Volume 23, No. 10 October 2011

From the Desk of Rev. Lauri

Perfectly Imperfect I confess. I’m one of those tech geeks who gets my Daily Word by email

every day. On Sunday, September 18th, I followed my usual routine,

opening my Daily Word email on my Blackberry while sitting in my PJs at

the breakfast table. The word for that day was “Spiritual Practice.”

Immediately, the affirmation jumped out at me. “I am grateful for my

spiritual practice.” I’ve been noticing the word ‘practice’ shows up

everywhere lately. There is a clear momentum building for me on

something that struck me very strongly at the meditation retreat I

attended back in August. Thich Nhat Hanh kept saying over and over that

our spiritual life is not defined by what we believe, but by what we

practice.

This idea of the relative importance of practice over belief has been

growing in me for some time. I have been building my spiritual practice

gradually for many years now. I meditate every morning right after I

wake up. I also often meditate for brief periods throughout the day. I

practice checking in with my inner guidance when making decisions.

In this issue…

1) From the Desk of Rev. Lauri

2) Fall Faith Celebration: Artistic Response Group 3) Member Spotlight: Devta Kidd

4) The Lord’s Prayer Today

5) September Board Summary October Sunday Speakers Nickels and Noses August Financial Summary

6) Evolutionary Youth Initiative

8) Habitat Steward Training

9) Prayer Chaplain Dedication 10) Booknotes from Bob LeBeau

I practice the “I of the Storm” principles in

dealing with conflict. I use Denials and

Affirmations to help re-train my thinking. I

practice gratitude. I practice joy. I try to

really “live” our Unity principles, and my

practice is a living, breathing, moment-to-

moment part of my daily life.

Continued on page two

Continued from page one

From the Desk of Rev. Lauri

And yet.

As my practice has matured, I have also felt a growing sense

of restlessness within. I see so clearly how my practice falls

short of the goals I have set for myself. I see how often I fall

into thoughts and behaviors that are grounded in old baggage

instead of being grounded in present moment spiritual

awareness. And, of course, the more energy I focus on

noticing my imperfection, the bigger that imperfection seems

to grow.

I am experiencing that trap known as “the expectation of

perfection”. Logically, I know that in this human realm, not

only is perfection not possible – it’s also not necessary! The

TRUTH is, we are all already perfect in Spirit. The struggle

for perfection is a human concept, rooted in the ego. I know

this. And still, a part of me clings to this desire for human

perfection. Sigh.

And so, on September 18th, I prepared to read the Daily Word

– Spiritual Practice – expecting it to be a pep talk on how to

do better at walking my talk. I mentally squared my

shoulders, ready to beat myself up a bit and try again.

Imagine my amazement as I read the following:

My spiritual practice is a journey, not a destination.

Sometimes I put pressure on myself to be the perfect

expression of God…I tell myself I must be a perfect spiritual

student and role model at all times. No wonder I feel like

the weight of the world is on my shoulders! When I pause in

the silence, I realize this is a spiritual practice and I am a

work in progress. Each day I set the intention to be my

personal best and then I take authentic action. If I misstep, I

simply forgive myself and begin again. I practice being an

expression of God in my own, unique, perfectly imperfect

way.

Thank you, God, for giving me the message I need to hear in

simple, plain-speaking language. Perfectly imperfect indeed!

Blessings,

Rev. Lauri

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Fall Faith Celebration: The Five Principles

Artistic Response Group

As many of you know, during our 6 week Fall Faith Celebration, the Artistic Response Group, led by Joe LaMantia, meets each Thursday evening to create a work of art based on their response to the chapter of the week. Here is their

first creation!

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Member Spotlight

Devta Kidd has been a member of Unity of

Bloomington since her arrival here in 2000. She

is grateful to be celebrating her 10th wedding

anniversary with husband Mark this year.

Together, they have a bright 8-year-old son,

Luke. Devta is a graduate student in the Case

Western Reserve University’s Master of Positive

Organizational Development program, in

Cleveland, Ohio. She will graduate in May

2012. In addition, she is Strategic Excellence

Facilitator for Monarch Media, Inc., assisting in

the development of strategies that allow them

to preserve their core values as they change

and grow. She is actively pursuing full-time

employment in the field of Positive

Organizational Development and Change (hint

hint).

Devta is most passionate about helping herself

and others create authentic connections within

themselves and with others. The youngest of six

children, she struggled to find a forum of

acknowledgement for her ideas. She longed to

contribute meaningfully in her family’s

discussions, but felt lost among the other

strong personalities. In 1999, she began

studying Marshall Rosenberg’s model of “non-

Devta Kidd

Devta is most passionate about helping herself and others create authentic connections within themselves and others.

violent communication” and was ecstatic to

find a tool that allowed her to express herself

authentically without raising her voice or

coming across defensively! She suspects that

others might long to find their true voice as

well and wants to bring this awareness into

her work developing leaders, teams, and

organizations in her future employment.

Devta’s favorite books on this topic include:

Non-violent Communication: A Language of

Life (Rosenberg), Don’t Be Nice, Be Real!

(Bryson), The Power of Positive Deviance

(Pascale/Sternin/Sternin), and Switch: How to

Change Things when Change Is Hard (Heath).

Visit Unity of Bloomington’s Online Calendar

http://www.unityofbloomington.org/calendar.php

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Creative loving Presence of the Universe

May I always be aware of our divine connection.

As Omnipresence, your goodness

and Godness surrounds me.

I open myself as a channel for the

world to unfold, as You would have it.

I feel secure and carefree

because You are the Source,

and our connection is eternal and fulfills all.

I genuinely express the qualities I want to see

reflected in others.

I love and forgive myself, as God loves me,

and likewise love and forgive others.

As soon as I recognize I have fallen into an

illusion,

and sense lack or separation in me,

I know that I may allow my thoughts and heart to

turn back to you and peace

and oneness will be restored.

I now enter a quiet time where I deepen my

awareness of your nature and presence

And tune in to the natural joy of existence and

my place in it here and now.

Amen

~ by Leslie Wilfong

Dear One Who is Wholeness, Connectedness, and Unity

Awe-filling is the Image that Expresses You

Your Presence is here Your Freedom is being manifest In Time and Space and Physicality

As It Is in the Emptiness of Infinite Silence

You Place us within the Flow of Material Substance This Day

And You cancel our impingements upon others

As we cancel the impingements of others upon Us

And Let Us Not See Life from a Perspective of Separation

But Guide Us in a Vision of Wholeness

For Your Transparent Reality is the True Home, and the Authentic Power, and the Transforming Awe Forever and Ever

And So It Is

~ by Michael May,

July 29, 2011 – Grand Cayman

The Lord’s Prayer for Today

On August 14th, Rev. Lauri’s message included an in-depth look at the traditional Lord’s Prayer, updating it to

modern spiritual language. At the end of her talk, Rev. Lauri invited members of our commUnity to create their own

personal interpretations of this prayer. Here are two beautiful new versions of this classic prayer.

5

Financial Summary

2011 August YTD

Adjusted Cash Inflow

$20,873

$150,172

Adjusted Cash Outflow

$24,750 $159,557

Adjusted Net Income ($3,877) ($9,385)

As of August 31st

, our Opportunity Fund Balance was: $8,353 As of September 30

th, the balance has dropped to $5,736

Please consider making an extra donation!

October Sunday Speakers Oct 2

Michael May

‘The Five Principles: Principle 2

'The Ultimate Reality in the Mirror’

Oct 9 Rev. Lauri Boyd 'The Five Principles: Principle 3, Cocreating With God'

Oct 16 Rev. Lauri Boyd 'The Five Principles: principle 4, Communion With God'

Oct 23 Rev. Lauri Boyd 'The Five Principles: principle 5, Expressing God'

Oct 30 Ginger Curry ‘All Music Sunday with Ginger Curry’

Nickels and Noses

Sunday People Love Offering, Walk-

ins/Mail-ins, ACH

Sept 4 53 $1,892

Sept 11 70 $1,835

Sept 18 72 $1,653

Sept 25 64 $1,554 We need an average of $2200/week from Love Offerings to

meet our expenses. Our average for September was

$1,734/week.

Please consider making an extra donation!

September Board Meeting Summary

Check out the bulletin board at the foot of the stairs for the September Board Meeting Summary.

The Initiative to Create Evolutionary Youth

By Devta Kidd

Save the date! Plan to attend Unity of Bloomington’s first ever

Appreciative Inquiry Summit on Creating Evolutionary Youth

on Saturday, November 5th

from 9am-5pm here at Unity of Bloomington!

Why this Area of Development and Why Now?

There are three main reasons that any spiritual community focuses efforts and resources on their youth education programs:

1. Adults in the community have a mandate to ensure that the children in their community understand the spiritual

philosophy, tools, and perspective of their community and are supported in their spiritual growth;

2. By serving and teaching the children, adults in the community come to a deeper and richer understanding of their own

spirituality; and

3. Children and their families seed the population of the church and sustain its existence.

When we as a community chose to move from our previous location on 14th and Dunn to our current home, you may

remember that one of the big attractions to this location was that we have a space for children here.

In moving to this new location, we needed to do the work – physically and spiritually – to fully inhabit

this space. We grew our Music Ministry program, and Adult Education program, and created a stable

financial model that includes the operation of a daycare during the week. We have had some very

strong and capable teachers involved in our Youth Education program and we are so grateful for the

foundation they built. Standing on this foundation, we are now ready to envision the next evolution

of what we want for the youth of our community.

In August of this year, I approached the Board with an opportunity. I am completing a Masters of

Science in Positive Organization Development and Change through Case Western University in

Cleveland, Ohio (http://www.weatherhead.case.edu/degrees/ms-positive-organization-

development/). I needed to partner with an organization interested in a development initiative that I could lead and

document for my field project. As The Divine would have it, just prior to me addressing the Board, they had been discussing

strategies for growing the Youth Ed program! What makes this pairing even more appropriate is that the philosophy of my

program is a strengths-based one that believes that an organization grows in the direction of where they put their energy.

Sound familiar? (continued on page seven )

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The Initiative to Create Evolutionary Youth (continued from page six)

What We Are Undertaking and Our Process

The agreement between me and Unity is that in conjunction with Reverend Lauri, I will lead the group effort to explore what

we have, what we want, and what we need to do to get what we want. In addition to working with our Unity of Bloomington

family, I will also be collecting information about thriving Youth Ed programs in other local churches and in other Unity centers

throughout the US. This effort will last “officially” through the end of January 2012. However, as I am also a member of Unity, I

would like to remain involved in the effort to grow this aspect of our community as long as my strengths can be of service.

Our first effort was to define the current situation – what is the current reality? When we began this effort, our Youth Ed.

Director had just left. The first order of business was to fill that position and stabilize the environment for the kids. Thankfully,

Edith Gingles answered the call to coordinate the full program and lead the Sunday activities for the younger children while

Deb Anderson continues to structure and lead the activities for our older children.

Our next order of business is to determine what we have and what is working well. In Positive

Organization Development and Change, this is referred to as “the positive core” or those things that an

organization wants to make sure that it does not lose even as it changes or develops. As a community,

we will take an inventory of our Youth Ed program strengths at the beginning of the November 5th

Appreciative Inquiry Summit on Creating Evolutionary Youth. Some preliminary findings are: we have

a great facility indoors and outdoors; compassionate and committed leadership and volunteers;

foundational materials (Unity-based curriculum as well as crafts materials); and children who genuinely

enjoy each other’s’ company!

Once we have identified the “positive core”, we will begin to explore what our community actually

wants for our youth. We will do this through a process of “interviews” in which we explore our own and each other’s positive

spiritual beginnings. The themes and images that surface in these interviews will give us clues into what our hearts are saying is

the ideal Youth Ed program for us. We will discover our collective vision of a successful, engaging, and thriving Youth

Education program. With this information, we will then determine the components of that vision and what we need to do in

order to manifest the vision – an action plan. Finally, we will organize into action groups of people passionate about

participating in particular components of the vision.

The more people who attend the summit on November 5th, the more certain we can be that the resulting vision truly

represents our whole community and that our community is truly committed to implementing the vision.

Please consider attending the Summit on November 5th to join our spiritual community in this energizing and fun process as

we create a new vision for our Youth. It will be a really fun day celebrating and exploring development of a vital sector of our

community!

For more on the August 2011-January 2012 Initiative to Create Evolutionary Youth, and/or to explore how you can support this

effort, please call or email Reverend Lauri here at Unity at 333-2484 ministry@unityofbloomington.org or contact me (Devta

Kidd) at 360-5905 illumine8@yahoo.com

Looking forward to seeing you all on Saturday, November 5th from 9am-5pm for our first ever

Appreciative Inquiry Summit on Creating Evolutionary Youth!!

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Habitat Steward Training

Consider joining the Bloomington Habitat Stewards to learn how to prepare your yard for the myriad birds and butterflies who would love to find a place to rest, eat, drink and raise young on your property.

Why train to be a Habitat Steward? • To discover and nurture the wonders of creation

• To protect the environment for current and future generations of both humans and wildlife

• To foster beauty

• To have fun!

Bonus! • Help create a Butterfly Garden right here

at Unity of Bloomington!

Topics include: • Ethics of stewardship

• Four components of backyard habitats

• Birds, bats, butterflies; benefits of native plants

• Identifying plants and mapping your garden

• Building a raingarden: Participants will start an actual garden.

When, where is this happening?

• 4 Saturdays this fall: Nov. 5, 12, 19, and Dec. 3 from 9:00 to 3:45 p.m.

• Unity Church of Bloomington (4001 S. Rogers St.)

What is involved? The training fee of $26 includes 24 hours worth of training and a manual of information and resources. You will “graduate” with knowledge, resources, a net-work of fellow stewards, and you will help start a raingarden in the community.

Space is limited; the first 20 registrants are guaranteed a spot. The registration dead-line is October 29.

Sponsored by Bloomington Habitat Stewards and Unity Church of Bloomington.

For more information, contact Mary Madore (msmadore@comcast.net),

Lucille Bertuccio (lbertucc@indiana.edu), or Vicky Getty (vgetty@indiana.edu; 825-4955).

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The Unity of Bloomington Prayer Chaplain team provides a sacred service to our congregation. They are available

after each Sunday service to pray with any congregant who requests prayer. They support us in times of challenge

and help us celebrate in times of joy. We are pleased to announce that 10 people have completed our recent

Prayer Chaplain training. Three people have renewed their commitment to this Team:Terrie Bowling (Head Prayer

Chaplain, Tana McElhinney, and Melanie Robey. Seven new Prayer Chaplains have stepped into service: Lynn

Boyd, Jeff Drake, Gillian Field, Jenna Proffitt, Carmela Senior, Leslie Wilfong and Isabel Wilhelm.

Congratulations to members of our commUnity who are celebrating their membership anniversaries with Unity

of Bloomington this month!

XXXX : Name

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Prayer Chaplain Dedication 2011

Natalie LeBeau

Michael May

Debra Moulton

Carol Thompson

Lee Ann Franklin

Robert LeBeau

Vivian LeBeau

Ann St. John

Happy Anniversary to our members! Congratulations to members of our commUnity who are

2011 Spiritual Baptism

Craig Benson

Barbara Benson

Susan Dabkowski

Julie Hennessy

Marian Krajewski

Joe LaMantia

Merridee LaMantia

David LeBeau

October 2000 Anniversary: Joni Reagan

October 1995 Anniversary: Ron Masters

October 1989 Anniversaries:

October 2010 Anniversaries: Barb Aspy

Scott O’Bryan

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Here is my choice for October

from the bookstore . . .

“Living the Mystical Life Today” by Jim

Rosemergy.

“It is now believed the mystical way of

life is no longer to be sheltered from the

eyes of humankind. It is to be lived in

the market place, in the home, and

wherever people gather. In the years to

come, we shall discover people who are

in the world but not of it . . . Never

before in the history of the earth are so

many prepared to commit themselves to

the simple life.” . . . from the preface.

NEW ARRIVALS IN THE BOOKSTORE!

Be sure to drop by the bookstore in the next few days and weeks! Our books have been rearranged and the new additions have arrived! The Children’s book selections have been expanded. New and old favorites are now on the shelves. Come see!

~Bob LeBeau

And from the library . . .

“The Living Universe” – by Gary E.R.

Schartz, Ph.D andLinda G.S. Russek.

Ph.D

“How would you feel if you knew

scientifically that everything is eternal,

alive and evolving? Not just animals

and plants, but rivers and clouds,

planets and stars, electrons and

protons, waves and particles, even light

and energy itself. That every system,

in some essential way, contains eternal,

living and evolving memories. That the

whole universe is a living,

remembering, self revising process – a

living energy universe. And therefore,

in a deep sense all things – great and

small, visible and invisible, material

and spiritual, past and future – are in

an energetic state of creative

‘becoming,’ a universal revising process

of perpetual bloom. Would you feel

exhilarated, peaceful, terrified,

amazed, incredulous, inspired – all of

the above? Would you smile?” . . . from

the preface.