|
|
| |
|
Unitarian Universalists for a Just Economic Community
| ||
|
A Journal Uniting the Grassruuts "To see the universal and all-pervading Spirit of Truth face to face one must be able to love the meanest of creation as oneself. And a (person) who aspires after that cannot afford to keep out of any field of life. That is why my devotion to Truth has drawn me into the field of politics and I can say without the slightest hesitation and yet in all humility, that those who say that religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion means." - M K. Ghandi May - June 2008. This issue's focus is the relationship of grassroots UUJECers to the Great Turning described in David Korten's excellent book of that name. The lead article by David Nelson was written three years ago when UUJEC first adopted the Great Turning as its emphasis for the year. A three year plan was articulated by Nelson. Although not representing official UUJEC Board policy, it illustrates how at least one Board member felt about UUJEC's commitment to the Great Turning. Nelson has added his current comment following the original article. Your Turn, Vol. 1, Issue 10 On the web at http://www.uujec.org/vol1issue10.html page 1 Copywright 2008 UUJEC Email your-turn-editor@lycos.com A THREE YEAR PLAN FOR THE GREAT TURNING PROGRAM OF UUJEC by David Nelson FIRST YEAR: UUJEC will refine its Great Turning Packet based upon feedback from groups in local societies who have used it. We will work to distribute it to 200 UU societies during the year. To accomplish this, we will seek to locate and enlist a UUJEC representative in each congregation. One of their tasks will be to utilize the Great Turning Packet within their congregation. Each UUJEC Board member will strive to have a table and/or conduct a workshop at their UUA district meeting Each Board member will also contact several UU societies in their area and offer to do a GT presentation at a Sunday service or an evening program. SECOND YEAR: UUJEC will continue to work on its first year priorities. It will bring speakers on the GT to the GA in Portland. It will seek to become a center of what is going on in UU societies, the bottom-up, democratic, sustainable, peace making activities which help to bring the Turning. THIRD YEAR: UUJEC will continue its work of the first and second years. It will feature certain GT campaigns which its members and Board feel are most worthy of attention by UUs and others. (Nelson's comment after two year's of GT work by the Board.) After creating the GT Packet, the Board disseminated it as widely as possible. The Packet contained a power point presentation of David Korten's talk at the St. Louis GA, an excellent six-session GT study guide, a GT sermon, copies of a Yes Magazine article on the GT, and other references to it. We found that the study guide could be downloaded from Korten's GT website, and not every church was willing to pay the $50 price of the Packet. We began distributing the power point disc and advising folks to download the study guide. Meanwhile, a few members of the Board slowly realized that UUJEC could become a model GT principles by devel- oping Congregational Representatives in each local society, and asking them to submit their own stories of local UU work to create the GT. We created a special monthly newsletter of GT activities, principles and stories. It is called "Your Turn" and can be reviewed on our website (www.uujec.org). To work from the bottom up rather than the top down, we began a program of calls from Board members to Congregational Representatives to develop a relationship, asking how things are going with the GT locally, what we can do help local activities, and to invite them to submit their GT stories for publication in "Your Turn". We felt that becoming a bottom-up organization would make UUJEC a model of the GT, empowering our local churches to engage in the myriad of activities and causes which together will make up the GT. We hope that this work in progress will become a successful part of the GT. Your Turn, Vol. 1, Issue 10 On the web at http://www.uujec.org/vol1issue10.html Copywright 2008 UUJEC Email your-turn-editor@lycos.com News You will notice that this issue serves as two issues in one. The reason for this is that Bo Chagnon, our Managing Editor, has resigned to work in another area. UUJEC Board members David Breeden and David Nelson have agreed to take over as Co-Managing Editors of this excellent journal of Great Turning stories. We hope that we can advance Bo's great work thus far by continuing to produce a monthly journal of the Great Turning worthy of our membership. Thank you, Bo, for a great idea!! We also hope that the Editorial Staff which Bo assembled will continue to work in that capacity. This includes Contributing Editor, Mike Ignatowski, and Review Editors Valerie Mapstone Ackerman, Ticie Rhodes, and Anna Kushner. Bo envisioned six contributing editors and 6 review editors so openings still remain for anyone who wants to be a part of our efforts. Press on! Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men (sic!) with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education alone will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. (author unknown) "What we think, or what we know, or what we believe, is, in the end, of little consequence. The only thing of conse- uence is what we DO." (John Ruskin) "People who have principles but no programs, turn out in the end to have no principles." (soldier of the Republican Army in the Spanish Civil War. Quoted by Rev. Richard Gilbert in "The Prophetic Imperative".) Stories What Can We Do, We Live In A Condo? by Catharen White, President of the UU Fellowship of Storrs, Ct. All around us, folks are community gardening, solar generating and running their Volvos on vegetable oil! Admirable, wonder- ful people. They really know how to start saving the planet. But - we traded some of our freedoms away when we opted to live in this community and agreed to abide by the rules. We got instant community, a large handful of concerned folks who re- spond when someone is ill or needs "cat care", but what about the larger issues affecting our environment, pollution, using more than our share of resources, etc.? Fortunately, we are situated within a mile or two of nearly every- thing we need, so we plan longer trips, putting off some until we can multi-task. A visit to a sport shop goes along with a trip to a stove shop to investigate pellet burning stoves and a visit to family who are facing health concerns. It's no more than any of you are doing, and probably not as much as some. One thing really bothered me - using the disposal to get rid of table scraps. Thanks to my friend Mary at the UU Fellowship of Storrs who composts, I figured there would be objections at the condo - odors, attracting rodents, and so on. One afternoon at our weekly peace vigil, I shared my concerns with Dawn. She not only teaches elementary ed, but she and her partner live in a passive solar house and grow enough produce to feed dozens! She started a community garden at the school and is planning international pot-lucks for her students and their families. Dawn grows red worms in her basement. She generously gave me a handful with a few pointers and Dave went to work drilling holes in the large plastic tub that is now their home. I will soon have dark soil for my herbs and flowers that I planted around the deck as well as the tomato plants and greens I have growing in pots. Not earth shaking, but earth making! Meanwhile, I have been researching rain barrels. Remember the old song, "Hollar down my rain barrel, slide down my cellar door, and we'll be jolly friends for evermore!" Go on line and you'll be surprised - there are dozens of garden supply stores that carry them. I brought up the possibility at my condo board meeting and believe I have a good chance of getting an OK. The University of Connecticut has an ag department and they had an article on-line extolling the virtues of saving rain during a deluge and using it to water gardens and, if you must, grass during the drier times. The barrels are hooked up temporarily to a downspout, unplugged and emptied for winter. No elect- ricity needed, and our precious, treated, expensive drinkable water is saved for cooking and drinking! (If any of you hear of a home filter system for gray water, let me know). My last hint - the clothesline issue - is heavy duty stuff! I planted a butterfly bush below the deck. I put morning glories which will grow on the railing and phlox which will obscure the view of my undies (horrors!) when I dry them on a little clothes rack on the deck. If I get going early enough they dry by mid- afternoon with a great saving on the electric bill and the en- vironment. Your Turn, Vol.1, Issue 10 On the web at http://www.uujec.org/vol1issue10.html Copywright 2008 UUJEC Email your-turn-editor@lycos.com |