Deadlines, to-do lists, projects, and responsibilities: they all help make our lives feel a little too hectic, unmanageable, and even out of control. One of the greatest skills you can acquire is learning how to access your internal compass and find your center in times of stress.

We all encounter stressful people, situations, and periods in our lives. What makes each of us different from one another are the choices that we make in any given moment.

When you temporarily lose your balance, you can reset your internal alignment. This will help you refocus the lens through which you perceive your experiences. Here’s how.

3 Pillars for Centering
The three pillars for centering are awareness, attention, and intention. When you notice that your life is becoming chaotic and you feel as if you're losing ground, you can quickly and easily find your center again with just a few simple steps.

Awareness
The first step is to become aware that you're off balance. Awareness is one of greatest tools for creating change. Once you become aware that you've lost your center, you have the opportunity to make a conscious choice to shift your internal state.

A conscious choice-maker is someone who makes choices that are designed to unfold higher levels of potential (versus perpetuating more melodrama). First, you must be aware of the need to redirect your energy or focus.

To begin cultivating internal awareness, start each new day or each new project by closing your eyes, taking a few deep breaths, and imagining that everything you approach is from a place of centered balance. See, hear, and feel yourself moving effortlessly through every experience with clarity, focus, and awareness. Let this vision or sensation become an anchor for how you want to consciously move through your days. Notice how you begin to feel more at peace as you do this, then open your eyes and go about your day.

Attention in Action
Where you place your attention is critical. The second step is to notice where your attention is being directed in the moment. Attention means you are mindful of what’s swirling around you.

When you come into present-moment awareness, your attention is based in the here and now. This is when you can begin to observe yourself and your environment.

Place your attention first on your breathing. Your breath is your greatest tool for getting out of your head—and the chaos of the moment—and into your heart. Taking purposeful breaths can help slow things down long enough for you to check in and gauge where you're at.

Next, begin to observe your thoughts and feelings. Can you shift the way you're feeling simply by putting your attention wherever you feel sensation? Are you able to look through a different lens and see options that you weren't previously aware of? All change is created in the present moment; it is from this place that you will be able to cultivate the fertile soil needed for the final step.

Intention
The third step is to set your intention for how you would like to be able to respond to life's challenges. An intention is future-based and it’s planted like a seed by putting your attention on it in the present moment.

Your intention might be to stop or slow down long enough to make a clear decision. It may be to stay rooted in a place of acceptance. Maybe you have realized that you need to eliminate some activities and other commitments, or that you want to find time in your schedule for relaxation and reflection.

Get clear on your intended outcome by asking yourself what you would like to experience. What choices would you like to make in the moment, and what possibilities are available to you?

If you're a visual person, see yourself being calm, cool, and collected and simply observing your situation or circumstance before pressing on.

If you're more of a kinesthetic person, imagine that you’re hovering just above the situation and feel serene and unaffected by your environment. Stop and reflex how you would like to feel in this situation. This will help you compose yourself into a more harmonious state. From this place of clarity, peace, and balance, you can proceed with success.
​
Whenever you notice that your inner calm has become compromised, take a few minutes to close your eyes and bring your awareness to how you're feeling in that moment. Then—with your attention in the here and now—choose to return to your earlier intention and come back to that place of feeling relaxed, present, and focused. With practice, this exercise will become second nature, allowing you to easily and effortlessly return to your center in no time at all.

The first Great Awakening - (The Great Awakening was a religious revival that impacted the English colonies in America during the 1730s and 1740s. The movement came at a time when the idea of secular rationalism was being emphasized, and passion for religion had grown stale.) - was a reaction against the Enlightenment, it was also a long term cause of the Revolution and beyond. The groundbreaking that started so long ago I believe has reverberations that continue to this day.  New faiths continue to emerge. For many the overall message is of greater equality, greater inclusion. The Great Awakening in its first incarnation was also a "national" occurrence. It was the first major event that all the original 13 colonies could share, helping to break down differences between them.

It is my hope that Unitarian Universalism is on the cutting edge of where we as a nation and world are heading.  A truly Interfaith spiritual awakening that gives support to its followers.  Seeking the light, the love, the compassion that is required to heal a hurting nation and world. A faith community that excels in teaching, activism and is filled with compassion

There have been 3 or 4 awakening tides that have shifted the spiritual landscape of the United  States. Theological debates go on and on.  Historians parse the subject as if the internal theological nature of humanity can be completely understood across race, class, gender, creed, or any other way we subdivide.

I for one believe that each age, every generation recreates, adds to and constructs a new world before them.  So where are we now UU’s and like minded souls?  What’s burning in your hearts, minds and bodies?

Dear UU’s, where are we at UUCLV?  Our vision and mission are only calling a few of us/you into action.  Our commitment to the congregation at times seems to lack the zeal to make us thrive.  Some might say the minister is a bore?  Others might say we aren’t centered.  Still more might say that their spirituality is not defined within the context of denominational activities nor service.

If I were being totally honest with you and in truth I have no other task or job to do.  Speak the truth, my truth to you with love, compassion and authenticity.  So if I am to be honest with you and that I will be. The reality is in my mind we have been on an Awakening since the second WW2.  The newest incarnation of awakening is happening right now.

Everything about the way this nation is has been changing since WW2.  We can look at things by decades, we can look at society through the prism of religious life and if that be my lens, my frame of reference then I am 100 percent sure that things they've been a changing and that means almost everything we do now needs to be reassessed.

Moving far beyond the realm of traditional "church history," Patrick Allitt - (Patrick Allitt is Professor of U.S. History at Emory University, where he holds the Arthur Blank Chair for Teaching Excellence. He supervises workshops for Emory faculty interested in improving effective teaching skills. His previous books include Religion in America Since 1945: A History and Catholic Converts: British and American Intellectuals Turn to Rome) - offers a vigorous and deep survey of the broad landscape of American religion since World War II. He identifies the major trends and telling moments within major denominations and also in less formal religious movements, he asks how these religious groups have shaped, and been shaped by, some of the most important and divisive issues and events of the last half century: the Cold War, the Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam War, feminism and the sexual revolution, abortion rights, the antinuclear and environmentalist movements, Ableism rights,  Queer power, Black Lives Matter and so many others.

Allitt argues that the boundaries between religious and political discourse have become increasingly blurred in the last fifty years.  OMG, you'd have to have been sleeping not to know this but - He goes on to say having been divided along denominational lines in the early postwar period, religious Americans had come by the 1980s to be divided along political lines instead, (well, well, well) as they grappled with the challenges of modernity and secularism. 

Partly because of this politicization, and partly because of the growing influence of African Americans, Asian, Latino, and other ethnic groups, the United States is unique among the Western industrialized nations, as church membership and religious affiliation generally increased during this period. Religion in America since 1945 is a masterful analysis of this dynamism and diversity and an ideal starting point for any exploration of the contemporary religious scene.

More to my interest here and now is whether or not we are on the verge of The 5th Awakening.  Is something in the air now?  I say yes!  The longing for belonging is real.  The need for connection is palatable.  The Me generation of the baby boomers turned into the me, me, me generation of millennials is both striking and telling.  We now have successive groups of people in our midst that view life, the paradigm of living through their own prism. I guess it couldn't be otherwise. 

Hence my conclusion that we are on the precipice of a change once again.  The confluence of politics, social change, multiculturalism, environmental concerns, legal challenges, technology and so much more make this the day, the time, the season for our faith and all faiths that are open to the wisdom of the ages to assist us as we strive to find ourselves again.  You see, dear UUs and friends of all faith, realities we as a family, the human family must do things differently if we are to survive.  Our vehicle may be science, it may be the UN, it may be the breakup of corporations and even the break up of nation states that must happen if the planet, its inhabitants and the future are really going to happen our way of being needs radical change?  

I think we are poised to be one of the strongest voices for reason, for community, for forwarding the human family towards the Beloved Community of seekers, sojourners, pilgrims, and the rest as we strive into the tomorrow together.

Join me, join UUCLV, join the movement towards inclusion, introspection, inter everything as bravely step into the future together.

In faith, hope and love,
Reverend Gordon Clay Bailey 

By focusing on and renewing our faith, I am not suggesting to you, that God, or anyone else thinks that your faith hasn't been authentic or valid, even worthwhile?  No, what I am saying to each of us is maybe we need to look again.  I feel like this is an opportunity to re-center ourselves/yourself on what's most important in your life.  To look again without taking the BYOT (building your own theology) course at what is important about your faith.  How do you define your spiritual self, life, and values?

So, Welcome to a brave new world.  Welcome to March 2022.  We are in the midst of an amazing era.  War, pandemic, political upheaval, success for some, failure for others, and lots of questions about life on this planet of ours.  This month renewing our faith is the theme.  Faith, your faith, my faith , do we still have faith. These and so many questions come to my mind.  I hope they are percolating in yours?

Dear UUCLV and people far and wide let me state unequivocally that faith is alive and well in some quarters and going down to defeat in others.  We are indeed in strange times.  The pew research center and other groups that track these things are telling us the landscape of organized religion is changing and changing fast.  In 1999 nearly 70 % of Americans said they belonged to a congregation.  In 2020 that number was down to 47% and dropping fast.

So how can we here at UUCLV find our way?  How do we here in the Vegas Valley deepen our faith? What will make us more relevant to our membership?  What is required of us to create a congregation that is appealing to a broad array of people? What is the appropriate response for Unitarian Universalist as we discern our place in the midst of changing demographics, changing values, heck a changing world?

 I already stated that this month's theme is renewing faith but it is so much more than that.  March is women's history month and I must share some thoughts and facts with you.
Why celebrate women's history month?  This is a no brainer!

This month has been observed throughout the United States since the 1980s.  Women's History Month was born out of a feminist push for equal access to jobs and education—one of the main demands of the Strike for Equality march that filled New York City streets to capacity on August 26, 1970. Women have always been part of history and some of us are tired of his story taking up all of the space!

Why does the U.S. celebrate Women's History Month every March?  The Education Task Force of the Sonoma County (California) Commission on the Status of Women planned and executed a “Women's History Week” celebration in 1978. The organizers selected the week of March 8 to correspond with International Women's Day.  The decision was made to select March as the month and here we are.

So what should or could we do to help?

Every March, Women's History Month provides an opportunity to honor the generations of trailblazing women and girls who have built our Nation, shaped our progress, and strengthened our character as a nation, a state, a community and a congregation!  Maybe we should hang pictures of women that have made a difference in our lives and world up in our sanctuary or other spaces?  Maybe we should find a cause that supports women in the Vegas Valley to help?  Maybe after service each Sunday in March we can share stories of women that have made our lives and the communities lives better?

Every year a theme is selected to celebrate and focus attention on during March. This year's official theme is “Break the Bias,” and the whole month is dedicated to honoring women, shining a light on their current societal contributions and celebrating the many important roles women have played throughout American history.

Women's History Month and renewing faith might not seem like a pair of ideas made in heaven but I am excited more about what happens here on earth so here is what came to mind.-

Why might people of faith around the world care about justice and equality for women and, in particular in relation to our first principle of inherent worth and dignity for all?

Two immediate answers spring to mind: first, half of these believers are women; the rest are their partners, husbands, fathers, brothers, sons and friends.  Secondly (and regardless of the many difficulties women of faith have experienced historically within the structures of religion) because common sense asks us to: honoring women is a core belief for most major faith traditions.  It is central to being UU.  We renew and continue our faith tradition in so many ways because women have been leading the way for a long time now.
 First and foremost, faith offers a vision for women.

For example, Christianity has always placed women in the forefront of faith.  The bible characterizes women as strong, honest, perceptive and deserving of great honor.  Mary the mother of Jesus Christ is the central female of the Christian tradition and she is highly empowered in the Gospel texts.  Biblically speaking, Christian women share equally with men in the calling by God to ‘run the world’ (as Beyonce might say). 

The Quran regards men and women as equals in the sight of God and for more than 14 centuries Islam has granted women, as it does men, fundamental rights to life, property, and opinion.

In traditional Judaism, the rights of women were greater than they were in the rest of Western civilization until the 20th century.  According to Tracey R Rich of Judaism101,  Jewish women had the right to buy, sell, and own property, and make their own contracts, rights which women in Western countries (including America) did not have until about 100 years ago. Moreover, these religious traditions see women as having their own distinct character and vocation (life purpose) which complements but is uniquely different from men. 

From a faith perspective, women have certain characteristics and powers which they carry because they are female; they are expected to bring those gifts to the world in how they love, work and lead.  Despite this, even within many religious traditions people still grapple with what it means for women to be truly empowered.  Many particular interpretations of faith continue to attempt to restrict the rights of women in very significant ways.

It is clear that faith traditions – just like the rest of the world – have much more to do to make their professed esteem for women a lived reality.

This concern for women is relevant here because religious communities claim to profess a special care for the poor and the oppressed of the world. It is integral to the prophetic voice of religion to call for justice to be done ‘even to the least of these’.

Religious faith is often referred to as counter-cultural because it doesn’t measure the worth of a person in the same way as the secular world (which often sees worldly power, wealth and beauty as a measure of success). Looking at the world through the lens of faith requires us to defend the cause of the poor, the weak and those who are imprisoned physically, socially or economically. Given the reality of women’s experiences, those who suffer today are most often female. It is a moral necessity then, for those with faith, UU FAITH to respond to the cause of women.

Given these beliefs about both women and oppression; faith communities are in a great position to influence how we value, talk about and behave towards women worldwide. Faith communities represent 6-7 billion current and potential activists who can and should call for the rights of women to be recognized; together we/they have the power to create and sustain the kind of world where women can truly thrive.

In the words of the UU Women's Federation-

We are -Building covenantal relationships among Unitarian Universalist women that equip us all to be better co-conspirators and allies in the movement for collective liberation.
Let’s work together this month and always to support women and all people.  Our congregation is a beacon.  Let’s make sure our light is shining brightly!
 
In faith,
Rev Gordon

Widening the circle of concern:
​
The world around is different than it was a generation ago. Or even three years ago. The question is, how will our Unitarian Universalist faith keep up with the times? What choices will we make—or fail to make—and how will that affect the relevancy of UUCLV and the survival of this congregation as we approach our 70th anniversary?

Here are some of the realities which our faith exists in as we entered 2022:( Info from the UUA)
 
Our nation is moving away from institutional religion. According to the Pew Research Center:
Fewer people are participating in religious communities.

Emerging generations report higher rates of people not affiliated with institutional forms of religion, especially Christianity (those known as the nones because they have checked the “none” box when asked about religious affiliation). [1]

Increasingly, younger generations are the ones exiting religious institutions. While Unitarian Universalists often look at the slightly increasing number of people who identify as atheists and those who identify as not religious as an opportunity for us, some of the reasons appear to be tied to the nature of religious institutions as much as changing beliefs.

Unitarian Universalism is not immune: we too are losing congregations and have many teetering on the edge of collapse. 

While we typically refer to 1,000 congregations, in truth we now have 819 congregations that would meet the standard to become a congregation today.

As institutional religion declines, more who enter our doors are not refugees from other faiths but are experiencing faith communities for the first time through our faith and are seeking spiritual ground.
The demographics of our nation have changed, and with them expectations around cultural competency:

We have seen an increase in the percentage of the population that is non-white. In California, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, and Texas, white people are already not the majority. A US Bureau of the Census report that showed non-Hispanic white people as a minority by the year 2044 has been thought to lead to a dramatic political reaction. [2]

A growing number of people marry outside of their racial group, so the percentage of people who are multiracial is expected to increase significantly by the next Census count.

The globalization of economies and these demographic trends means more people are exposed to cultural competency expectations in schools and in the workplace, with many seeing competency as a necessary part of doing business in the twenty-first century. [3] 

So dear UUCLV what does this mean for us?  Shall we retreat and go back to the good old days?  Shut our eyes to the realities around us?  Maybe we can continue as we've been going and as our population grows older, and older we will die off?  No harm, no foul, no widening of the circle?  Or maybe, just maybe we are on to a new and exciting journey of discovery, deepening spirituality, civic/neighborhood engagement; dare I say the beginning of building of the “Beloved Community”. 

So, this is Black History Month and as a Black man/minister I feel obligated to speak from my center and I feel it is necessary to bring a few of our other groups into the conversation.  Maybe even centering those groups as the demographics may more clearly call us to attention here in Las Vegas/Clark Co to young adults and families, Latinx, GLBTQIA+ and Asian/Pacific Islanders in our midst. 

Widening The Circle is more than a song, a phrase, or idea.  It is what is right.  How can we offer the words about inherent worth and dignity of others when we are not fully engaged with these other communities, ethnicities, age groups or theologies and the followers of them that are not typically found in our UU congregation. 

This month let us open our hearts and minds, bodies and spirits to others.  Let us finally get to working on the RENEWAL of the WELCOMING CONGREGATION. The time is now!

Let us commit to working with the Latinx communities in some tangible way.  I heard a wise UUCLV person say recently that they would like to see a Spanish class offered here and I quipped that maybe along with that we could offer an English class as a second language offering.  Meeting, greeting, engaging one another… what a novel idea.  The time is now! 

How about our connection to the fastest growing segment of Clark Co.?  What can we do to ensure we are open and inviting to the Asian and Pacific Islanders in our midst?  How do we say we see you, we honor you, we would like to be in relationship with you?  The time is now! 

Lastly, it is Black History Month and I'm going to use this opportunity to bring more of my cultures, both African American and Caribbean American, to the forefront.  Look to our Facebook page every day in February for an offering from the many and diverse Black peoples of this nation and world as I share an insight from communities far and wide. 

Widen the circle of concern.  Share the beauty of our UU faith everywhere you go. Keep coming back to UUCLV in person when it is possible and until then join us in the virtual community as each and everyone of you is valued and treasured; for without you who are we? 

The incomplete work on race within Unitarian Universalism as a denomination has marred our ability to move forward at a time when accountability, multicultural awareness, and inclusivity is becoming the new normal in the larger world. Engagement in this type of development is deep spiritual and faithful work that allows for growth and change. We need change at the personal and interpersonal levels. Most of all we need to make systemic changes that can be ongoing and lasting.  

The newer generations in our nation are increasingly at risk according to many reports, including the 2019 World Happiness Report, which singled out a dramatic and disturbing decline in health and happiness, especially for younger US citizens. [4]

The deliberations to date by the denomination have convinced many of us of this: What is at stake is nothing less than the future of our faith. 
​
In peace and love,
Rev Gordon

I hope that 2022 will be a lovely time for us all. Filled with rewarding endeavors, lots of efforts towards peace, justice and love. 

Our congregation has big plans for 2022. We are working on a strategic plan so we may map out our next steps. We are celebrating our 70th year in May.  We have stepped bravely into the new realities of a post pandemic world with all of the protocols and technological advances that we can muster.  We are still in our honeymoon and yet as year two moves into its second half we still are learning about each other and figuring out the steps of our UU shared ministry dance.

The theme for this month is “Living with Intention”.  What a great theme to begin a year with.  It feels like it is time now for all people to set their course.  To boldly go further than they might have gone before.  To become the best incarnation of the self.  The best you can be.  The best UU, spouse, parent, sibling, friend, activist, lover you can be.  And guess what that's going to take?  You got it, it is going to take intentional living!

You know what, It seems like everybody is talking about intentional living lately, but what does it really mean? And why does it even matter?  I'm hoping it matters to you too?

I’m passionate about intentional living, ever since I “discovered it” a decade or so ago, and it changed my life.  I wish I always remembered but I'm trying.

As an adult I've pushed the envelope on what's reasonable living.  Work, family, school, civic organizations, spiritual life, friends, did I say family... Being tired and overwhelmed is just part of being an adult, right? 

Or so I told myself. Deep down, something inside me was screaming “this isn’t right!” but I didn’t have the time or energy to listen. I was too worried about keeping my head above water, doing the right things, being super_________.  I think you get the picture.

So many of us lead “go, go, go” life styles. Too often I felt like I was always behind. I was over busy.   Some of us, me too,  are to busy  to investigate that internal voice telling us to change our ways.  Guess what we do?  We shut it down. We keep on doing what we've been doing.  We are into everything from new shoes to, a new job, to a new house. 

I thought that having and doing more was the secret to finally feeling successful, but was it working? Not really. In truth, I was chasing so many things, but I felt like I was barely getting by. I had no idea what I really wanted or if my many sacrifices were even worth it. 
 
 Do I need to own a house? Do you like being married? Why are people working 60 hours a week? What did I want to do with my life?  Where is all of this leading me?

Who knows! I wasn’t asking these question. Instead, I was just focused on getting through the week: How could I get through another  day ? Did I have enough in the bank to pay the bills? When would I get caught up on my sleep? Does anybody care?

I daydreamed about doing somewhere else or even being someone else, but I never really thought about changing the paradigm. It didn’t feel possible because I felt trapped in my life, and the idea of change made me uncomfortable. Sometimes it still does to be honest.

Looking back, this was a clear sign that I needed to take a deeper look—but I didn’t. Instead, it was easier to continue living as I had. I made life decisions big and small based on what my perceived expectations of life were supposed to be.

Days rolled into weeks, and weeks rolled into years. It felt like life was passing me by … until I learned about intentional living. Here’s what you need to know.  You don't have to have a cancer diagnosis to change.  Unfortunately for me that is what it took.

“Hello October, I’ve missed you”
Unknown

Storytelling is the oldest form of education. Cultures have always told tales as a way of passing down beliefs, traditions, and history to future generations. Stories are at the core of all that makes us human.

Stories are the way we store information in the brain. A list of facts will be forgotten, but stories are remembered. Stories help us to organize information and tie content together. Stories go straight to the heart. Because humans are emotionally involved creatures and truly enjoy storytelling, it can help to create a positive attitude toward the process of humanizing us. 

Telling stories from around the world creates an awareness and appreciation of different peoples, cultures, ethnicities, genders, orientations and all of the many ways we live our human experience.

Theme for March:  Commitment
The phenomenon of commitment is a cornerstone of human social life. Commitments make individuals’ behavior predictable in the face of shifting sands in their abilities to be present. This manifests in our personal desires and interests, thereby supporting the planning and coordination of joint actions involved in communal or congregational life. 

Moreover, commitment also facilitates cooperation by making individuals willing to contribute to joint actions to which they wouldn’t be willing to contribute if they were expected to show up on their own. Think about any of the things we do together, the food pantry, or fighting for justice, or participating in a congregational clean up service or a party  Our connection to commitment makes all the difference in our shared lives, our shared ministry. Long live our desire and abilities to make and live up to our commitments.

Continuing Conversations 
March 2021
Some Empowering Ways To Celebrate Women's History Month
 
Some years ago in March, I read an article by MIA MERCADO entitled - 31 Empowering Ways To Celebrate Women's History This Month. (March 2, 2017). I was so impressed with her take that I’ve borrowed a bit from her and shared a short list with you.
 
So while I won't share all of her brilliant ideas here, I would like to offer a few thoughts as we at UUCLV celebrate, acknowledge, learn from Women’s History Month with services, a lunch time conversation, children's RE and Adult RE, continuing conversations and important dialog all month long about the amazing women that shape, mold, change, inspire, and create a better world for all of us.
 
I also want to remind you that our own women, UUCLV women, PSWD women, Clark County women, and of course, our denominational Unitarian Universalist Women have been so vital in changing our beloved faith, nation and world. So, let's lift up women this month and all year long! Let's celebrate the amazing accomplishments of more than half of the human family. Let's give love to all of the women that have made a difference in our own lives.
 
Check out my short list and please let me know if any of these ideas resonate with you?
 
There are 31 days in Women’s History Month. So, here are a few ways to empower yourself and the women around you this month.

Black History Month Matters: Why it is still relevant

Every February when the nation recognizes Black History Month to celebrate the accomplishments of Black Americans, some inevitable questions are raised.

     Do we still need to celebrate Black History Month?
     Isn’t this an archaic idea?

Black History Month is not only still relevant but necessary. But first, let’s take a quick look at how this observance began.

While earning a master’s degree from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. from Harvard, both in history, historian Carter G. Woodson saw how Black people were underrepresented in history books. He was determined to correct this marginalization, which he viewed as dangerous.

“If a race has no history, it has no worthwhile traditions, it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in danger of being exterminated,”
Woodson said of the need for such study.

Woodson began to realize his hopes of raising awareness of African-American contributions when he and the organization he founded, the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH), conceived and announced Negro History Week in 1925.

Negro History Week was first celebrated during the second week of February in 1926 because it is the birth month of both President Abraham Lincoln and abolitionist Frederick Douglass.

In response to the creation of Negro History Week, Black History clubs sprang up across the country and teachers sought and demanded materials to instruct their pupils.

In 1976, the nation’s bicentennial, the celebration was expanded to a month. President Gerald Ford urged Americans to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often-neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.”

That’s the brief history.
There are many reasons we should continue to celebrate Black History Month today.
First, the month long celebration is needed because African-American history is still largely unknown and underappreciated.

The uplifting film “Hidden Figures” is a great example of how much African-American history remains unknown. The movie, based on a book of the same name, is about African-American female mathematicians at NASA during the 1960s space race. “Hidden Figures” is an example of the stories of many other African-American scientists and inventors that still remain hidden history for too many Americans.

Or more recently  the film “One Night In Miami” which depicts the night of February 25, 1964 in Miami Beach, Florida, as the heavyweight boxing champion Sonny Liston met Cassius Clay in the ring for the first of their two famous bouts. Clay emerged victorious, earning the championship and skyrocketing the career of the man who would later be known as Muhammad Ali.  “One Night In Miami,” is a fictionalized account of what happened before and after that fight that day, when Clay and his friends Jim Brown, Sam Cooke and Malcolm X got together to celebrate, debate, argue and pontificate about life in the USA . These men were all celebrities in their own right, but to each other, they’re friends and acquaintances unafraid to challenge each other’s views on the present and future of Black America, White America and our place on the world stage

Secondly, though many people understand that Black American culture is essential to the understanding of American culture, many do not know how African-American history is intractably tied to the founding, development and evolution of America — politically, economically, spiritually and culturally.

In fact our own Unitarian Universalist denomination has benefited from Black members, administrators, religious educators, ministers and leaders like Whitney Young and so many others.

Also, the history of the U.S. The Civil Rights Movement is too important to an accurate understanding of U.S. history for citizens not to know it. Yet a Southern Poverty Law Center study showed that most states fail when it comes to teaching the Civil Rights Movement to students let alone teach the fullness of Black participation in securing our independence or serving disproportionately in our armed services.

In addition, I argue that greater knowledge and understanding of African-American history would have cautioned us against making the mistake of assuming the election of Barack Obama as the nation’s first African-American president would lead to a post-racial America. There were prominent African-American officeholders during the Reconstruction Era from 1863 to 1877, including two U.S. senators from Mississippi and even the governor of Louisiana. Reconstruction was followed by a racist backlash to gains made by African Americans. An understanding of African-American history teaches us that progress is not always inevitable. History teaches us that progress results from collective and protracted struggle.

An understanding of Black history would help us, as the late writer Albert Murray would say, “reject the folklore of white supremacy and the fakelore of Black pathology.”

The history of Black Americans is a testament to the human spirit. Despite enslavement and centuries of brutal discrimination, many Black Americans became creators of a strategy for living and triumphed over their conditions with faith, resilience and dignity. Knowledge of this history can inform and uplift those who are struggling to overcome life’s challenges.

Those who argue that Black history should be integrated into America’s history books are right. Black history should not be relegated to one cold, short month.

However, Black History Month was never supposed to be the end goal. It is the beginning — a small spark that hopefully will bring light to the minds of all Americans to seek more information for greater knowledge and understanding.

It is one of my goals as our minister to share my love and knowledge of pan African peoples with UUCLV and maybe even more importantly is my efforts to open pathways of understanding and engagement with the BIPOC world which is all about us.

In the words of a great Unitarian Universalist: The Rev. Marjorie Bowens-Wheatley

Lunch with the Minister happens every Third Wednesday of the month from 12:00 – 1:30 PM. Please join The Reverend Gordon C. Bailey via Zoom for our monthly "Lunch with the Minister" event.  The format will include a topic based on the monthly theme, possibly a short TED-style Talk or other informational piece, and then a discussion  to follow.  Please message the Reverend for more information at minister@uuclv.org

​Visit our CALENDAR for dates.

Happy New Year!

Dear UUCLV family and friends,

I wish you all a Happy New Year with lots of health, peace, and love. These are the sentiments I was holding on to as 2021 this New Year opened.  These are the thoughts I still have despite the difficult situations that are everywhere.

The challenges for our congregation, our communities, our nation, and our world couldn’t be higher!  All of the values we share as Unitarian Universalists, our work for justice, the communities we love, and the beloved community we seek to create are feeling the pressures of a world struggling with Covid-19 along with the sociopolitical realities of our time. Our denomination, this UUCLV, we the individuals that name and claim Unitarian Universalism as our chosen faith must speak with moral courage and act with prophetic clarity in these times.

Hatred must never win!  Ignorance must never be allowed to prevail! Anti-oppression is our duty to promote. We seek not just tolerance but a dismantling of anti-Semitism, anti-immigration, anti-black racism, anti-Latinx, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia and all things that demean or oppress the human family.  The cycles of hate have taken an enormous toll on our world, our nation, and this community we love. In short, racism and all that separates us must be dismantled and replaced with systems that are built with love, equanimity, and affirmation.

In the words of the UUA President, Rev. Susan Frederick- Gray: - “Our UU values of interdependence, democracy, and the inherent worth and dignity of all people are direct antidotes to the fear, bigotry, and inequity that define our world. In this political moment, UUs are called to join forces with all people who want to organize our communities and our nation to #DefeatHate.”

Dear friends, in the words that the great Pete Seeger sang: -

We shall overcome
We shall overcome
We shall overcome, some day!

Deep in our collective hearts and minds, I do believe we UUs can make a difference today!
May each of us have healthy, prosperous and engaged seasons filled with love,

Rev. Gordon Clay Bailey

Dear UUCLV, let's get serious about our spiritual growth. SoulMatters has offered us a direction and my hope is we may follow. In the possibilities available to us this month I hope the use of our imagination will give license to expansive thoughts.

In The Conduct of Life, Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote: “We live by our imaginations, by our admirations, by our sentiments. The child walks amid heaps of illusions, which he does not like to have disturbed.”

I find Emerson’s words spot on. In fact I think that most adults don’t want the dreams or flights of fancy disturbed.  Yet we must always be mindful of the context, the locus, the place we find ourselves.  I hope we can use this month and this theme to dream and imagine this community of ours and this congregation rising to new heights. It is my prayer and a hope of mine that the adage that you must imagine it before it becomes so may happen for us as we imagine the very best for us all.

In faith,
Rev Gordon 
​

The Need for Being Still & How to Begin the Practice

     “Be still
          Stillness reveals the secrets of eternity” 
                    ― Laotzu

Stillness is not one of the spiritual practices that comes easy for me.

From Chalice Home-
Stillness can help stop worries and bring you back to your center. We all know what it’s like to be overwhelmed by our emotions. For example, when someone makes us mad, when we feel sad, or when, especially during this time of year, we are worried about picking out the right presents, or whether we will be able to see our loved ones at all because of COVID. All of it adds up to the feeling of being off-balance and even dizzy. Which is why it’s so important to develop the practice of stillness and find your center. Stillness helps us find peace in the midst of being overwhelmed by the holidays and at any time.

So, Dear UUCLV family, let me both share my great joy at being here with you and celebrating my first Holiday season with you all.  The days from Halloween to Three Kings Day fill me with joy, some worry about eating too much and optimism about the future.  

Finding myself in the midst of this strange season of Covid-19 isn’t cool at all.  I really like to let go and eat, drink within reason and above all be merry this time of year.

Nevertheless here I am, and here we are.  I’m hoping for the best possible outcomes for each of us, all of us, heck our entire human family.

What is the role of men in feminism? For men, feminism can provide the inspiration for shifting towards a true era of equality. Men's participation in gender justice movements can support and hopefully strengthen feminist and womanist and all people seeking balance, wholeness and healing within the human family. Join us for a service filled with possibilities, hopes, and dreams.

#UUCLV #UU #UnitarianUniversalist #UnitarianUniversalism #UUCLVEvent #SundayService #Healing #Feminism #Patriarchy #Equality #GenderJustice #Balance

You Don't Own Me by Lesley Gore 
​You don't own me
I'm not just one of your many toys
You don't own me
Don't say I can't go with other boys
And don't tell me what to do
Don't tell me what to say
And please, when I go out with you
Don't put me on display 'cause
You don't own me
Don't try to change me in any way
You don't own me
Don't tie me down 'cause I'd never stay
I don't tell you what to say
I don't tell you what to do
So just let me be myself
That's all I ask of you
I'm young and I love to be young
I'm free and I love to be free
To live my life the way I want
To say and do whatever I please
And don't tell me what to do
Oh, don't tell me what to say
And please, when I go out with you
Don't put me on display
I don't tell you what to say
Oh, don't tell you what to do
So just let me be myself
That's all I ask of you
I'm young and I love to be young
I'm free and I love to be free

Musical Interlude by Sky
Let’s Talk About It: 
     1.  What would our world look like if we all were actively feminists/dismantling the patriarchy?
     2.  How does the intersectionality (Race, class, creed, gender, ableism, etc) of oppression slow the progression of freedom for all?
Closing Song: I Am Woman by Betty Wright 

I Am Woman by Betty Wright 
​I am woman, hear me roar
In numbers too big to ignore
And I know too much to go back and pretend
'Cause I've heard it all before
And I've been down there on the floor
No one's ever gonna keep me down again

Oh yes, I am wise
But it's wisdom born of pain
Yes, I've paid the price
But look how much I gained
If I have to, I can do anything
I am strong, I am invincible, I am woman

You can bend but never break me
'Cause it only serves to make me
More determined to achieve my final goal
And I come back even stronger
Not a novice any longer
'Cause you've deepened the conviction in my soul

Oh yes, I am wise
But it's wisdom born of pain
Yes, I've paid the price
But look how much I gained
If I have to, I can do anything
I am strong, I am invincible, I am woman

I am woman watch me grow
See me standing toe to toe
As I spread my loving arms across the land
But I'm still an embryo
With a long, long way to go
Until I make my brother understand

Oh yes, I am wise
But it's wisdom born of pain
Yes, I've paid the price
But look how much I gained
If I have to, I can do anything
I am strong, I am invincible, I am woman

I am woman
I am invincible
I am strong
I am woman
I am invincible
I am strong
I am woman

Much of our language around healing is not about wholeness, but about ableness. Shifting our ideas from the ideals of ableism to a deeper understanding of wholeness can help us heal ourselves. This change in perspective might also enable us to be supportive towards the wholeness of others, whether they are healing by our definition or not. Join us with the UUCLV family for an important service about our journey into understanding our whole human family.

#UUCLV #UU #UnitarianUniversalist #UnitarianUniversalism #UUCLVEvent #SundayService #Healing #Wholeness #ableism #family

Introduction/Zoom Orientation
Ringing the Bel
Invocation
Opening Words
Chalice Lighting
Song #108 My Life Flows On In Endless  (How Can I Keep From Singing)
Performed by the NYC Virtual Choir and Orchestra

Reflection/Sermon: 
Healing into Wholeness (Audio)
with ​The Reverend Gordon Clay Bailey​
Click here to listen or right click to download the sermon

Healing Our Nation, Healing Ourselves
Sunday, November 1
with The
Reverend Gordon Clay Bailey

As a spiritual, religious, covenantal community, when we come together we can model and create the Beloved Community. We have an opportunity to develop a culture of Love where we can all thrive. This nation of ours, this world of ours is in crisis. The crisis is so much more than the pandemic, this election season, or even the climate issues facing us all. We can no longer afford not to work together in a holistic way. Let this service be  a beginning for reconnecting the values espoused by sages and profits from across the ages. Together we stand and divided we fall. Let's get to work UUCLV - our community and world needs us!

#UUCLV #UU #UnitarianUniversalist #UnitarianUniversalism #UUCLVEvent #SundayService #Connections #Healing #Community

Musical Interlude by Sky
Let's Talk About It
     Questions to discuss:
          What is your experience of healing?  
          How do you heal others who are different from you? 
Closing Song: We Shall Be Known

Our nation has so much turmoil within it now.  Maybe it always did and some of us if not many of us weren’t listening.  Beginning with the initial colonial period extending through our separation from Great Britain and moving past the Civil War, Jim Crow, into the present time we’ve failed each other in so many ways.  Deep listening to our indigenous peoples of the world;  America, Australia and Africa would begin to alter many of our views about life if we could really hear them?  Join us at UUCLV as we deep dive into ideas and narrative from other sources and hopefully listen well.

#UUCLV #UU #UnitarianUniversalist #UnitarianUniversalism #UUCLVEvent #SundayService #Brother #BrothersKeeper #IndigenousPeople

National Hispanic Heritage Month traditionally honors the cultures and contributions of both Hispanic and Latino Americans as we celebrate heritage rooted in all Latin American countries. During this service let us acknowledge, share the history, heritage, and accomplishments of Hispanic and Latino Americans of the Unitarian Universalist world, past and present.

#UUCLV #UU #UnitarianUniversalist #UnitarianUniversalism #UUCLVEvent #SundayService #Connections #HispanicHeritage #LatinX #LatinoAmericans

Ringing the Bell
Welcome
Invocation (Rev. Gordon)
Opening Words

In our society today, so many people are in pain.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful if all of us could practice deep listening so we could begin the journey towards healing a broken world.  Join us as we engage our active listening skills and begin yet again to hear our heart's yearnings and maybe come to understand each other a bit better by practicing a skill so many need to learn.

#UUCLV #UU #UnitarianUniversalist #UnitarianUniversalism #UUCLVEvent #SundayService  #Listening #DeepListening

​Chalice Lighting
Singing Together: #1054, “Let This Be A House of Peace”

Of Our Hearts
Pastoral Reflection & Silence
​Pastoral Hymn: #354, “We Laugh, We Cry” 

We Laugh, We Cry
Words & Music by Shelley Jackson Denham
​
We laugh, we cry, we live, we die; we dance, we sing our song.
We need to feel there’s something here to which we can belong.
We need to feel the freedom just to have some time alone.
But most of all we need close friends we can call our very own.
And we believe in life, and in the strength of love;
and we have found a need to be together.
We have our hearts to give, we have our thoughts to receive;
and we believe that sharing is an answer.

A child is born among us and we feel a special glow.
We see time’s endless journey as we watch the baby grow.
We thrill to hear imagination freely running wild.
We dedicate our minds and heart to the spirit of this child.
And we believe in life, and in the strength of love;
and we have found a time to be together.
And with the grace of age, we share the wonder of youth,
and we believe that growing is an answer.

Our lives are full of wonder and our time is very brief.
The death of one among us fills us all with pain and grief.
But as we live, so shall we die, and when our lives are done
the memories we shared with friends, they will linger on and on.
And we believe in life, and in the strength of love;
and we have found a place to be together.
We have the right to grow, we have the gift to believe
that peace within our living is an answer.

We seek elusive answers to the questions of this life.
We seek to put an end to all the waste of human strife.
We search for truth, equality, and blessed peace of mind.
And then, we come together here, to make sense of what we find.
And we believe in life, and in the strength of love,
and we have found a joy being together.
And in our search for peace, maybe we’ll finally see:
even to question, truly is an answer.

Lyrics from https://farfringe.com/stlt354-we-laugh-we-cry/

Musical Interlude by Sky
Let’s Talk About It
     1. •  Have you been a person that seeks to understand before being understood?
     2. •  Do you have experiences of being given undivided attention?
     3. •  What would it take to become a nonjudgmental person?  Is it possible? 
Closing Song #318, “We Would Be One” 

A Note from Our Minister
Continuing Conversations
Fall 2020

"People don’t notice whether it’s winter or summer when they’re happy." — Anton Chekhov

Greetings dear UU’s, family, friends, and soon to be acquaintances.  

Welcome to the first of four seasonal columns.  My continuing conversations have been offline since summer and I'm finally ready to delve back into the dialogue about subjects ranging from Unitarian Universalist theology to interpersonal relationships.  Along with the usual and very UU things I’d like to engage in this late summer and fall.  I’m looking at the political issues facing our state and nation.  I can't help but pay attention to climate change and the effects that the changing realities are bringing us. Lastly I’m trying the thematic approach to monthly worship and engagement and here are some headings to keep in mind-

September: Renewal, 
October: Deep Listening and 
November: Healings.  

As always I've got lots to say maybe, in fact, too much, but nevertheless here we go - let's have a deep and abiding time engaging our faith, seeking more connections with our partners in seeking justice and in this time of Covid 19, finding ways to stay healthy, have fun, and stay connected to one another.

So, here we go.  Yes, this is new.  Yes, this is strange.  Yes, we will survive even the worst of times if we hold onto the light;  Hold onto our joys;  Hold onto the love and promise of better days ahead.  

As I sit here now, I’m learning of Ruth Badger Ginsburg's death.  Our nation has sustained a great loss.  She has been a tower of strength and resilience; a caretaker of our precious Constitution.  She will be missed, but she has shown us by her actions, by her grace, by her indomitable will, that if you keep your resolve you can persevere in the midst of mind-numbing ignorance.

I'm giving my time this season to getting to know you, Las Vegas, Clark County, and Nevada.  I am involved with DRUUMM (Diverse and Revolutionary Unitarian Universalist Multicultural Ministries) and hope to open a chapter here in our beautiful community for POC who feel UUism is for them.  I am on the CENTER Committee of the UUMA (Unitarian Universalist Minister Association). The Mission of C.E.N.T.E.R. is to design and deliver excellent continuing education that inspires, nurtures, and transforms members of the UUMA (our ministers).

I am honored to serve CENTER as it is a resource for the UUMA and the UUA in its mission to organize, plan and support collegial networks of education and training for our UUA clergy.

I am a member of CPSP (College of Pastoral Supervision and Psychotherapy). This is a credentialing body of clergy and chaplains, psychotherapists and pastoral counselors that teach, preach, provide mental health services and offer care in the midst of the lives of people far and wide, rich and poor, and people of all faith across our country.  I will be looking to develop a connection for this body within our fair city.

So dear UU’s and friends, your willingness to engage with me is critical for my immersion into our beloved UUCLV and into this region.  I've got to be on point about how I learn, grow and absorb knowledge about each of you and about the needs of our community.

So, let's look at each other via zoom and in small groups and let's dance a bit with each other; maybe on a monthly zoom dance party, and let's get to building the very best UUCLV we can possibly create and live into the wonderful mission of this congregation that says -

As a beacon in the desert,
we gather as a multi-generational, spiritual community
to build a place of love, acceptance, and justice
dedicated to worshiping, learning, and working together here and throughout southern Nevada.

We started the year at UUCLV (the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Las Vegas) with our opening service last Sunday with the Water Communion.

So, let's go!  Let's dance!  Let's engage!  Let's bring about a new season for UUCLV.  One in which we go beyond our wildest imaginations.  A renewed connection to our vision, mission, and covenant for our beloved congregation.  

All in all, we are on the move and we are offering worship services, volunteer opportunities, and fun that should excite children and families and bring our community closer together.  Ours is a faith that goes out into the world offering hope. Let's keep Hope, Faith, and Love alive as we remember our relationships, stay mindful of all around us, and find ways to express gratitude for the lives we share.

In faith,
Rev Gordon Clay Bailey