Rev. David Hutchinson, Minister, 446-6858 Rev. Donald Hinkley, Minister Emeritus Bill White, Moderator, 521-0015 Susan & Bruce Glick, Co-Treasurers, 538-9264 Fred Griffith, Clerk, 532-2455 Karen Klahr, Newsletter, 532-4051 Church Phone, 532-9269 Committee on Ministry, Debra Frazier, Bruce Glick, Larry Tonzi Newsletter - May 2008

First Church of Houlton Unitarian Universalist 61 Military St. Houlton, ME 04730

As summer approaches I can already feel the subtle pull and allure of fresh-cut lawns, BBQs in the back yard, gardens, hiking in the woods, days at the lake, Red Sox baseball on the radio and a couple of trips to Houlton Farms Dairy. As we all know, the summers are short here in New England so there is not a day to waste!

Thoreau says we can never have enough of nature. This doesn't mean we have to hike 2 miles every day, but it does raise the question of how we relate to nature. We don't have to be on summer vacation to enjoy the natural world around us. We have a relating-nature to it at all times. We are never distant from nature. Even as we're walking on the sidewalk downtown we are breathing in the universe, feeling the sunshine on our skin and sharing space with the bug flying in the air.

If someone could only find a way to bottle the wildness of nature and market it's invigorating qualities, the tonic would certainly give the colas and energy drinks a run for their money! Instead, what I recommend for this summer is a local glass of spring water with perhaps a twist of lemon. Feel the wildness, and who knows, maybe I'll catch you at the Dairy Bar for a milkshake before the summer is out.

Drink deep.     Dave

In the early days of Aroostook County it is doubtful if potato farmers and lumbermen were able to take a so-called vacation and in some cases this may still be true today. The change of the seasons in Aroostook however wove recurring periods of rest into the fabric of the farmer's life and winter gave the farmer time to "rest." Today with all the stress of work and cultural demands--most of us need a vacation of some sort beyond the religious and secular holidays that dot our calendar.

Vacations can be found in the most unexpected ways. Of course, there are the two extreme types: those who are "large-city goers" and the "wilderness goers." The former looks for a maximum of options and the latter a minimum of options. Most of us want something in between and this year with the increasing price of gas we may want to find other alternatives closer to home. To follow our theme of "The Great Turning" I believe that one way to find rest this summer is to give up options or in other words abstain from doing things rather than doing them. In the presence of wilderness or even your local area you can relax, let go, and get in touch with your inner being. That may be the ultimate process of resting: not to travel, not to go out and do things, not to spend our time in what we deem to be "useful" ways, but rather to let go, to open ourselves up to the spirit, to get in touch with our soul.

I cannot help but think of an example of this type of "restful" experience that Ralph Waldo Emerson recorded in his journal on April 10, 1834 when he spent the afternoon at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He leaned against the side of a tree and recorded his experience.
"At least I opened my eyes and let what would pass through them into the soul. I saw no more my relation, how near and petty, to Cambridge or Boston; I heeded no more what minute or hour our Massachusetts clocks might indicate-I only saw the noble earth on which I was born, with the great Star which warms and enlightens it. I saw the clouds that hang their significant drapery over us. It was Day-was all Heaven said. The pines glittered with their innumerable green needles in the light, and seemed to challenge me to read their riddle. The drab oak-leaves of the last year turned their little somersets and lay still again. And the wind bustled high overhead in the forest top. This gay and grand architecture, from the vault to the moss and lichen on which I lay- who shall explain to me the laws of its proportions and adornments?"

As you plan your vacation or period of rest--enjoy yourself and remember this old Chinese Saying, "If you want to be happy for an hour, have a party. If you want to be happy for a week, kill your pig and eat it. But if you want to be happy all your life, become a gardener."     Bill White

As the one who writes the checks to pay the church’s bills all year long, I thank you for your financial support so far this year. It takes many kinds of support to create and sustain a community. In fact, a community exists BECAUSE people support it in many ways, not just financially. Nevertheless, I ask you to remember the church this summer when you look at your checkbook, and send me your financial contribution toward support of this community we cherish. I hope to see you at many church activities this summer. And if you need to mail payment on your pledge, here’s the address: S. Glick, 652 Back Ridge Rd., Littleton, ME 04730 May your summer be filled with flowers, lemonade, and warm blue-sky days. With love, Sue

Spring Decay See the dying into spring: Banks of white solid Losing all soft form To jagged graying grooves with Fanciful canyon-topping Outcrops of gravel and ice peaks. Snow seeping into flashing water, Raging rivulets, subtle streamlets Seeking some lower location, Some pool known internally through Cold collecting memory Of crystal gem existence. We rejoice in this decay, This leaving and joining and streaming, Ascribing to it spring flowers, Mosquitoes, black flies, and lawn mowing. Most of all we see Through its lenses to green. Then all understanding Evaporates in every shade From chartreuse to Kelly and back again. We become the green we see Rising up or bending to tend it, Taking in the newest fiddlehead. We long to stay in green beyond its time Until the promise of warm hues speaks again of decay Still lulling all into sweet fall days Harvesting grapes, apples and maple leaves: To laud giving Earth one last day Until the next turning. Written after a long winter of deep snows and much longing, 2008.     Susan Marie Sylvester Glick

green having lived in northern New England for several years an unobserved question registered in my mind one day; how many months out of the year do we have leaves on trees? depending on your calculations the answer is basically a 50/50 split an extra variation of seasonal affective disorder roughly coinciding with the arrival and departure of black flies, mosquitoes and T-shirts the percentage of green to brown is directly related to the amount of emerging ideas in your head the greening of the mind the new territory of aliveness expanding to the extent of your thought beyond all ordinary calculations a basic consciousness reading the editorial column in the newspaper hoeing the weeds in the garden leaping into the void fresh green appearing in the near vicinity of where you are right now written by DH

This picture of Phil Crowley and Yvonne Bigelow at a church potluck came to us by way of LT Rheinlander. Thank you, LT. They look so happy here--a good way to remember them.

Here is Noreen at a March 2007 social action event in subfreezing temperatures, lending her voice and her moral support to community.