Midweek service for February

Imbolc: Redivining the Body
“Imbolc” or “Brigid” is the Celtic festival of early spring, also celebrated as Candlemas, and in the U.S. as Groundhogs day. (All of these related holidays are usually observed on February 2nd.) As we emerge from our winter coats, what do we see? Is the shadow we cast whole or are we looking at all the ways in which we are not perfect? Let us gather to divine our miraculous bodies, our beautiful souls. If you have ever thought that your body is too fat or thin or your hearing aid is a flaw... If you have ever run into an inaccessible doorway or airplane seat or experienced disrespect for your service dog... Join us to re-member, to re-divine our sacred selves. Let us stand together on the side of love for every-body!
7PM Buchan 101/102 Wednesday Feb 15

midweek sharing and healing circle
If you have ever thought that your body is too fat or thin or your hearing aid is a flaw... If you have ever run into an inaccessible doorway or airplane seat or experienced disrespect for your service dog... If you have ever been treated as “less than” because of your complexion or gender... Come for a sharing and healing circle. Come to share your stories, or readings which have helped you to remember your sacred self. Some may be invited to share their offerings again at the worship service the following week. Come to remember that we are whole and sacred and have worth. Wednesday Feb. 8 7PM Buchan 202.
For more information, contact intern minister Amy Beltaine at abeltaine@firstunitarianportland.org

Wednesday Service Feb. 15
First Unitarian Church of Portland Oregon
Imbolc: Redivining the Body
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No-one is immune from messages about your body. 5 years ago, American men spent: $4 billion on exercise equipment and health club memberships, $3 billion on grooming aids and fragrances, and $800 million on hair transplants. Americans spent over $59.7-billion on diet products last year. Hair straighteners and bleaching cream are used to change hair and skin color and texture. Ten years ago there were at least 43 million Americans living with disabilities that had some significant impact on one or more major life activities. Yet we rarely see them portrayed in movies and even have special ‘sheltered’ workplaces which keep people with disabilities segregated from the rest of society. Each one of you here today may have something that you feel is imperfect, or challenging about your body. There are many ways that we are taught to hate our bodies, all different, and all based on expectations that we conform to a norm that, was never, and will never be, normal. We are here to day to stand on the side of love for every body. No matter how thin, how fat, how able-bodied, no matter what color or gender or orientation. No matter how your brain functions. You are lovable and have inherent worth and dignity. We are here to ask our bodies for forgiveness for all the harsh things we have said and thought about them, and to accept the blessing of forgiveness and celebrate our precious and miraculous bodies, together. We are here to stand on the side of love for EVERY body.
Call to Worship “Let Us Worship” by Kenneth Patton (adapted)
Let us worship with our eyes and ears and fingertips
Let us love the world through heart and mind and body.
We feed our selves with the mystery and revelation in the stories of our brothers and sisters.
We seek to know the wistfulness of the very young and the very old, the wistfulness of people in all times of life.
Let us worship with the opening of all the windows of our beings, with the full outstretching of our spirits.
Life comes with singing, and laughter, with tears and confiding, with a rising wave too great to be held in the mind and heart and body, to those who have falen in love with life.
Let us worship, and let us learn to love.