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Infinite Possibilities
  the Newsletter of the Universal Interfaith Church

Volume 6  No. 6      Summer  2010

Awakening and Expressing the Diversity of the Divine Through Mindful Living...



SUMMER CELEBRATIONS AT UIC

     Summer brings fun to UIC beginning with Father's Day and the Blessing of the Men on June 20th at an outdoor service followed by our annual barbeque. Our Summer Solstice Prayer Gathering happens on June 19 with World Peace and Prayer Day.  In July we celebrate Independence Day, which falls on Sunday this year, with the Cherokee Dance of Life to renew our connection with the people of the world and all our relations. Our Annual Luau and Ho'oponopono Service of Forgiveness under the trees in Lions Park happens on July 11. On July 18th we have the Special Spiritual Cinema showing of "Visions of a Universal Humanity."  On August 8th we have the Food Prosperity Class and join other community churches on August 15th for Crop Walk to raise money for Sharing Ministries and help feed the hungry of the world. And August 29th it's our Annual Spiritual Cinema Short Film Festival.
     The Open Heart Drum Circle will be performing during Main in Motion in June, July and August.  Come and join us for a good time in downtown Montrose.
         During July and August, we go to our summer schedule featuring our Wisdom Circles, where different members of our spiritual family share their spiritual journey or something they have learned that changed their lives.  Sign up on Sunday for your special date.  Instead of the Adult Discussion Group, our new Summer School begins, a time to refresh our spiritual practices and learn some new ones.
     Be comfortable this summer and wear your shorts and sandals. We will serve salads and sandwiches for lunch to help us stay cool. Happy Summer!

Spiritual Cinema Circle
  
This month's DVD feature is "Smile," an extraordinary adult film about two babies who are born on the same day, one in rural China and the other in Malibu, CA.  Lin is born with a facial deformity while Katie is drawn to work with the Doctor's Gift program based on Operation Smile.  An adventure brings the two girls together and their lives change forever. (108 min. in English and Mandarin with Enlish subtitles.)
Featured Shorts are:  "Be My Brother," "Edgar," and "La Premiere." 

COMMUNITY OUTREACH

UIC will have a table at the Senior Fair on Saturday, June 26 from 9 am to 5 pm at the Montrose Pavilion.  If you would like to volunteer to be at the table for an hour or two, call Rev. Arlyn at 252-0908.

     The Open Heart Drum Circle plays at Main in Motion on Thursday, June 17th, July 29th and August 19th.  Come and join us for some outdoor fun and community outreach.  UIC will be at the Nonprofit Awareness Table on June 17th and July 29th in front of Cazwella's on Main Street.   We need volunteers to be at the table on those days.   

                                     FATHER'S DAY 
Father's Day is a time to honor all the "fathers" in our lives.  The first Father's Day on July 5, 1908 when Grace Golden Clayton wanted to honor her own father and the 250 fathers who died in the Monongah Mining Disaster, which left 1,000 children fatherless.  She asked her minister at the Williams Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church in Fairmont, WV to have a special service.  On June 19, 1910, in Spokane, WA, Sonora Dodd wanted to honor her father, William Small, a Civil War Veteran, who raised his six children alone after his wife died.  On that day, Sonora took gifts to the shut-in fathers.  She began working for a national Father's Day but most people found the idea absurd and just another retail scam, but in 1972 President Richard Nixon declared the third Sunday in June to be the official Father's Day.  Today Father's Day is celebrated in 52 other countries around the world.  In Germany, it is traditional for men to go on male-only hikes with one or more small wagons filled with beer or wine and traditional food.  In Thailand, fathers are given Canna flowers and everyone wears yellow.  In the US, we usually celebrate with a barbeque, family gatherings, and give fathers gifts of tools or electronics.  All of our "Fathers" deserve to be celebrated. They are very special to us. Happy Father's Day!                   



CHEROKEE DANCE OF LIFE
       This is a circle dance based on Cherokee traditions that everyone can do.  It is a way to honor the Four Directions, the People of the Four Directions, and all our Relations as we open up to the presence of the Great Spirit.  Rev. Arlyn learned this dance from a Cherokee Medicine woman and danced it with a group of people on the beach at Asilomar in the Monterey area.  As they danced, the dolphins joined them just off shore and danced along with the humans.  It is an inspiring body prayer you won't forget. Join us on Sunday, July 4th to dance and pray for Mother Earth and all our Relations.

                                  ANNUAL LUAU AND 
         HO'OPONOPONO SERVICE OF FORGIVENESS                          
      Aloha! This Hawaiian word means "hello" and "good-bye" and "May the Breath of God Be With You."  Let us celebrate the Aloha Spirit of our Hawaiian sisters and brothers in this outdoor service and luau lunch.  We begin with the Ho'oponopono Service of Forgiveness that UIC celebrates on the first Sunday of the year and in the middle of the year.  This is a time to bring forth and forgive those people youve been holding onto and release the illusion of the wrongs you have suffered. It is a time for deep meditation and prayer for all healing begins with forgiveness.
     Following the service we spread out the cloths and celebrate the Spirit of Aloha with a luau, featuring all the wonderful Hawaiian dishes our UIC cooks bring.  We dance the hula and have our annual hula hoop contest, so start practicing swingin' those hips.  Wear your bright Hawaiian clothes or colorful shirts and we have leis for everyone.  All this happens on July 11th at Lions Park.

                                     WISDOM CIRCLES
   One of our most popular summer programs is our Wisdom Circles, where you are invited to share a part of your spiritual journey or something new you have learned this past year.  Two people per Sunday for the months of July and August tell us about their life.  This is a great way for us to get better acquainted with each other.
     The sign up sheet is on the front table before and after Sunday services or you can call Rev. Arlyn at 252-0908 to sign up.
     We are a very friendly group and you can feel comfortable standing up in front of us and sharing.  We look forward to hearing  your wisdom.

SUMMER SCHOOL BEGINS
       Our spiritual practice is a growing, evolving process.  Sometimes we need a refresher course or catch up on some practices we might have missed. Summer School is your chance to do this.  We will cover such topics as writing effective affirmations, creating powerful prayers, basic meditation, and how to change your thoughts and beliefs.  Summer School begins July 4th at 9:30 am.  (No Adult Discussion Group for Summer).

 INSPIRATIONAL MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT...

      I remember before my 5th birthday.  My father had a sheet metal shop.  He was helping a man, who is now my dauthter-in-law's great grandfather.  I slipped by them to look around the shop.  I found a small piece of metal and stretched across the table.  I wiggled it under the blade. 
     The next thing my father heard was my screams.  He quickly wrapped my fingers with my hand in a red bandana and rused off to the hospital.  At the hospial I remember my father begging the doctor to sew my fingers back on.  The doctor explained they were too small and he couldn't sew them back on.
     When I woke up, my father was praying over me.  That's what fathers do.
They pray. 


It doesn't matter who my father was; it matters who I remember he was.                                                        -Anne Sexton
  

THIS SUMMER EDITION OF THE NEWSLETTER COVERS JUNE, JULY AND AUGUST.

We are always looking for new ideas and topics for the monthly newsletter. If you have an idea or would be interested in writing an article, please let us know.