"Dear Mr. Homeland Security: I want to share with you my recent experience of flying." A letter of inquiry about our country's epidemic fear, and some possible alternatives.

The Rev. Kate R. Walker

The Meadville Church has played an important role in history, but this is our time now. What do we do with it? What role do we have in the future?

The Rev. James Hobart

    The Rev. Hobart is an adjunct faculty at Meadville/Lombard Theological School in Chicago. He is a semi-retired minister living in Chicago with his wife Nan, and is the son of a minister who attended Meadville Theological School.

    Now, granted, today he does have a superb view of the Lake. He probably doesn't get that very often. But, today he does. If he can open his eyes against the blowing snow and sleet he may see the wild white caps and deep gray of this beautiful Great Lake. I hope he can up there in that cherry picker.

    I sure hope he likes working out doors. I know I like working out doors, but in a job that lets me high tail in doors on a day when the wind chill is lower than my grand-daughter's age (she's four). I have a lot of admiration for folks who do work that the rest of us would rather not do. They play an important role in society by getting things done that need to get done.

    I suppose in a utopian society, we would all take turns in doing the less than desirable tasks. How about Donald Trump picking up trash once a year when it comes his turn? I can't help but wonder if we would all produce less trash?

    At the very least, or the very most, actually, maybe we would all have more compassion for each other in our jobs? Whether it's the cashier who doesn't give us the correct change, or the taxi driver who cuts us off, knowing the difficulties of their job, would definitely instill in us a level of understanding, and hopefully compassion.

    On the other hand we might be filled with pride believing we can do the job better. Maybe I could repair that sign better, in the blowing snow and wind, but I don't want to find out. Thanks Mr. Sign Guy, you're doing a great job.

Cheers, Kate Walker

    Our love is with Cindy Snyder and her family upon the death of her mother, Dec. 29, 2004.

    And our love is with Venessa Summerlin and her family upon the death of her grandmother Dec. 28,

2004.

    Our thoughts and prayers are with Vicki Berry and her brother Tom Hadley who has been diag-

nosed with an inoperable brain tumor.

    Fred Moss underwent cardiac valve replacement at Hamot Hospital, Erie, on January 6. He is

expected to remain at Hamot for close to a week. Fred would appreciate a card and your thoughts

and prayers. Hamot is at 201 State St., Erie 16550.

    NO, this is not a day of boredom while wearing a hat. This is a day of lighthearted and fun recruitment while committee chair people to seek new members. On Sunday Jan. 30 during coffee/tea hour, committee chair people will be seeking new members to help promote, educate, advocate, build, repair, dig, mow, welcome, socialize, preach, evangelize and just be an all around helpful member of the church. So if you enjoy being active in this community, this is your chance to find out how best to fit your interests to the needs and desires of the church. Look for the hats during coffee/tea hour after the service, and find your committee! (Committees: Properties, Social Action, Religious Education, Worship, Fellowship, Membership, Finance, and Public Relations.)

    You know, it's funny the memories that come to mind when I think about my mom. You would think that the "big moments" would be the ones that I remember most – her at my graduation, at my wedding, holding my children for the first time. Rather, the memories are smaller, silly even. For example, I remember a time about 20 years ago when my mom decided to take us on a last minute trip to Niagara Falls.

    It all started out one Friday afternoon in the summer of 1984. I was 13 years old, and my brother, Scott, was 10. On this particular afternoon my mother suddenly blurted out, "Hey, let's go to Niagara Falls!" And my dad responded with an enthusiastic, "O.K.!" We quickly packed our essentials, threw them in the trunk of our Buick Regal, and Scott and I took our seats in the back. Ready to go! We were all smiles, and our eyes twinkled with excitement. Three and a half hours later our car drove over the Rainbow Bridge, and we began our search for one night's lodging. My dad pulled up to the first available hotel, and mom jumped out. She returned shortly with a shake of her head. And thus the nightmare began. She would jump out of the car full of hope and return with a shake of her head, her shoulders drooping, and the dreaded words "no vacancy". (I can really relate to Joseph and Mary after this episode!)

    Finally, after hours of starts and stops, my parents admitted defeat. By this time, it was dark, and we were in a rather scary part of town on the American side. My dad pulled into a Denny's parking lot, turned off the engine, and took a deep, exhausted breath. He twisted around to look at us and said, "Well, you two can sleep in the trunk, and your mom and I will sleep in the car." "What?!" I exclaimed. However, I quickly found out my dad was way beyond rational thought, and Scott and I found ourselves lying between our suitcases in the trunk of our car with the lid slightly ajar. I can't say I did a lot of sleeping. I do remember my feeling of terror of having the trunk lid suddenly opened by some sinister looking man with a beard holding a paper bag. Fortunately, we remained undisturbed except for the occasional squealing of tires. It was around 4 o'clock in the morning when my parents finally decided to find another location to sleep. I couldn't get out of that trunk fast enough! (Still now, I begin sweating and shaking when putting my groceries in the trunk of a car.)

    They decided to return to the Canadian side to find some place of refuge. As we pulled up to the border security booth, I looked around at my family. I looked at my dad's unshaven face, my mom's dark circles under her eyes, my brother's wild expression, and my own tousled hair in the rearview mirror. We looked terrible! The man at the booth asked, "Where are you going?" My mom responded without hesitation with an enthusiastic, "Oh, we're going to the Falls for the day!" I choked on a mad laugh and said, "Yeah, we're getting an early start!" My mom glared back at me, and I shrank back into my jacket. Well, I think I did get a few hours sleep at a quiet park in Canada. Dad and Scott took to the trunk while mom and I slept in the front and back seat respectively. Afterwards, we cleaned up in a public restroom and spent the day enjoying Niagara Falls. (Although I cannot recollect anything specific about that next day!)

    It is those kind of memories of my mother that surface frequently for me, and as my life continues with my own children I think about the small, silly memories that they will have of me. And in the midst of our hectic lives, I am reminded that the Divine is in the details of life, in those silly moments, and I am reminded not to take life too seriously.

Lee Ann Wester, DRE

    Our January program is in full swing! Members from the Social Concerns Committee (Lisbet Searle-White, Tracy Smock, Mark Gorman, and Mary-Lib Whitney) will be leading lessons on global warming. Children in grades 1-8 will meet each Sunday at 10:30 in the Arthur room. They will learn about the greenhouse effect and how our energy use may be contributing to global warming. The students will then create an action plan which will include educating our community and sharing.

Lee Ann Wester, DRE

In the 1940s my mother took my sister and me to the church around the corner which was the First Unitarian Church of Dayton, Ohio. Later, as a teenager, I liked the LRY trips to Toledo and Lake Geneva because I could see, personally, how other people lived. In those days, "UU" didn't exist, only my Unitarian roots. My degree in Nursing & Health from University of Cincinnati was one of those things women did in the early sixties – nursing or teaching, neither of which my sister or I really liked, but we knew it was important to go to college and be able to get a job. My first marriage took me to Cleveland. After my first daughter was two, I thought it important that she start RE, so joined the Shaker Heights Unitarian Church. Her sister was born four years later. Later as a single mom, I enjoyed chaperoning LRY trips, now full circle.

    After 18 years of being a single mom, I married Ted Mallick and moved lock stock and barrel to Pittsburgh in 1992. This was the first time I had not worked. I reveled in having time for things I enjoyed and thought important like the East Suburban Unitarian Church in Murrysville and the League of Women Voters in Westmoreland County.

    But we followed our hearts and bought 45 acres in a rural area of East Fallowfield Township last year (at an auction no less) and found a young Mennonite contractor to build our home. This was probably not the wisest thing for a couple in their mid sixties, but we did it anyway. And we are half way between some of our children and their families.

    I have been so grateful for the Meadville church being here, within 25 miles of drive time, knowing many have to drive much farther than that. And I must say, with some of the rural thinking I experience, I NEED the stimulation of Unitarians! When I look back on my life, some of the major decisions I've made have been connected to those I've known in the congregation. The older I get, I find I am not so afraid of Unitarian logic and stuffiness that I may have thought I experienced. My heart is joyful with the good things others have yet goes out to those who experience the inevitable difficulties that life brings.

    In the meanwhile, I'm luxuriating in reading whatever I wish – currently about the Goddess religion and the contrast of the patriarchy of the present day. Also, when/why we moved here was to experience nature, so I'm eager to learn about what trees and plants we have here and am delighted to see our hungry birds feed outside our breakfast nook.

    Lastly, I know my husband joins me in inviting one and all to our new home. Our door is always open.

    Friday, January 14 is the next date for Soup Kitchen at Stone UM Church at 10 a.m. Help is needed as some of the "regulars" are flying south for awhile, so volunteers are again welcome and sorely needed. Please call Emmy Boughton at 337-2244 for more information and don't forget to wear your ball caps!!

    In response to local needs, Social Concerns has set up a box in the entryway of the Parish House for non-perishable food donations. Kate says that people stop by the church quite often in need of food. Please consider bringing a box or can when you come to church on Sundays or during the week. Thank you.

    Recently a check for one hundred fifty dollars ($150) was given to the church treasurer. This was proceeds to date from the sale of dish clothes. The money is to be applied to the parish house parlor furniture debt. There is still a supply of dish cloths. Don't forget this money raising project, when you can help. I wish to thank all who have cooperated and hope for a good year to come.

Sincerely, Peg Anderhalt

    I expect that a lot of you have wanted to pass on a record of your life to your children, but didn't know how to get started. For years, I have pondered this question myself. You have to start at the beginning and follow through to the end. Simple, right? What if I leave something out, or get something out of sequence? What if I can't remember something important?

    De la Vere (Fr, from the dream), one of my alter-egos who communicates with me through dreams, often presenting me with a completed story when I wake up, told me this was nonsense. And so, taking her advice, I have made a New Year's resolution. (I know, I often preach against such rituals.) Right after the holidays I will buy one loose-leaf notebook for each of my children and grandchildren. I like the kind with the transparent pocket on the cover so I can make collages and slide them into the pocket.

    I will go through all my accumulated writings, including biographical data from sermons, and make 5 copies of each. Then I will just write essays as they occur to me – Outhouse Adventures, Picking Berries by the Lake, Water Pumps and Clothes Lines, Corn Silk Cigarettes Behind the Barn, Clam Bakes by the Sea, The Sawdust Furnace – no particular order, no particular time of my life. Again, five copies of each, to be divided between the five notebooks. Make that six, I may enjoy reminiscing again myself.

    Someday, I may organize the articles in order by time or location, or then, again, one day I may just wrap them up as they are and send them on. The randomness may even be an advantage, like finding mem-orabilia in old attic trunks. If I don't, someday may be too late, and the memories lost. Besides, it will give my granddaughter something to talk about with me besides the latest fashions in the mall.

    Mary-Lib Whitney, just me

    Do you need to shed those extra holiday pounds? We need volunteers to shovel the snow walkways around the church. Exercise and burn calories, morning, noon, or evening. If you can come out for only a short time to shovel part of the walkway that would be appreciated too. Call Venessa at 724-4023 to schedule your aerobic workout!!

    Bumper stickers are now available in the church office proclaiming our liberal UU faith! These attractive blue bumper stickers have the UUA's website and our chalice symbol, along with snappy statements about our faith:

Available for $1. See Venessa in the office.

    In the Memorial Day service of 2003, Fran Richmond presented a very moving play called Untitled by Norman Corwin, about a soldier who died in World War II. I found a prayer by Corwin that I think speaks to us in this month of remembering Dr. Martin Luther King.

Wynette Kommer

    Next deadline for submitting items for the newsletter is Friday, January 21, 2005, at 3:30 p.m. You may email your articles to: <mthaeler@zoominternet.net>; or leave items in the folder on Venes-

sa's desk in the parish house. It would be helpful, when you email material, to write "oracle" in the subject line (helps me find it more easily). Thank you.