community. We love good music, good discussion, good food, and having visitors. We invite you to join us any Sunday morning.

Members regularly post updates and information on this site. We also post meeting minutes and announcements there.

To join our Yahoo group site click on this link:

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/UUFSMA/info

Click on “membership”and follow the directions.

Posting a notice on the Yahoo site is easy. Just go to your regular mail browser, type in the address line: uufsma@yahoogroups.com , type your message and hit send!

We encourage you to use this site to communicate with other local UUs.