Hi everyone!

I mentioned on Sunday that I have had the privilege of knowing Wendell Berry here in KY. We don’t hang out, but we are acquainted and chat when at the same event. It was I who encouraged the UUA to ask him to give the Ware Lecture when GA was in Louisville in 2013. The UUA President at the time asked Eboo Patel instead, and I was so disappointed! You see, Wendell Berry does not fly, and he was then nearing 80. Instead we invited him to lead our Social Witness event, focusing upon the effects of the coal industry on all of KY, including the areas of Louisville and the Ohio River impacted by the coal slurry ponds and generators.

Many UUs love Berry and use his quotes and poems. But they don’t know him or what kind of man he is. He is very fully human, and also has a good sense of humor! He’s conservative in the best sense of the word…teaching that we will have to go back to old methods of land use, including family farms, local economies, and reverence for nature if the planet and her people are to survive.

Here are some links you can follow to learn more about Berry and read some of his writing.

https://farmerwu.wordpress.com/quotations/wendell-berry-from-the-unsettling-of-america/

https://www.considerthepigeons.com/the-farm-by-wendell-berry

https://books.google.com/books?id=s5aAdf_ekbUC&pg=PA20&lpg=PA20&dq=wendell+berry+when+one+buys+the+farm+but+gradually&source=bl&ots=aJYRr4jeRa&sig=ACfU3U2tIo5n6QeOghYrjshProEysUh9xg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjOxvfXhIjkAhXKmeAKHYbqBs4Q6AEwEnoECA0QAQ#v=onepage&q=wendell%20berry%20when%20one%20buys%20the%20farm%20but%20gradually&f=false

https://www.religion-online.org/article/good-work-learning-about-ministry-from-wendell-berry/

His family have started a foundation, which funds a school for Sustainable Farming, that was originally located here in Washington County. www.berrycenter.org

Become a member! Or just enjoy his writings. What I didn’t mention in my two sermons on transitions is that change happens, when it does, in a myriad of ways, but one very important way is the arts. Visual art, poetry, fiction and non-fiction, as well as movies, theatre and music have all helped change me for the better. As has being a UU and part of a caring and sharing community of other UUs. See you at church!

Cynthia

I'm so enjoying getting to know all of you! The photo is of my oldest son, his partner in life and teaching yoga, and her sweet 4 year old, Willow. Willow is the closest thing I may get to a grandchild, and I adore her. She calls me CeeCee and I love it! My grandma name. I can barely imagine a transition more miraculous than my son has undergone in his five years of sobriety. Not all change is for the worse. I think part of my theology is that good things happen, too.

Thanks for the warm welcome.

Since we are focusing on transitions this month, I'm going to talk a bit this Sunday (8/11) about how we change things other than ourselves. Last Sunday, I drew your attention to the Serenity Prayer and the three words I think matter the most: serenity, courage, and wisdom. All of these are at our fingertips, and yet they often elude us. Or, they fool us and we easily delude ourselves. A good way to understand this phenomenon is to study the "Near Enemies" of Buddhist practice. Near enemies are qualities that look desirable but are masquerading as something else. The near enemy of wisdom, for example, might be over-intellectualism. Acceptance/serenity? Indifference or despair. Here's a link to learn more about them: http://www.artofwellbeing.com/2017/06/28/nearenemies/

Still, the question remains... can we affect change in others or in the world around us? Feel free to let me know your thoughts or experiences as I prepare for Sunday. You can email me at cyncain@gnuuc.org

I also mentioned a few articles and books in my talk last week. Here are links for those:

The ATLANTIC article on reparations
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/01/tanehisi-coates-reparations/427041/

Michael Eric Dyson's Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31421117-tears-we-cannot-stop

And here's the Atlantic website that lists all of Coates' articles.
https://www.theatlantic.com/author/ta-nehisi-coates/

Enjoy and discuss! Looking forward, Cynthia

Greetings GNUUC folks,

As I prepare to leave Kentucky for my first week with you, I am realizing how much of a stranger I am to your state, your congregation, and to each of you. It will take some time for us to become acquainted! And, it might take me a bit longer, since there are about one hundred of you, and only one of me! (I do have a twin sister, but we’re fraternal, and almost nothing alike!) Some things I love are cooking, eating, reading, writing, and all kinds of outdoor activities, especially gardening. I also love meeting new people, and even though I’m an introvert by nature, I love getting to know people and what they love and value.

Still, my mother was born in Nashville in 1916 (she died when I was a small child) and my Grandfather Patton was a newspaperman there. My mother’s family were in Washington County in the early 1700s, and at one time owned much of the land there. So in a weird way, it’s a homecoming.

The next few weeks, I will be talking about Transitions, aware that this is one for you as well as for me. I know you may miss Carmen, and many of you miss Dan as well. I hope our time together will be mutually beneficial, and that we can learn, love, and laugh much together! Here are some ways you can contact me:

Email: cyncain@gnuuc.org (contact the office for cell phone number)

Facebook: I started a page for my friendships with GNUUC. It’s under RevCyn Cain.

I also have Twitter, but don’t use it often. Cyn_cain

Request a meeting: I haven’t set office hours yet, but I will generally be in town Thursdays through Mondays. Since I’m with you on a ¾ time basis, it will be harder for me to take on all the obligations your last minister did, and I’m counting on the leadership and you to help me decide what’s best.

It takes courage to live with integrity during these times. I don’t have all the answers, but I  have the luxury to spend a great deal of time considering and consolidating what kinds of things may help us summon that courage, and I hope to be able to synthesize the ideas and resources I have so that you can use them to better live each day. 

See you on Sunday!

Cynthia