| Tampa Unity Vision |
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January 2005 |
NEWS YOU CAN USE
NEW CHAPLAIN COORDINATOR
WE WISH TO EXTEND A WARM WELCOME TO MARY
RILEY. Mary has recently moved to Tampa from Vero
Beach where she has been a member of the Unity
Church since 1990.
It is our good fortune that she has transferred her
membership to Tampa Unity. She is a former President
of the Board of Trustees for Unity of Vero Beach. She
also coordinated their Greeters and Usher program and,
after completing the official Unity Chaplain Training
program in Phoenix, AR, originated their Chaplain
Program.
Mary has completed all her Licensed Teacher Training in
Pastoral Care and served as Chaplain at Indian River
Memorial Hospital in Vero Beach. She will finishing her
licensing in April, 2005 and has agreed to be our new
Chaplain Coordinator.
Look for her at Sunday Services and say, "Hello!" We
look forward to her being part of our Tampa Unity family.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED IN THE TAMPA UNITY
OFFICE!
Third Thursday AM of the Month to help with
Newsletter Mailing! See Clara in the bookstore or call
813-870-0731, Mon-Thur, 9-4:30.
You make a difference!
SALE NETS A TIDY SUM!
DECEMBER'S COURTYARD SALE was a big success
despite the swiftness with which it was organized!
Many people expressed an interest in having a sale this
year, but it was Sheila Hensley who volunteered to
coordinate the event. She and her "co-chair", Sharon
Seefeld, and Virginia Lawrence took on the daunting
task of organizing and pricing the carloads of donations
that poured into Fellowship Hall in the weeks preceding
the event. Sharon even shanghaied her new next-door-
neighbor into helping!
An appreciative round of applause goes to Jim Atkins,
Dr. Julia Barnes, Fran Cooperwasser, Kyle Fleming, Linda
Garston, Matthew Hensley, Kathryn Matras, Carmen
Mayoral, Joyce and Lewis Peterson, Carman Zawacki,
Bill and Carol Robbins, Carol Scharnitz, Luis Jansen, and
Rev. Enrique Amoros, for all their help the day of the
event, and to Rev. Allen Moss for his culinary skills at
the hot dog grill! Thanks to all those who cleaned out
their closets to donate items, and to those who
cleaned up with some great bargains on cool stuff!
The sale cleared nearly $1300.00!
CEP CLASS OFFERED
DEVELOPMENT OF THE UNITY MOVEMENT CEP class
begins on 1/9 @ 10:00am in the Margaret Giles room.
Due to the numerous requests for more CEP classes,
they will resume! Come learn about Unity's history and
beliefs and earn Continuing Education Credits in the
process. The new class will be facilitated by Rev.
Debbie Moss on a love offering basis.
BOOKWORMS
ANOTHER YEAR HAS COME AND GONE and with it New
Year's Resolutions made. I'm hoping one of your
resolutions for 2005 will be to read and examine some
of the great books that come out every year by
wonderful authors. It is really impossible to have all the
new releases in the Bookstore but with your help we
will do our best to carry the books you're interested in
and by your favorite authors.
Books are great friends, some we keep to re-read or
use for reference and others we pass on to friends and
family. I have a rule. If I lend you a book and it has my
name in it, I would like it back. If there is no name in
it, feel free to pass it on so others may enjoy it!
The Book Club is starting its second year and we are all
very excited to explore new subjects and authors. It's
fun to read a different author and find a new friend
every month. Our first book for 2005 is Mary Called
Magdalene by Margaret George. This historical novel
explores the life of Mary Magdalene: her girlhood and
controversial relationship with Jesus Christ. It is well
researched, extremely readable and thought provoking.
We meet the second Tuesday of each month and would
enjoy your company, so come join us in the Youth Ed
Area on January 14th at 6:30 pm. Wishing you all a
New Year full of Blessings and Joy.
Clara
SPECIAL THANKS...
TO OUR CHRISTMAS ELVES, who did such a great
job decorating the Sanctuary and Narthex:
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Jim and Leslie Atkins | |
Mark Turner | |
Trudy and Alia Herrera | |
Carol Dyches | |
Kathryn Matras | |
Sara Allen
Click Here To Veiw Upcoming Events
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$10,000.00 PRIZE WILL SWEETEN THE NEW YEAR!
THE WINNER OF THE $10,000.00 Drawing by Chance will
be picked at random during the Sweet Treats dessert
banquet on Friday, January 28, 2005.
Tickets are still available, but going fast. Get yours by
making a $100.00 tax deductible donation to Tampa
Unity. Each $100.00 donation receives one ticket.
Donate $200.00; get two tickets! Only 300 tickets will
be issued, and one ticket will be drawn for a cash prize
of $10,000.00! The more tickets you collect, the better
your odds of the being the lucky one!
The Sweet Treats event starts at 8 pm on Friday,
January 28 and features desserts catered by Gramma
Grippo's. Door prizes will be awarded as well as the
$10,000.00 cash prize. The winner of the Drawing by
Chance need not be present to win, but entrance to
the Sweet Treats requires a ticket receipt for the
Drawing by Chance.
Tickets, while they last, are available in the Tampa
Unity Bookstore. Don't wait because when ticket #300
is gone - that's it!
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| CELEBRATE PEACE AND DIVERSITY IN THE NEW YEAR | | | Ecclesiastes 3:
1For everything there is a season, and a time for every
matter under heaven... 7a time keep silence, and a
time to speak...
FOR THOSE OF US WHO COMMUNICATE more and more
through the Internet and with electronic mail it sure
seems that the old fashioned chain letters have found a
new life. Regularly, we receive email from people with
the very best of intentions requesting us to forward the
message to as many people in our address list as is
possible. Some even include promises that good things
will happen if you send this to at least 10 of your
friends, etc. No offense to anyone but I usually read
and then press the delete key, even those that cause
me to raise my eyebrows at the content. Kimberly Taylor, former YOU'er and currently a college
student, had a different response to an email she
received recently. At first glance the email seems
rather patriotic, fully American. Yet, when you really
read this message it is anything but patriotic. It
certainly is not a Unity message. In Unity we believe
that God is known and called by many different names
and that there are many paths to God. It seems the writer of the email believes they have a
lock on both the right faith and right type of
patriotism. Kimberly's well thought out response has
caused me to rethink the wisdom of simply deleting
offending messages. It also has reminded me of
something that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said
"We will remember not the words of our enemies
but the silence of our friends." This is a very
powerful statement by the man who stood for tolerance
and civil rights for all. His words are still very relevant
for those of us living in the 21st century. With the ease of sending multiple messages to large
numbers of people at the press of a button, we would
be wise to be more selective about what we send out
and even what we just delete. Perhaps now is the time
not for silence but for speaking. We have committed
ourselves to taking a moment to respond kindly but
firmly to emails that smack of discrimination, intolerance
or hatred in anyway. No longer does just using my
delete key seem to be the right answer. Additionally, we actively support The Interfaith Alliance
Foundation which is committed to defending religious
liberty and challenging hatred and religious bigotry.
Kimberly did a beautiful job of explaining why that is
important.
In the words of John Lennon in his powerful song,
Imagine, "You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm
not the only one. I hope some day you'll join us and
the world will live as one."
What a great way to begin The Season for
Nonviolence, starting on January 30th , 64 days and 64
ways to live in a non-violent world, while we honor the
work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr and Mahatma Ghandi.
Thank you, Kimberly, for setting a great example for all
of us.
Watch your bulletins for 64 ways to celebrate and live
non-violently. Peace!
Rich and Abundant Blessings,
Rev Allen Moss & Rev Debbie Moss | | |
| SCIENTIFIC PRAYER | | | CHARLES FILLMORE'S MOST IMPORTANT TEACHING was
scientific prayer as the master key to success and
happiness. You need not take my word for it, and you
should not. I simply invite you to try it for yourself, and
see what happens. God, almighty, omnipotent, omnipresent, and man as
His image and likeness, has dominion over all things.
This is the inspired teaching and demonstration of
Jesus, the Christ. The ability to draw on this power is
not the special prerogative of the Mystic or the Saint,
every woman/man is able to demonstrate the power of
God through themselves. Whoever you are, wherever you may be, this master
key is in your hand, but you must remember that
scientific payer is an art. You have to practice in order
to obtain the ability to use it. You must always
remember that in scientific prayer it is God who works,
and not you. Your particular limitations or weaknesses
don't count in the process. You are the channel
through which the Divine action takes place and your
participation is just getting yourself out of the way,
clearing the channel, which is your mind, the way you
think and believe. Usually beginners get results the first time they try
because they essentially have open minds and enough
faith to try the experiment. The method of working is
simplicity itself, all that you have to do is: a) Don't
think about the difficulties; b) Focus your thoughts on
God, the Good Omnipotent; c) Consider only what you
have (not what you don't have). This is the complete
rule, this will keep you out of trouble and make the
difference in the manifestation of your desires. GOD IS LOVE, WISDOM, LIGHT, AND TRUTH, so do not
try to form a picture of God; every picture is limited.
God is a presence everywhere, infinite power and
knowledge. The success in scientific prayer is to think
as God. Your object is to drive the thought of the
difficulty right out of your consciousness, for a few
moments, at least, substituting the thought of God. We
have said that the master key of scientific prayer is
simple, and so it is. But, it is not always easy to use. If
you are frightened or worried, it may be difficult to get
your thoughts away from materiality. Some statement
of absolute Truth, such as: There is no power but God,
or I'm the beloved child of God will help. Be quiet but
insistent using these statements. Each time that you
find your attention wandering, just switch it straight
back to God. Do not try to outline the answer of God in your prayer.
This always delays the demonstration. Leave God free
to choose the ways and means He will use to
demonstrate His Abundance in your life, abundance of
every Good. Don't forget to do your half: pray, pray,
pray, and be still. God will never fail to do His part.
God bless all of you richly.
Rev Enrique Amoros | | |
| KIMBERLY'S RESPONSE TO A MISGUIDED E-MAIL | | | THERE IS AN E-MAIL CURRENTLY IN CIRCULATION
TITLED "DON'T BUY IT," and that is exactly what you
should do. Don't buy into anything the e-mail says, it
takes different forms but for the most part it reads: "How ironic is this??!! They don't even believe in
Christ and they're getting their own Christmas stamp,
but don't dream of posting the ten commandments on
federal property? REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of
Pan Am flight 103! REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of
the Marine barracks in Lebanon! REMEMBER the MUSLIM
bombing of military barracks in Saudi Arabia! REMEMBER
all the AMERICAN lives that were lost to those vicious
MUSLIM attacks! Now the United States Postal Service
REMEMBERS and HONORS the EID MUSLIM holiday
season with a commemorative first class holiday
postage stamp. REMEMBER to adamantly and vocally
BOYCOTT this stamp when purchasing your stamps at
the post office. To us this stamp would be a slap in the
face to all those AMERICANS who died at the hands of
those whom this stamp honors. REMEMBER to pass this
along to every patriotic AMERICAN you know." I feel there are a few things about this e-mail that
should be addressed:
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The stamp is not a "Christmas" stamp. It is
commemorating a holiday having nothing to do with
Christmas or the Christian faith. Just like Chanukah and
Kwanzaa, it happens to fall in the same season as
Christmas despite having a completely different origin
and meaning. Many different holidays have had stamps
over time, each deserves equal respect. Besides, every
year there is a Christian stamp with the Madonna and
child.
-
In America, we have the freedom of religion. We all
have the right to choose our own faith and practice it
as we please. There are 5 million Muslims living in
America, Islam is the third largest religion in our
country. Statements about "Americans" in the above e-
mail therefore include many Muslims, whether or not the
writer knew that. Not only is Islam a very significant
religion in our country, but it is the second largest
religion in the world. There are an estimated 1.2 billion
practicing Muslims in the world today, and although it is
a common misconception that Islam is simply in the
Middle East, most Muslims are not Arab.
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The basis of Islam is greatly misunderstood, in fact
would you be surprised to know that the top three
religions in America and the world (Christianity, Judaism
and Islam) all believe in the same God? Imagine that,
the same God! Muslims consider both Moses and Jesus
to be great prophets who received revelations from
God. The entire basis of the religion is peace, Islam
itself means "peace" and "submission" to God. In the
culture there is a saying "Assalam wa alaykum" meaning
peace be upon you. This is not a religion of hate or
terror, as it has been made out to be.
-
It is important for us to educate and guard ourselves
against ignorance and blind hate. The attacks on
Americans were led by a small group of extremists who
have now given over a billion people world wide a bad
reputation. It is unfair and unjust for us to label all
Muslims killers or terrorists simply because there are a
few bad people out there that happen to call
themselves Muslims. Christians in America would not
want to be labeled negatively because of extremists
such as the KKK. It is the same for Muslims in America
and the world over.
In this country, it is only fair to allow each religion an
equal chance. This is also the reason why we do not
post the Ten Commandments in federal buildings. Would
you post the 5 pillars of Islam? These are: Profession of
Faith (Shahada), Prayer (Salat), Almsgiving (Zakat),
Fasting (Sawm or Siyam), and Pilgrimage to Mecca
(Hajj). These are not offensive in any way that I can
see, so why not post them right next to the
Commandments? Why not represent all of the religions?
Since it is nearly impossible to do this we shouldn't
represent any at all. People of all religions are citizens,
none better than the next. As Americans we are
slapping ourselves in the face, not by using a stamp,
but by allowing hatred and ignorance to breed in our
country. When we allow this behavior to go on we are
no better than the extremists of which we speak. If you agree with what I have said, that people should
educate themselves and not act of ignorance, please
spread this e-mail. Help me to stop the hatred one
person at a time. I hope that someone will read this
and realize what they believed was wrong, if I can
change one mind then it was worth writing this. Happy
holidays to everyone, of every religion. I pray that we
might find peace and acceptance within ourselves and
begin to spread it by living it, one day at a time. Namaste,
Kimberly Anne Taylor | | |
| JANUARY'S DOORWAY | | | As the door to 2004 closes, so opens the doorway to
2005. January is the namesake of the Roman God
Janus, a two headed diety who looks both back to the
past and forward to the future. He is the god of gates
and doorways. January is the doorway to a new year, a
time to look back and reflect as well as plan for the
future. In 153 BCE, the Roman Senate decreed that the
calendar year would begin in January. Custom has it that what happens on the first day of
the year foretells the rest of the year, so maybe New
Years day is a good time to affirm your good fortunes
and let go of the ill. Do a bit of housecleaning and
sweep your cares out the door. Tidy up the threshold
and add a bit of greenery for growth and prosperity.
And then, invite your friends and family in for peas and
greens. In the South a big batch of black-eyed peas
cooked up with some tasty collard greens symbolizes
wealth and good fortune for the coming year. The more
greens you eat on the New Year's Day the wealthier
you will be! Any way you look at it, New Year's Day is a lucky time.
How fortunate it is to get a fresh once a year, a
definite place to begin a resolution. I have always been
drawn to the look and smell of a fresh piece of paper,
the promise of an empty glass waiting to be filled, the
opportunity and hope of an open door. Welcome 2005! Janet Stanley | | |
| SEASON FOR NONVIOLENCE | | | THE 2005 SEASON FOR NONVIOLENCE BEGINS JANUARY
30 and continues through April 4. This period of time,
which commemorates the memorial anniversaries of
Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., has
been set aside as a time to hold the idea of a world of
peace in our daily actions and thoughts. For 64 days,
campaigns across the country and the world will
promote nonviolence as a means to transform and
empower lives and communities. On Sunday, January 30 at 7 pm, Reverend Debbie Moss
will lead a candle lighting and Meditation for World
Peace to open this year's Season For Nonviolence.
Tampa Unity supports the effort with daily affirmations
from the Association for Global New Thought 's "64
Ways in 64 Days" appearing in our Sunday Bulletins.
Pledges for home, school and work place will also be
available. Pay attention to upcoming announcements and
newsletters for more events celebrating the 2005
Season for Nonviolence. Let's work together to support
a vision of peace in this lifetime. | | |
| NEW BOARD OF TRUSTEES CHOSEN | | | TAMPA UNITY MEMBERS met in October for Tampa
Unity's Annual Membership Meeting to receive updates
on church business and vote on new board members.
Re-elected to the Board of Trustees were Jeff King and
Rick Jachimski. Pat Fenda and Diane Kelly were chosen
as alternates. The 2004-05 Board of Trustees consists
of Jeff King, President; Debbie Rowe, Vice President;
Angel Rosado, Secretary; Robert Gordon, Treasurer,
Jane Tombs and Rick Jachimski. Pat Fenda and Diane
Kelly are welcome additions to the Board. As alternates,
they will participate in the meetings and be available to
fill any occurring vacancies for the 2004-2005 fiscal
year. LEAVING THE BOARD THIS YEAR IS BRENDA HUNT.
Brenda was elected to the Board in 2001 and served as
Vice President last year. She has been a member of
Tampa Unity since 1997. In addition to her work with
the Board of Trustees, Brenda was the coordinator for
the Greeters and has been active with the Tampa Unity
Education Department, providing a safety program for
last summer's Vacation Bible School. She is a Corporal
with the City of Tampa Police in the Community
Relations Bureau. Brenda is looking forward to devoting
more time to her family, which consists of a new
husband and three teenagers! We will, however,
continue to be blessed with her on-going presence here
at Tampa Unity. | | |
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