This is my last Happenings column, as next week I shall be closing my apartment, winging my way back to Michigan as the next issue reaches you. I am also writing it a little earlier than usual because this week is also the annual General Assembly of the UUA and the UU Ministers’ Association which…
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June 16, 2022 – Arizona Notable days clump up sometimes. For example, June 13 was my wife’s birthday. June 14th was flag day. June 15th was tax day (for those who pay quarterly like me). June 16th is Bloomsday (look it up). There are also all those official ‘days’ like fudge day, prune day, strawberry…
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Happenings June 9, 2022 – Arizona I made it! An hour later than planned, my flight landed in the 100 degree heat of the Arizona evening. That was yesterday, and today I am in the office, starting the process of leaving. Already I have cleaned out the Google Drive of outdated and personal documents. Email…
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Happenings – June 2, 2022 June will be a momentous month for me. Tomorrow is my grandson Sam’s first birthday. A week later Wendy concludes her cancer conga. When I get back to Arizona I will be spending time cleaning out my apartment, visiting old friends in Tucson and Los Angeles hoping to work in a…
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Happenings May 26, 2022 – From AZ Eliot and Millay told us April is dangerous, but I think May is even more so. Up in Michigan the weather whipsaws between cold and hot, rains pour every other day, stripping the dogwood and the flowering crab of their blossoms moments after they bloom. We already had…
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Happenings May 18, 2022 – From MI I am back in MI for the next three weeks for three reasons, in order of importance 1) Wendy is finishing her chemotherapy and beginning her radiotherapy.2) Our grandson turns one soon.3) My yard needs a lot of attention I feel especially fortunate about the first. Wendy’s treatment…
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Happenings May 11, 2022 – from AZ When I arrived, back in September of 2020, I quickly latched onto a book by the church consultant Susan Beaumont, “How to Lead When You Don’t Know Where You are Going.” At my request both the board and the Transition Team read it and remarked on how it…
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Happenings May 4, 2022 – from AZ Boy am I proud of you! You have got yourself a great new minister. See ya! No. My work is not quite done. My favorite Advent hymn starts with the verse that says, “… Make your house fair as you are able, trim the hearth and set the table.”…
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As I finish a week of candidating with VUU, I want to share what an honor it has been to hear so many of your stories about this congregation and what it means to you. So many of you are and have been engaged in the life of this community and in guiding this community…
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Happenings April 21, 2022 – from MI We all hate politics and we all love politics, but few know what politics actually is. The word derives from a Greek word, polis, which means city as in Indiana-polis. If you also hear echoes of policy and police, you are correct. All three words are about the…
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