UUSC-UUA Cyclone Nargis Relief Fund

(Update: As of May 9, 2008, 243 gifts totaling $28,514 have been received!) Unitarian Universalists are invited to respond with generous compassion towards those suffering in the wake of Cyclone Nargis. Please see a message from the UUSC and UUA below: The Unitarian Universalist Service Committee and the Unitarian Universalist Association have joined to launch a humanitarian relief fund to help survivors of the recent Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) cyclone (Cyclone Nargis). Both organizations strive to coordinate strategic response to natural or man-made humanitarian crises, especially when rights are threatened or when those in need are overlooked or neglected by traditional relief approaches. Aid, coordinated through the UUSC, will be channeled to humanitarian relief work in an effort to help survivors - especially those left out of traditional relief strategies - regain their lives and livelihoods. The White Bear Unitarian Universalist Church of Mahtomedi, Minnesota is one of those sponsoring a refugee family from Myanmar as they start a new life in the United States. The congregation's Minister, Rev. Victoria Safford, wrote: "This past fall, our congregation welcomed five Karen (Burmese Christian) children and their parents to our community. After years in camps in Thailand, they told us of the incredible challenges facing refugees from Myanmar. Now, with tens of thousands dead, injured, and left homeless in the cyclone, that struggle is magnified unspeakably. Our generous gifts are needed now - and urgently. I know, for we have seen it here already, that our compassion will be met with gratitude, and will strengthen the spirits of brave people fighting to survive." Please support this relief effort. To donate online go tohttp://www.uusc.org/info/support_cyclonenargis.html. For donations by mail, please direct contributions to: UUSC-UUA Cyclone Nargis Relief Fund P.O. Box 845259 If your congregation would benefit from a worship resource, please considering using or adapting the following: Unitarian Universalists heed wisdom from all the world’s religions, recognizing that Truth is not the provenance of any culture or human epoch, but is found wherever and whenever women and men have attended to the promptings of the spirit. This week a disaster struck a southeast Asian nation that has known more than its fair share of tragedy in our era; a country caught in civil strife so overwhelming that for more than 40 years even its name – Burma or Myanmar – has been a matter of controversy. But, a country where the promptings of the spirit have been made fully known and demonstrated by the courage and resilience of well-known leaders like Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, as much as by thousands of un-named citizens including the inspiring saffron-robed Buddhist monks who led demonstrations against the military regime eariler this year, and who are responding with similar selflessness and devotion in the wake of Cyclone Nargis. Let us also heed the promptings of the spirit – particularly as expressed in the beautiful words from Buddhist tradition expressed in our hymnal – Singing the Living Tradition: Responsive Reading No. 498. (Share Responsive Reading No. 598) May every creature abound in well-being and peace. May every living being, weak or strong, the long and the small, the short and the medium-sized, the mean and the great, May every living being, seen or unseen, those dwelling far off, those living near by, those already born, those waiting to be born. May all attain inward peace. Let no one deceive another. Let no one despise another in any situation. Let no one, from antipathy or hatred, wish evil to anyone at all. Just as a mother, with her own life, protects her only child from hurt, so within yourself foster a limitless concern for every living creature. Display a heart of boundless love for all the world in all its height and depth and broad extent, Love unrestrained, without hate or enmity. Then as you stand or walk, sit or lie, until overcome by drowsiness, devote your mind entirely to this: It is known as living the life divine. And, let us “display hearts of boundless love for all the world in all its height and depth and broad extent.” Today, especially, let us display boundless love for the 22,000 people who were lost their lives in the wake of Cyclone Nargis, also for their families, and for the 10’s of thousands more who have been displaced and are suffering terribly. In silence, let us hold boundless love and embrace the peace beyond understanding. Amen. And, in symbol of our commitment, let's join together in a special collection for the UUSC-UUA Cyclone Nargis Relief Fund. For additional information, please contact the UUA's International Resources Office

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UUA International Resources

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