July-Joy-Wk 1

​Dear UU Parents and Guardians,

July 4th -    Church service at 10am - K-5th welcome into childcare for free-play, vaccinated older children welcome to sit with parent/guardian in service
                     NO in-person Sunday School at the church
            NO K-5 Sunday School online at 11am (none offered because it's a holiday and likely very low attendance) 
The ReEntry Task Force met on Wednesday, June 16 to assess our plans for the summer and to adjust our ongoing response to the pandemic in light of recent improvements in case rates, vaccination rates, and hospitalizations in Lancaster County.   
 
Our congregational year ended Sunday June 20. Effective June 21, we made the following changes to congregational activities:
* Masks optional for vaccinated congregants in the sanctuary, at small group meetings, outdoors, and at UCL sponsored events. Masks are highly encouraged for those not yet vaccinated.
* No advance registration needed to attend worship services or other events.
* No six-foot distance requirement.
* The sanctuary doors will remain closed during Sunday worship (beginning June 20).
 
These measures will remain in place:
* Masks required in the Sunday School Wing, regardless of vaccination status (adults and children are asked to stay masked)
* Because it is located in Sunday School Wing, the water fountain will be closed on Sundays. We will provide paper cups in the bathrooms and kitchens if you do not have your own reusable container.
* No coffee or food served on Sundays.
* Consistent with UUA guidance, we will not yet sing congregational hymns.
* Please continue to practice active consent (e.g. ask before hugging or shaking hands).
 
Our community is diverse. As we move forward in these next months, please continue to assess your own risk tolerance while also considering members of the community who are more vulnerable, such as unvaccinated children or immunocompromised adults.
 
These guidelines will apply through our summer season, and the ReEntry Task Force will reassess these guidelines before the 2021-22 congregational year begins on Sunday, September 5. If you have any questions about these measures, please contact the church office at [email protected] and we will direct your question to the ReEntry Task Force. Refer to Oscar's daily video update sent in the eblast Friday June 18 for more information.
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Events for All Ages at the Church - Save the Dates! 

July 17 (Saturday morning): UCL Congregational Softball Game

July 18 (Sunday after church): Mosaic Tile Painting (Fundraiser for Sunday School program) Paint a tile to go on our church walls and become a part of our history! 
July 22 (Thursday evening): Vespers at Antelope Park Bandshell, with A Street Band
August 7 (Saturday morning): UCL Talent Show (All ages can perform!!! Stay tuned for more details, and prepare your talents in the meantime!) 
August 19 (Thursday evening): Third Thursday at 6300 A Street, with A Street Band
August 22 (Sunday afternoon): Lawn Games at 6300 A Street.
September 2 (Thursday evening): Tent Revival 2.0

*Middle and HS *

July 14th and 20th (Wednesday) 6-7:30 2 event nights for Middle and High Schoolers! Game night theme this month!
Registration REQUIRED - form found here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1wCPoFTVNnKe8fHO12m1nyuXLVv0Phl2V2mtbizpGz2Q/edit

DISCORD for Middle and High School
We invite all Middle and High School students from Omaha and Lincoln to join us for discussion and community through this app.
'Would you rather' questions - Thoughts along our monthly Soul Matters themes - 'Big questions' related to UUism.
Also - a "Pet Page"!!! So much fun.
***Be aware that once joining Discord, it opens up the app to multiple pages which will need to be moderated by students themselves and their parents/guardians for security.

https://discord.gg/3NuSj6f
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*Parent and Guardian Chat:*
The chance for parents and guardians to check in with me for 'open office hours'
Every other Thursday 8pm and every other Wednesday noon (I close the meeting after 15 minutes if no one checks in)

Wednesday July 7th at noon

  https://zoom.us/j/5036046295      

Thursday July 15th at 8pm
  https://zoom.us/j/5036046295    
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Family Open Circle: 
Information can be found on their facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1081904435272577
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Videos This Week: 

Chelsea's Story- 
America My Love, America My Heart
The story this week is also the one which was done during our service. 
I think the story has elements of 'joy', but also can be a good piece for starting conversations. 
Worthwhile to make it accessible again. 
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K-5: Soul Matters Theme:

Soul Matters breaks in June/August
I will still provide resources for parents, and a story each week. 
Lesson plans will return in September
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Bonus Resources for Parents With the theme of: JOY

WISE WORDS
Every day, I see or hear something
that more or less kills me with delight,
that leaves me like a needle
in the haystack of light.
It was what I was born for –
to look, to listen,
to lose myself inside this soft world –
to instruct myself over and over in joy and acclamation.
- Mary Oliver
 
“Joy is the infallible sign of the presence of God.”
― Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
 
To be joyful in the universe is a brave and reckless act. The courage for joy springs not from the certainty of human experience, but the surprise. Our astonishment at being loved, our bold willingness to love in return – these wonders promise the possibility of joyfulness, no matter how often and how harshly love seems to be lost. Therefore, despite the world's sorrows, we give thanks for our loves, for our joys and for the continued courage to be happily surprised.
- Molly Fumia
 
It is difficult to know what to do with so much happiness. With sadness there is something to rub against, a wound to attend with lotion and cloth. When the world falls in around you, you have pieces to pick up, something to hold in your hands, like ticket stubs or change. But happiness floats. It doesn't need you to hold it down. It doesn't need anything… Since there is no place large enough to contain so much happiness, you shrug, you raise your hands, and it flows out of you into everything you touch. You are not responsible. You take no credit, as the night sky takes no credit for the moon but continues to hold it, and share it, and in that way, be known.
- Naomi Shihab Nye
 
“Joy is not just about “feeling good.” It is also about perspective. The spiritual life is, in part, about seeing our lives as being invited to the best party in town. Our challenge is to stay awake to that, to continually pull ourselves back from the mindset that our days are simply a series of challenges and responsibilities. It’s all about balance. We are called to look around and see all that must be done.  We are also called to look around and see all that has been given.”
- Soul Matters Minister
 
Happiness is not another place, but this place. Not for another hour, but for this hour
- Walt Whitman
 
Stay close to those who sing, tell stories, and enjoy life, and whose eyes sparkle with happiness. Because happiness is contagious and will always manage to find a solution, whereas logic can find only an explanation for the mistake made.
-  Paulo Coelho
 
“To get the full value of joy you must have someone to divide it with.”
― Mark Twain
 
They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world: someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for.
― Tom Bodett
 
On this day of your life I believe God wants you to know… that safety is not the thing you should look for in the future. Joy is what you should look for. Security and joy may not come in the same package. They can…but they also cannot. There is no guarantee. If your primary concern is a guarantee of security, you may never experience the truest joys of life. This is not a suggestion that you become reckless, but it is an invitation to at least become daring.
- Neale Donald Walsh
 
All around you, people will be tiptoeing through life, just to arrive at death safely. But dear children, do not tiptoe. Run, hop, skip, or dance, just don't tiptoe.” - Shane Claiborne
 
The existence of broccoli does not, in any way, affect the taste of chocolate.
― John Green, The Fault in Our Stars
 
It's hard to know when to respond to the seductiveness of the world and when to respond to its challenge. If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy. If it were merely challenging, that would be no problem. But I arise in the morning torn between the desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.
- E.B. White
 
“Our faith rightly reminds us we have a duty and responsibility to ease the burdens of others, to bend the arc of the universe toward justice. But it also reminds us that we have a duty to joy, even a duty to plain old “useless” fun! Which, of course, is not really useless. Joy, celebration, play and revelry are means of replenishment.  We must always remember that we will have nothing to give, if we don’t make room for getting filled up.”
- Soul Matters Minister
 
Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.
― Dr. Seuss
 
Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.
― Thich Nhat Hanh
The average child laughs 400 times a day. The average adult: 18.
- Anonymous
 
Remember: Joy is not a sin; sacrifice is not a virtue.  - Paulo Coelho
 
Joy is not an emotion. It is a choice.
- Greg Foster
 
I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy.  - Rabindranath Tagore