Canadian Unitarian Council
@ Centre for Social Innovation | 192 Spadina Ave | Suite 302 M5T 2C2 Toronto, ON, Canada

New Year's Blessing On the day when The weight deadens On your shoulders... And you stumble, May the clay dance To balance you. And when your eyes Freeze behind The grey window And the ghost of loss Gets into you, May a flock of colours, Indigo, red, green And azure blue, Come to awaken in you A meadow of delight. When the canvas frays In the currach of thought And a stain of ocean Blackens beneath you, May there come across the waters A path of yellow moonlight To bring you safely home. May the nourishment of the earth be yours, May the clarity of light be yours, May the fluency of the ocean be yours, May the protection of the ancestors be yours. And so may a slow Wind work these words Of love around you, An invisible cloak To mind your life. ~ John O'Donohue Photo by Madison Kaminski on Unsplash

Your Commitment is Needed This past year has challenged us in ways we could not have imagined. Our connections to our friends, family and community, have been what has sustained us personally and spiritually. And it has been contributions from friends like you which have allowed the CUC to nurture and support those connections in our UU communities. I want to share with you the impact of your generosity this past year. Your donations have helped us:... -support our connection with two Indigenous elders who share their wisdom and teachings with our congregations, in small groups, and virtual programs, adding light and learning to our Truth, Healing and Reconciliation work. One of the Elders said, "...your community is taking remarkable steps towards reconciliation! The work is so exciting and may well become a blueprint for Canadians." -reunite a 4 year old boy with his mother and bring him to Canada as part of our work with refugees. Now he, like the over 60 other refugees we have helped this year, can be safe and grow in a community that loves and nurtures his family. -organize continuing anti-racism roundtables. We heard from attendees that these powerful roundtables opened up space for important meaningful conversation about how, and why, it is so important to confront racism wherever we find it. -support pastoral care and regular, consistent online programming for our youth and young adults across the country. We have heard directly from our youth how fundamental this support was for them. -fund programming for congregational leaders to recognize and deal with conflict and model effective strategies for members, and create healthy congregations able to grow and serve their communities. -bring us all together in coffeehouses, national services, in small groups, and in leaders groups, during a challenging time when we need the comfort of community to help keep us connected. Thanks to the programs you helped fund, we have grown in our connections and strengthened our UU family across the country. We are asking for your consideration in supporting the CUC directly. This year will be challenging for many, but we hope your generous support will help us continue to offer meaningful programming and resources and create the world we all want to live in. I offer my deepest thanks for your commitment to our national Unitarian Universalist faith community. Donate by December 31 to the Friends of the CUC - https://interland3.donorperfect.net/weblink/weblink.aspx In gratitude, Vyda Ng, CUC Executive Director

The candle flame stammers, then sings through the pane, pushing back the boundaries of darkness, and night returns to where it was. I believe in... night, in hand-dipped candles that drip onto sills, in Orion, in the frost that fills windows and the sun that returns the frost to the air. I believe in Christmas, in moon, in stars so bright that we follow them to birthplaces, mothers who love their children, children who jump like live sparks around the tree, and gifts that can not be opened, only received. These are the things I would give you: this darkness, this light, this all that is. ~ Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer Photo by guille pozzi on Unsplash

Have you checked out our Spotify playlist? The CUC staff and Board have collected some of their favourite holiday music to share. You can find it on Spotify and read more about the reasons these songs are special on the google doc. Enjoy! https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2ENCktDnLLaBP5yeyJfKyM https://docs.google.com//1B_8rzE3Dg5Jfrx2cs4D0nivlrLf/edit

Wishing you a happy, healthy and safe Holiday Season. Please note that the CUC offices will be closed from December 23 at noon ET through to Monday, January 4, 2021 to give our staff a much needed rest.

In our latest edition of the eNews we shared a wonderful COVID version of the Grinch story, written by Eliza, the daughter of Linda Thomson, one of our Congregational Life Leads. We delighted to share that her theatre group has performed the pantomime, virtually. Enjoy! https://vimeo.com/491296798