09/14/2017 by Shannon Day

Minister’s Musings Among the Mountains Week of Sept. 11

Where did summer go? We might say it went up in flames and smoke with all the wild fires in the Western states and provinces. We could probably say summer was lost in the winds and waters of two major hurricanes in two weeks. Both are true as well as tragic events all over the world. But that’s not all of summer this year. Summer was a time of vacations and time off from work if personal circumstances allowed it. Twilight over the Olympic mountains was later and so walks along the Sound could be joyous moments. Trees and plants

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08/23/2017 by Shannon Day

Minister’s Musings Among the Mountains – Week of August 21

“Torches and Candles: A Short Reflection” Since last week’s events in Charlottesville, Virginia I have reflected on the basic difference between the use of candles and torches in American life. I watched the (small) parade of mostly young white males carrying torches on the first evening of what turned out to be a tragic weekend confrontation. Granted, these weren’t the robust flaming torches of old. Tiki torches simply don’t have the pizzazz of older flaming sticks of fire. That really didn’t matter. The sight of young men carrying torches and chanting slogans immediately caused me to have a visceral reaction.

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08/15/2017 by Patti McCall

We’re All in This Together – “To Support One Another”

Your Board of Trustees will be meeting in just over a week for the annual Board Retreat deciding on our areas of focus and setting our goals for the coming year.  Then, once decided, determining how those goals will support our Mission Statement.  In case you’ve forgotten, our Mission Statement reads: To support one another, expand our minds, and build a more just world. In this letter, I’d like to talk about the first part of our statement,  “to support one another…”.  We are a vibrant, loving community and I am reminded of that before, during and after every Sunday service;

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08/08/2017 by Shannon Day

Minister’s Musings Among the Mountains – Week of August 7

“You Will Speak When Spoken To…” Anyone remember words like that? Can we imagine making them into a spiritual practice? I’d not thought of those words in many years. I remember how I felt punished and voiceless – in childhood and teen years especially. Perhaps a few of you have experienced similar words and worse. Old memories like that tend to go underground. Skillful therapy, spiritual practices and prayer, relationships and work can all help those parts of our story be more at rest. Something happens to awaken those old words and humiliations. Then we have a choice to make.

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08/02/2017 by Shannon Day

Minister’s Musings Among the Mountains – Week of August 1

“Goodness, it’s warm…” Many of you know that this summer I drove to the East Coast and back on a vacation road trip. It was somewhat eventful with a failing fuel pump and a decision to return quickly to be of assistance to Debra and the Zen community in Eugene, Oregon. The fuel pump was resolved efficiently thanks to the mechanic recommended by my grad school friends in Alexandria, Virginia. Support for Debra and the Zen sangha in Eugene was harder to do from afar but I got back just in time to be helpful with a tragedy in that

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07/12/2017 by Shannon Day

We’re In This Together — “Transitions” A Message from Patti McCall, Board President

I have the honor to serve as your Board President for the next year along with a remarkably intelligent and competent group of six filling the remaining positions: Jill Jackson as Vice President; Allan Lang as Treasurer; David Cycleback as Secretary; and Judi Finney, Jean Mendel and Scott Iverson as Trustees At Large.  That is, there are four Board Members returning for a second year and only three new members; that is promising continuity in Westside’s leadership and something to consider in the future.  This new Board will be meeting at the end of August for a Retreat when we

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06/28/2017 by Shannon Day

Minister’s Musings Among the Mountains – Week of June 26

Several of us from Westside UU Congregation just returned from the UUA General Assembly that happens every year in a different city. This year it was in New Orleans. A special thanks to Jill Fleming, Steve Burrows, John and Viveca Monahan, Cecelia Hayes and Cynthia Westby for attending workshops, asking lots of questions about the UUA, and being voting delegates. My role at GA this year was to be co-lead chaplain with an African American colleague. We had been concerned that General Assembly this year might be a very intense gathering given all the issues that have come up in

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06/14/2017 by Shannon Day

Minister’s Musings Among the Mountains – Week of June 12

Last Sunday I talked about volunteering and its virtues as a spiritual practice. Several people asked me to repeat my admittedly tongue-in-cheek suggestion about a 24 hour volunteering ‘day’ at Westside. This is what I said: “Just for the fun of it the other day I tried to calculate the number of volunteer hours here at Westside each week apart from paid staff. We’d include everyone in the RE program, gardeners, the Sunday social hour preparers, the covenant groups and affinity groups; we’d have committees and working groups and rehearsals. I decided to use 50 hours a week of volunteer

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06/07/2017 by Shannon Day

Minister Musings Among the Mountains – Week of June 5

“So, now what…?” Year 1 of this second phase interim ministry is nearly over. Now what? Many of us are familiar with mission and vision statements from business or educational communities. Some of them can create eye-rolling responses especially in the business world. I even have two mission statement apps on my phone as humorous asides when I talk about mission statements. All that said, however, I must say I am impressed with the mission and vision statements for Westside UU Congregation as well as commitments to make the mission and vision come to pass. Here it is Our Mission

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05/31/2017 by Shannon Day

Diversity Within The Pages of the Westside Children’s Library- Cynthia Westby, Director of Religious Exploration

On Sunday, May 21st Westside held a service with guest speaker Dr. Jabali Stewart called “We Will Keep Moving Together.” He explored the painful reality of white supremacy culture in America with music and story, looking at our cultural assumptions from a place of curiosity and solution. As part of that service, our story for all ages was about an 11 year old black girl named Marley Dias who loved getting lost in a book but wanted books where black girls were the main character. When she didn’t find those books at her school or in her library, she started

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