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2021-05-27
Religious Education: May 27, 2021
Minister's Post, Fri May 28
Worldwide.
The Worldwide numbers are not reliable, and likely are greatly underestimating the actual prevalence of Covid-19. These numbers may nevertheless give us an indication of trends.
7DMA of new cases per day, worldwide, as of:
May 13: 733,224. One-week change, May 6 to May 13: -7.6%
May 20: 624,690. One-week change, May 13 to May 20: -15%
May 27: 538,292. One-week change, May 20 to May 27: -14%
7DMA of deaths per day, worldwide, as of:
May 13: 12,665. One-week change, May 6 to May 13: -2.1%
May 20: 12,329. One-week change, May 13 to May 20: -2.7%
May 27: 11,280. One-week change, May 20 to May 27: -8.5%
United States.
7DMA of new cases per day, US, as of:
May 13: 36,598. One-week change, May 6 to May 13: -21%
May 20: 28,833. One-week change, May 13 to May 20: -21%
May 27: 23,060. One-week change, May 20 to May 27: -20%
New cases per day are now at the lowest they have been since Jun 15, 2020.
7DMA of deaths per day, US, as of:
May 13: 635. One-week change, May 6 to May 13: -8.2%
May 20: 593. One-week change, May 13 to May 20: -6.6%
May 27: 526. One-week change, May 20 to May 27: -11%
Deaths per day are now at the lowest they have been since Jul 6, 2020. We seem to be headed out of the woods, but do remember that people are still dying from this.
ICYMI ("In Case You Missed It")
Here's the May 23 service, "Flowers!"
Practice of the Week
Do What You Can. That’s a slogan you probably already employ: a double reminder to act as you’re able and not worry about what you can’t change. But there’s a psychological phenomenon called learned helplessness. Learned helplessness can be powerful. Elephants can be induced to stay tied with a rope they could easily break. Google it: learned helplessness.
The flip side is to let go of what you can’t change. Focus on what you can do: for yourself, to bring more joy and compassion into your life and less reactivity – and for the world, such as bearing witness to the suffering of others and letting it move your heart, staying informed, and looking for opportunities to make a material difference, such as helping at a homeless shelter.
So ask yourself: How could I pull my time, money, energy, attention, or worry away from stones that will never give blood or houses built on sand — and instead, shift these resources to where they will actually make a difference? Challenge assumptions, like: "Oh, I just couldn't do that" Are you sure?
Nkosi Johnson, a child in South Africa, was born with HIV, and died when he was twelve. Yet before his death, he was a nationally known advocate for people with AIDS. His "mantra," as he called it, was:
"Do all you can, with what you have, in the time you have, in the place where you are."For more about this, see the post, Do What You Can.
See also our SPIRITUAL PRACTICE DIRECTORY
2021-05-25
Music: Sun May 30
It's often been conjectured that jealousy--the natural complement to entitlement--was one of the driving forces behind the destruction of the largely African-American community of Greenwood, Tulsa. The community was professionally accomplished and highly educated. This morning's Gathering Music includes recordings by the legendary contralto Marian Anderson as well as an excerpt from Duke Ellington's "Black, Brown, and Beige." Anderson would become the first Black singer to perform at the Metropolitan Opera, and Ellington's work is essentially a symphonic tone poem by a composer yearning for access to the white-dominated world of art music. Read on for programming details, and stay tuned for spoken introductions.
Gathering Music:
"Black, Brown, and Beige" Part 3
Duke Ellington
Marion Anderson, contralto
"America" (recorded live at the Lincoln Memorial on Easter Sunday, 1939)
"He's Got the Whole World in his Hands"
Traditional Spiritual
Centering Music: Adam Kent, piano
Tangamerican
Margaret Bonds
Anthem: CUUC Choir and Friends, directed by Lisa N. Meyer and accompanied by
Georgianna Pappas
"You Will Be Found" from Dear Evan Hansen
Benj Pasek & Justin Paul
Musical Meditation:
Cinnamon Grove No. 2
R. Nathaniel Dett
Interlude:
"Momentum"
Tania León
Parting Music:
"The Monk"
Valerie Capers
Do What You Can (Unlearn Helplessness)
Practice of the Week
Do What You Can (Unlearn Helplessness)
Do What You Can (Unlearn Helplessness)
Category: SLOGANS THAT HELP: Advertisers know that slogans work! So let's put them to a positive use. Adopting these slogans as your personal guides and reminders will help bring more peace and more joy into your life. Journaling about how you're trying to implement a given slogan will help integrate it into your life.
“Do all you can, with what you have, in the time you have, in the place where you are." (Nkosi Johnson)
Adapted from Rick Hanson, Just One Thing:
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| The elephant is restrained not by the puny rope but by learned helplessness |
People are much the same. We, too, can be easily trained in learned helplessness, which can be tough to undo. Think about some of the ways you've felt pushed around by external forces, and how that's affected you. Learned helplessness fosters depression, anxiety, pessimism, low self-worth, and less effort toward goals.
As a human being like any other, your biological vulnerability to learned helplessness makes it very important that you recognize where you do in fact have some power, and that you take the actions that are available to you — even if they must be only inside your own head.
How
Begin by considering a useful idea from Stephen Covey's book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Imagine a circle containing the things you have influence over, and another circle containing the things you're concerned about. Where those circles overlap is the sweet spot where you can actually make a difference in the things that matter to you.
To be sure, sometimes there are things we care about but can't change personally, like people going hungry. I'm not saying just ignore those things or be indifferent to them. We should focus on what we can do, such as bearing witness to the suffering of others and letting it move our hearts, staying informed, and looking for opportunities to make a material difference, such as helping at a homeless shelter.
But trying to control things that are out of your hands will plant seeds of helplessness, make you suffer, and undermine your capacity to exercise the influence you do have.
Ask yourself: How could I pull my time, money, energy, attention, or worry away from stones that will never give blood or houses built on sand — and instead, shift these resources to where they will actually make a difference?
Then take an inventory of the key strengths and other resources you do have. Your circle of influence is probably a lot bigger than you think it is!
Consider how you could draw on some of those resources to take beneficial actions in ways you haven't ever done, or have never sustained.
Challenge assumptions, like: "Oh, I just couldn't do that" Are you sure? Bring to mind someone you know who is very self-confident, and then ask yourself: "If I were that confident, what new things would I do?"
In particular, think about actions you could take inside your own mind. Compared to trying to change the world or your body, usually your mind is where you have the most influence, where the results are most enduring and consequential, and where you have the greatest opportunity for a sense of efficacy and a chance to undo feelings of helplessness. For example, how could you nudge your emotional reactions in a better direction over time, or develop more mindfulness or warm-heartedness? These are all within your reach.
When I don't know what to do about some difficulty, sometimes I think of a saying from a boy named Nkosi Johnson, who lived in South Africa. Like many children there, Nkosi was born with HIV, and he died when he was twelve. Before that happened, he became a nationally known advocate for people with AIDS. His "mantra," as he called it, always touches my heart: "Do all you can, with what you have, in the time you have, in the place where you are."
That's all anyone can ever do.
For Journaling
Reflect on the question: How could you nudge your emotional reactions in a better direction over time, or develop more mindfulness or warm-heartedness? In what ways would you like your emotional reactions to move in a better direction? How can you make that happen? Remember, forming a resolve is a good start -- but resolve fades. How can you train yourself to develop new habits of emotional reaction? Any ideas? What would you suggest for yourself?
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Lance Luria on learned helplessness vs. learned optimism:
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