Category: From Rev. Barbara’s Desk

From Rev. Barbara’s Balcony: December 2022

A poem, written by retired UU minister the Rev. Mary Wellemeyer, called ‘Late November’:

One day it happens –
often it comes after rain.
Suddenly the leaves are gone
from the trees of the hillsides;
only some oak and beech trees
cling to curled brown souvenirs of summer.
Now comes a special … read more.

From Rev. Barbara’s Desk: October 2022

By the Rev. Barbara Threet

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about what has deep personal meaning, and why. My ruminations have been sparked by my mother’s death, as my family begins the process of dismantling her household. Our family moved there almost 60 years ago, … read more.

From Rev. Barbara’s Couch

by the Rev. Barbara Threet

Time is too slow for those who wait,
too swift for those who fear,
too long for those who grieve,
too short for those who rejoice,
but for those who love,
time is eternity. (or ‘time is not’, in another version).

These words, which may well be … read more.

Reflections on Next Year (from Rev. Barbara’s Balcony)

by the Rev. Barbara Threet

Now that the 2021-22 UU church year is drawing to a close, I’m thinking about next year’s adult education Zoom classes. This year’s classes (“Transcendentalism: Beyond Emerson,” “The Bible Says…” and “Who Me? An Elder?”) were well received, and all three … read more.

From Rev. Barbara’s Balcony

by the Rev. Barbara Threet

The days, so filled with budding green and flowering trees, bursting lilacs and not-yet-faded daffodils – and so filled, also, with surging Covid numbers, angst at what SCOTUS could hand down, fears of drought and fire, and terror in Ukraine and … read more.

From Rev. Barbara’s Desk

by the Rev. Barbara Threet

The New York State Convention of Universalists [NYSCU] was organized in 1825. Prior to the creation of the Unitarian Universalist Association, it served as the principal denominational body for Universalist churches in New York State.

Today the Convention administers two endowments. One provides gratuities … read more.

From Rev. Barbara’s Couch? Desk? (Who knows?)

by the Rev. Barbara Threet

What a confusing, and often disheartening, time! I find myself looking for signs of hope and sanity to help maintain a sense of balance – and I’m finding some!

National Geographic reported just a few weeks ago, for example, that the last … read more.

From Rev. Barbara’s Back Yard

by the Rev. Barbara Threet

Well, this is not the September that most of us at UUCGF (or most everywhere else across our country) imagined late last spring. COVID-related restrictions were loosening, masks were coming off, public spaces were re-opening, and vaccines were going into millions … read more.

From Rev. Barbara’s Couch: July 2021

By the Rev. Barbara Threet

Well, it’s been quite a week for confronting racism in our country!

On Tuesday, June 15, a moderate won a close election to become the next President of the Southern Baptist church. The candidates disagreed on several issues, including racial reconciliation and … read more.

From Rev. Barbara’s Couch: June 2021

 I write this column on May 20, which, among other things, is World Bee Day. 

Bees, as you probably know, are in trouble. U.S. National Agricultural Statistics show a honey-bee decline from about 6 million hives in 1947 to 2.68 million hives in 2017. In the U.S., … read more.