Super Bowl and Souper Bowl of Caring

Brady's locker, with Ganesh (photo found here).

Okay, I'll just cut to the chase here. I'm a huge New England Patriots fan. What a Super Bowl that was, huh? Unbelievable.

I was interested to learn that Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has Ganesh in his locker ("remover of obstacles" from the Hindu tradition). Who knew?

But as much as I enjoy watching football, at the end of the day, it's just a game. The Super Bowl is the most watched television show in the United States, but that doesn't make it the most important thing happening, of course. One of the most important things happening is that there are people right here in this country who need some help getting by. That's why the Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Andover participated in the Souper Bowl of Caring on February 1.

According to the website, this was the 25^th anniversary of the Souper Bowl of Caring, which was created in 1990 when a simple prayer (“even as we enjoy the Super Bowl football game, help us be mindful of those who are without a bowl of soup to eat”) inspired a youth-led movement to fight hunger. Since then, millions of dollars have been raised for soup kitchens, food banks and other charities in communities across the USA.

The UUCiA collection went to the Merrimack Valley Food Bank, which (according to the website) has been transporting, storing and distributing food to disadvantaged members of the community since 1991. 

Considering that we decided to do this only days before the Super Bowl, our collection was pretty successful! We'll have to do it again next year, perhaps with an earlier start!

Catching up... Carnism

I have been remiss in posting lately. I apologize. I want to write something about Black History Month, and "30 Days of Love", and even the Patriots winning the Super Bowl! But right now, I just want to share a video: "Beyond Carnism and toward Rational, Authentic Food Choices". It's a TEDx talk by Melanie Joy, who explains the psychology behind eating some animals, but not others.  It is about 19 minutes long, 2 minutes of which are difficult to watch because they "make the unseen, seen". (You can forward through that if you need to; it is hard to watch.) This TED talk explains the ideology of carnism. People tend to think that vegans and vegetarians have a certain ideology or belief system that keeps them from eating meat, and that is true. But as this talk explains, those who eat meat are also operating with a certain ideology/belief system. I don't expect that you will watch this and become a vegan or vegetarian overnight; I don't assume anything about your reaction to it. I just ask that (if you are willing) you watch the video and think about it.

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"Have a Nice Day: The Dy-No-Mite Spirituality of the 1970s"

Preaching under disco ball, with roller skates!

We had a lot of fun at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Andover this past Sunday with a worship service about the 1970s. I attempted to tease out the spiritual, theological, and philosophical issues in my sermon (in two parts) "Have a Nice Day: The Dy-No-Mite Spirituality of the 1970s". You can listen to the sermon here.

To the left is a picture of me in my 70s outfit -- polyester shirt with big pointy collar, and a vinyl jacket from the era (Sears & Roebuck!)... bell bottom jeans... and roller skates! I'm under a disco ball. I'm pretty sure I'm part of a very small subset of clergy persons who have ever preached under a disco ball wearing roller skates!

Below are more pictures from the day, which included special decorations...

One of our members proudly displays ERA swag fom the 1970s... The smiley face was on the cover of our bulletin.

Just part of the special 70s display. Notably missing from the photo: an awesome lava lamp.

Two talented members perform "Love Will Keep Us Together". Note special 70s facial hair grown just for the day!

A disco ball hanging from a beam of our lovely sanctuary...

The UUCiA choir rehearses their number for the day, "Dancing Queen". Such fun! (There's that lava lamp...)

Black Lives Matter

From https://www.facebook.com/BlackLivesMatter

We are in the midst of the Christian season of Advent, a time of expectant waiting for the birth of Jesus celebrated at Christmas. There are many wonderful things about patience and the spiritual discipline of waiting, but one thing that we need not wait for is justice. As Anne Frank put it, “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” 

Last night there were historic protests in Boston and in cities around the USA after the failure to indict in the choking death of an unarmed Eric Garner in New York (following so closely after the failure to indict in the shooting death of an unarmed Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri). As these massive protests show, many of us are ready to change our country for the better, and we don’t need to wait a single moment longer. This isn’t just a protest; it’s a movement – a movement to end police brutality against African Americans, and ultimately a movement to end institutionalized racism. 

To my regret, I missed last night's action in Boston; I am "down for the count" with sinusitis. I did follow along on social media -- and tweeted and posted about it, aka "clicktivism". I also watched the Boston tree lighting ceremony on TV... there were a LOT more #EnoughIsEnough: We Are The Ones, Justice For Eric Garner protesters than folks who were there for the ceremony. It was surreal to watch the tree lighting ceremony on TV -- watching ridiculous things like the Patriots cheerleaders in sexy Santa suits dancing to "Jingle Bell Rock" -- when this huge protest was happening, and they weren't even mentioning it... when this massive movement is afoot and they just ignored it with "the show must go on" stuff! As if a Christmas tree is more important than racism and police brutality and thousands of people rising up! (On WCVB Channel 5 news, they actually said the protesters "didn't take away from" the tree lighting celebration. Are you kidding?)

I was able to go to the November 25 rally and march in Roxbury, after the Ferguson grand jury decision was announced. That was a big event with a great turn-out, too. But last night's action? Amazing. Even bigger than the November 25 action -- much bigger! Boston was "shut down" with all the protesters. New York City was too. And cities all over this country. It gives me hope. May we be a part of this movement, and stand on the side of love on the right side of history.

If you want to see the reading and sermon from the November 30 service “A Faithful Response to Ferguson”, click here.