The Coffee House - the UU Fellowship Thread (churches, experience)

[jamaesi]

I miss my Church in Columbus...

[Runt]

Originally Posted by cityms

I am partial to good tea, made with tea leaves in a pot, or to an organic arabica coffee (fair trade). I sometimes say that the best part of our UU service is meeting up with friends at coffee time afterwards but of course I derive so much from the service itself.

I recently discovered a little tea shop near my office, where I go daily for a pot. Apparently all of the tea is organic...... although I'm having trouble understanding the notion of NON-organic tea. (???) Anyway, I'm contemplating bringing some for the church, but I'm not sure how to go about preparing lose-leaf tea for the congregation on Sundays. Wouldn't want to overcook it or anything...

[lilithu]

Originally Posted by Runt

I recently discovered a little tea shop near my office, where I go daily for a pot. Apparently all of the tea is organic...... although I'm having trouble understanding the notion of NON-organic tea. (???) Anyway, I'm contemplating bringing some for the church, but I'm not sure how to go about preparing lose-leaf tea for the congregation on Sundays. Wouldn't want to overcook it or anything...

"Organic" doesn't just mean organic (as in living); it means grown without pesticides.

What kind of tea is it? If black or oolong, steep in just-boiled water for 3-5 minutes or so. You can judge by eye whether the color looks right. Oolong will take a little longer than black. The other cool thing about oolong is that you can resteep. The Chinese usually drink three times from the same leaves and the second steeping is thought to be the richest. (Not that you would be doing this for your congregation.)

If green or white, then you have to be careful not to oversteep. Green tea especially is extremely bitter if you do it wrong. Do not use boiling water! It should be at 180 degrees. Or, since I am too lazy to pull out a thermometer, I wait for that rumbling noise that the kettle starts to make a few minutes before it starts to whistle. It isn't boiling yet but just about to. That's about 180 degrees. Do not steep green tea for more than 2-3 minutes! White is more forgiving in terms of not getting bitter. But its flavor is so delicate that you don't want to destroy it by overboiling.

Hope this helps.

[lilithu]

I'm soooo tired. But I can't complain. My lack of rest comes from good things. Recently, I bought a house. So first there was the figuring out all the things that need to be done for that - finding an agent, finding the house, the building inspection, the loan.... and all this just as General Assembly was about to happen, which is the busiest time of the UU year. Then once I closed on the house there was the moving - packing, hauling, waiting, unpacking, cleaning... And at the same time, three new people have started at the office, which meant extra hours devoted to orientation-type stuff, and two people are going away, which meant going away party-type stuff. And then this weekend, a couple of Friends moved into my new house. (No, literally Friends, as in Quakers.) Which was more hauling and unpacking and cleaning and adjusting... At the same time, a friend of mine from the West coast was in Baltimore, so I had to drive out to visit him yesterday and today I spent 7 hours in an Interfaith Dialogue facilitator training. And tomorrow, work starts again. All I want to do is be able to sleep in and I am so sick of Ikea that I never want to step foot in one again!

OK, maybe I'm venting a little bit. But I do recognize that all of this is due to my life being blessed with friends and opportunities. It's all good.

Hope yall are well as well.

[lilithu]

Originally Posted by Khalila

I miss my Church in Columbus...

Where are you, Khalila? Have you moved?

[jamaesi]

Originally Posted by lilithu

Where are you, Khalila? Have you moved?

I'm back in the Pennsylvania. I have to take time off school to get more surgeries so I won't be at OSU for at least a year.

I feel lonely and trapped in this backwards town I call home. No more MSA, no more UUs (the closest UU congregations are about 40 minutes away).

[hannahrose1209]

I just wanted to stop in and say hey!! I am a friend of the UU church...I grew up in the UU church but made my decision to become a Presbyterian. haha!! I am free to talk if someone needs information about the UU church!! or just to talk!! I like to get to know people!!

[cityms]

Since its 11 pm, I can provide some Peaceful Dreams tea bags, hot water, and Agave Nectar to sweeten it.

[powder21]

I thought this would be a good place to post this. We (by we I mean the congregation that I just started attending a few weeks ago) just wrapped up our Summer Services which were about religious unity and learning about other faiths. The following reading was passed out which we all read in unison and I liked it enough to post it here.

Universal Reflection

In striving to recognize the primacy of Fire and Light,
I feel kinship with my Zoroastrian brothers and sisters.

In striving to obey the Ten Commandments,
I feel kinship with my Jewish brothers and sisters.

In striving to be kind to neighbor and the needy,
I feel kinship with my Christian brothers and sisters.

In striving to be compassionate to creatures great and small,
I feel kinship with my Buddhist-Jaina brothers and sisters.

In striving to surrender myself completely to God Almighty,
I feel kinship with my Muslim brothers and sisters.

In the recognition that wisdom flows from enlightened masters,
I feel kinship with my Sikh brothers and sisters.

In remembering that serving people should be the goal of religion,
I feel kinship with my Baha'i brothers and sisters.

In my respect and reverence for Nature that sustains us,
I feel kinship with my Native American brothers and sisters.

In feeling that these and more are all paths to the same Divinity and in my love, joy, and pain,
I feel kinship with all my fellow humans.