Feb 6: Faith Development Newsletter

Baja 4: Stronger Together
Unitarian Universalists from across Southeast Arizona

Representing Unitarian Universalists across southeastern Arizona, we love beyond belief and find inspiration from a wide array of spiritual, religious, and secular sources. We come together as a Baja 4 because we know we are stronger together.

Learn more about each congregation!

Amado: Borderlands Unitarian Universalist
Sierra Vista: Sky Island Unitarian Universalist Church
Tucson (Northwest): Mountain Vista Unitarian Universalist Congregation
Tucson (Eastside): Unitarian Universalist Church of Tucson

Coming Events

What's Happening This Month?

Heart Space: Listening to Our Hearts

Feb. 10 | 6:30pm-7:30pm | Zoom link below

Evening Worship returns! In this dynamic, all-ages worship, we will experiment and play with different ways to be in a reverent community together. This month in our theme of deep listening, what do we listen to? Society and culture encourage us to listen to the superficial –consume! Be different! You’re not enough!

Let’s slow down a little and listen to a different voice –the ones that guide you to your deepest wisdom. Our service will focus on

Listening to our inner wisdom
Listening to those we love/earthly beings
Listening to Divine/God/Heart of Reality/Love

There will be creative, hands-on time and time for reflection, laughter, and joy. Please join us!

The room opens at 6:15pm for some social time and a heart-felt worship to follow at 6:30pm.

Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more information

Zoom in at: https://zoom.us/j/5716364277

Meeting ID: 571 636 4277

Password: 973902

Youth Meet Up

Feb. 12 | 5pm to ??? | Zoom

For youth ages 10+

Join some of our wonderful UU Youth Leaders for a fun hour or so of games! We’ll have a little lighthearted competition on a game of our choice (think PG rated games like Kahoot and Jackbox Games). Having the ability to open zoom and a 2nd browser (on a computer, tablet, or phone) is important. This is a super FUUN event so don’t miss it!!

Zoom Link: https://zoom.us/j/5716364277

Meeting ID: 571 636 4277

Password: 973902

But I Think We’re Nice! with Bob Gordon

Feb. 13 | 12:15-1:15pm | Zoom

This idea comes from conversations I’ve had over the years, many of them at UUCT. Is it possible to be nice, and still oppressive? We will come up with examples of oppression in situations of power imbalance, from our own lives.…even when the oppressor was “nice.” What role did we play?

Ages: all ages welcome, but geared to ages 18+

Zoom Link: https://zoom.us/j/94982634315

Meeting ID: 949 8263 4315

Passcode: 973902

Join by phone:

+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)

+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)

Meeting ID: 949 8263 4315

Passcode: 973902

Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/acoclyK3R8

Laughter Yoga

Tuesdays and Thursdays | Zoom

Laughter Yoga is a unique concept that invites everyone to laugh without jokes, humor, or comedy. Through laughter exercises, hatha yoga breathing, and playfulness we will laugh into joy, health, and bonds within the Baja 4. Founded in 1995 by Dr. Mandan Kataria, today Laughter Yoga is practiced by thousands in over 115 countries.

Rev. Matthew is a practicing laughter yogi who trained under Dr. Kataria and is a certified Yoga Laughter facilitator. Members and Friends of BUU will be joining Rev. Matthew to assist in demonstrating laughter exercises, yoga breathing, and Bollywood dance! Learn more about Laughter Yoga: https://laughteryoga.org/

Ages: Everyone who wants to laugh

Dates and Times: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 4-4:30pm

Zoom in at: https://zoom.us/j/99073129659

Meeting ID: 990 7312 9659

Passcode: 574011

Contact information: Please contact Rev. Matthew with laugher and questions: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Parenting of Preschoolers (POPS) Grown Up Meet Up

Feb 19 | 1-2pm | Zoom, register for link

Join on Zoom others with children ages birth to 6 years old to offer support as we come to understand our child's spiritual development, to build rituals that support this development, and to see ourselves as spiritual teachers. Zoom link will be sent out to all that are registered. Not registered? Please fill out this form and we will add you to the emailing list. Thank you!

Designed for those adults raising children who are ages birth to 6, but everyone is welcome. This is an amazing group of parents that come together once a month to talk about topics relevant to our daily lives. We offer support, words of wisdom, and connect to those around us. We hope that you join and share with us.

Movie Night! Sponsored by Tucson area UU Younger Adults (TUUYA)

Feb 26 | 6:30pm | Zoom

Films and friends! Let's gather [virtually] to share an evening of movies. We will pick our movie together OR email Sonora in advance with a suggestion or request: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Zoom Link: https://zoom.us/j/5716364277

Meeting ID: 571 636 4277

Password: 973902

2nd Hour

Feb. 13 | 12:15-1:15pm | Zoom

Please join us for 2nd Hour: a once -per -month afternoon of a variety of educational, spiritual, interesting, and fun workshops.

See the UU Quest website for links and descriptions!

**Seeking 2nd Hour Workshop Leaders**

Right now I’m building a schedule of workshops for 2nd Hour and would love to include you in the line up. What do you have to share with the world? Bring me an idea and we’ll work together to develop it! No need to worry about technical support. I’ll have assistants available to manage the Zoom, so you can simply lead.

If you have any questions or want to lead a workshop, please contact Jamili at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Celebrations and Special Days

It's always fun to celebrate and at the same time learn about cultures around the world. Here are a few things happening this month.

Interfaith:

Chinese New Year (Confucian, Daoist, Buddhist) - Feb. 1, 2022 (more here)
Nirvana Day/Parinirvana Day -Buddha's death and his entry into Nirvana (Buddhist) - Feb.15 (more here)

Unitarian Universalist:

Fannie Barrier Williams’ birthday - Feb. 12 (1855)
Susan B. Anthony’s birthday - Feb. 15 (1820) (more here; On her complex relationship to racism: here, here and here.)
Thirty Days of Love - Side with Love Campaign - Jan.16 - Feb.14
The Edict of Torda is issued - Feb. 18 (1568)

National & Cultural:

Black History Month (more here)
St. Valentine’s Day - Feb. 14
Toni Morrison & Audre Lorde’s birthday - Feb.18 (more here and hereand here)
President’s Day - Feb. 21
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is founded - Feb. 12 (1909)
Malcolm X assassinated - Feb 21 (1965), related Netflix series HERE

For Fun and On the Fringe:

Super Bowl Sunday - Feb. 13 (commercials here)
Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk Day - Feb. 11
International Darwin Day (Darwin's Birthday) - Feb 12
Random Acts of Kindness Day - Feb. 17 (more here)

We Listen Deeply

The theme this month is Deep Listening, and we are exploring what we experience when we turn our attention away from the noise around us. What do you hear from your heart? From people who are different from you? From the natural world? From the Great Mystery, some call God? Let's explore!

Chalice Lighting

Listen

by Jessica Purple Rodela

Listen. Listen to silence. Listen to the wind. Listen to the stars.

Hear trees.

Dance.

Dance to the beat of your neighbor’s heart.

Dance to the rhythm of your childhood dreams…

Come, let us howl our hallelujahs,

Come, let us pray and sing and celebrate.

Come, let us [worship/eat/other thing you're doing] together.

Find more chalice lightings here.

The Rabbit Listened

When we listen to another person, we give them a gift of listening with our hearts. May we be like the little rabbit.

Listening to Our Heart's Kindness

At church we practice kindness. We practice listening to each other as a way to be kind. It’s part of our Second UU Principle, “Be kind in all you do.” So what’s one of the ways our faith guides us into becoming a people of deep listening? It tells us to “Listen to your heart telling you to be kind!”

After reading or watching this story, discuss:

How did the story speak to you?
Which line stood out?
How does compassion for yourself and others show up in the story?

Listening to Nature

Our faith reminds us that deep listening to nature is healing. Our Seventh Principle encourages us to affirm and promote “Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.” When we practice deep listening to nature, we are taken to a place of calm, knowing that we are not isolated and alone but instead a part of something so interconnected. So what’s one of the ways our faith guides us into becoming a people of deep listening? It tells us to “Listen to Nature!”

One way to take advantage of the cooler weather and our invitation to deep listening to nature is a Sound Walk Scavenger hunt. Bug and Buggy has a free printable here and here. Or make up your own!

For Grown-Ups

We have had many conversations in our Facebook group about how to increase representation in our personal and church libraries of people who are marginalized. Here's an interesting article about the diversity gap in children's books. What do you think? How do children (and us) benefit when we see many people and ideas represented in our books?

Open Book Blog, from Lee and Low’s Publisher Blog about the Diversity Gap:

The Atlantic writes: “Half of all five-year-olds in the country belong to a racial or ethnic minority, yet white kids continue to hold center stage in most children’s books and young-adult fiction. As a result, large numbers of kids don’t see themselves reflected in the books they read, and non-white, or non-heterosexual, or even non-male children end up learning that they are marginal, or secondary, in their society.” - Noah Berlantsky, The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/05/childrens-literature-needs-more-diversityeven-if-that-means-more-mediocrity/371639/

School Library Journal has a great chart showing the lack of diversity in children’s books.