Surrounded by God's Goodness - Even Now - Haworth UCC
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February 2022
Surrounded by God’s Goodness — Even Now
Recently, I’ve been reading the book
Julian of Norwich: Wisdom in a Time of
Pandemic — and Beyond, by Matthew Fox. It
really is a powerful and delightful read, and I
recommend it highly.
Julian of Norwich was a Christian Mystic, and
the first woman to write a book in English. She
was writing at the time of the bubonic plague,
the Black Death. It was a time when bodies
were piling up in the streets, and her writing
and all of her teachings were based on the truth that at
all times and in every moment we are surrounded by the goodness of God.
How’s that for counter intuitive?
Julian may be best known for the saying: ”All is well, all is well, and all manner of things shall
be well.” That profound optimism from the woman who brought the word ‘enjoy’ into the
English language, and the fact that she lived during such a dark and terrifying era, should be
a good clue as to where I’m going with this.
To say that we are living in daunting times has finally become an understatement. Here we
are, in year 152 of the COVID epidemic, or at least it feels that way. The Russians are saber-
rattling, US defense contractors are drooling, families and neighborhoods are completely
split on polarizing perspectives of everything from politics to healthcare, and yet we are
called to believe that ‘all shall be well’? Really?
Actually, yes. We are the ones who claim to be followers of the Christ. We claim to carry and
proclaim “The Good News”. Well? Is it good news or is it not good news? Or is that good
news only contingent upon everything being rosy and lovely and happy? If so, there have
been profoundly brief windows in human history when that was the case.
Yes, we are called to be carriers of love, light, and even joy in times of fear, sorrow, and
suffering. And this is a good time to remember that joy is not the same thing as happiness.
Continued…
Page 2 THE SPIRE
Joy is profound, joy is deep, and we are the ones who are allegedly, supposedly, the bearers
of God’s joy, and the joy that we have found in the Good News.
Much of Julian’s theology is based upon the via positiva, spiritual moments of awe and
wonder, and delight. When we allow these gifts to penetrate our souls, the organic response
includes: gratitude, reverence, and joy.
Indeed, gratitude alone is the most profound foundation of effective and sustaining
spiritual practice. Another medieval Christian mystic, Meister Eckhart, famously said “If the
only prayer you say in your life is ‘thank you’, that is sufficient.” Thomas Aquinas wrote that
the essence of real religion is gratitude, and puts religion in the context of the virtue of
thankfulness or gratitude. (Notice that in English, the word is “thankful”— suggesting that
there is no such thing as being half full of thanks.) Also the word ‘Eucharist’ which is often
used for Christian worship means in Greek: to give thanks.
Fox writes “Goodness and the search for it lies at the heart of Julian’s teaching. She offers us
at least 15 teachings about Goodness, Joy, and Awe. (She) offers us the practice of looking for
goodness. A summary of her teachings follows.
• Fall in love with the world, in spite of history.
• R
emember what a blessing it is to be here in an amazing universe on an amazing
planet after an amazing journey of 13.8 billion years. See the bigger picture.
• “ Drink in goodness. And remember: “The first good thing is the goodness of
nature.”
• D
o not become “too blind to comprehend the wondrous wisdom of God, too
limited to grasp the power and goodness” of what is being revealed to us daily.
• “ God is the same thing as nature,” and God is “the very essence of nature.” Dwell
on that.
• “The goodness in nature is God.”
• “God is “unending goodness” and an “endless goodness.”
• G
od undergoes “supreme delights” and “five supreme joys” in particular that he/
she “wants us to rejoice in also.”
• We are all born into a “birthright of never-ending joy.”
• H
ealthy self-love is vital, and all we encounter in creation is “everything that God
loves” also.
• “To behold God in all things is to live in complete joy.”
Continued…
THE SPIRE Page 3
• O
ur work (inner and outer) is holy. “Dig and ditch, toil and sweat” to “make sweet
floods to run and noble and abundant fruit to spring” in your soul and soil. Let
this “food and drink” of your labor become your “true worship.”
• “ Value awe. The first duty of the soul is “to reverently marvel.” A “reverent awe is
the proper response to the supreme beauty of the divine.”
• “This is the holiest prayer — the loving prayer of thanksgiving.” *
May we practice these teachings and do all we can to integrate them into our day to day
lives. Through our trust in God we can let go of the hand-wringing, the fear, the anger, the
drama which gets between us and our relationship with the Blessed Holy One.
May it be so!
In Christ,
*Adapted from Matthew Fox, Julian of Norwich: Wisdom in a Time of Pandemic—and Beyond,
pp. 101f., 20-33.
Slow Motion Adult Bible Study
7:30 pm Mondays Via Zoom
Please join us for Slow Motion Adult Bible Study. Classes are approximately
an hour. We are currently studying the Book of Revelations. We take our time and
dig deeply into Scripture, bringing in cultural, historical, theological, and linguistic
backgrounds and resources. We utilize Queries (questions posed for consideration and
opening, not to garner answers) and cross-referencing. (There are occasional dives
down theological or linguistic rabbit holes.) Participants are encouraged to have their
favorite translation of the Bible with them.
If you have any questions, please reach out to Rev. Jack Cuffari
(jack@cuffari.com) with your email address, name and phone number.
To join a Zoom meeting, click on
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87486762412?pwd=N0Z2eVlCNzJPbVM3VmdzZW1GYz
ZHUT09#success
Meeting ID: 874 8676 2412, Passcode: 985645
Phone only? Dial 646.558.8656
Page 4 THE SPIRE
Our 2021 Christmas Offering
is to be divided equally between
The Christmas Fund
(formerly Veterans of the Cross)
& Meals On Wheels North Jersey
Donations this Christmas season totalled $1,440.
As is customary, funds will be distributed early
to be held February. Many thanks to all who contributed,
on Zoom late near and far! Amazing response!
February
All are invited to attend — log in What goes UP must come DOWN!
info to come as soon as date is set. A small but hardy group of elves came out again on
a chilly day in January to undecorate the church. They
unwound the lights in the bushes under the star on the
front of the church, climbed the ladder to take down the
banners, big wreath in the narthex, and the top of the
tree, packed up the pew decorations, pillar candles, and
garlands, removed the lights and took apart the big tree,
disassembled the advent wreath, carefully sheathed the
elements of the Nativity scene and stored them in the
creche, took down the wreaths on the front and back doors,
stored the colorful flower arrangements and made sure the
Ash Wednesday is poinsettias found a happy home. A cheerful and efficient
March 2 group, they got it all done quickly with a reward of leftover
coffee hour goodies. Many thanks to Frank Osmers, Nancy
(Worship also to be on Zoom)
Sierra, Liz Marcus, Jen Chin and Jan Farrington.
THE SPIRE Page 5 For Healing & Hope: Jon Marino, with late stage ALS, and his wife Paula Smith; Laura Levine, just diagnosed with pancreatic cancer; Sonia Waters, about to go a last effort in chemo; John Ralosky, recovering in treatment for cancer; Mary Gibson, for good news in a diagnosis; Nancy Sierra’s brother-in-law Joe, recovering from a heart attack and complications; Rev. Jack’s mom Nelly; Jen’s friend, Jack Unwin, still in a nursing home; the family of Mary Lou Boyd; Rev. Cindy Reynolds for a serious health concern; Tammy’s daughter Meghan; June M. who has completed radiation treatments; Sonia, who has advanced cancer. For Justice and Mercy: The people of Afghanistan; our Black, Brown, Native, AAPI, Jewish and Muslim brothers and sisters, that they may be safe from persecution and violence; the people of Brazil, Palestine, Israel, Haiti, Yemen, Myanmar; our LGBTQAI siblings. Ongoing Concerns: The homeless and those being evicted; all those who are isolated during these times; the unemployed in our nation; hungry people throughout the world and in our own neighborhoods; for the tens of millions suffering from the climate crisis; the Sowore family whose father is still a political prisoner in Nigeria; for the victims of gun violence and their families; all who seek safety from violence, especially immigrants, refugees, and asylees everywhere; victims of domestic violence; those lost in anger; those who suffer from addiction, depression, anxiety. The memory of Thich Nhat Hahn, the great teacher, Buddha, and peacemaker.
Page 6 THE SPIRE
Have you read…
Book Recommendation by Nancy Sierra
Born a Crime:
Stories from a South African Childhood
by Trevor Noah
Copyright© Trevor Noah 2016
New York: Spiegel & Grau
Trevor Noah’s unlikely path from apartheid South Africa
to the desk of The Daily Show began with a criminal act:
his birth. Trevor was born to a white Swiss father and a
black Xhosa mother at a time when such a union was
punishable by five years in prison. Living proof of his
parents’ indiscretion, Trevor was kept mostly indoors for
the earliest years of his life, bound by the extreme and
often absurd measures his mother took to hide him from
a government that could, at any moment, steal him away.
Finally liberated by the end of South Africa’s tyrannical
white rule, Trevor and his mother set forth on a grand
adventure, living openly and freely and embracing the
opportunities won by a centuries-long struggle.
Born a Crime is the story of a mischievous young boy who grows into a restless young man as
he struggles to find himself in a world where he was never supposed to exist. It is also
the story of that young man’s relationship with his fearless, rebellious, and fervently religious
mother — his teammate, a woman determined to save her son from the cycle of poverty,
violence, and abuse that would ultimately threaten her own life.
The stories collected here are by turns hilarious, dramatic, and deeply affecting. Whether
subsisting on caterpillars for dinner during hard times, being thrown from a moving car
during an attempted kidnapping, or just trying to survive the life-and-death pitfalls of dating
in high school, Trevor illuminates his curious world with an incisive wit and unflinching
honesty. His stories weave together to form a moving and searingly funny portrait of a boy
making his way through a damaged world in a dangerous time, armed only with a keen
sense of humor and a mother’s unconventional, unconditional love.
THE SPIRE Page 7
Regarding two current series on ABC…
Jessica A. Johnson:
Looking back on the death, legacy
and cultural impact of Emmett Till
Every time I’ve driven through Mississippi, I’ve always
thought about the harrowing story of Emmett Till’s
August 1955 murder in the small Delta community of
Money, a town that was still dependent on cotton farming
in the 1950s and was bent on keeping Blacks segregated Actors Cedric Joe (Emmett Till)
and subjugated as the nation slowly inched towards the and Adrienne Warren (Mamie Till)
civil rights movement.
The 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling that
mandated public school desegregation was barely a year
old and President Harry Truman’s Executive Order 9981
that ended segregation in the military had been in effect
for seven years, but many white Mississippians in Money
were obstinately determined to hold on to what they
considered their sacred way of life, which for them meant
keeping the races separate and severely unequal.
When Till came down from Chicago that fateful 1955 summer with his cousin Wheeler
Parker to visit Moses Wright, Till’s great uncle and Parker’s grandfather, Till had no idea that
he would be viewed as a threat to that way of life simply by wolf-whistling at a white woman
named Carolyn Bryant during a routine grocery store run. Caroline’s husband Roy Bryant
and his half-brother, J.W. Milam kidnapped Till from Wright’s home and savagely tortured Till
before throwing his mutilated body into the Tallahatchie River.
Two current series on ABC, “Let the World See” and “Women of the Movement,” are
providing a more detailed look into not only Till’s murder but also the life of his mother,
Mamie Till-Mobley.
“Let the World See” is a docuseries featuring Till’s cousins and prominent public figures
such as former First Lady Michelle Obama and Georgetown University sociology professor
Michael Eric Dyson.
“Women of the Movement” is a docudrama
starring Adrienne Warren as Till-Mobley and Cedric Joe
as the 14-year-old Till. I watched the first two episodes
of “Let the World See” and one of my initial thoughts
was what younger viewers who are just learning
about the tragedy of Till’s killing are thinking.
Trayvon Martin Emmett Till
Page 8 THE SPIRE
UCC Daily Devotional
January 21, 2022
Imagining Love
by Marilyn Pagán-Banks
“To be truly visionary we have to root our imagination in our concrete reality while
simultaneously imagining possibilities beyond that reality.” — bell hooks (Feminism Is for
Everybody)
I have learned much about the ethic of love and imagining this love embodied in some
new ways, thanks in great part to the writings of bell hooks, an ancestor too soon. Ashé.
Imagination — while not listed as a fruit of the Spirit — is vital to our ability to nurture,
cultivate, and make space for the spirit to do its work.
We have to be willing to not only wish for a better world, a more just and loving
society. We have to imagine that it is indeed possible. We must be able to know in our flesh
and in our hearts that it is not only possible but probable.
Imagination gives us the wherewithal to begin to conjure up, call out, create, and live
into the beloved community — even while it is not yet fully present. To live into our prayer of
“on earth as it is in heaven.”
Imagination allows us to see beyond our current circumstance, condition, and context.
Imagination makes space for us to create, re-create, and co-create. Imagination helps us to
not give up when everything around us is cursing God, our communities, and all of creation.
Imagination caused God to become flesh and model for us what it means to love
fiercely and fully.
Imagination gave bell hooks words and the courage to speak them and to write them
so that Black women and Black folx might experience and share and pass on a love that is
liberative.
Prayer:
Thank you, God, for imagining us and creating us from a place of love. May we continue
to pass on this miracle from generation to generation, in honor of our ancestors and in
gratitude for the wonder of all of creation. Ashé and Selah.
About the Author
Marilyn Pagán-Banks (she/her/ella) is a queer womanist freedom fighter
gratefully (though not always gracefully) serving as executive director of A Just
Harvest, Senior Pastor at San Lucas UCC, and adjunct professor at McCormick
Theological Seminary. She is a joyful contributor to The Words of Her Mouth.
THE SPIRE Page 9 UCC Daily Devotional August 7, 2021 The Gospel of “I Love You!” Suzanne Jubenville “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” — Matthew 22:36-40 (NIV) If I’m honest, I really don’t care for a lot of the people God loves. A lot of the people God loves make me angry or frustrated, nervous, bored, scared, confused or uncomfortable. I tell myself it’s enough that God loves them. In fact, I tell them that, too: “Good news!” I say. “Jesus loves you!” But what if the that isn’t the gospel? What if it’s “I love you?” Jesus tells us that the gospel of “I love you!” is so powerful it is the fulcrum of all the law and all the prophets. There is no moral imperative that can’t be met and no promise of peace that can’t be fulfilled if only we love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Jesus goes on to explain that the meaning of “neighbor” is up to us, and the kind of world we choose to live in. In the end, it’s clear that in order to share with others — any others — the good news of God’s love, more is required of us than simply pointing out the way. Bad news: I will probably never be able to feel love for many of the people God loves. Good news: I’m not called to feel love; I’m called to choose it. Prayer: O God, I love you! Help us to spread your love to the world by choosing to love others as ourselves. Amen. About the Author Suzanne Jubenville contributed this reflection as part of the “call for new Daily Devotional writers” issued by the Stillspeaking Writers’ Group this past spring.
Page 10 THE SPIRE
A church thanks the many women who served it
and the Community for many years!
Around the World in
21,900 Days…
Well, not exactly the “world”, but Haworth,
New Jersey to Sabetha, Kansas and back
again to Haworth,1962 to the present. Many
thanks both to Ruth Tennal, dear friend of
Mary Lou Boyd and to Mary Lou’s daughters,
Ruth Petrocelli and Kathy Boyd Bertin. Ruth
T. grew up in the big yellow house across the
street from the church parking lot entrance.
Her mother was Elfriede Miller to whom this plaque was given. Ruth eventually married and
moved to Kansas. Mary Lou, of course never left town but the two women kept up their
strong friendship right up until Mary Lou’s death.
Although younger, but because I also grew up in Haworth, I recognize almost all of
these wonderful women’s names who were pillars of the church. My own mother leads
the list, actually. It’s ironical that for the 23 years I’ve been back to my childhood church,
I’ve corresponded off and on with Ruth Tennal in part because of a personal connection
regarding my much older cousin Scott who grew up in Topeka, Kansas but who had visited
my family and thus our church here in Haworth on numerous occasions. Ruth, Scott, and
Mary Lou were the same age and, I gather, friends. I guess you could say then that Mary Lou’s
friend became my friend in a roundabout way.
And thus, the circuitous travels of the above plaque which arrived in my mail only a
day before Beth Potter, Haworth Librarian and I were to meet in the church lounge regarding
another, totally unrelated historical project: Beth is preparing a PowerPoint presentation
for the Bergen County Genealogical Society and part of her research has involved the very
beginnings of our church in 1893. Long story short, in and among Beth’s research of the
aforementioned “women of the church”, then called the Woman’s Aid Society, I learned that
the people who originally lived in Beth’s house (neighbor to Ruth Tennal’s old house, corner
of Owatonna and Haworth Avenue), Ervin and Kitty King had donated the very land our
church sits on today for the very first original church building. Turns out Beth knows far more
than we do about the vast number of bound volumes living in our church lounge bookcase,
containing decades-old church minutes, bulletins, and records, most of which we can thank
Mary Lou Boyd for getting bound and preserved!
Jen ChinTHE SPIRE Page 11
Zarf: The paper band that
goes around a hot coffee cup for
ease in holding. Ancient ones were
outer cups made of gold or brass!
Rev. Jack & Grandson, Tai
Sunday, January 9th Zoom worship
The beautiful candleabra behind Rev. Jack and
Grandson Tai is a treasure from Thailand. Hidden
Pouf: /poof/ from view is a string of Prayer Flags. Just beautiful!
noun
1. A dress or part of a dress in which a large mass
of material has been gathered so that it stands
away from the body: “a dress with a pouf skirt”
Rose Pero’s daughter, Victoria, Teacher/
Director/Designer/Producer/Acting Coach for
Bergen County Academies upcoming March
musical needed costume help and Christine
Bischoff, Jen Chin, Jan Farrington, Rose, & Carol
Stegall rose to the occasion, creating dozens
of sateen and mesh “poufs” to be attached to
a cape worn in the show. Nothing like a ‘pitch-
in-to-help’ project to jump-start us out of the
COVID doldrums, bringing life to our otherwise Victoria’s students arduously glue the
uneventful existence! Thanks Rose and Victoria! dozens of poufs we gals created.Page 12 THE SPIRE
“You will find as you look
back upon your life that
the moments when you
have truly lived are the
moments when you have
done things in the spirit
of love.”
— Henry Drummond
CROWN INTO A HEART, BY ALBERTO RUGGIERI Finally!
The Haworth Library-
Sponsored Townwide
Sale is Returning!
After two years of waiting, hoping,
then disappointment, the Haworth Library
has just announced they will once again
offer their vastly popular townwide
“garage” sale. Three years ago, this was
our last and only church fundraiser. A lot
of work for a handful of people, yes, but
oh so badly needed now. If you haven’t
been saving already, PLEASE start putting
away anything and everything you no
longer want or need. Clothing is good!
We currently can’t offer any storage but
hopefully we will have a brand new
Fellowship Hall in which to hold another
successful sale while the entire town is
out and about.THE SPIRE Page 13
The Sunday School teacher was nervous about teaching
the upcoming lesson on Hell. She was afraid it would scare
her nine- and ten-year-old students. “Today we are going to
talk about Hell,” she told them. “What do you know about it?”
Paul raised his hand eagerly. “I don’t know where it is, but my
Mama is always telling my Daddy he should go there.”
Cartoons contributed by Nancy Sierra…
February Birthdays
6 Jan Farrington
The French gentleman often sat in the front of 17 Rose Pero
18 Alice Marcus
the church, taking up the whole row. The other
parishoners referred to him as Pepe Le Pew.February 2022
ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED
201.384.1063 www.haworthucc.org
276 HAWORTH AVE., HAWORTH, NJ 07641
UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST
FIRST CONGREGATIONAL
First Congregational UCC
276 Haworth Avenue
Haworth, NJ 07641
201.384-1063
ucchaworth@verizon.net
www.haworthucc.org
Church Office Hours
M–F 9am–1pm
Interim Pastor
Rev. Jack Cuffari
Christian Education
Director
Rebecca Morton
Church Administrator
Vivianne Potter
Music Director
Dr. Olga Stepanova
Moderator
Jeff Gardner
Editor
Jen ChinYou can also read
