The Bath Unitarian Fellowship

The Fellowship newsletter, wonderfully edited by Kay Millard, has been renamed Fellow Seekers.  The latest edition is posted in the Newsletters section of the website, as always, well worth a read!

IN the end only three things matter:
How much you loved;
How gently you lived;
And how gracefully you let go of things not meant for  you.

Attributed to the Buddha

Whichever Sunday in October we have chosen for our service, it seems inevitable that it will clash with the Bath Half Marathon!  Sure enough, this year it's on 15 October.   As the event creates havoc for transport around the city, we have decided to move this month's service to the 29th October.  Apologies for any inconvenience.  

Hope is a sea birds eyes, cold and lost
Hope is a heartbroken love
High in the heavens above
Hope is the snow and the frost hiding love and loss
Hope is a small green bud lifting the soil
Hopefully with a plan like that it won't foil
Hope is dark grey skies clearing before your eyes
Hope is clean crisp air on a spring morn
Hopefully you will cherish it till dawn
There is hope within

Even when the leaves fall to the ground
beauty can still be found
Even when the warmth goes to sleep
Hope is something you can always keep
There is hope within

When people think all hope is lost remember
All cold hearts will defrost
And a spark of magic hides
When the cold and damp seeps in
Hope lights a fire inside
So remember when the sorrowed bird sings
There is hope within

Iris Jubb (11). Iris’s beautiful poem won a place in the top three in the Bath Schools Poetry Competition

The latest Bath Unitarian newsletter  follows on the theme of Beauty, so wonderfully explored in our February Fellowship  meeting.  Go over to the Newsletters tab to find it, and perhaps listen to Kay's 'Beyond Words' choice of music for this month, 
​"I find myself in a Faure mood (when do I not) so this month's offering is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5Y0uQLgriA. I hope you enjoy."

It was with much joy that we were able to meet again for a Christmas service.  Peter Hawkins skilfully wove elements of the Fellowship's previous nativity services  around the theme of what we would  bring to the manger.    One of the traditional elements that endured was the arrival of Father Christmas at the end of the service, bearing gifts for the children.

Kay's November musical offering   is the Benedictus from Karl Jenkins' The Armed Man: a Mass for Peace.
And who needs a firework display when we have the universe?
(Warning: video contains flashing lights.)
​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibwxzxER_pY

We enjoyed a thoughtful  service on Grace  last Sunday, with   insightful contributions from the congregation exploring some of the meanings of the word today.  

"Grace allows us to lay down the burden of our shortcomings, and grasp the courage to start afresh.
Grace affirms our capacity for goodness and offers us purpose and joy.
Grace tells us we are not trapped in our past, but freed by creation to live and grow today."

This month's musical offering is by Secret Garden, a Norwegian-Irish band who re-imagine classical themes. You're probably way ahead of me and have been fans for years, but if not they are worth checking out on YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evut8k_Oq2g