The Existential Buzz

“Holding Still”

“Anyone who’s changed a baby’s diaper or towel-dried a wet dog or received a vaccination knows how important “Holding Still” can be! This is true of the spiritual life as well, and that’s what I want to talk with you about.” 

Chris Glaser has enjoyed his silence since ending his blog, “Progressive Christian Meditations.” With so many voices, so much tumult, and such stress in the world today, silence refreshes us, offering mindfulness of what is truly vital, as in “life-giving.” Join Chris in this new life and rebirth meditation as we listen for what truly renews us.

It’s always a good time to be a Unitarian and to be a Universalist, as it helps us view everyone in the same light. But with the “existential threats” to our democracy, to our health, and to our planet, we need all the more to value the moment we have to live, to love, to participate in our community, and to preserve this beautiful earth and all who live on it.

After publishing a dozen books, serving a series of progressive parishes, and ten years writing a blog called ‘Progressive Christian Reflections,” Rev. Chris Glaser retired recently to embrace a kind of spiritual silence. http://chrisglaser.com; http://chrisglaser.blogspot.com

• Facilitator: Charlene Ball
• Musicians: Jean Heinrich and East/West String Ensemble

“Expanding Awareness”

Kodac Harrison is a musician and a poet. He has 19 albums, and a book of poetry and lyrics called The Turtle and the Moon. He founded and ran Java Monkey Speaks, an open mic night in Decatur, GA that lasted for 18 years and out of which came five poetry anthologies. He served as the Visiting McEver Chair of Poetry at Georgia Tech in 2010 and 2016. He won an Atlanta Moth slam with his story about his dog, Rudy. Although Kodac grew up in Jackson, Georgia and graduated from Georgia Tech, he’s also done his fair share of wandering. He earned an MBA at Tulane University in New Orleans, served time in the Army on the West Coast, played gigs in New York, California, Georgia, the Carolinas, and the places in between, as well as in Germany, and other parts of Europe. He considers his heart to be a vagabond, and he follow it wherever it leads.

• Facilitator:  Patton White
• Musician: CJ Jones & Spirit Bones band

“Keepers of the Earth”

“I recently attended a presentation at Standing Peachtree Creek Park and listened to a Miccosukee Creek talk about the non-nomadic, agrarian life of the tribe in this area before they were forced out. She said they considered themselves Keepers of the Earth. For the future of our planet we must embrace this mantle.”

Our Fellowship Minister, Rev. Marsha Mitchiner, has served the Congregation for over two decades, since ordination by us, following her study with Lanier Clance. She counsels, connects, and contacts members and friends, and for those who need it, performs the laying-on of hands in her role as a massage therapist. Many of us can vouch for the quality of her work, and appreciate the wisdom, restraint, and compassion she brings to the job of caring for our Congregation.

Marsha speaks once each quarter, and helps smooth the functioning of the Congregation innumerable times in between.

• Facilitator: Wade Marbaugh
• Musician: Charli Vogt

“Refugee Women Economic and Health Empowerment”

Refugee women are a vulnerable group among millions of people who have been involuntarily displaced, are survivors of torture and trauma, and, need special attention and care. Pre- and post-resettlement experiences have profound effects on how these women acculturate in their new home countries 

ABOUT THE FOUNDER – AMANI WOMEN CENTER, INC. 

Doris Mukangu 

Doris is the founder of Amani Women Center (www.amaniwomencenter.org) based in Clarkston, Georgia. She moved to America 20 years ago to pursue higher education. She graduated from Emory University RSPH with the vision of helping women who come from a similar background or with similar experiences like hers. With this passion running through her veins, she founded Amani Women Center in 2007 with the vision to create a safe space for refugee and immigrant women to learn to be self-sufficient and achieve their maximum potential. One of the programs of AWC is the Amani Sewing Academy (ASA). This program is unique in that it teaches refugee and immigrant women sewing skills and life skills to enable them to enter the workforce and earn livable wages. Refugee women who attend and graduate from the sewing program are able to start home-based businesses, join the small-scale manufacturing at ASA, teach at ASA, or work contractually for Johari Africa (www.johariafrica.com) AWC’s social Enterprise. Products made by the women are a celebration of the different cultures that are represented in the program.

• Facilitator: Jan Lister
• Musician: Jean Heinrich

“Love, Compassion, Presence and Poetry”

Lisa will explore the themes of love, compassion and mindful presence through personal pondering, story, and poetry, including poems from her recently published book. Her talk will range from the very personal to the political and spiritual.

She has pondered how to be more loving and compassionate to herself and others for many decades and will share a few practices that can be helpful. Compassion is not always soft and sometimes requires firm boundaries.

• Facilitator: D. Patton White
• Musician: Carol Calvert