 We're just in case. Okay. Thank you. So I only play a bunch here, and then we just maybe do every rectangle rather than this thing, whatever looks pretty good. Okay. I'll make it so I can play. I'm going to practice in college and then I'm going to set two lines first. Okay. Okay. So she might be just totally fine. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. She's like, if I follow you, I'm going to get this guy up now. And I actually started with that guy, and I get this guy up, and I just kind of sit and do it. And we're just here to give a test. She's taking an over-teach, like my god, that's all right, all right, all right, all right, all right. And I just want to tell you guys that I don't need one. She's not allowed to teach people that I don't need one. My god, this is what I need. No, she's not allowed to teach people that I don't want to. She wouldn't want to. I don't want to teach people that I don't need one. Is this what I want to teach people? Is this not the way to be honest? My son has been a perimeter, and I've had to be a statistic of that. Or do you mind if I just do my math? Yeah, that's that. I'll let the whole audience know. Is not that easy. I can do it. I can do it. But, sorry. The only way I know how to teach is to test the book. You need to see some of her programs in this whole, and after that, you use the system foundation. And he accurately says, you'll get by the book. And I type, I have to type it in. Maybe it's because we didn't have the rich amounts. They had to win the next round. Ha ha ha! It's a very bad thing to wear a mask. So I'm going to wear a mask. You know, I shouldn't wear a mask. I'm going to wear this one for two bags on the other side of the board. That's for this. No, I'm going to show you these. This last one is the last one. I'm going to show you these. I'm going to get this. There you go. I'm going to get this. You're going to get these on for yourself. Yes. These make great Augustiners. They make great Augustiners. They're in the comic recipes. Do you know how to get out of the comic recipes? Do you know how to get out of the comic recipes? Oh, I remember it's a lot of sweets. Oh, I remember it's a lot of sweets. Yes. Are you going to be good this summer? Yes. I'm going to be good this summer. No, I'm just going to go on a napkin trip. Yeah. This is the last one we got. Yes. I'm going to be good this summer. Yes. My wife's getting married to an English woman. We had a big wedding last summer. We're going to be good this summer, right? Yes. I'm going to be good this summer. I'm going to be good this summer. I'm going to be good this summer. Yes. You're going to be good this summer. Yes. To join me in a moment of silence to center our thoughts. And now please join me in our in-gathering hymn, number 349. This includes you watching us at home. Don't you wish, and oh so on us, we find love in our lives, the hymn of praise. Good morning and welcome to the First Unitarian Society of Madison. This is a community where curious seekers gather to explore spiritual, ethical and social issues in an accepting and nurturing environment. Unitarian Universalism supports the freedom of conscience of each individual, as together we seek to be a force for good in the world. My name is Carlos Moser, a longtime member of this society, and on behalf of the congregation, I'd like to extend a special welcome to visitors. Do I see some? We celebrate your presence here, wherever you are. Members are encouraged to stay for our fellowship hour after the service, and to visit the library, which is directly across from the center doors of this auditorium. Bring your drinks and your questions. Members of our staff and lay ministry will be on hand to welcome you. You may also look for persons holding teal, stoneware, coffee mugs. These are FUS members knowledgeable about our faith community and who would love to visit with you. John Powell will be on hand as an experienced guide to give a building tour after the service, so if you'd like to learn more about this sustainably designed addition to our national landmark meeting house, please meet near the large glass windows immediately after the service. We welcome children to stay for the duration of the service, but if a child needs to talk or move around, the child haven or commons are a good place to retire. The service can still be seen and heard from these areas, and speaking of noise, this would be a good time for you all to turn off your electronic devices that might cause a disturbance during the hour, and this includes you at home. I'd like to acknowledge those individuals who help with our service run smoothly. These are our volunteers, and if you have not been one and been here for a year, look into yourself and see whether you would like to join them. I've mentioned John Powell, our tour guide, our hospitality helper for coffee and so forth. The service is Nancy Kosoff, our ushers are Marty Hollis and Anne Ostrom. Our greeter upstairs is Anne Smiley, and for the sound system, we thank David Brioles. Please note the announcement in the red floor's insert in your order of service, which describe upcoming events at the society and provide more information about today's activities. Again, welcome. We hope that today's service will stimulate your mind, touch your heart, and stir your spirit. With thankful hearts, we come together to celebrate the bounty of the day, to bask in the warmth of this community, to share with friends the tides of our lives, to entertain perennially our hopes for a better future. We join together this day, as always, to resist injustice and inequality wherever they may be found. Our hearts are touched by the need we feel around us, whether far away or within reach of hand. We come here to be together because this is how we believe our lives are best lived, in questioning and in conversation, in compassion and in service, in gratitude and in joy, in companionship and in love. May we join together in this spirit of gratitude, service, and love. And if you will rise now in body or spirit and join together in the affirmation printed in the order of service as we light our chalice, for daylight and darkness, for sunshine and rain, for the earth and all people, we offer deep thanksgiving. We kindle this light in celebration of the life that we share. And before we join together in song, if you'll take a moment to turn and greet your neighbor. Be seated. And I invite anyone who'd like to come forward for our message to come on up closer. Grownups are going to have to come up. Come on. I know some of the grownups want to come up. They just don't want to admit it. I'm looking at you, Deb. I have a question for you. Hello, Liam. Have you ever had a bad day? Yeah. What makes a bad day? Rainy days, especially if you had plans to go outside. Yeah. Have you ever had a good day? What makes a good day? Ice cream. Ice cream does make a good day, doesn't it? Playing in the kiddie pool. Oh, it's definitely summer, isn't it? Ice cream in the pool. Those are good summer days. So our story today is about somebody named Georgie, and Georgie is having a really bad day. But you see the title? Georgie's Best Bad Day. How in the world can that be? So let's see what happens with Georgie here. Georgie has a list of the things that make it the best day. Breakfast in bed, that sounds like a good day, right? Taking a stroll on a sunny day, humming his favorite song. Well, on Saturday, Georgie woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Where did Georgie wake up? On the floor, right, that is definitely the wrong side of the bed. It looked like it was going to be just one of those days. It turned out everyone was feeling the same. Feta sat in the wrong place, do you see where he sat? Where did he sit? Wet paint, look at the paint on his fur. Lester was running late. Sneakers forgot something important. What do you think sneakers forgot? What do you think he forgot? Look at him, he's kind of holding his tummy. And what's he thinking about? Breakfast, that would make it a rotten day, right? If you forgot breakfast. And then Ferdinand was quieter than usual. Look at, he says, do not disturb, thanks. Did you ever have a day when you just wanted to be left alone? Well, it was one of those days. I'm having a bad day, they all said. Me too, they all said. But Georgie wasn't ready to give up just yet. Maybe doing our favorite things will help fix this day. Well, I like to make pickles, said Feta. So they got to work preparing the perfect pickle. But pickles take forever. And they wanted to feel better now. Sneakers suggested getting some fresh air. So they tried gardening. But look what happened. Somebody got a little too excited with the scissors. They cut the trunk right off the elephant, didn't they? Did you see that? Well, it was already the afternoon by now. And they still hadn't turned their bad day around. I'm getting nervous, said Lester. Let's knit so I can relax. Do any of you knit? You may know I am a knitter. Finn, you're a knitter, that is awesome. You knit your name? That is so cool. One of your grandmas knit? That's because I'm about the same age as your grandma. She's like, yeah, you are. But one not led to another. Look at, what is he knitting with? Can you see that? Look at, where does that purple yarn go to? He's knitting with sneaker sweater. Do you think that's going to make sneakers feel better? No. And one thing led to another, and they found themselves in quite a bind. Look at, Lester looks happy. What about everybody else? Not so much, huh? Let's do something easy, said Georgie. How about baking a cake? A new cake always made things right. Now, what could possibly go wrong? Apparently, everything. So look at that, what happens? Sneaker sneezes, look at what happens. He bumps, whoa, crash, bonk. Uh oh, and look at at the very bottom. There's a jar on the loose. Sneakers achu set off a chain reaction. And just when things couldn't get any worse, funk. They did. Now what? This is the worst bad day ever. Then the friends looked at Georgie. Do you see how the friends are all watery looking? That's what Georgie sees. Poor Georgie. They looked and they said, Georgie, are you okay? And then they all broke out into fits of laughter and helped Georgie get that jar off of his head. Through and our bad day, they all said. We sure did, said Georgie. And even the pickles were ready, Ferdinand announced. And they spent the day having fun the way good friends know how to do. Making the best of what used to be a bad day. And that night Georgie fell asleep on the right side of the bed and dreamed of having another bad day together. Now what helped them? Now look at, what does he say now? Remember at the beginning he said, do not disturb. Now he says, please do disturb. Welcome friends of all shapes and sizes. So what helped them turn their day around? What made the bad day turn into a good day? Do you know what were they doing? Eating pickles. It's a good day, Finn. Making a cake and knitting the sweater. That's right. You know what I think helped them turn it around is being together with good friends. So even when we're grumpy or we're in a bad mood or things are just not turning out the way we want them to with family and friends around us we can find many reasons to be thankful still even on the bad days and turn them into the best bad days ever. Thanks for listening guys. We're gonna rise and body your spirit and sing you out to summer fun. Have a good time. We'll be seated. This reading from Harold Kushner from a book called When All You've Ever Wanted Isn't Enough. I was sitting on a beach one summer day watching two children, a boy and a girl, playing in the sand. They were hard at work building an elaborate sand castle by the water's edge with gates and towers and moats and internal passages. Just when they had nearly finished their project a big wave came along and knocked it down reducing it to a heap of wet sand. I expected the children to burst into tears devastated by what had happened to all of their hard work but they surprised me. Instead they ran up the shore away from the water laughing and holding hands and sat down to build another castle. I realized that they had taught me an important lesson. All the things in our lives all the complicated structures we spend so much time and energy creating are built on sand. Only our relationships to other people endure. Sooner or later the wave will come along and knock down what we have worked so hard to build. When that happens only the person who has somebody's hand to hold will be able to get up and laugh. And these thoughts from Robert Walsh. My earliest memory of a prayer is the table grace my grandfather used to say. I associate it with holiday meals with extended family crowded along around a long dining room table. I remember the smell of turkey gravy the sight of bowed heads and then the gruff voice of this old man delivering the prayer as if it were one long word accented on the first and last syllables. Lord make us thankful for these provisions we ask in Christ's sake amen. The last word sounded like amen. I thought that was the way you always ended a prayer. I remember years when I had no idea what he was saying. The prayer had meaning that did not depend on knowing. It was an invocation for the larger liturgy of the meal. Its meaning beyond language had to do with bonds. My bonds to the food my parents and sister the aunts and uncles and cousins and grandparents there the warmth of the room the celestial and human rhythms that brought us to that table and other mysteries beyond these. There came a time when I figured out the words to Pop's prayer but that did not seem to affect its meaning. It was much much later after turning this memory over until it was worn smooth that I realized something important. I had thought it was a prayer of Thanksgiving but Pop did not say Lord thank you he said Lord make us thankful. It was a prayer of petition. We were beginning those special meals not with thanks for the bountiful gifts before us and around us but with a confession that we were not thankful enough. Make us thankful. Wake us up. Our gratitude is dulled by the very abundance of what we have. Bring us somehow to enough clarity of vision to see what a miracle is this creation in which we find ourselves. In truth we are not thankful enough. A confession with which to begin all of our prayers Amen. It was great fun putting this service together because they picked the music first. I like it when that happens. In her poem entitled Otherwise the poet Jane Kenyon writes I got out of bed on two strong legs it might have been otherwise I ate cereal sweet milk ripe flawless peach it might have been otherwise I took the dog uphill to the birch wood all morning all morning I did the work I love at noon I lay down with my mate it might have been otherwise we ate dinner together at a table with silver candlesticks it might have been otherwise I slept in a bed in a room with paintings on the walls and planned another day just like this day but one day I know it will be otherwise. Kenyon wrote this poem in 1993 upon hearing of her husband Donald Hall's cancer diagnosis it was Kenyon not Hall who died a year later at the age of 47 from a fierce and swift onslaught of leukemia otherwise came for her unexpectedly with the sunrise one day with no regard for that perfect peach the dog or the candlesticks her life suddenly became otherwise yet the poet found ways to remain grateful during her final days she wrote these words in a poem called Twilight After Hanging yes long shadows go out from the bales and yes the soul must part from the body what else could it do these things happen the soul's bliss and suffering are bound together like the grasses the last sweet exhalations of Timothy and Vetch go out with the song of the bird the ravaged field grows wet with dew to the last Kenyon lived a life filled with humility and gratitude she found what some may call a life of absolute thankfulness the SAS Gary Roberts wrote about her in contemporary women poets her poetry was acutely faithful to the familiarities and the mysteries of a life at home and it is distinguished by intense calmness and gratitude in the face of both joyous times and immense tragedy in times of great abundance gratitude can come so easy that it seems like an effortless natural reaction when something wonderful happens it's difficult not to feel grateful but such automatic gratitude such absolute thankfulness can desert us in times of adversity and loss suffering takes away the easy gratitude and we search to find ways to regain the ability to appreciate the good things we still enjoy the pleasures we once shared find ways to ward off the depression, anger, resentment that could be so much easier there is a story that says a spiritual teacher in India was asked what is the worst karma a person can undergo what is the greatest difficulty the teacher's reply was that the worst karma is to be ungrateful if you suffer from ingratitude then it won't matter what blessings and goodness are in your life you won't be capable of receiving it in contrast if you are grateful then even in the most challenging of circumstances you will be able to recognize the many gifts that you still receive I believe there's great truth in the teacher's statement but it troubles me we know that humans are hardwired to see the negative to focus on what is wrong in a situation to obsess over what we're missing what we lack instead of seeing the many blessings neuroscientists tell us this is evolutionary safety if we didn't focus on the harmful, the dangerous our species may have died out a long time ago there are many, many jokes about this peace of our being human Garrison Keeler told the story of the grandmother who was walking her 5 year old grandson on the beach when suddenly a huge wave came up and grabbed the child and carried him out to sea she looked up at the sky shaking her fist and yelling God this is unacceptable you cannot take an innocent child and just as those words come out of her mouth another wave comes right back at her feet she picks up the child in her arms looks up to the sky and says this child had a hat if this is our response to life's circumstances then we are going to be living with the worst karma ever how we overcome this tendency to see and focus on what's wrong and find ways to live from a place of gratitude is a bit of a mystery so I went on a search to find some guides those whose lives have held up under adversity or who realized that gratitude is more than an attitude but a practice a discipline a way of being in the world that changes you and those around you Jane Kenyon is one and Ellie Vizel is another no one he says is as capable of gratitude as one who has emerged from the kingdom of night he knew firsthand the cruelties of loss loss of faith loss of family the loss of any semblance of humanity he was asked during an interview whether after all the tragedy he had witnessed and experienced during the Holocaust whether he could still have a place inside him for gratefulness his words absolutely right after the war I went around telling people thank you for just living for being human and to this day the words that come most frequently from my lips are thank you when a person doesn't have gratitude something's missing in his or her humanity a person can almost be defined by their attitude toward gratitude for me every hour is grace and I feel gratitude in my heart each time I can meet someone and look at their smile for Vizel gratitude is the key that helps us escape from that kingdom of night those moments of suffering that trap us in despair searching for and being thankful for what is positive he tells us breaks the stronghold of suffering he said the simple process has the power to transform your life if the dust settles and you are still standing there's a reason for it now start walking you can leave the kingdom of night you can start walking toward the gates right now your freedom begins with being thankful for the small things gaining courage and strength to reach for the big things gratitude is the way the heart remembers remembers kindness cherished interactions with others compassionate acts of strangers surprise gifts every day moments of beauty by remembering we honor and acknowledge the many ways in which who and what we are is connected to the gifts and the support of others how we have been shaped by those who have loved us how we have been guided by many hands Ellie Vazel reminds us that paradoxically in gratitude we must recall the bleak times as well as the good times our gratitude he says bears witness to the suffering that has taken place when suffering occurs our gratitude can take on a defiant character a vigorous determination to stay grateful in the face of what has happened this defiant gratitude is a gift that he and other survivors of atrocities give to each of us in coming close to death he has shown us how to live in the midst of dehumanizing conditions he teaches us how to be human I also found the father of gratitude this week in rediscovering the work of brother David Steindl Rast a benedicting monk and a scholar, teacher prolific writer his message is essentially very simple he says gratefulness great fullness is the full response of the human heart to the grace of all that is his words echo that of Jane Kenyon and Ellie Vizel and he gives us a very easy way to remember we learn gratitude he says just as we learn how to cross the street stop look then go the first step is to stop or wake up cultivating gratitude begins with an act of acknowledgement he says we can never start to be grateful unless we wake up wake up to what to surprise to blessing to life and then when we take that moment to pause we move on to step two which is to look what am I grateful for in this moment what can I find Steindal Rass says there's a simple question that helps me remember this step what's my opportunity here you'll find that most of the time the opportunity that a given moment offers you is an opportunity to enjoy to enjoy sound, smells, taste texture colors and with still deeper joy friendship kindness patience all those gifts that soften the soil of our heart like warm spring rain this step look brings me back to Kenyan's poem and the recognition of awe and wonder and the knowledge that tomorrow might be otherwise enjoy this moment today simply enjoy I hold this vivid memory of my grandmother sitting at her kitchen table during some family holiday she's looking at her seven grown children all bustling around with her 20 plus grandchildren and she's looking at the newest one who's maybe two weeks old and at the absolutely exhausted parents and saying how long the nights even longer but the years are so very very short now in my young mind I saw this as some kind of Zen Cohen to work out some riddle my grandmother gave us to solve it wasn't solved until I had children of my own and I had this moment of clarity where I realized she was oh right on Friday when our oldest graduated from elementary school and I wondered where those years had gone her words came back to me not as a riddle now but as a reminder the days are long the nights are longer but the years are so very very short I'm imagining her now sitting at that table she thanked you for everything her life wasn't easy long hours in a factory coming home to seven admittedly unruly children taking care of an ill sister and aging parents all living under the roof of a really tiny house yet she was grateful it was a practice in her life to stop for just a moment look for the good appreciate the relationships the simple pleasure the love of family because no moment is a given and it all goes so very very fast now step three Steindorrest says is go or respond once we are in the habit of being awake to surprises and being aware that each moment offers an opportunity it becomes possible and even easy to respond especially when there is a moment to enjoy he says when a sudden rain shower is no longer just an inconvenience but a surprise gift you will spontaneously rise to the opportunity for enjoyment my simple recipe for a day is this stop and wake up look and be aware of what you see then go on to the alertness you can muster for the opportunity the next moment will offer to experience absolute thankfulness you must develop a practice perhaps something as simple as stop look go without practice there is no development of skill only an idea you need to develop new habits of attention notice the concrete ways the world supports you every day write thank you notes to the people in your life and actually send them write silly thank you notes that you will never send dear sappy song on the radio thank you for coming on when I was in the car cause I really needed a good cry dear headache thank you for kicking in today to remind me that I need to take self care seriously dear children's book authors everywhere thank you for writing books that make us laugh make us wonder help me spend those precious moments with my kids dear dogs that are currently shedding all over the couch thank you for that extra energy today because I really needed the walk too dear parents dear friends dear coworkers who would you send a note to today a life of thankfulness comes from putting ourselves forward in the world and seeing ourselves not as separate but as connected we see ourselves in relationship with everyone and everything we allow ourselves to embrace the mystery see the beauty feel the pain stop, look and go and find ways to get up and be grateful again and again our final thoughts come from a poem by Anne Sexton called Welcome Morning there is joy in it all in the hair I brush each morning in the cannon towel newly washed that I rub my body with each morning in the chapel of eggs I cook each morning in the outcry from the kettle that heats my coffee each morning in the spoon and the chair that cry hello there Anne each morning in the godhead of the table that I set my silver plate cup upon each morning all this is God right here in the green house each morning and I mean though often forget to give thanks to faint down by the kitchen table in a prayer of rejoicing as the holy birds at the kitchen window peck into the marriage of seeds so while I think of it let me paint a thank you on my palm for this this God this laughter of the morning lest it go unspoken may we go forward each day uttering that one all-purpose prayer from the depths of a grateful heart thank you for giving me this life in this precious moment good bad or otherwise and I now invite you into the giving and receiving of the morning's offering in the summer our offerings go completely to the continued work of this society and we thank you for your generosity we share pieces of we share our sorrows and difficulties knowing that pain and loss come into each person's life knowing that together we offer comfort we also share our joys with one another knowing too that joy comes into all of our lives knowing that together our voices can rise in a chorus of celebration this week we hold in our hearts Mary Jane Brummer and her husband Dave Zereth as Mary Jane recovers from heart surgery and we also keep the family of Mary Paul in our thoughts and prayers Mary passed away after battling breast cancer may we hold in our hearts gratitude for the things that bless us with their presence forgiveness for ourselves and others when we turn away from the blessings of life and the willingness to open ourselves anew each day to this beautiful and hurting world blessed be and amen may we rise in body or spirit for our closing hymn number 317 shared with gratitude for the wondrous gifts that our ours and filled with the resolve to share them with all who are in need may we hold precious one another and the world which provides us with life and beauty and may a song of thanksgiving be on our lips today and always blessed be go in peace and please be seated for the post loom