Autumn and Animals 

The arrival of High Autumn reminds us, with the change of Season, all life is change. One major change in Autumn is the preparation for winter by animals. 

Order of Service - Script 

for Sunday: 

October 9, 2022

NIUU, Jeanie Donaldson, Pastor Fred 

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 

Prelude - Jeanie Donaldson - “I Believe” by Frankie Laine 

Welcome and Announcements: 

Blessed Are All Living Things

By Maureen Killoran 

For the blessing of animal companions we give thanks.

For the beautiful ones, those whose fur is silky and whose tails are long; 

whose feathers are brilliant or whose voices are splendid... we give thanks.

For the frantic ones, the runts and the hungry, who run for a food bowl 

or a pat as though this is life’s last possible gift, we give thanks.

For the obnoxious ones, the heads that butt against us as we’re trying to sleep; 

the bodies that refuse to learn discretion as they make digestive gifts... we give thanks.

For those who bark and purr and growl and mew, for all who squeak or squawk or snarl or hiss, we give thanks.

For the animals unknown to us, those whose niche in life’s web is fragile; 

whose lives are insecure; for all who care for them and wish them well, we give thanks.

Blessed are the animals.

Blessed are the creatures who live with us and need our care.

Blessed are the mammals and the reptiles and the birds 

who teach us we are not alone.

Blessed are all living things from whom we learn to love.]

We welcome you all to: 

Come into this circle of love and compassion,

Come into this community where we can dream and

Believe in those dreams—

Welcome to North Idaho Unitarian Universalists where we accept, we support, we transform:  Ourselves, Our Community. Our world. 

Lighting the Chalice: 

All Animals Are Our Relatives

By Florence Caplow 

We light this chalice in honor of the animal realm,

Furred and hoofed, two-legged, four-legged, many-legged,

Fanged and clawed, gentle and fierce, wild and tame.

May we remember that all animals are our relatives,

Worthy of our care and respect. 

Opening Words: ­­­

Autumnal Welcoming 

By Sarah Gettie McNeill

Come in, from the crisp morning air outside,

come in, wearing the autumn sunlight on your face,

come, carrying the turning of the seasons in your heart.

Whatever and however the greatness of life is speaking to you now, you are welcome here in our circle of friends.

(Hymn Tune #262) 

We Know All Creatures Fill the Earth (edited here) 

https://sojo.net/articles/hymn-blessing-animals-o-god-your-creatures-fill-earth 

ELLACOMBE CMD ("I Sing the Mighty Power of God")

Verse 1 - We know all creatures fill the earth 

with wonder and delight,

And every living thing has worth 

and beauty in our sight.

So playful dolphins dance and swim; 

The sheep bow down and graze.

The songbirds share a morning hymn, 

And offer up their praise.

Verse 2 - We love the pets we welcome in- 

They're wondrous blessings, too.

With paws and whiskers, wings and fins, 

They offer up their praise.

Now we are all called to embrace 

These creatures in our care.

May we show kindness, love and grace 

To all pets everywhere.

Verse 3 - We have the creatures on each farm; 

They know the things they need.

May they grow healthy, safe from harm, 

And safe from human greed.

Just as a shepherd loves the sheep, 

We know their joy, their pain.

We bless the animals we keep; 

May all farms be humane.

Verse 4 - These creatures live in every land; 

They fill the sky and sea.

We share together the command 

To love them tenderly.

We're called to be the stewards here--

To care for them always.

By loving creatures we hold dear, 

We offer up our praise.

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. 

Greeting each other  (Those present in person can leave our seats for this, if we wish.) 

Joys and Concerns (with lighting of candles of caring) 

Story: 

“Who Loves the Dark?” 

By Sheri Phillabaum

 

There once was a child who got lost in the woods. As night began to descend, the child became more and more frightened. I’m sure any of us would be frightened too, in that situation, but what made this child even more frightened, was that he had always been afraid of the dark. He was more afraid of the dark than any of his friends, or his siblings. He didn’t know why he was more afraid than his friends or his siblings; he only knew that when the sun went down, he was always very glad to be inside his brightly lit house.

When the sun was all the way down, and the only light was just a tiny bit of light from the moon and the stars, the child got so frightened all he could do was sit down and cry, which he did. Soon, he heard a voice say, “What’s all that racket?”

He looked down and saw a mole squinting up at him.

"I’m lost in the woods,” he said, “and it’s dark, and I’m afraid.”

"Well,” said the mole, “perhaps you could take your noisy crying farther down the path. I hate having to come out of my warm, comfortable DARK hole to tell people to be quiet.”

Then the child heard another voice: “Go on back into your hole, Mr. Mole. I’ll take care of this.”

The child looked up, in the direction that this newer voice seemed to come from, and in the darkness, he could see two glowing eyes looking down at him. Before he could scream, which was his first impulse, there was a flutter of wings and the creature flew down near him, and he could see that it was an owl, who said, “Please excuse Mr. Mole. He hates to come out of his nice dark hole for anything, to be honest.”

At this, the child burst out crying even harder than before. Because, as frightened as he was of the dark, having non-human animals speak to him was beyond his experience, and a little frightening in itself.

"No need for that crying.” Said the owl. “If you just give me your address, I can guide you home.”

With that, the child did indeed stop crying, partly out of relief that someone might be able to lead him home, and partly out of curiosity as to how an owl could locate his home with or without the address. But, deciding he had little to lose, the child choked back his tears and replied that he would be very grateful to be guided home and gave the owl his address. And I hope everyone here has his or her home address memorized in case an owl ever has to guide you home!

So this strange pair headed off through the dark forest, in what the child hoped was truly the direction of his home. When his fear left him just a little but, the child looked around, and though the moonlight was dim, he began to notice his surroundings a bit. At one point, he noticed a kind of flower that he had never seen before, and slowed his pace just a little so he could gaze at it.

"That,” said the owl, as they continued walking, “was an evening primrose. Did you know that there are some flowers that bloom only at night? There are moon flowers, and night gladiolas, too, flowers you would never see if you never went out at night.”

After a while, the owl said, as if musing aloud to herself, “and of course, there are animals too, who love night and the darkness. Me, for example, I love the dark. In the daytime, the light hurts my eyes. So that’s when I like to go into my tree and sleep.”

To this, the boy replied, “Well, I like the daytime – I can see to kick a ball; I like the hot sun at the beach. When the dark isn’t scary, it’s just boring!”

"Boring, you say?” replied the owl, and she clearly had some opinions to express on this point, but just then, there was a fluttering and squeaking around their heads. It took the child just a few seconds to figure out what it was, and he shrieked, “A bat!” and he started flailing his arms to knock the creature away, shrieking the whole time.

The shape backed away and, hovering just out of reach, said, “Excuse me. That’s just my way of saying hello.”

"Well, hello to you, Mr. Bat,” said the owl. “This child was out here lost in the forest, and I’m helping him find his way home. You’re not hurt, are you?”

"Well,” said the bat, ” I’ll probably have a bruise on my backside, but I think I’ll live.”

"But you’re a bat!” said the child.” A creature of darkness. Weren’t you trying to drink our blood?”

"No,” said the bat, “but I’ve been eating lots of yummy insects who would have been biting you if I hadn’t been around. Anyway, I couldn’t help overhearing what you said about darkness being boring. If you want to come just a little bit out of your way, I can show you something really exciting.”

"My parents always told me never to go any place with strangers,” said the child.

"Owl will vouch for me,” said the bat. “We've known each other for years and years.”

Owl agreed that Mr. Bat was indeed an upstanding citizen, so the group went off the path and traveled through the deepest forest for what seemed like just a few minutes, and they came out onto a dark beach.

"Here we are,” said the bat.

The child gazed out at the beach, lit very gently by moonlight, and thought, “This is certainly beautiful, even in the dark, but I wouldn’t call it exciting.”

Just then, there was movement in the sand, like a little bubble of sand rising up. Then there was another little bubble, and then another, It looked almost as if the beach in the area they were looking at were boiling. Then, out of one of those little bubbles of sand, popped a rounded shape.

"Looks like we got here just at the right time,” said the bat.

As they watched, more and more shadowy shapes came up out of the sand, and soon the child realized what he was seeing – lots of baby turtles, hundreds, climbing out of the sand. This was truly exciting. Once each turtle-shape pulled itself up out of the sand, it started crawling as fast as its legs could carry it, towards the water.

"When baby sea turtles hatch,” said Owl, in a sort of teacherly voice, “they need to find their way to the water, and they almost always do this at night time, because to find the water they need darkness everywhere else to follow the moon and star light reflecting off the water. Daytime sunlight is too bright and scattered everywhere."

"Ohh,” said the child.

As they turned to leave and head back towards the child’s home, Owl spoke again, as if thinking aloud to herself. “You know who else loves the darkness, besides all the nighttime plants and animals? The moon and the stars love the darkness. That’s when they can really shine. Oh, they’re there in the daytime as well, hidden behind a wall of light. But when that wall goes down with the sun, the stars and the moon reveal their beauty.”

After what seemed like a very short time, the child and Owl left the forest and walked down a street that the child recognized as his own. He was very happy and relieved but also a little sad to say goodbye to Owl, to whom he gave a very gentle hug and a thank you. He went into his home and, being extremely tired, got ready for bed right away.

Before he went to bed, as a matter of habit, he bent down to turn on the night light that he always kept glowing through the night to keep the dark at bay. But before his fingers touched the switch of the night light, he smiled and pulled his hand away. He got into his bed, pulled up the covers, and let the comforting arms of the darkness soothe him to sleep.

Meditation: 

Autumn Meditation 

By Elizabeth M. Strong

Please join with me in the spirit of meditation and prayer.

We know the leaves are dying. We know that their blaze of beauty is a preparation for death. It is a time when we appreciate the effort of nature to rise above the ordinariness of life and death. It is a time when we visibly comprehend glory and wonder. And we worship with thanks.

We feel now that the air is cold and crisp. We feel now a clearing from the skies of the heaviness of the hazes of summer. It is a time when we appreciate the crispness and sharpness of the realities of life and death. It is a time when we physically comprehend the relief that clarity and insight can bring. And we worship with thanks.

We hear now the dry rustle of plants and grasses. We hear now a crackling from the earth that tells of the withering of the fullness of life. It is a time when we appreciate approaching rest from the frantic fullness. It is a time when we hear a different voice within, and know that life is settling down for a well deserved wintering.

Let it be so within each of our lives as we prepare for an autumn in our own life cycle. For we all need rest and respite if we are to understand and appreciate the rhythm of life in our soul that enables us to worship with thanks.

Sermon: 

Autumn  is my favorite season. 

That was especially true in Texas, where I lived for many years. 

This Season marked the end of hot weather and the start of much more pleasant, cooler weather. 

Autumn was almost always much too short for me. 

Now, in the Inland Northwest, Autumn starts much earlier, and it lasts much longer. 

At first I was startled by the difference. 

Now I find that I love the Season just as much as before, maybe even more. 

In fact, as I’ve said many times, in our part of the world, I really enjoy having four mild seasons. 

Sometimes it may seem that we have too much of a good thing: too hot in Summer or too cold in Winter, but the comparison with other parts of the world can serve us as a reminder that our weather and climate are truly moderate. 

The cold and snow in Minnesota’s winter are so much worse than ours that we can gain perspective: Our winter is not so bad (usually). 

The heat in parts of Arizona and elsewhere in the desert Southwest means that our hot weather is not terribly unpleasant by comparison (most of the time). 

In any case, moving through the seasons can help us appreciate what we have, here and now. 

There is beauty and a sense of well-being to be found in a wide variety of times, places, and circumstances. 

Even the experiences and reminders of transitions with the changes of the seasons can help us seek and find positive ways to experience the changes of life more generally. 

The first killing frost almost always comes in Autumn, sometimes all too early, and so we are reminded that nothing lasts forever. 

For good or ill, we can almost always say, “This, too, will pass.” 

These are especially important words to be able to say all through our lives. 

Only the love, the caring for each other in our hearts, will truly last. 

Love is really the Force that binds the galaxy together. 

At least within the boundaries of our experience and consciousness, there is no more powerful force than love. 

Love is more than a feeling. 

It’s a choice to care. 

When we choose to care,  Autumn is also a great time for us to think about and bless the animals who share our world, including the ones we love and who love us, but not limited to them. 

Animals have their own perspective on the changes of the Seasons and the changes in all our lives, and we can learn a great deal from them. 

Since they bless us in so many ways, times like today in which we think of blessing them are especially appropriate. 

The Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi is October 4 (last Tuesday); he was famous for his love of animals. 

He is the person who arranged for the first live Nativity scene. 

In the Autumn, animals are preparing themselves for a major change of Season. 

Something we human beings forget all too easily is that we, too, are animals. 

We depend upon our environment for our well being as much as any animal, so we also make preparations for the changes of Season. 

We can’t grow new and warmer fur coats, so we find and prepare warm garments to be ready for colder weather and snow. 

We can’t protect ourselves with camouflage, so we prepare with better defenses against the environment and the other animals who might threaten our well being or that of our families. 

We also have important choices to make, especially at this time of year. 

Will we take more than we need from our environment and the living things all around us, or will we limit ourselves in order to consider the well being of many others with whom we share our world? 

Will we be good stewards of our environment, or will we pollute it more and more until it can no longer sustain life, either our own or the lives of others? 

If we make the wrong choices, as we have done over and over, will we seek opportunities to make the world a better place for everyone, whether we are covered with fur, feathers, scales or skin? (as in the song) 

Our answers to these questions and the choices that result will determine our destiny, and not only our own, but the destiny of many other living things. 

Autumn is a time of transition, of change, and so we have a great opportunity to make good changes for ourselves and for the world in which we live. 

In the long run, our choices will affect us more than any other living thing. 

Our choices can be based on love or not based on love, and the basis of our choices will affect us in our own lives and futures as much as any other animals and living things. 

The world of nature has dealt with far more serious threats than we ourselves currently present. 

Nature and many, maybe most, of her living things will be OK, but will we? 

At least that part will be mostly up to us. 

In other words, our human future is in our human hands. 

The future of many other living things is also in our hands, but far from all other living things. 

The first thing we need to remember is that we are ourselves a part of nature, as much as any other animal. 

The recognition of our place in nature is one way we can prepare ourselves whether as humans or in consideration of other animals, too, for the changes that are coming to our small planet. 

Not the least of those changes involves the climate. 

Sometimes, even often, those changes also involve weather, since climate is the principal cause of the weather. 

While climate change has often been called global warming, it is not always as simple as saying that the weather will get hotter. 

The simplest way to describe the likely changes in the weather is to say that weather events are likely to be more and more severe. 

Hurricanes are likely to become stronger and more dangerous like the very recent hurricanes in the Caribbean and in Florida, and cold weather events may well strike more severely also. 

We can’t be ready for every possible thing that may come, but the closer we can get to preparing for a wide variety of events, the more we can help ourselves and other living things. 

For example, as of today the low level World War 3 may be about to expand. I will next stand here and speak three weeks from today. The expansion may have taken place by then. 

We can base our choices on love for ourselves and for other living things, and if we do, we can live in hope for them and for ourselves. 

Amen 

So let it be 

Blessed be 

Congregational Response 

Offering Information 

Charity of the Month 

Youth Emergency Services 

YES of Pend Oreille County

 

YES is committed to supporting homeless and at-risk young people; promoting stability, growth and the ability to thrive.

We create space for transformation.

 

YES serves all persons equally, regardless of color, national origin, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, race, religion, creed, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, genetic information, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law. YES will provide accommodations for individuals with disabilities.

YES will not allow any form of retaliation against individuals who make good faith reports of alleged violations of this policy.

Youth Emergency Services’ goal is to increase representation of women, people of color, veterans, LGBTQ+ and individuals with disabilities.

You can help!

YES serves homeless youth ages 12-24 in Pend Oreille County, WA. Young people have left home for any number of reasons and are struggling to exist on their own. Many live on the streets.

​To provide critically needed housing, food, clothing and medical care, YES needs financial support. We also need donations of food, youth and young adult clothing, boots, shoes and gym shoes, school supplies, backpacks, and other things to distribute to the homeless teens in the area of Pend Oreille County and beyond.

Always Needed:

New Socks

New Underwear

Warm Clothes

Sleeping Bags

Towels

toiletries

Bedding

Shoes

School Supplies Needed:

Backpacks

Protractors

Mechanical pencils

Glue sticks

Pens

Pencils

Highlighters

Markers

Eraser

College ruled paper

Art Supplies

Non-scuff gym shoes of all sizes (6 to 13 for men and women)

Ways to Donate

$30.00 will buy a backpack.

$50.00 will buy the school supplies to fill the backpack.

$35.00 will buy a pair of gym shoes.

$115.00 will cover the cost of a backpack filled with school supplies and a pair of gym shoes.

Directly at our office or via mail:

For financial donations, please make checks payable to Youth Emergency Services.

Our physical and mailing address is:

Youth Emergency Services of Pend Oreille County

229 N Calispel AVE

Newport, WA 99156

Hours: 9:00am – 4:30pm Monday – Thursday

Amazon

YES maintains a wish list on Amazon that can be viewed for ideas.

YES is also enrolled in the Amazon Smile program. This program will contribute .05% of all eligible purchases to YES.

 

Donations

to our Charity of the Month, NIUU pledges and regular church offerings can be mailed to NIUU at:

North Idaho Unitarian Universalists

PO Box 221

Coeur d'Alene, ID 83816

Extinguishing the Chalice : 

As we extinguish our chalice flame in this Season of Autumn, we think of the warmth and light of community in all our hearts. 

We remember with fondness all of the creatures with whom we are sharing or have shared our lives. 

In the light of love we receive the warmth and the light into our own hearts. 

So Let It Be.  

Closing words: 

Go in peace, speak the truth

By Gary Kowalski

Go in peace, speak the truth, give thanks each day.

Respect the earth and her creatures,

for they are alive like you.

Care for your body; it is a wondrous gift.

Live simply. Be of service.

Be guided by your faith and not your fear.

Go lightly on your path. Walk in a sacred manner.

Amen.

So Let it Be. 

Closing Circle