Religious Education News: Sun Mar 31
Last Sunday was Environmental Practice Sunday in RE and, with great planning and dedication, the Environmental Practices Group (EPG) took this opportunity to celebrate Earth Day! As the morning unfolded, Janet Bear selected an excellent book to read to the children and youth, none other than The Lorax by Dr. Seuss. The message conveyed in the author's inimitable style wonderfully touches on the dangers of pollution and the potential for ruining our planet. The group was genuinely mesmerized by the story. The students then divided into three groups and began their fun rotation of activities in the RE classrooms. Room 24 housed the Carbon Footprint Game where the children spun the wheel that stopped and pointed to subjects such as plants, food, and transportation. Then they picked up a matching card that described the topic and designated the points they had won. For example a card labeled food could describe a farmer's market, which meant local and eliminated the need for planes and trucks. Hence, less pollution! The kids loved spinning the wheel and they were having so much fun I think they may have forgotten they were learning a great deal. The next activity room was room 22, which was the Recycling Game. On the floor was a diverse collection of recyclable products strewn on our "imaginary beach." On the table were boxes labeled for each category of products and the students had to select where the items should be deposited. What a great exercise in really examining the items and their make up and stimulating the students to closely study these items that people just toss away without any thought to our environment. Last but not least in room 41 was a genuine hands-on activity in composting with worms. There was dirt embedded with itty, bitty crawly worms who were a bit asleep but soon awakened when their bed of a handful of dirt was held by the kids. The students were totally in awe as they chopped up left over food and newspaper and collectively as a team built an indoor townhouse of bacteria, fungus, dirt, and pumice for the earthworms. They were happy campers, the earthworms, that is, but then again, so were the students. Most of the kids were thrilled to handle these little guys, although a few thought it was "gross." I was utterly amazed at the thought, preparation, and amount of work put behind this Earth Day celebration. It was a classic example of how learning and science can not only be fun, but really encourage and inspire students to continue furthering their knowledge. A round of applause and deepest respect and admiration for all the committee members; Janet Bear, Laura Goodspeed, Laura Sehdeva, Rhonda Miller, Ann Norum, Cynthia Roberts, Yvonne Lynn, and Anthony Russell. On behalf of the congregation, students, and families, our sincere thanks for an excellent program.
Michele Rinaldi
RE Coordinator
Looking ahead...
RE This Sunday, March 31
Grades K-7 start in the sanctuary. Grades 8-12 start in their classrooms.
Upcoming Youth Cons
The Metro NY Social cons (conferences) provide a safe space for UU youth from NY, CT, and NJ to meet, bond, and explore their religious identities together through worship, workshops, and fun! (They are also a great place for adult advisors to connect and support one another!)
Metro NY Spring Junior High Youth Conference, April 6-7, CUUC
Registration is open! This 24-hour event for youth in grades 6-8 is a fun opportunity to connect with other UU youth. Information and registration links HERE. Questions about programming? Contact Denice Tomlinson (denice1uu@yahoo.com). Questions about registration? Contact Charlie Neiss(cneiss@aol.com).
2019 Variety Show Fundraiser, Sat May 4, 5:00pm
Help us get ready for the fun! PERFORMERS (adults AND kids) sign up in the RE lobby; BAKE SALE sign-ups: Contact Benetta Barnett (benettabarnett@hotmail.com); RAFFLE PRIZE DONATIONS: Contact Liz Suvanto (elizabethsuvanto@hotmail.com).
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Labels: RE
Music: Sun Mar 31
Clarinetist Pascal Archer joins us for a music-filled Canvass Kickoff at CUUC! Pascal offers several movements from Brahms's Sonata for Clarinet and Piano in F Minor, one of the last major works he undertook. In fact, Brahms had essentially retired from composing, when the playing of clarinetist Richard Mühlfeld so moved him, that he picked up pen and paper again, yielding two wonderful sonatas for clarinet and piano, as well as the Clarinet Trio and Clarinet Quintet. Francis Poulenc's Sonata for Clarinet and Piano is also a late work, featuring the French composer's characteristic mixture of wit and poignancy. Music pervades the entire service, with "The Sound of Money" enriching the "k'ching!" in our annual canvass drive. Read on for programming details, and consider attending the April 28th Music at CUUC concert to hear more of Pascal Archer as well as the CUUC Choir.
Centering Music: Pascal Archer, clarinet; Adam Kent, piano
Sonata for Clarinet and Piano
II. Romanze
Sonata for Clarinet and Piano in F Minor, Op. 120, No. 1
I. Allegro appassionato
IV. Vivace
III. Allegretto grazioso
III. Allegro con fuoco
Posted by Adam Kent at 21:41 No comments:
From the Minister, Sun Mar 17
I got a call from Yency today that I wanted to tell you about. Down in Charlotte, NC, where he lives, a new sheriff was elected for the county (Mecklenberg) in 2018 Nov. The new sheriff, Gary McFadden, had campaigned on a promise to end the county's participation in 287-g – a controversial program in which the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) deputizes state and local law enforcement officers to enforce federal immigration law.
On McFadden's first day in office he made good on his promise, and ended local law enforcement's participation on immigration law. Yency told me that the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was not pleased with McFadden's decision and has been exacting retribution against Mecklenberg County by stepping up the number of raids. In vans disguised to look like a construction company vehicle, ICE has been all over town, day after day. They nab the undocumented at convenience stores or at their homes. They block off intersections and check each car they suspect of containing undocumented workers.
Miguel Maldanado was recently taken into custody – Miguel is a cousin of Yency's spouse, Evelin. Miguel had no criminal record, and so was allowed to go – provided that $12,000 in bail was posted. A friend of Miguel's, apprehended at the same time, had a traffic violation. It was probably Driving Without a License, Yency said. The undocumented do a lot of driving without a license since North Carolina law doesn't allow them to get a license. Because of the violation, Miguel's friend was deported.
$12,000 for bail represented a significant hardship for Miguel – and for the extended family and friends who chipped in to raise the amount. But it would have been even worse to not have been able to get back to work.
The immigrant community in Charlotte – as in much of the country – lives under a constant threat of their families being torn apart. Tragic and cruel deportations are common and the shadow of fear is unrelenting.
This wrong is devastating to its direct victims and distressing to all people of conscience. The fact that it is happening to my own family doesn't make it more distressing. But it does have a way of sharpening my awareness of it.
Yours in faith,
Practice of the Week: Being Animal We are deeply embedded in a grand story, an epic tale beyond any we could imagine -- a small part of which tells of our own waking up to the beauty of the interconnected web of which we are NOT at the center. Surely there is spiritual sustenance here: wonder, awe, and common ground to bind us. We have only begun to appreciate the fullness this spirituality offers. READ MORE
Your Moment of Zen: What Is Mind? Grandma was in #63-#68. Then Grandma and Granddaughter together were in #73 (where Grandma told Granddaughter to follow her bliss) and #80 (where they discussed reading).
Dogen (1200-1253) said, "Mind is no other than mountains and rivers and the great wide earth, the sun and the moon and the stars."
When asked "What is Buddha?" Mazu (709-88) answered, "Mind is Buddha." (But Mazu later said, "There is neither mind nor Buddha.")
As for whether anything will do, it's like what the life of your as-yet-unborn grandchild will be about. Although it could be anything, not just anything will do. What doesn't fit doesn't fit.
Sitting around after supper one night, Granddaughter looked up from a book she was reading and asked, "What is mind?"
Grandma said, "Kitty is crying for food."
Granddaughter asked, "Do you mean anything will do?"
Grandma said, "No."
Granddaughter waited for more, but Grandma had returned to her knitting. She sighed and got up up to feed he cat.
Later, Turkey reported this to Raven and asked her opinion. Raven croaked, and then croaked again.
Turkey asked, "Will that do it?"
Raven said, "Apparently not."
It's like this, I've heard.
The brain -- yours, mine, a beetle's,
A dolphin's, a dog's, a bacterium's,
a turtle's, a penguin's, a carp's --
Extends through the nervous system,
And to the body, and to the world
That tickles the senses,
To fire motor neurons, or something,
To tickle back.
This being so --
The world being made of micro and macro
Tickle-loops everywhere, endless and beginningless --
Where is mind to be found?
Where not?
Case by Robert Aitken, adapted; introduction and verse by Meredith Garmon
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Posted by Rev. Meredith Garmon at 02:59 No comments:
Labels: From Minister
A busy Sunday unfolded last week in RE as the children had another opportunity to engage with Perry on the theme of humility. He conducted a "voting with your feet" contest by posing questions or scenarios that were either humble or bragging. One side of the room was "true" and the other "false." The answers were flying as well as the feet and the children were eager to get all the answers right! A few weeks ago, Perry and I facilitated a Teacher Enrichment session after worship. The turnout was good, with approximately 15 teachers. Afterward, everyone voiced strong interest in having another session, so we complied with our second edition this past Sunday. There were fewer teachers, but the intimacy of the small group lent itself well to a deeper and more focused discussion. The conversation was productive, blossoming into areas of teaching style, issues with students, class dynamics, etc. Ideas and suggestions thrown out by Perry for possible future RE reorganization were intriguing and prompted many opinions. Once again we ran out of time too soon, opening the possibility of continuing these discussions in the future. Our hope in responding to teachers' needs and concerns is that we broaden our vested interest and commitment and, more importantly, solidify our community as colleagues.
Grades K-5 are in the sanctuary for our multigenerational Westchester UU Congregations combined worship. Kids can sit with parents or use the area set aside for quiet play. Grades 6th-12th are invited to the youth room (14) for breakfast, worship, conversation, and activity planning.
Metro NY Youth Conference, March 29-31, UU Congregation of Danbury, CT
Our spring Youth Con in Danbury is for kids in grades 9-12. At cons district youth meet one another, build community, explore their religious identity, create worship, practice leadership, and have fun. Information and registration links HERE. Registrar is Monica Schlichting (monikai@optonline.net).
Registration is open! This 24-hour event for youth in grades 6-8 is a fun opportunity to connect with other UU youth. Information and registration links HERE. Registrar is Charlie Neiss (cneiss@aol.com).
Being Animal
Practice of the Week
Category: Ecospiritual. These practices are oriented toward developing our spirituality through our connection with our planet home and our responsibility to care for it.
from Rebecca James Hecking, The Sustainable Soul, abridged and adapted
Your genetic similarity to any other human is about 99.9%. You're about 96% genetically the same as a chimpanzee, about 90% the same as a cat, 85% the same as a mouse, 80% the same as a cow. How about a fruit fly, a chicken, or a banana? Each of these three is about 60% genetically the same as a human.
The common ancestor of humans, chimps, and bonobos lived about 7 million years ago; the common ancestor of all primates, about 50 million years ago. Our branch split off from the branch that became reptiles and birds about 300 million years ago. We share common ancestors with all living creatures.
This understanding of the connectedness of life is recent. Darwin saw that we were connected, but he had no knowledge of chromosomes or genes. Only in the last couple decades have we sequenced genomes to get the details of our interconnection. The implications of our new understanding are profoundly spiritual and offer us new ways to see ourselves as a species.
We are kin to all that lives upon the Earth – not so different from other life as Westerners long presumed. Many nonwestern cultures have always had a stronger sense of connection and a perspective that was holistic, multisensory, and boundless in scope, enveloping the totality of the cosmos. Western thought is given more to compartmentalizing knowledge and emphasizing difference. Those tendencies led to the development of science, which is now telling us what other cultures assumed: the deep truth of interconnectedness and interdependence is clear.
Not only do we share common ancestors but we carry the story of all life within us. The story encoded within the base pair sequence of our DNA is like a song, written slowly, verse by verse, over eons. Our deepest ancestors wrote the original chorus, the basic chemical processes that made everything possible. Later verses of the song spoke of sense organs, backbones, and limbs. Later still, life sang the verses relating to thought and consciousness, spirit and transcendence.
We are deeply embedded in a grand story, an epic tale beyond any we could imagine -- a small part of which tells of our own waking up to the beauty of the interconnected web of which we are NOT at the center. Surely there is spiritual sustenance here: wonder, awe, and common ground to bind us. We have only begun to appreciate the fullness this spirituality offers.
1. Shape-Shifting. Find a quiet place and choose an animal you have some familiarity with. Sit comfortably, close your eyes, relax, breathe slowly and deeply, and imagine yourself becoming this animal. Imagine your body transforming, how you move, what you see, hear, and smell. Stay with it for 15-20 mins. When you are ready to end the visualization, acknowledge your kinship to this creature.
2. Discover Your Ancestors. If you wish to learn more about your particular place in the story of humanity, you can use DNA sequencing to discover some of the story of your ancient ancestors. "23 and Me," National Geographic's Genographic Project, or Ancestry.com offer genetic testing that will show what areas of the world your ancestors (just the human ones, so far) lived.
3. Mind Map. Journal about your own animal nature, emotions, instincts, and desires. Look past the surface layer of human cognition, and let your deeper inner animal speak. What wisdom does it offer? On the center of the page, write the words inner animal. Then, create a "mind map" by drawing lines radiating outward, and write other words or short phrases that connect or flow from the original phrase. More words or phrases can flow from these as well. The words can be emotions (anger, fear), behaviors (hibernate, hunt), needs, or experiences. Try to write without pausing, allowing your thoughts to fill up the page with words and phrases. When you're finished, look back at the whole page, and see where your thoughts took you. Are there any surprises? A variation on this exercise is to use your non-dominant hand, which sometimes results in fresh perspectives since it utilizes different neural pathways within the brain.
Tree of Life Mural. A group mural can be as simple as taping photos on a wall or as elaborate as a permanent painting in a worship or classroom space. Begin with an image of a bare tree on your wall, and have each participant add images of several animals or plants to the branches, sharing, as they do so, why they chose the particular animals or plants they did. Be sure to include humans somewhere on the tree.
Variation: Use a bare tree branch, either fallen or carefully cut, and create ornaments to hang on it representing the various forms of life on Earth. The finished product can decorate a meeting space.
Questions for Group Conversation:
How much of human behavior —such as aggression, food choices, and moral decisions – do you think can be explained by evolutionary forces? What are the implications of such explanations?
Are there some forms of life, either plant or animal, to which you feel a particular connection or kinship? Why do you think this is so? What does the connection mean to you?
If we think of the Earth as one whole living being, completely interconnected, what role do humans play? Are we the mind of Gaia? The spirit? Or something else entirely?
Why is it difficult for WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich Democracies) people to relate to animals, plants, and the natural world with a sense of spiritual kinship? What is it about contemporary culture that makes this such a challenge?
PRACTICES INDEX
Labels: Ecospiritual, Practice of the Week
Last Sunday began with a Wonder Box story delivered with great humor by Rev. Garmon. The theme of humility is at best a thoughtful, perhaps complex topic, and for children perhaps a little abstract. The Reverend, with his usual aplomb, laughed at himself as he tried modifying his definition of humility to be understandable, realizing it was a "tough crowd." He asked the children whether they knew anyone who was a bully or who bragged, and had the students examine whether that behavior was good and what might be better. Our young congregants quickly "got it" and answered that being humble was not showing off or acting better than someone else. A great lesson for sure! After worship, our volunteer adults and youth group members came together with their typical drive and commitment to pull off the Pancake Brunch fundraiser. The kitchen ran like a well-oiled machine under the guidance of Steve Miller and those pancakes were sizzling and flipping in short order (pardon the pun…). The meal left everyone in Fellowship Hall looking full and satisfied, attesting to the success of the event. The volunteer cleanup was so complete and efficient there wasn't even a custodian fee later! The money raised will all go to PrideWorks, supporting LGBTQ youth and their allies. Many, many thanks to our youth including Evan Cacchione, Joshua Prince, Zach Breault and sister Abbie, and Alex Zisson and sister Callie, and to our adult volunteers, Chris and Kate Breault, Cyndi and Dan Tillman, Liz and Lex Suvanto, Aimee Zipkin, and Steve.
Grades K-5 start in Fellowship Hall. Grades 6th-12th start in classrooms.
Teacher Enrichment Lunch, Sun Mar 10, 11:45am, Fellowship Hall
Join our Director of Faith Development Perry Montrose and RE Coordinator Michele Rinaldi for the next installment of meetings to support our teachers and our RE program. RSVP to cuucre@gmail.com.
On the Journey: Humility
The Mar issue of On the Journey has arrived! HERE
This month, UU Journey Groups will be exploring HUMILITY. Don't miss it, and don't miss your Journey Group meeting to get together to work with this theme!
The Mar issue of On the Journey features
poems from Kobayashi Issa, Jane Taylor, Emily Dickinson, Seamus Heaney, John Bunyan, Charles Simic, and Jan Levitt
a quotations page of 33 provocative, witty, or trenchant remarks
Commentaries by Rev. Scott Tayler, Pema Chodron, David Brooks, Roger Fisher, and Beverly Flaxington
A link to a Carl Sagan video
a spiritual exercise for the month
a page of intriguing questions
The Questions Page. Select one or two questions to "live into" -- carry around with you for a few days before your group meets. Then share your thoughts or musings with your group.
Has your view of humility changed as you've grown older? Does it mean something different to you now than it did 10 years ago? 20 years ago? Even 30? If it has changed, why? How has that change changed you?
Have you ever had a hard time drawing the line between humility and humiliation? Humility isnt' (or shouldn't be) about being a doormat. Have you ever been seduced into believing that "staying small" or "sacrificing yourself" is virtuous? Who or what helps you learn that one can be humble and worthy at the same time? Or are you still trying to learn that?
Has humility ever been dangerous for you? Humble people are honest about their flaws, but being honest about your flaws also leaves you vulnerable. Has this ever got you stomped on? Manipulated? What have you learned about the importance of being "selectively humble"?
Do think humility is different for men and women? Are the costs of humility different for one sex than they are for the other? What about the dangers? The rewards?
Are you happy with your ability to ask for advice or take criticism? When was the last time you genuinely asked for advice or were truly glad for "constructive criticism"? And if you can't remember the last time, what's up with that?
Do you humbly share credit, or do you slyly keep it for yourself? Do you spread the praise? Appreciate others' contributions? Acknowledge your indebtedness?
Have you mastered the humility of withholding judgment?
When you're hurting, do you humbly ask for help or proudly put on a smiley face and hide your pain?
Has your lack of humility ever made you miss out? What have you held yourself back from, for fear of looking silly or lacking control (dance lessons, learning to ski, risking a date, going back to school)? Is that humility or is it pride?
How much did you earn what you have? In what ways are you, too, guilty of "being born on third base and thinking you hit a triple"? How much are you defined by your accomplishments and status? Do you give enough credit to grace?
How does our culture's emphasis on wealth-attainment and self-indulgence effect you? Messages prizing the attainment of material wealth and encouraging self-indulgence bombard us daily. We are not entirely free of these expectations. How can we be a member of this society and also nurture and maintain a personal spirit of humility?
What's your question about humility? Is there some other question that's niggling at you?
Questions from the poems and commentaries.
Is it arrogant to keep one's house swept clean of spiders?
Does humility accentuate beauty?
These "meek members of the resurrection": is this what many living imagine they are and will continue to be in death? Is their humility false?
"To labor and not seek reward" – is that "self-forgetful or agony"? What lesson to you find in the mythic St. Kevin?
Does humility (sometimes?) have an ulterior motive? If it does, it really humility?
Have you felt important (exalted?) lessons were in humble objects? The last line suggests that this, too, is a projection of ego. Do you think it is?
Epistemic humility: abandoning pretenses of knowledge. If we acknowledge frankly that we don't know how to be in the world, does this increase or ease our difficulties?
Is awareness of grace the essence of humility?
"For us, humility is about sight," says Tayler. Is that what humility is about? How well do UUs truly know the things claimed for us in his last paragraph? How well do you?
Can you be grateful to those who annoy you? Does such gratitude facilitate humility?
Is Brooks correct about a "tectonic shift in culture"? What does this shift mean for how you live?
What has been your experience of humility, or the lack of it, among those working for social justice?
Do Flaxington's five suggestions seem helpful? How would your assess yourself on these five?
The link to the current and all past issues of On the Journey can always be found at cucmatters.org/p/journey-groups.htm
Labels: OtherNews
From the MInister, Fri Mar 1
The 2018-19 UUA Common Read is:
Justice on Earth:
People of Faith Working at the Intersections of Race, Class and the Environment.
Come discuss the book! Fri Mar 8, 7:00 at CUUC.
This week, I'm looking at Chapter 11:
Mel Hoover and Rosed Edington, "Water Unites Us."
Hoover and Edington were co-ministers serving the UU Congregation (UUC) in Charleston, West Virginia in 2014 when a water contamination disaster struck the area.
"Freedom Industries and the West Virginia Water Company (WVAC) allowed 4-methylcyclohexanemethano (MCHM – used for removing clay and shale from coal) to poison a water system serving 300,000 people in nine counties." (120)
Advisories told people not to use the water for anything other than flushing the toilet and putting out fires. Schools were closed. Restaurants were ordered
"closed until the tap water was declared safe or owners could demonstrate they had enough bottled water on hand to operate. . . . Some went out of business." (121)
WVAW's response was slow. Though a two-day supply of water in backup tanks was legally required, there was none.
What did UUC do?
They got to work
"helping low-income families who otherwise would have to choose between purchasing bottled water and paying their rent, delivering water to those who could not get to distribution sites, and organizing and advocating for legislation to ensure safe water." (122)
In the ensuing, and ultimately successful, drive for new state legislation requiring chemical storage tanks to be registered and monitored, "rallies, demonstrations, and press conferences were often planned at UUC and attended by UUC member" (124).
To help UUC deal with the crisis, more than $24,000 was donated to UUC from individuals and UU congregations in the region and nationally. UUC "established a Clean Water Fund and a Clean Water Task Force to administer the financial donations" (126).
Hoover and Edington remind us
"that water everywhere is at risk, that everyone is downstream from something, and nearly everyone is at potential risk from flooding . . . increases in extreme water events are projected for all US regions" (128).
You'll want to read the chapter to get the inspiring details of UUC's work in Charleston.
How well do you understand the system that delivers water into your home? Where does the water come from? What potentially polluting industries might be a source of toxic contamination?
What do you know about lead poison risk in your area? A map of lead-poisoning risk is HERE. The map shows that a large part of the Bronx is at the highest risk of lead exposure – Risk Level 10. There's also a Level 10 risk in much of Yonkers and parts of Mt. Vernon, New Rochelle, and Ossining. Other parts of Yonkers, Mt. Vernon, New Rochelle, and Ossining are at Level 9 risk, as are parts of White Plains, Mamaroneck, Hastings-on-Hudson, Greenburgh, Mount Pleasant, Peekskill, and most of Pelham and of Portchester. About 90% of the area of the Bronx is at Risk Level 8 or higher. More than half the area of southern Westchester (that is, south of a line from Armonk to Sleepy Hollow), is at Risk Level 7 or higher. In all of Westchester, nowhere is the risk Level as low as 1 or 2, and there are a only few scattered census tracts at Risk Level 3. All the rest of the county is at Risk Level 4 or higher for lead. CUUC is in a tract assessed at Lead Risk Level 4. To our southeast, the tract on the other side of the Hutchinson is at Lead Risk Level 6. Just north of us, the tract through the middle of which Bryant Ave runs, is at Lead Risk Level 7. What should you know about the factors for lead-exposure risk? What actions are called for?
For my reflection/summary on previous chapters, click the title:
Jennifer Nordstrom, "Intersectionality, Faith, and Environmental Justice"
Paula Cole Jones, "The Formation of the Environmental Justice Movement"
Sheri Prud'homme, "Ecotheology"
Sofia Betancourt, "Ethical Implications of Environmental Justice"
Adam Robersmith, "Cherishing Our World: Avoiding Despair in Environmental Justice Work"
Peggy Clarke, Matthew McHale, "Becoming Resilient: Community Life for a New Age"
Kathleen McTigue, "Drawing on the Deep Waters: Contemplative Practice in Justice-Making"
Pamela Sparr, "Transforming Unitarian Universalist Culture: Stepping Out of Our Silos and Selves"
Kathleen McTigue, "Learning to Change: Immersion Learning and Climate Justice"
Peggy Clarke, "Eating the Earth"
The Liberal Pulpit New:
The Uses of Anger -- And the Manipulations
Index of past sermons: HERE. Index of other reflections: HERE.
Videos of sermons are on the Liberal Pulpit Youtube Channel: HERE
Practice of the Week: Be For Yourself Think about what it's like to be a good friend to someone. Then ask: Am I that kind of friend to myself? If not, you could be too hard on yourself, too quick to feel you're falling short, too dismissive of what you get done each day. Or too half-hearted telling others what you really need. Or too resigned to your own pain, or too slow about doing those things -- both inside your head and outside it, in the wider world -- to make your life better. READ MORE
Your Moment of Zen: The Perfection of Character This is Raccoon's first appearance. And we haven't had a mention of Moose Roshi since way back in #3, when Raven was just starting out and visiting a number of teachers (including also Jackrabbit Roshi and Prairie Dog Roshi) before settling down with Brown Bear.
Practice is for perfecting our character. And our character is already perfected. Practice is about remembering and living from that fact. This is transformative. In fact, it's the most radical transformation possible. It changes you into what you've always been.
Raccoon was a student of Moose Roshi at Cedarford, but he visited the Tallspruce community occasionally.
One day Raven invited him to have a snack and asked, "What does Moose Roshi teach?"
Raccoon said, "The practice of Zen is the perfection of character."
Raven said, "Transformation.
Raccoon said, "The Zen student trims the dead branches. It's the pigeon who can do the actual job."
The Will, Illusory Anyway
It's grace all the way down,
Even the pain and grief bits,
And, too, the wanting and striving bits --
All the doings my acquaintances call Meredith's,
In praise or in blame.
On my cushion, of a morning,
The world slowly lightening, there am I,
Trimming some dead branches, maybe,
Culling, weeding, making room
For something else to "do the actual job" --
Which it does, haphazardly,
And mentions, by the by,
That the way-preparing, garden-tending, discipline
Of hospitality to whatever guest may come --
The practice and intentions that seem of my making --
Come also from something else --
Something that watches, and sometimes whispers
It's grace all the way down.
RAVEN INDEX