Light a Candle for a child who has died

As Chalica come to an end for this year, I would like to tell you about Compassionate Friends and what they are doing tonight. Compassionate Friends is an organization for people who have had a child in their life of any age that died. It is on line and there are support groups in all 50 states.
 Once a year candles are lit around the world at 7pm for the children that have died. The hope is that the light will go around the world one candle at a time. It is always the 2nd Sunday in December. This is the 3rd year for my family to celebrate the life of our blessed Tyler Joel Rudy that was taken too soon from us in October of 2010. We all miss you Tyler and send our love to your mom, dad, and brothers.

The Seventh Day of Chalica

We light our chalice for respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part. Give gift(s) to our earth and/or its creatures

Examples:

- start a compost

- recycle bottles and cans and donate the money to an environmental / animal aid society

- rescue an animal from a shelter

- hold an outdoor worship service (dress warm/bonfire)

I am going to write to the various companies that have supplied money for the  NO Vote for GMO Labeling. I want to know what is in my food don't you? I think if we are healthier so will be our Earth.

The Sixth Day of Chalica 2012

We light our chalice for the goal of world peace, liberty and justice for all. Give gift(s) to honor our global community

Examples:

- volunteer with an organization that has global influence

- write a letter for amnesty international

- help your social justice committee hold a fundraiser

- donate to a cause such as UNICEF, Doctors without Borders, etc.

 

The Fifth Day of Chalica 2012

We light our chalice for the right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large. Give gift(s) to honor democracy

Examples:

- help a political party

- write your government

- help a committee at church

- host a dinner / party to celebrate democracy

 What are you doing today with the Fifth principle in mind? I think I should write to my Senators and House of Representatives asking them to work together to straighten out the economy. 
Here's something easy to do if you believe in marriage equality please sign this petition:
https://secure3.convio.net/hrc/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=1509

If you scroll down and look on the lower left you will see a map of the world. Click on it and it will take you to a page that shows all the different states in the USA and all the different countries in the world that have looked at the site.

Remember to check in on Chalica! and let us know where you are from and if this is your 1st, 2nd, 3rd or ? year celebrating Chalica. 

This new song was just posted on Chalica! by

Jeanne-Marie Peterson: "I wrote a Chalica song for my son, to the tune of "The Twelve Days of Christmas." Enjoy!"
On the seventh day of Chalica, my parents taught to me... care for the Earth!
On the sixth day of Chalica, my parents taught to me... build a peaceful world,
On the fifth day of Chalica, my parents taught to me...democracy!

On the fourth day of Chalica, my parents taught to me... search for what is true,
On the third day of Chalica, my parents taught to me... yearn to learn,
On the second day of Chalica, my parents taught to me... be kind to all,
On the first day of Chalica, my parents taught to me... inherent worth and dignity!

Love, 

Kathy

 

The Fourth Day of Chalica 2012

We light our chalice for a free and responsible search for truth and meaning. Give gift(s) to honor another tradition, to honor education

Examples:

- offer / take part in an event that celebrates another religion / tradition

- teach someone something you know and love

- learn something new from someone else

- give a book / read a book

What are you doing today to honor this Principle?

Right now I really can't write too much. I am very sad that some hunters have found two bodies that may be the two missing cousins. These girls have been missing since the day I had surgery in July, we had all been hoping and praying that they would be found alive. We will have to wait until the news is official, but it is just very sad. I am especially worried about my little friends Kendra & Corwin as they were neighbors and friends of one of the girls. So please say a pray or send healing thoughts or energy or what every your tradition or custom is to the family and friends of the two young girls.

Blesse Be and go in Peace.

Love to all

Kathy

The Third Day of Chalica 2012

Happy Chalica!

Get a Chalica Twibbon! - Twibbons are small images that you can overlay onto your Facebook or Twitter profile pic to show support for something...and Chalica's got one! Get yours!

The Second Day of Chalica 2012

We light our chalice for justice, equity and compassion in human relations.

Examples:

• spend time in a soup kitchen
• donate clothes to a worthy organization
• display kindness and care to those around you
• take part in a political demonstration at city hall
• Sign the 'Stop Uganda's Kill The Gays Bill' Petition.
• Some friends are heading to Barnes & Noble to buy children's books for Toys for Tots.
• Give gift(s) to honor those in your local community that are less fortunate. 

or if you like the children's version:

We light our chalice to celebrate being kind in all we do.

- donate toys to someone who doesn’t have as much as you do.

- display kindness and care to those around you

If you are conducting a celebration on your own check out resources on the facebook page, Chalica! and here:
Songs:
Light A Chalice, by evan austin 
Infinite Light by Dan Flores 
The Seven Days of Chalica by Lisa Schwarts 
Chalice lightings

If you want a celebration already made that you just listen & watch - checkout these videos by Jeff Lieberman

Some new articles:

More For Your Holiday: Try Chalica by evan austin

Harvest Moon by Hand

Chrismukah, IllUUmination and Chalica: Navigating the Holidays by Carl Gregg

Blessed be, 

Happy Chalica!

Kathy

 

The First Day of Chalica 2012

Today we celebrate our first Principle.

We light our chalice for the inherent worth and dignity of every person. 

  Give gift(s) to honor those you do not understand / agree with / like.

Examples:

- a thank-you card celebrating differences

- words of forgiveness / apology

- a peace offering such as inviting someone to diner

- help someone in need

or if you like the children's version:

We light our chalice to celebrate that each person is important.  

Make and deliver a card or a picture to someone.

If you are conducting a celebration on your own check out resources on the facebook page, Chalica! and here:
Songs:
Light A Chalice, by evan austin 
Infinite Light by Dan Flores 
The Seven Days of Chalica by Lisa Schwarts 
Chalice lightings

If you want a celebration already made that you just listen & watch checkout these videos by Jeff Lieberman

Blessings to you,
Kathy 
P.S. Please be sure to check in & let us know where you are from and if this is your first year here in comments and/or on the Facebook page, Chalica!

  

Chalica visits UUSBHC's RE

Moira, Heather, Tom & Flora

Today I joined Heather Flory & Moria Brown at the UUSBHC to facilitate a planning & information class on Chalica. Although a small group we had a lot of fun talking about Chalica and activities that we can do at home, by ourselves &/or  with our families to celebrate.

Ethan, Bill, Esther, Gerry & in the back Jan

 Heather was our leader and she put together a wonderful schedule see it under the UUSBHC tab above. Moria did a great introduction & history of Chalica.

Esther, Leigh & Juanita

 We fortunately had some children & people young at heart who helped us light the different "Candles" on our Chalica chalice.

9 days til Chalica!

Please help support Celebrate Chalica!  add a #Twibbon now!
http://twb.ly/QoQRNt http://twb.ly/bZBGwR

Giving Thanks!

  Tonight we had a Chinese Thanksgiving with our friend Ping and some new friends from China. She told us to bring nothing as she was serving Hot Pot! So we took her a yellow mini rosebush. It was so much fun making new friends and being with a great "old" friend. As usual the food was wonderful!

QR Code

I just made a new mobile app for this blog.

Using a QR reader click on the image to the right or go to

http://t.wbx.me/gicac

It should work for both the Android phones and the iPhones!

14 days until Chalica!

The gang after Halloween.

Today I am meeting with Moria and Heather to discuss a religious education class on Chalica for the upcoming Sunday. It will be great to get together with these two supportive women. This will be a bit different time schedule - giving the congregation more than a week to get ready to celebrate Chalica, instead of being an opening on the day before to the celebration.
I am really hoping that it will start me off for the coming year and that I will try to spend a minute each day after Chalica to continue to think about our 7 Principles.
This has been an extremely busy, frustrating and healing year for me. Last year at this time I was battling: a new disease (hyperparathyroidism); bone loss and had just fallen, hurt my left wrist and not healing from it.  After many test - and working hard I am on the way to recovery from some of my health issues.

• I had a joint removed from my wrist and it is healing slowly but surely.
• I tried Touch for health Kinesiology with my friend Krystal Hamilton Case and after that my blood & bone tests showed normal results in all areas.

I was doing so well that the kids and I decorated outside for Halloween and so I am ready to start in on the new year. It will be fun to introduce my grandson Tyler and his friends, Phoenix and Elliot to my Chalica ways this year.
You may have notice in the lower right hand corner I fixed the count down clock and now that I remember how to do that I will get it set up for next year after Chalica is done this year!
Does anyone have any new rituals that would like to share with me and or this blog? If so please comment below or dash me off an email at klinkzeitz@hotmail.com let me know if you want me to publish it or not.

Happy Chalica!

Blessed be...

Kathy

Facepainting

Did you know that some Halloween face paints contain lead? I didn't so have done some research and found that there are a few brands of safe face paint readily available (Snazaroo [Buy Direct], Wolfe Brothers, Fardel, Paradise, Mehron, Kryolan, and Ben Nye, for example) and they are not more expensive than craft paints since a little bit goes a very long way!
I have done my share of face painting and usually used theatrical makeup without a problem, but now I will me more careful and look for one of the above brands.
Blessed Be,
Kathy

Need to have a voice.

I have had a few things happen in the last month, that I just can't seem to put behind me so I am hoping that by writing about these things I can do that. 

The first has to do with my former church. I went back a couple of Wednesdays ago to take my little friend Phoenix to the Children's Choir. It was nice to see some of the changes - new carpet because of the flooding from the rain, a different lay out for the Wednesday dinner. And to see some of the things that I had started that hadn't changed - the glass bulletinboard, the brochure holder and that the Wednesday dinners were still going!

And I was greeted warmly by a few people - a couple even stopping to talk. Judy and Juanita it was so good to have a bit of a talk with you ladies. I had purposely picked a seat to sit in in the back of the sanctuary to be able to focus on Phoenix as she was nervous about joining the group - she had forgotten some of the kids, and some were new to her.

When all of the sudden, "Kathy, What are you doing here?" came from the minister. I turned to her and explained that Phoenix & her folks had moved back temporarily and that Phoenix had been invited to try out the choir again and that I thought that All were welcome to visit the church. She looked a little startled and said, "Of course EVERYONE is welcome."  But I was left feeling I wasn't welcome.  Oh well. I don't think I am ready to return.  

The other thing that happened was that I found out that a person I had thought was a friend had (two years ago when I left the church) been telling people that I had been spreading rumors about the church. I was very upset with this and had to double check the meaning of rumors. 

A rumor is often viewed as "an unverified account or 

explanation of events circulating from person to person 

and pertaining to an object, event, or issue in public 

concern" and/or Rumors are also often discussed with 

regard to "misinformation" and "disinformation" (the 

former often seen as simply false and the latter seen as

 deliberately false.

This had of course made me upset as I was very careful about what I said and who I said it to regarding what happened at the church concerning myself. I only repeated what I was told - maybe those were lies? And told about my feelings as to why I quit.  

So does this make what she said a rumor or an out and out lie? Hummm something I have been thinking a lot about. 

So for the present I miss my friends at the church but for now I am enjoying my Sundays being unscheduled and I enjoy doing daycare for a my few children and I am doing the OT for my hand after my surgery that I had in July. 

Blessed be,

Kathy

Four years later love leads the way

Four years ago all in the Unitarian Universalist Community were stopped in shock and horror with the news of a shooting in at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville.  But we didn't stay stopped, we all reached out with love to the people that were at the church that Sunday.   Not only UUs but many people from around the world opened their hearts to these people affected by this terrible deed. 

The way people responded make me remember why I stay with the Unitarian Universalist religion.

I especially liked this chalice lightening from Rev. Carole Martignacco and on this date will like to offer it to you:

A Spiritual Home

As a spiritual home is a sanctuary, a safe space
for the gathering of the beloved community,
we light this chalice, symbol of our free faith,
In solidarity with brothers and sisters all over the world
who mourn with the Knoxville community last week's tragic events,
the violation of their sanctuary and the loss of precious lives.
We light this chalice in honour of the courage and goodness
of those who in every age, mindless of the cost to themselves,
are moved to shield others from acts of violence.
May this flame burn in our hearts today to warm us
and remind us that our greatest security lies in our choice
to answer hate with the all-consuming power of love.Rev. Carole Martignacco, president of the Unitarian Universalist Ministers of Canada, offers this Chalice-Lighting
 
A year later! An article about what is happening in Tennessee a year later.

Blessed Be,

Kathy

Laughter and Love

Today my facebook friend Susan Hembrough posted this poem on facebook that she wrote:

"For those that are wondering
Why I do as I do
It's because sometimes I am happy
And sometimes I am sad
Some days are good,
And others are bad
So I choose to make
Some others laugh
I am me after all
I am not you
So I do what I must
To see each day through
So I post things that I see
For I"d much rather laugh
Than cry the tears
That have welled up at last
For the love in my heart
Will cover the pain
Of what I really am feeling
If I can laugh once again......love to all from me to you"

by Susan Hembrough.

I wanted to share this poem with you because I think a lot of us feel the same way.  That there is a lot of hopelessness out there in the world, but there are people that help us get our hope back. Life is not always a smooth ride but it is a ride.  Someone once said that if we didn't experience the bad times in life we would not appreciate the good times.  It is true that there are times when we all take the good things for granted, but I think the most important thing is that we carry on - for there are good times and we must remember this. So thank you Susan for reminding us that in the fact of it all we must try to laugh and that love is most important.

Love to you all!

Blessed be,

Kathy

Same sex marriage!

YES!
"Sasha and Malia had some words for their dad. He listened. He evolved. And now President Obama has become the first President of the United States to endorse and support full marriage equality for all Americans."
I tried to embed the video with the code on the their page, but it made it take too long to load this page so below I have put a link.
So May 9, 2012 is not not only famous in our house because it is the birthday of our oldest son, Wes. But now it will be famous for full marriage quality for  all. The sad news is that he says it is up to the states to make the decision for their state. This is sad to me because I believe this is a Civil Rights issue.
If you are still undecided on this issue I highly recommend that you do some research, plus check out the  video "It could happen to you" This video points out the problems that can happen to two people (heterosexual and homosexual couples) that live together without the benefits of marriage.
When two people love each other and want to get married they should be allowed to have that right.


See the video: Ladies And Gentlemen, The First President In Our Nation's History To Support Full Marriage Equality

 "It Could Happen to You!

Buddha

"It is a man's own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to evil ways."
        - Buddha

Meg Barnhouse's Words

Today I drove my Prius to Des Moines to take Leigh to the airport. It was interesting to watch the gas mileage change as the speed changed and as we went up and down the rolling hills of Iowa.  When we went down some of the hills the mileage would go up to 100 mpg!  The average for the trip was 38 mpg. 

As I came back by myself I decided to listen to my friend and fellow UU - Meg Barnhouse. First I listened to her album: Mango Thoughts in a Meatloaf Town; this album speaks to me. As a person from the West Coast I found that when we got here in Iowa, I was missing the variety of people and foods. (Yes, I was not a meatloaf and potatoes person). I have learned to make a good meatloaf but my mashed potatoes are actually mashed cauliflowers!  One of my favorite songs on this album is - All Will Be Well which you can preview here.

Next I listened to her album: Heart of Compassion. This is an album of Meg reading her favorite stories. One of the best things about listening to Meg is that I always take something away from her words - in music or stories she seems to put into writing the way things are for many people. If you haven't had a chance to listen to or read her stories. For more info on Meg go to her website: Meg Barnhouse - Stories, Songs and Illuminations. 

The two hours flew by and before I knew it I was home!

Thank you Meg for all you do!

Love to all,

Happy February.

Kathy

P.S. Here are some of her other works:

Discography CD's:
July Blue-2000
Mango Thoughts in a Meatloaf Town -2006

BOOKS:
Rock of Ages at the Taj Mahal
Skinner House, Boston, 1998

The Best of Radio Free Bubba
Hub City Writers Project, 1998

Waking up the Karma Fairy
Skinner House, Boston, 2003

Return of Radio Free Bubba
Hub City Writers Project 2006

Did I Say That Out Loud?
Skinner House, Boston, 2006

It Matters Not Your Religion

“The purpose of all the major religious traditions is not to construct big temples on the outside, but to create temples of goodness and compassion inside, in our hearts.”
― Dalai Lama XIV
So it matters not what your religion is - Unitarian Universalist, Catholic, Jew, Muslim or a form of Christianity or an earth based religion but what does matter is that you work for love, peace, goodness and compassion.

Water Reminders

Well I hope this works! I have installed water reminders on my iPad and phone to remind me to drink water. I hate water. I think it might have to do with drowning twice in my life as a young child. But maybe it is just one of those things that are good for you that we sabotage ourselves by not doing...We will see. I have a water bottle with marking on it for 8 oz. Here's to better health.  I am reading a book called

Perfect 10 Diet: 10 Key Hormones That Hold the Secret to Losing Weight and Feeling Great-Fast!

by Michael Aziz (Author) it is all about the endocrine system which is out of whack in my body, It makes sense to me as it is very much like what I have been doing as I listen to my body tell me what to eat. (I didn't listen very closely over the holidays, but am back listening) My goals are to be able to bend, walk and just feel better.

The first three weeks are to be without any grains. I have done without wheat, but no rice? It is worth a shot, plus this book encourages food from other cultures! The negative is that is is big on rye bread, which is a no-no for me as I am very allergic. Oh well, there are other choices and I don't have to worry about that for 3 weeks. 

How is your health? Have you had your vitamin D levels checked? Seen the dentist within the last 6 months? 

take care.

Kathy

Blue Zones in Iowa

So this year there are many different pushes to make us healthy.  One that I have joined is the Blue Zones in Iowa. You too can join it at: Help Make Iowa the Healthiest State! 
At that site it will ask you to make a personal pledge and to print out your list. You are given some choices to pick in different categories. One of the categories: Right Outlook did give me some pause. It was either sign up for  MeYou Health℠ - something new for me, go to church 4 times in the next 90 days (my church is on-line Church of the Larger Fellowship (the site is called Quest) and I already do this, start a new hobby (I have enough hobbies) or volunteer (I already do this). The reason it gave me pause is that in the last month I have seen a lot of my UU friends and many are telling me they don't go regularly any more.  I didn't press the issue, but this does disturb me. I know that going to church, synagog, mosque or a fellowship is not for everyone but these people were pretty regular attendees. So why aren't they attending? Like me did they not feel welcome there anymore by those in charge? And is anyone doing anything about the problems? Fortunately I have found a solution for me and will pass it on to them. I urge my Iowan readers to take the Blue Zone Pledge and make your city Blue!

My Personal Pledge Summary

I will use my current bicycle and a bike helmet. (& my Prius during the winter)

I will sign up for the FREE online MeYou Health℠

I will replace dishes in my kitchen with 10-inch plates, smaller bowls, and skinny glasses. (making this change over time - begin by replacing the plates, then the glasses, and then the bowls.)

I will continue "Family Dinner Nights" on three nights each week.

I will designate my home a "Smoke-Free Zone."

Love to you all.
Kathy