Coming Up in May!

Midweek sharing and healing circle
Beltane: May Day and Workers Day. A celebration of the renewal of spring and a celebration of the work we all do, and the people who labor. What do these two have in common? Come for a sharing and healing circle. Come to share your stories of renewal through dedication to a cause or commitment or celebrate the common person’s struggle for dignity. Some may be invited to share their offerings again at the worship service the following week. Wednesday May 9th at 7 PM Buchan 202-203.
For more information, contact intern minister Amy Beltaine at abeltaine@firstunitarianportland.org

Midweek Service

Wednesday May 16: Beltane: May Day and Workers day
Beltane: May Day and Workers Day. A celebration of the renewal of spring and a celebration of the work we all do, and the people who labor. What do these two have in common? Bel-Tinne or Fire of the sun God (Belenos) is a Celtic holiday for blessing the livestock. International Workers Day commemorates the Haymarket Massacre in Chicago in 1886, when police fired at people striking for the right to an 8 hour workday.  Join us as we light a bonfire for the work that we all do and celebrate those who labor in factories, farms, shops, homes, and offices. Wednesday May 16th at 7 PM Buchan 101-102.
For more information, contact intern minister Amy Beltaine at abeltaine@firstunitarianportland.org

Sacred Fool Service

The Sacred Fool
The Trickster, the Prankster, the Jester and the Muse. Keep us humble by revealing our limitations; show us that anything is possible when you let go of expectations; teach us the healing power of laughter; inspire us to share our joy and sadness so that others may laugh and learn and grow; remind us to see the world with new eyes; and sting us out of complacence and stagnation, returning us to the path. Travel with Mona Warner (voice/banjo) and Amy Beltaine (intern Minister) to find the healing side of humor and surprise. 7 PM Buchan 101-102 Wed. April 18. More information: abeltaine@firstunitarianportland.org

HOMILY:
Wednesday Service Apr. 18
First Unitarian Church of Portland Oregon
The Sacred Fool
Order of Service

“When you step out in faith like the Fool, others may declare you insane. And the end result (or what I call “the form”) is never guaranteed. What is certain though, is that you can’t be The Magician unless you’re first willing to be The Fool.” ~Kimberly Schneider
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(1) Prelude – “Turtles all the Way Down” by Cassandra Sagan performed by Mona Warner
(3) Welcome – Amy Beltaine - Story from Copper Woman by Anne Cameron
(2) Call to Worship - “Swans” from Swans by Mary Oliver
(2) Chalice Lighting - The Bluebird Wish
(3) Singing together – “Happiness Runs” by Donovan (See Music Notes)
(4) A Coyote Moment – Ministerial Candidate Kevin Lawson
(3) Singing together – Simple Gifts (See Music Notes)
(15) Homily - Sacred Fool - Minister Amy Beltaine
(15) Activity/Sharing – Your Fool’s Journey Fable - with Music by Mona Warner
(3) Singing together - “Surrender” (See Music Notes)
(1) Chalice Extinguishing – The Circle is Open (See Music Notes)
(1)Benediction – “For the Artist at the Start of Day”, from To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings by John O’Donahue

To have fun.
To learn to make beautiful things.
To remember to finish what I begin.
To want to keep my temper most of the time.
To learn about trees and flowers and all of nature.
To have adventures with all sorts of things.
To make friends.

For the Service April 15th: The Bounce

The Bounce. Finding our resiliance. Why do many people and organizations crumble in the face of difficulty, while others use adversity to bounce back even stronger? The experience of bounce can range from an uncanny feeling of levitation to a supreme tranquil relaxation. It is precisely when all seems lost that the opportunity exists to rewire your brain. It's often during life's most difficult times that we discover our most critical hidden strengths and that we forge our most important capabilities.

-Harriet Tubman : “if you hear the dogs, keep going. If you see the torches, keep going. If you hear them shouting, keep going. If you want a taste of freedom, keep going.

- bell hooks : “Contrary to what we may have been taught to think, unnecessary and unchosen suffering wounds us but need not scar us for life. It does mark us. What we allow the mark of our suffering to become is in our own hands.”

- Howard Thurman : I have never since lost sight of the far-flung mystery and redemption of the sacrament of pain.

It is small wonder that so much is made in the Christian religion of the necessity of rebirths.  There need not be only one single rebirth, but again and again a man may be reborn until at last there is nothing that remains between him and God.

[Alice Walker describes her  book, The Way Forward is with a Broken Heart as]...” the stories that came to me to be told after the close of a magical marriage to an extraordinary man that ended in a less-than-magical divorce. I found myself unmoored, unmated, ungrounded in a way that challenged everything I'd ever thought about human relationships. Situated squarely in that terrifying paradise called freedom, precipitously out on so many emotional limbs, it was as if I had been born; and in fact I was being reborn as the woman I was to become."
- Alice Walker