Spiritual Work
- Written by: Janet Adams
As a UU Women's Connection Council member, I am sometimes asked to write something for the newsletter. It's not required. And at the moment I have nothing newsworthy to impart. But I have some thoughts I'd like to share. If you like my thoughts, I may make this a regular item in the newsletter.
One of my spiritual teachers recently told me that only about 5% of all people are doing spiritual work at any given time. I knew what she meant, at least as it applied to me. But I got to thinking -- what is spiritual work; what activities qualify? Also, who's to say what spiritual work is and what isn't? Must it be a conscious effort? Or is everything we do spiritual work? To those last two questions, I guess a case could be made for a positive answer to the latter. But I'm going to go with an affirmative to the former for this discussion. So first things first -- let me attempt to define spiritual work. But as with all things spiritual, I know that my definition will be limited and may not match your definition or that of others -- all of which are valid.
Driving Ms Starhawk
- Written by: Pat Goller
Part of the spiritual practice of tonglen is to go to places and have experiences that scare you as a way to open and begin to feel comfortable with the uncertainty of life. Driving from my Springfield home to Janice Bailey's condo in Chicago, then on to tour an historic UU church in Oak Park; then onto Madison, Milwaukee, back to Chicago in two days -- seemed to fit the bill for understanding experimenting with this practice.
Road trips are an adventure, but I usually let others do the driving. I am more "comfortable" just being a passenger instead of being the driver, uncertain and uncomfortable trekking off into the unknown of triangular three-city trip of many miles.
Walking the Edge: Deepening Our Magic The Madison workshop title and description came a month before:
Is Feminism Dead?
- Written by: Pat Goller
Why don't young independent women who seem...well...feminist want to claim the name? What is third wave feminism? What goals have been reached or dropped, taken up as National Organization of Women celebrates its 40th Anniversary?
Summer 2006 Voices of Women (VOW), the UU Women's Connection quarterly newsletter, explores the long and winding road to equal rights. Are we there yet?
Eighth Recommendation goal reached
- Written by: Pat Goller
With seven of the eight recommendations made to membership at the 2005 Annual Meeting in place the final big hurdle: The UU Women's Connection website is an exciting first for the 43 year old successor organization to the CMwD - UUWF. Eight goals for reorganization follow.
- Reorganize with new purposes, name and bylaws, using a council and consensus.
- Incorporate as nonprofit organization
- Initiate and maintain a website
- Update, modernize the VOW newsletter
- Continue to provide accessible, affordable retreats and conferences
- Continue to provide activist information, educational and advocacy programming.
- Continue support to affiliate organizations
- Increase scholarship, incentive and other grants.