OSIRIS – Wednesday – CER Summer Institute

The Official Summer Institute Real Information Service
Central East Region Summer Institute
Wednesday, July 10, 2019

CERSI IS MOVING!

Oberlin is not hosting summer conferences for the next few years while they update their facilities. CERSI, therefore, is moving to California University of Pennsylvania, outside of Pittsburgh. Read all about the move in the “Summer Institute is Moving” blog post.

POWERFUL WAYS TO FIGHT CLIMATE CHANGE

Lots of smart, committed people are working on solving the climate change problem. The book Draw Down identifies 100 science-based strategies that can be achieved with existing technology right now. The top two strategies are to reduce chlorofluorocarbons in refrigerants, and to promote wind energy. The next strategies are things we can get involved with right now.

The 3rd most powerful strategy is to reduce food waste. A third of the food raised or prepared does not make it from farm or factory to fork. Yet hunger is a condition of life for nearly 800 million people worldwide.
Adopting a plant-rich diet is the 4th most powerful strategy. The most conservative estimates suggest that raising livestock accounts for nearly 15 percent of global greenhouse gases emitted each year; the most comprehensive assessments of direct and indirect emissions say more than 50 percent.

Protecting tropical rain forests, educating girls and promoting family planning are # 5, 6 and 7. If you have treasure to share, consider contributing to these causes.

RESTORATIVE PRACTICES MORSEL FROM SICoM

Thanks to those of you who have reached out these past few days about restorative practices (RP) – we are glad to have captured your attention!

A common question is why, when RP is “about solving a situation involving a harm of some kind” (or various iterations of that idea), we are talking about it so much here in the Osiris and elsewhere. This is a good question.

Addressing discord and offering RP as a tool to address conflict is only one reason why it has been embraced by SICoM. RP also offers great tools, in conjunction with our UU principles, to allow us to lean into our faith community more fully.

Restorative practices build and support communities. People come to SI (or to our UU churches) with many issues on their minds and in their hearts. By weaving in a restorative mindset, we can proactively build the relationships and skills we need to support one another and collectively address the challenges we may face. As one of the thought-leaders in restorative justice (including restorative practices) Howard Zehr presciently commented several decades ago in The Little Book of Restorative Justice, “restorative justice is a compass, not a map.”

To close I quote Jean Vanier, who wrote in 2007 in Soul Food: “We’re all lovers and we’re all destroyers. We’re all frightened and at the same time we all want terribly to trust. This is part of our struggle. We have to help what is most beautiful to emerge in us…” Implementing restorative practices can give us an additional proven framework to build on our UU principles, so we can be even more prepared to maintain and grow healthy relationships. In short, embracing restorative practices can kindle even more SI Magic!

S.I.S.T. NEWS & NOTES

Have you ever wondered what the impact of your donation to the S.I. Scholarship Fund means?

“Receiving a scholarship means the world to me. It means I can enjoy the blessed spiritual community as a refuge from the wider, more chaotic world. As a disabled young person, the S.I. scholarship helps me attend an event I wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford and I can see UU friends I rarely get to see. Thank you to everyone who gives.”

The impact of our individual and collective donations reaches people’s hearts and souls; please be as generous as your means permit.

PAMPERED CHEF SCHOLARSHIP FUNDRAISER

Pampered Chef, founded in 1980, and a part of the Berkshire Hathaway family of businesses, is a direct seller of high-quality kitchen tools. As an Independent Pampered Chef consultant, Melanie Christiansen (Toledo) has offered to sponsor a fundraiser for the CERSI Scholarship Fund this week. 15% of any sales between now and July 15 will go to support the scholarship fund if you order directly from the designated website: https://www.pamperedchef.com/party/cersischolarship2019

AFTERNOON WORKSHOPS

Mixology Workshop, M-F 3:15- 4:45pm in Zechiel (Zeke) hall

Wednesday: Using egg, Dry shake; Cocktail: Delicious Sour
Thursday: Bitters; Cocktails: Negroni & Boulevardier
Friday: Tiki/Polynesian; Cocktail: Painkiller

Participants must be 21 or older and be wearing the appropriately-colored wristband. We look forward to sharing a cocktail with you!

We’ve gone Solar! M-F, 3:15 – 4:45pm, Science Center Room 154

Wednesday: Meet Solar Consultant Brian DiPaolo who works for YellowLite in Cleveland, Ohio. Learn the ins and outs about adding solar to a variety of homes.

Thursday: Hear from Carl McDaniel from Oberlin, Ohio as he shares the story of his home known as Trail Magic, a positive energy home.

Friday: Hear from Tom Smith of the West Shore UU Church in Rocky River, Ohio who helped bring solar to his church.

Art in the Afternoon , M-F 1:30-3pm, Join us daily in front of Burton Hall (or in the 1st floor lounge of Burton if it’s raining) for an upcycling craft – using stuff that might otherwise end up in a landfill. Supplies will be provided to decorate your name tag, make mini journals and quote/inspiration spools. There will also be a daily craft:

Wednesday: Decorate cloth bags with felt stickers and ribbons
Thursday: Wine cork boards and decorative signs
Friday: Free create – we’ll play with the supplies and goodies used during the week

Find many more afternoon workshop opportunities in our Programming section >>

EUCHRE TOURNAMENT THURSDAY

The 2019 Euchre tournament will take place on Thursday from 6:30 PM – 8:15 PM in the Science Center Atrium. The sign up sheet is located in First Church just outside the bookstore. Please sign up as a team!

TURN IN YOUR PEEK PRIZES!

Please drop your Peek prizes in First Church Fellowship Hall by the piano. If class is going on leave them outside the door. Join us Thursday evening at 6:30pm to play and win!

KENT CHURCH PHOTO, WED @ 7:15PM

UUCK will take a group photo Wednesday at 7:15pm in front of First Church.

CLF CHURCH PHOTO, THU @ 8PM

Church of the Larger Fellowship will take a group photo
Thursday at 8pm in front of First Church.

A Unitarian Universalist all-ages camp in the Central East Region of the UUA