Packing/unpacking,

laughing/crying,

mopping floors/cleaning appliances,

walking briskly/meditating calmly,

re-connecting/meeting new folks at UU services (Ft. Lauderdale, Chicago) and the Heartland District Assembly (Muncie, IN),

guessing privately/planning together openly,

eating at a Haitian restaurant with one daughter (Miami Beach)/eating a meal cooked by my other daughter’s boyfriend (Chicago)

singing a prayer/listening to the rain on the window panes

packing/unpacking.

Though I love being with my daughters, it is always good to come home to my dog, Chum, cared for so lovingly by MUUC member, Shirley Zimmer. Good to come home to my Soul to Soul group and a beautiful service with our UU Congregation led by Nancy Irish (April 21). Good to come home to our UU Meeting House where we laugh and cry; re-connect and clean-up; guess a bit and plan some; eat Sari Embley’s scones and drink sweetwater from the Doughtys; welcome new members and welcome Gail Griffith’s hug to the whole congregation; acknowledge the talents of young adult members and youth and offer appreciation prayer flags to honor Alice McMahon’s contributions; have Bodhi White walk in and say “Hi, Barb,” and have Tom Sullivan call to say he found the banner poles to use with our banner at our final Central Midwest District Assembly – before the merger with Heartland and Prairie Star Districts to create the new MidAmerica Region of the UUA.

By the time you read this, Laura Nagle and I will be back from Waukesha, WI garnering ideas to share (from the District Assembly), particularly with the RE Committee and Board, our main focuses. Perhaps we’ll also share ideas to carry out social action projects as we walk our faith – and perhaps a new song to share. With networking, workshops, services, and talks which cross over various ministries, we’re sure to learn much to bring back to MUUC, a strong foundation in my life.

Thank you to all who made a monetary pledge to the congregation for 2013-14. On May 19 we will be holding our Annual Congregation Meetingfollowing the service. Lunch snacks will be provided, and child care will be available. In our lay-led form of ministries, there will be an opportunity for you to sign up to be on an MUUC committee and/or help with a special project or work with our children and youth. Setting a great example, as Cherokee Helms-Gleason prepares to end her time on the Board, she plans to join the Indoor and Outdoor Aesthetics Committee. The Board is planning a short meeting this year with a bit of MUUC entertainment you won’t want to miss.

You will have two opportunities prior to the May 19 Annual Meeting to ask questions and offer comments regarding the budget for fiscal year 2013-14. The first will be at the May 5 adult forum at 9:45 am and another will be at the May Board meeting at 6:30 pm on Tuesday, May 7. Copies of the budget will be available at those times, from gg gordon or me, and at the Annual Meeting on May 19th. Please mark your calendars.

Mili White and Nell Gabell, this year’s Nominating Committee for Board members, are proposing the following slate of members for the MUUC Board for two years: Mary Maki (new), Sarah Redmond (continuing after 10 mos.), and Teri Rockwood (continuing after 7 mos.).

The Nominating Committee for the Mediation Council is announcing Mona Varney as a nominee. (Gary Stark and Paula Kiesling will remain on the Mediation Council.) 

There will also be a vote on some changes in our bylaws, which you will find in this issue of the Chronicle or in the May 2nd This ‘n’ That. 

Happy Mother’s Day to anyone who has ever served in a Mother, Grandmother or substitute-Mom role! As we balance creative ways to make Moms happy in the 21st century, let us remember this month that the first Mother’s Day was one of peace brought to us by Unitarian Julia Ward Howe, who said in her 1872 Mother’s Day Proclamation: “Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy, and patience. We, the women of one country, will be too tender of those of another country to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs”…and on Memorial Day let us remember those who were the victims of war and violence and all loved ones who have passed on. May we celebrate their lives and peace! As school psychologist and UU RE teacher, L.D. Moore, would remind kids: “Peace is fun!”  Julia Ward Howe spent most of her life in Boston…perhaps little Martin Richard’s thoughts (“No more hurting people. PEACE”) were passed down through the ages or from his parents or from within.

In shared ministry,

Barbara Michael 

MUUC Board President