Pastoral Letters

Pastoral Letters

Viola-January2009 Rev. Viola Moore
Minister Emerita

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The Importance of Early Childhood Education

Dear Members and Friends,

Our president on his State of the Union address showed how sensitive he is to early childhood education. His proposal that we fund a program for early child education sometimes called infant education to prepare children for school. The first thousand hours of a child’s life determines much of the future. If a child is breast fed that is good preparation for speech. Studies show that bottle fed babies have difficulty acquiring language. So much depends also on the emotional environment of the newborn. We know now that Headstart, as good as it is, is not sufficient preparation for public school. Ada McKinley Community Services had an infant education program on the south side of Chicago. Tutors worked with babies in both English and Spanish. One of the families had 16 children and you can imagine how much attention that 16^th baby received. That baby was in a crib in a separate room and received attention only by feeding.

The psychologist on the staff said that our intervention was much too late. He advised our social workers to begin with the pregnant mother. He said age three is much too late to begin education.

Let us hope that the Congress and the citizens catch the President’s vision for enrichment programs for the very young. We know from early objections that some people think it is a good idea, but will be much too costly given the precarious state of our economy. Such a program, however, will not be sufficient. This is the point at which we must talk about the importance of religious education. We want to grow children with passionate minds and intelligent hearts. I am so thankful for the work of David Sarra with our children. A healthy democracy demands citizens who cannot only think critically, but feel deeply the centrality of justice. Love, power, and justice compose the trinity which should govern our educational system. Children should learn at a young age that it is better to pick up a book than a gun.

You can see that we must work to eliminate violent games and movies from the TV screen. There are studies which show that children who are exposed to many hours of violent TV often copy the behavior and attitudes which do violence to the original goodness of the child.

The United States has more to share with the world than guns, bombers, and sophisticated weapons of destruction. We can offer the world young people who choose to be healers and nurturers rather than ambitious money-makers and killers. Yes, preschool education will cost a great deal of money, but it is a program we dismiss or neglect at our peril. Let us support our president as he begins to work with Congress and educators to make possible generations of children who think critically and love without boundaries of race, creed, and religion.

The Unitarian-Universalist Church has been a pioneer in religious education. Leaders such as Sophia Fahs, Jean Williams, and Peg Sullivan set the stage for the great programs we now have in our church schools. Let us remember to express our gratitude to Dave Sarra and the teachers who volunteer every week to see that our religious education programs have our full support. Remember the next president of the United States may be sitting in one of our classrooms every Sunday.

On March 14^th I am off to Germany to see my three German pediatricians and their families. They are like my own children for they lived with me in Chicago during their special residency in pediatrics at the University of Chicago Medical School. On returning on March 24^th, I will open in Sawyer and soon hope to see you all in good health.

Love,

Viola

Singing Creates Community

Dear Members and Friends,

As we approach Black History Month we look at the racism in our country. It always troubles me that the summer band concerts in St. Joseph are not attended in any great numbers by the citizens of Benton Harbor. Why is this? Do they not feel welcome? Have we made a conscious effort to advertise these concerts by the lake? I feel that we do not promote these concerts in the Benton Harbor community.

I find it troubling that we do not have a community chorus open to all singers. I have been told by some citizens that black people do not read music. In other words, all black singing is from memory and not from a printed score. I believe this statement is false, for I know many black choirs who sing the classics as they read from a printed score. This is just an excuse. There are cities that have integrated choirs and choral arts societies. There are cities where people of all faiths sing together at regular monthly rehearsals. Such groups add to the cultural richness of the region. Singing itself is a community builder. In fact, in some churches the choir operates as a church within a church with a dynamic life of its own.

I was so happy when our fellowship became the driving force behind the Children’s Choir “Calling All Colors.” This group continues to be a blessing to our entire region.

We might as well face the fact that predominantly white St. Joseph retains some racist attitudes although many citizens make an effort to reach out in understanding to minorities. As we continue celebrating Black History Month, let us think about what we can do as a fellowship to dramatize the depth of the racism in Berrien County. As one of the few liberal voices in our area it is our duty to call attention to the obvious divisions among us. There are cities in the United States that are defined as great music centers. I mention only two, namely Lindsborg, Kansas, and Watertown, New York. These cities are known as singing cities where people of different faiths and races sing together at regular programs every year. In fact, Lindsborg is known as one of the sources of new soloists for the Metropolitan Opera Company. In Watertown the police department arranges for city parking lots to make access to the United Methodist Church where the concerts are held. The citizens know that for two nights in December and one Saturday afternoon in December there will be ample and convenient parking for all who wish to attend the Christmas concert. The Northern Choral Society has made a CD every year for the last 25 years. In fact, one year they did the entire Messiah with paid soloists from New York City. Nearby is Fort Drum where 135,000 soldiers are in training. Some of these soldiers participate in the choral society and play in the orchestra. Singing creates community.

It is my hope that in our end of Berrien County we can be leaders in creating a community chorus. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if St. Joseph were defined not as “Whirlpool,” but by a great choral union?

Love,

Viola

Listening to your Inner Dialogue

Dear Members and Friends,

Have you ever listened to your inner dialogue? We are in dialogue with ourselves constantly, and sometimes this inner dialogue transfigures an ordinary day. If our goal is to have joy in the eternal moment, we must pay attention to the dialogue, which I believe continues even in sleep. We want to live intensely and over wide ranges, so that we don’t miss anything along the way. Everything we see and do and say each day feeds into the dialogue and is remembered.

I think these dialogues are designed to help us sort out the important from the trivial and the temporal from the eternal. If we pay attention to what we are saying to ourselves, we can never be bored and never lose sight of the surprise and wonder which waits for us around the corner.

It may be that the purposes of the dialogue are clarification, explanation, and revelation. Have you ever been surprised by yourself? One possible program for the New Year could be a closer attention to what we are saying to ourselves.

Do we ever share with others the insights we gain in these conversations? It may well be that in these dialogues we stumble across some new meaning or new connection. Personally, I find it engrossing to listen to my inner conversation to see what I can learn about myself and my place in the world of persons.

When we meet another person, we meet someone in dialogue, with the same goals as we. What goes on in these inner talks is so private and so personal that we seldom open the dialogue to another person. That person is also listening for clues to the transfiguration of the ordinary.

I have not had the opportunity to discuss this kind of transfiguration with artists. My guess is, that artists also have their inner dialogues, which, I suspect, are sources of inspiration for their art.

We have at BUUF very few fulltime artists, yet each one of us tries to live a grace-filled life as we go about our daily routine.

These grace-filled moments in our lives seldom make it into the “joys and sorrows” times in the service. My guess is that in the dialogues of our members there is music and much singing, some of which comes out in our hymns as “joyful noise.”

Let us pay more attention to what we talk to ourselves about, and find the words to express how it is going along in us. Let us share with each other while we transfigure ordinary time so it wings with the music of eternity.

Love,

Viola

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