Celebrate!
April offers us opportunities to celebrate everything
from the silliness of April Fool’s Day to the
stories and feasting of Passover. Whether it’s
spring where you live, or fall, or even if it’s
still just plain cold, there’s no excuse not to
celebrate Earth Day, and renew your commitment to taking
care of our precious planet. Earth Day provides the
theme for this month’s KidTalk, but there are
lots of holidays below that you can learn about, celebrate
or just plain have fun with. Just click on the link
to explore!
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We Honor…
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Thomas Starr King, who was famous for many things, including his writings
on nature. Starr King was a Universalist minister in
the United States who moved from the “civilized”
society of Boston to serve as minister of the western
frontier city of San Francisco. Although he was physically
very small, he was such a fiery preacher that his impact
was huge! During the Civil War he lectured and campaigned
all across the state to keep California as part of the
Union, rather that joining in with the Southern Confederacy.
He also organized fund-raising for the United States
Sanitary Commission, which was in charge of health and
medical care for the US army during that terrible war.
Starr King was a tireless worker who drove himself to
exhaustion working for good causes, but he found renewal
for his body and spirit by being out in nature. His
writings about the White Mountains of New Hampshire
and about the Yosemite Valley in California brought
people across the country to an understanding of the
beauty and importance of nature, and his efforts led
to the preservation of the Yosemite Valley as a wilderness
park to be enjoyed by all people.
Two mountain peaks are named for Thomas Starr King,
and his statue is one of two that represent California
in the National Statuary Hall in Washington DC. Here
is a picture of that statue. You can click here
to read
more about Thomas Starr King.
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Act!
On this month when we celebrate Earth Day, why not
do something to care for our planet? There are lots
of things you can do, from going for a walk where you
pick up trash, to recycling, to finding ways to save
water and electricity. Or how about doing your clothes
shopping at a thrift store, or remembering to bring
home groceries in a re-usable canvass bag? Trade toys
or games with a friend rather than asking for new ones,
or find ways to have fun with recyclables such as newspaper
and cardboard. Here
are a bunch of ideas for art projects you can make with
recycled stuff.
April 25th is Arbor Day, so how about planting a tree?
Trees do many wonderful things for our planet, from
holding the soil in place to making the oxygen we breathe
to using up some of the carbon dioxide that causes global
warming. You can not only find lots of great information about trees, and about what you can do to help the planet, but also lots of nature-themed games here.
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Nurturing Your Spirit
People around the world practice meditation as a way
of calming the mind and body and finding quietness inside.
Meditation can be a daily spiritual practice, but it
can also be a tool to help center yourself in times
of stress, like before a test or the big tournament.
You can take a moment for meditation as simply as just
closing your eyes and taking several deep, regular breaths.
Or ring a bell or chime and close your eyes and listen
until you hear the moment when the sound completely
fades away. Learn
about the Buddhist tradition of meditation, or have
your computer lead you through a guided meditation.
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Ask CLiF
Ask CLiF any questions you have about religion or living
a good life
Dear CLiF,
Why do you not have the big uu and me mag? I really
enjoyed that magazine and I wish that you would issue
the bigger one again. --Mark
Hey Mark, great question!
I agree with you that the full uu&me! magazine
was a great thing to find in the mailbox. There were
two reasons for changing things so that uu&me!
now comes out as part of the UU World. The first reason
was that we wanted all UU kids to be able to get the
great stuff that uu&me! puts out, and the UU World
goes to all members of UU churches. The second reason,
unfortunately, is that uu&me! was very expensive
for the CLF to publish, and what people paid to subscribe
didn’t even come close to paying for it. Like
all UU churches, the only money that the CLF has is
what our members donate, and we have to make choices
about what things we can afford to do. So having uu&me!
come out as part of the UU World seemed like a really
great compromise.
But make sure that you check out the on-line
version of uu&me! on our CLF website—just
go to www.clfuu.org and click on the Religious Education
menu to find it.
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