Dear friends
and members of the Fellowship,
Next Meeting:
Date Sunday
May 12
Time
3:00-5:00pm
Usual place:
International House of Japan (国際文化会館)
Call for
directions. Near Azabu-Juban and Roppongi stations.
☆Our speaker
will be Kasia (Katarzyna) Mamczarz, a graduate student at Waseda and volunteer
at Amnesty International, Japan.
She will talk
about the Death Penalty in Japan, both the history and present situation,
and in the larger global context of abolishing the penalty as well.
************************************************
💐At our April 14 meeting we celebrated the "Flower
Ceremony," based on the idea and writings of Norbert Capeck, the first
Unitarian minister in Prague, who was killed by the Nazis in 1942.
The main
themes were (1) appreciating all our individual differences (background,
culture, language, race ) by celebrating diversity and our inclusive community.
We quoted from
his wife Maja's letter to the American Unitarian Ass. in 1961 where she wrote:
Capek's only
motivation for the "flower ceremony" was to stress and bring about
BROTHERHOOD [in his Prague church in the 1920' and 30's where people came from
different backgrounds and religions--Catholicism, Judaism, atheists.etc.]. As a
symbol he used flowers because in the name of a flower no wars were waged as
had been the case of the Cross or the Chalice. The flowers are used as symbols
of the fgifts which each person can make to the church and thru the church to
other persons. Because of the large variety [of flowers people are]able to
express their individuality with flowers. the exhcange of flowers means that i
shall walk,without reservation, with anyone--regrdless of their social status,
or former religious affiliation,[or background, of ancestry or nationality,] as
log as they are ready and willing to go along in search of truth and service
for all of humankind.
We tried to
examine some of the prejudice or racism we encounter (and foster ourselves) in
our past or in daily lives now.
Another theme
(2) was not to give up hope and compassion/love for others despite our own
mortality or the dire circumstances we find ourselves in.
We quoted
Capek's poem from Dresden prison in 19401 and words of forgiveness left stuck
in a wall by a murdered woman at the concentration camp of Ravensbruch.
Then we moved
on to considering the (3) ideas of the Rev. Nancy Ladd in her new book, about
religious liberals and progressives letting go of perfectionism. No matter the
problems and our limited power and imperfections we must NOT give up hope
in our community and our work that we do for social change.
Ladd,
"After the Good News:Progressive Faith
Beyond Optimism,"2019.
And we ended
with the empowering essay of our fellowship's founder, Kenneth Woodrooffe:
"Life at
Seventy: Reflections of a Septuagenarian." Available on request.
Essentially
(and put much more interestingly) he said that theme (4) we must
love someone and be loved and have a purpose or work to give hope and
meaning to our lives. "In moments of discouragement, defeat or
despair it is what one has deeply felt or dearly loved that sustains us, for no
one can take it away from us."
Peggy Kanada, moderator
