Program

Lake Fellowship happily welcomes back guest speaker Andy Fletcher. Andy will be joining us via Zoom from his home in Colorado. From Andy:

In 2011, Unitarian Universalists adopted a Statement of Conscience entitled Ethical Eating, on which the UU Office at the UN centered last year's Intergenerational Spring Seminar. But sometimes climate change and anti-racism can feel overwhelming amid all the concerns of our lives. Lóre Stevens, of First Universalist Minneapolis and Harvard Divinity School, will share her story of food insecurity and diet decolonization to show how mindful eating can be a great starting point to personal and social change.

Dowry, Film and Discussion
In the folds of ancient fabrics Dowry finds a woman’s stories of sexuality, birth, and death, grounded in war and immigration.

To open the dowry trunk of three generations of Greek women is to go back in time through an archive of fiber arts--heirloom lace, woven embroidery, hand sewn dresses. The fibers of each dress, curtain and tablecloth are interwoven with the threads of their lives: threads woven by the hands of women, threads that give voice to their stories.

Effective altruism (EA) is a project that aims to find the best ways to help others and put them into practice. It’s both a research field, which aims to identify the world’s most pressing problems and the best solutions to them, and a practical community that aims to use those findings to do good. Effective altruism was formalized by scholars at Oxford University, but has now spread around the world, and is being applied by tens of thousands of people in more than 70 countries.

Lake Fellowship Book Group will meet to discuss Two Old Women by Velma Wallis on November 20. Based on a story passed down by Inuits about a tribe who left 2 old women behind because they were really low on food.  It tells what they did with very little for tools, etc.  It is a small book and easy to read.  Anyone who would like to join us when we meet at home of Beatriz is welcome.  We meet at 7:00 for discussion.

Calling on a lot of courage this month (October's program theme), Beatriz and Marilyn will lead us on discussing some recent or favorite books, articles, shows, podcasts, or movies that we considered educational, fun, or enlightening. Come prepared to share, if you'd like, on any media items you'd like to share with the group. Beatriz and Marilyn are longtime members of our Fellowship book club which normally meets on third Sunday of month. This month’s read is Dava Sobel’s LONGITUDE. It tells the story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time.

In 1937, congress declared the 2^nd Monday of October as Columbus Day, a national holiday to honor and celebrate Christopher Columbus, the Italian explorer, who, we were told, discovered America. Since 1991, many state and local authorities, including Minnesota, have recognized that day as Indigenous Peoples’ Day to honor and celebrate the history and contributions of Native Americans. And in 2021, President Biden issued a proclamation recognizing it, but not declaring it a national holiday.

Lake Fellowship warmly welcomes back Phil Lund for a program about December's theme of Wonder. He will be joining us for this program via Zoom.

From Phil,  "Almost 25 years ago I preached my first sermon at a UU congregation. The topic? Wonder. I’ve preached about wonder a number of times since then, and each time I return to the topic I find more and more to explore. This Sunday, we’ll consider the importance of wonder in our lives, from the tiniest particle to the universe as a whole."

Moving from an industrial agriculture system that relies heavily on fossil fuel and nitrogen fertilizers to regenerative agriculture practices dramatically reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Regenerative agriculture practices also improve soil health, thereby increasing the soil’s potential to be the carbon sink we so need. Regenerative agriculture provides a variety of other ecosystem services as well, such as improvements in biodiversity, water quality, reduced flooding and more.

Please join us, for our final program of the 2022 - 2023 program year!  This year, we're adding a feature in which we hope everyone will participate. We will be sharing our "Photos of the Year" with one another, in a slideshow presentation format. We'd like you to select your favorite photo from the past year (or two). You don't need to have taken the photo, but if you use someone else's work, please be sure to credit the photographer. The photo can be of any family-friendly subject: historic, natural, portrait, or scenic -- whatever you'd like to share.