Hello, Dear Ones! Happy Spring… I am back from my staycation, and it was wonderful, and, like all vacations, not long enough. I plan to remedy this in the future.
A shout out to Nancy Sawyer for being Fred Brancato’s support angel and to Kim Cowperthwaite for masterfully keeping the service moving.
Frank Brancato
I have been reading Fred’s book Mystery and Manifestation; however, hearing him speak about it and read from it was priceless. I feel the message is so aligned with what we as a collective are invited into being aware of… those luminous moments. Fred and the book emphasize experiencing life, not knowing about it. There is a vast difference. I know a lot of things; however, I have not experienced them all. It is in the experience that we are changed.
I sent an email to Fred thanking him for his presence with you all and I want to share his response… “I love your community and am grateful for being with them. Thank you for inviting me to come. They are so warm, welcoming, receptive, and filled with love. Their loving, receptive energy made it so easy to give my talk! I’m also happy I had the chance to speak with several people afterward.”
As I say to the children when they receive the blessing, “rub it in.” I say that to all of us for this blessing that Fred has bestowed upon our community.
In keeping with our theme of the Season for Non-Violence, this week I’d like to share about the greatest peaceful teach-in for the environment that the world has ever known – Did you know that the first ever Earth Day was proposed on the Spring Equinox, March 21, 1969? However, it wasn’t until 1970 that Earth Day gained national recognition. The date was then changed to the traditional day of April 22 so that students across the US could more efficiently organize on a mass scale. The first official Earth Day in 1970 proved to be most efficient!
Earth Day’s founder, Senator Gaylord Nelson, said of that first Earth Day, “Earth Day worked because of the spontaneous response at the grassroots level. We had neither the time nor resources to organize 20 million demonstrators and the thousands of schools and local communities that participated. That was the remarkable thing about Earth Day. It organized itself.”
In 1971, Earth Day gained international recognition in a public statement by UN Secretary General U Thant “May there be only peaceful and cheerful Earth Days to come for our beautiful Spaceship Earth as it continues to spin and circle in frigid space with its warm and fragile cargo of animate life.” If you’d like to learn more information about the origins of Earth Day, read this article.
Today, Earth Day is celebrated worldwide and is over one billion participants strong. After three years of Earth Day Celebrations being limited to Zoom presentations online, we are happy to return to gathering in person again.
Unity is celebrating Earth Day 2023 in person on April 23 after Service. Ms. Mari, the children, and the Children’s Program volunteers are organizing fun activities for the afternoon, but this Earth Day celebration is intended for everyone. We’ll kick off the day with a special Sunday Service with Guest Speaker Rivera Sun, followed by a potluck and family-friendly outdoor activities. Please join the fun and celebration! We would like 2 – 3 volunteers to offer “general support” during the event from 12 – 1:30 p.m. If you’d like to help, please see me or Ms. Mari.
You are a blessing in my life,
Rev. Patricia Bessey
Labyrinths are ancient geometric figures. One leaves one’s worries and stress at the entrance and walks meditatively to the middle. As one walks to the center she/he becomes centered within her/himself, calmer, and more grounded. 
