UUFSMA: “Our Place in the Abiding Mystery”

UU Service

“Our Place in the Abiding Mystery”

Rev. Wyman Rousseau

Sunday, Aug. 11, 10:30 a.m.

Hotel La Aldea

At this Sunday’s Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Service, the Reverend Wyman Rousseau examines our place in the abiding mystery of the universe as a key to our desire for belonging, acceptance, and hope.

Rev. Rousseau’s address explores the place within each of us that seeks communion with that which we hold most sacred. This is, of course, an individual choice supported by our birthright as one with nature, one with the earth, and one with the universe. In our so-called modern and civilized world, this birthright is often suppressed but always at the ready to be expressed.

With a nod to philosophy and poetry, Wyman leads us on an interior journey of exploration and discovery to reveal the simplicity within the complexity of the age-old questions: “What is our role, our relevance, our place? How do we determine, find, and grow to accept it?”

One of his inspirations is a poem by Pattiann Rogers titled The Greatest Grandeur, where the poet asks herself one day, “What is the grandest gift we receive?”

…Others, for grandeur, choose the terror

Of lightning peals on prairies or the tall

Collapsing cathedrals of stormy seas,

Because there they feel dwarfed

And appropriately helpless; others select

The serenity of that ceiling/cellar 

Of stars they see at night on placid lakes

Because there they feel assured

And universally magnanimous…

Rev, Rousseau has been a Unitarian Universalist minister for 50 years, serving congregations in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Florida and North Carolina. His ministry began amidst the upheavals of the civil rights movement and the walk on the moon. He is the founder of Hospice and Palliative Care of Greensboro, NC, and served six years as the Southeastern Regional Coordinator for the Haiku Society of America. He is also an active member of the board of advisors of Poetry Cafe Bellas Artes, and leads occasional Haiku Mindfulness Walks in El Charco del Ingenio, San Miguel’s botanical garden.

Our guest musicians this week are Michael Moore, principal tuba player for the Atlanta Symphony and pianist Paula Peace.

For more information about the UUFSMA, including our 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 visit our website at uufsma.org. Our Sunday morning Children’s Religious Education program is on summer break until September.

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.