Order of Service - Script for Sunday January 2, 2022

NIUU, Jeanie Donaldson, Chris Johnson, Connie Johnson,

  Elke Helmuth, Pastor Fred

Fred-A New Beginning

A New Year can bring hope for new possibilities in all our lives. Here's wishing all of you a

Happy New Year, my family and friends!

Prelude: Happy New Year by Jeanie Donaldson

Opening Words and Welcome:

Fred: We bid you welcome

on this first Sunday

of the new year.

Chris: A reading By Sylvia L Howe

We bid you welcome on this first Sunday of the new year.

Like Janus we gather with part of us looking backward

and a part of us looking forward.

We gather on the edge of the new year

saddened by our losses,

cherishing our joys,

aware of our failures,

mindful of days gone by.

We gather on the cusp of this new year

eager to begin anew,

hopeful for what lies ahead,

promising to make changes,

anticipating tomorrows and tomorrows.

We invite you to join our celebration of life,

knowing that life includes good and bad,

endings and beginnings.

Fred & Chris alternate lines–

F-We bid you welcome!

C-Come into this circle of love and compassion,

F-Come into this community where we can dream

C-And Believe in those dreams—

F-Welcome to North Idaho Unitarian Universalists where we accept, we support, we transform:

Ourselves, Our Community. Our world.

Chris: Chalice Lighting for the New Year (As Fred lights the chalice)

By Lisa Doege

For the new year,

just a day old,

beginning today,

always beginning:

We light our chalice,

symbol of faith, perseverance, and hope,

in astonished thanksgiving and irrepressible praise.

For beginnings that

emerge out of endings,

appear amidst continuity,

become visible in hindsight:

We light our chalice,

symbol of faith, perseverance, and hope,

in astonished thanksgiving and irrepressible praise.

For all the times,

and all the ways,

we have begun anew, together:

We light our chalice,

symbol of faith, perseverance, and hope,

in astonished thanksgiving and irrepressible praise.

Fred-Song: Beginnings by Chicago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yXIeQHEcx4

Fred-Covenant:

Love is the spirit of this church, and service its law

This is our great covenant:

To dwell together in peace,

To seek truth in love,

And to help one another.

Fred-Meet and Greet / Check-in / Joys and Concerns / Sharing

Elke-Story:

The Healing Cup: The Story of the Flaming Chalice

By Noreen Kimball

Many Unitarian Universalist churches and fellowships start their worship service on Sunday

morning by lighting a flame inside a chalice. This flaming chalice is a symbol for Unitarian

Universalists just as the cross and the Star of David are symbols for other religious groups. The

story of how the flaming chalice became our symbol is an interesting one and it begins during

the Second World War.

During that war, a lot of people living in Eastern Europe—Unitarians, Jews, and others—were in

danger of being put in prison or killed by Nazi soldiers. A group of Unitarians came together in

Boston, Massachusetts, to form the Unitarian Service Committee and their plan was to help the

people in danger from the Nazis. The director of the Service Committee was the Unitarian

minister Charles Joy. Rev. Joy had an office in Portugal so he would be near the people he

wanted to help. He was in charge of a whole secret group of agents and messengers who

worked hard trying to find safe routes for people to escape.

Rev. Joy and his assistants often needed to ask governments and other organizations for their

help to save people who were in danger. They would send messages to anyone in government

who might give them money, transportation, or a safe route. Because they were a new

organization though, not very many people had heard of them. This made it much harder for

Rev. Joy and the people in the Unitarian Service Committee to get the help they needed.

In those days during the war, when danger was everywhere, lots of people were running away

from their own countries. Often, people who were escaping and people who wanted to help

didn't speak the same language. Rev. Joy decided it would be much better if the Service

Committee had an official symbol, or picture, to help identify its members. With a picture or

symbol, it wouldn't matter if people couldn't read the language.

It looked like Rev. Joy would need to find an artist. He went to a very talented man named Hans

Deutsch for help. Deutsch had escaped from the Nazis in Paris, France, where he was in

danger because he drew cartoons showing people how evil the Nazis were. Rev. Joy asked

Deutsch to create a symbol to print on Service Committee papers to make them look important.

He wanted the symbol to impress governments and police who had the power to help move

people to safety.

For his drawing, Deutsch borrowed an old symbol of strength and freedom from

Czechoslovakia—a chalice with a flame. Rev. Joy wrote to his friends in Boston that the new

symbol seemed to show the real spirit of the Unitarian religion. It showed a chalice, or cup, that

was used for giving a healing drink to others. And it showed a flame on top of the chalice

because a flame was often used to represent a spirit of helpfulness and sacrifice. And so the

flaming chalice became the official symbol of the Unitarian Service Committee.

Many years later, the flaming chalice became the symbol of Unitarian Universalist groups all

over the world. By the early 1970s, enough Unitarian Universalists had heard the story of the

flaming chalice symbol that they began to light a flaming chalice as part of the worship service in

their churches. Over the years, this practice has spread over most of the United States and

Canada.

What does it mean to have a symbol like this? Well, one thing it means is that wherever you see

a flaming chalice, you know that there are Unitarians and Universalists nearby. Having a symbol

also can remind you of what's most important to you—and sometimes a reminder can make a

very big difference.

One very old woman told how the flaming chalice of her homeland, Czechoslovakia, helped her

while she was in a Nazi prison camp. Printed under the picture of the Czech flaming chalice was

the motto "pravda vitezi," which means, in English, "truth overcomes," or "truth prevails." Every

single morning in that terrible camp, the old woman said, she traced a picture of a flaming

chalice in the sand with her finger. Then she wrote the motto underneath it. "It gave me the

strength to live each day," she said. Whenever she drew the chalice in the dirt she was

reminded that some day the world would remember the important truth that every single person

is important and should be free to think and believe as he or she chooses.

When we see people light the chalice at the beginning of our service every Sunday, we can

enjoy it because it is a lovely thing to do. But we can also remember the story of the flaming

chalice and the strength it has given people for hundreds of years. We use it to let others know

that Unitarian Universalists believe in helping—others.

Chris-Meditation:

Meditation for Beginnings

By Judith L Quarles

Spirit of life and love,

In this season of beginning

Some of us are hurried and harried.

Some of us feel sorrowful and afraid.

Some of us are not yet ready to step forward into the future.

May we minister to one another with wisdom,

Meeting our friends with open ears, open eyes, and open hearts.

In this season of beginning

Some of us are celebrating triumphs and joys.

Some of us feel whole and happy.

Some of us are eager and excited, curious to see what happens next.

Let us each, as we are able, take part in one another's happiness and enthusiasm.

Quiet spirit of life and love,

Bring us the grace to share wholly and faithfully in the lives of our friends and loved ones.

- Amen.

Fred-Sermon:

January 2, 2022:

A New Beginning

A New Year can bring hope for new possibilities in all our lives. Here's wishing all of you a

Happy New Year, my family and friends!

The season of secular holidays has come to an end, 

  basically as of yesterday, New Year's Day. 

The traditional, sacred, earth based Yule holiday 

  has also ended, as of yesterday. 

The Season of Christmas, on the other hand,

  will continue until this Wednesday, 

    Twelfth Night, January 5, as the sun sets. 

The next day, January 6, 

  marks another new beginning. 

January 6 isn't only the anniversary 

  of the horrible insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. 

Lest we forget, it is also the Feast of the Epiphany, 

  celebrating the arrival of the Magi, 

    often called the Wise Men, with their gifts 

      of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 

It's a major holy day for liturgical Christians, 

  and over most of the Spanish speaking world, 

    it is the occasion on which gifts are shared, 

      el Día de los Reyes, Kings' Day.  

January 6 also marks 

  a much less pleasant new beginning 

    in the life of Jesus and His family. 

As a result of the coming of the Magi and their gifts, 

  Jesus, Mary, and Joseph became refugees. 

King Herod was terribly insecure on his throne, 

  and when he heard about the veneration 

    of a newborn king in Bethlehem, 

      he was infuriated, 

        and he tried to destroy a possible rival 

          by killing all boys born around Bethlehem 

            at that time. 

Joseph was warned of the danger in a dream, 

  and he, Jesus, and Mary fled to Egypt 

    where they were far from the danger 

      of Herod, whom I sometimes call, 

        "Herod the Horrendous." 

To this day, when we think of refugees, 

  we can keep that story in mind, 

    how Jesus, Mary and Joseph 

      were refugees for a time, 

        and that can help keep hope and compassion

          alive in our hearts for the refugee families 

            of our own time. 

I feel the need to mention all of this 

  because for me, the Holy Days 

    are more important than the holidays. 

The word holiday is clearly derived 

  from the words, Holy Day, 

    but it has become the mundane designation

      for a day or a time off 

        from work or ordinary activities. 

In the English of the old country of England, 

  the word, holiday, is used to this day 

    to mean the same as our American word, vacation. 

I have no objection to a change of routine, 

  or a vacation or holiday, of course, 

    and I've always thought 

      that vacations and holidays are wonderful, 

        but I don't want us to lose track of the meaning 

          of the Holy Days that came first. 

The celebration of a New Year 

  has a powerful meaning 

    that can bring us encouragement 

      just when we need it, 

        as winter is beginning - and beginning to end. 

I feel the need to keep reminding us all 

  of the end of winter 

    to help us keep the perspective 

      that the cold and dark will not last forever! 

In reality, I love winter as much as any season 

  because I grew up in Texas. 

Winter was the one season 

  in which I could count on having 

    comfortable temperatures, at least on some days.

Besides, I was snow deprived, 

  even if I didn't really know it! 

At the same time, 

  it doesn't take too long 

    for me to get my fill of winter. 

I've long loved the words written by 

  Alan Jay Lerner in the song, "Camelot,"

"The winter is forbidden till December 

  And exits March the second on the dot, and 

    There's a legal limit to the snow here in Camelot!" 

Those words speak for me to this day, 

  no matter how much I may love winter; 

    there has to be a limit. 

The arrival of the Winter Solstice 

  brings the promise and the reality 

    of a new beginning in the world of nature. 

Hence it is a holy day for all of us 

  whose spirituality is at least partly centered 

    in the natural world. 

Proximity of the Winter Solstice 

  and its new beginning  

    is one reason that the New Year begins soon after. 

The new beginning that we are reminded of 

  by the New Year's celebrations

    brings hope in many ways, 

      including, yet not limited to, the certainty 

        that winter will come to an end. 

We all need hope for 

  new beginnings in our lives and in our society. 

As a nation, 

  we need less division between our citizens 

    who have different points of view 

      and different opinions 

        about events and their meaning. 

Also as a nation, 

  we all hope for an end to the pandemic, 

    and the sooner the better. 

We often express our hopes for new beginnings 

  in terms of resolutions, resolving to do this or that 

    or not to do something else. 

Both of the hopes for our nation are more like 

  New Year's wishes 

    than New Year's resolutions. 

Certainly there are things we all can do 

  to help bring those hopes about, 

    but we have no control over 

      the thoughts, words, and actions of others. 

Not only is the hope for an end to the two realities 

  of division and pandemic 

    part of our hopes for the New Year, 

      but there are many other realities, too, 

        and other hopes. 

The divisions in our society today 

  do not well represent the reality 

    of the many differences between us. 

Despite the funny moment in the movie, 

  History of the World, Part 1 by Monty Python, 

    we really are all different. 

There was a character in the movie 

  who said something like, 

    "Not me. I'm not different. I'm just the same." 

The comic moment brought into brighter light 

  the reality that we are all truly different 

    from each other. 

That is a great blessing. 

How boring life would be 

  if we all were just alike! 

It would be impossible 

  for us to learn from each other if we were all alike, 

    and learning from each other 

      is at the heart of the meaning and purpose 

        of all our lives, 

          at least as we relate 

            to the other people in our lives. 

What a great New Year's resolution it would be 

  to decide to learn from each other 

    instead of judging or despising each other! 

How much better for all of us 

  to learn to appreciate the differences between us 

    instead of seeing those differences 

      as a source of division. 

Therein is my own hope for our future 

  as a human family: 

    that we may learn to learn from each other. 

If we can truly do that, 

  our survival may actually be possible 

    on this small planet we call home. 

That would be the best new beginning, 

  for us to appreciate the gifts 

    each of us brings to the whole. 

Such a thing is not only possible, 

  it is deeply desirable for us all and for our world. 

May this New Year of 2022 

  bring us all an opportunity 

    for a really new beginning. 

      filled with peace and love, 

        joy and hope as realities for everyone. 

Amen. 

So let it be. 

Blessed be. 

Fred-Congregational Response

Fred-Offering Information:

Charity of the Month:

St. Vincent de Paul

"TO PROVIDE DIRECTION AND SERVICES SUPPORTING INDIVIDUALS AND FAMILIES IN NORTH IDAHO NEEDING ASSISTANCE TO ENRICH, FORTIFY AND REBUILD THEIR LIVES WITH DIGNITY."

NIUU

P.O. Box 221

CDA ID 83816

(as Fred extinguishes the Chalice)

Chris–Extinguishing the Chalice :

More Than One Life

By Lee Huebert

Lighting a candle is somewhat like the beginning of life. If that is true, then perhaps

extinguishing a candle is like the ending of life. But death may not be the end of us. We live on

in the memories of friends and loved ones. The influence we possess in life works on, moving

persons or causes forward. Let us not forget that most candles have more than one life, and so,

perhaps, may we.

Fred-Welcoming Guests and Announcements

Elke–Closing words:

An ending, or merely prelude to more glorious beginnings?

By Michael A Schuler

We have reached the end of this time

For the gathering of memory

And for letting the imagination play with future possibilities.

We have enjoyed magic moments and edified each other.

Shall it be concluded, then?

Or will this adventure, now commenced, continue?—

Our separate paths converging, meeting, merging

In the unending quest for love more perfect,

The joyous struggle for meaning more sufficient and life more abundant.

Is this ending to be an ending,

Or merely prelude to new, more glorious beginnings?

I pose the question;

In your hearts lies the answer.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

If time and if appropriate: 

Richard Harris - Camelot: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0Bp5odIZjQ