November comes, and November goes, with the last red berries and the first white snows . . .

  
     Well, outside, we're shivering a bit this third week in November, and there's some snow on the ground already, which makes the lengthening nights a little less dark --some years the snow comes later.  Inside it is the time for planning our annual Solstice Multigenerational service, which will be on the actual Winter Solstice date this year --December 21st itself.  I have been enjoying an old favourite book in the RE library called While The Bear Sleeps, which has a simple story line about
a little girl who has stumbled into a bear's cave for shelter.
     Out of the dark warmth of the cave the bear character surprises the child by speaking, and he tells her she might as well stay and sleep alongside him, because Winter is "the time when you look inside yourself and remember the important things."  She asks him what those might be, and he rumbles "...that the winter is never so cold when you can share stories with the friends of your heart.  That loneliness is never so lonely if you are used to being alone.  That you need never worry about how you look or what people think about you if you are at home to yourself. That's why I come here."

     I found myself thinking that if I were a member of UCM, I might also give those reasons for why I come to join this church each week -- to meet with my "friends of the heart" and spirit, and to let the people, the music, the readings and sermon, ALL of the richness of a service, remind me that I am "at home to [my]self." And of course I would delight in all the stories I hear here . . . As it happens, the little girl in the book gets entertained and inspired by the bear telling her stories appropriate to many of the holidays of this "dark of the year" season. They go on dream journeys together to celebrations in many corners of the earth, and conclude their period of hibernation at Groundhog's Day (also know as Bear Day among some Native groups) with her learning about the constellation of Ursa Major, which points the way north in the night sky.

May this season bring each of you time to "...look inside yourself and remember the important things," and may we all celebrate bringing back the light as we observe the Solstice!

p.s. the title for this post comes from a favourite poem of mine, called "Goodbye, November, Goodbye," written by Elizabeth Coatsworth

p.p.s. I am not actually a member of this faith community, but of the Society of Friends (see post below), but I certainly love being on the staff here!

Bilingual schools in Israel/Palestine light the way to peace

On October 28th I heard Uri Gopher, the optimistic executive director of the Hajar/Hagar School in Beer Sheva, Israel, http://www.hajar.org.il 

tell his listeners here in Montreal about a sixth (and currently last) unique peace-building, bilingual school operating under the Israeli Ministry of Education; the school's motto is "Jewish-Arab Education for Equality."

The Hagar Association not only says that "peace IS possible," but that "It begins at HAGAR."  They believe that "Jewish-Arab Education for Equality is a springboard for social change, through it's bilingual, multicultural school and community programming. As parents and community members partner in the educational process, we create a community of Arabs and Jews who learn and work together towards a shared and peaceful future."

The last summer has been so horrific in terms of events in the middle east, and I have seen so many sad and infuriating documentaries about Palestinian/Israeli relations, that I confess I have become quite negative and discouraged about whether any change for the better is really possible in that anciently conflict-torn area.  However, Uri was full of energy, good news and good sense, starting with a comment that "Living together is not something you learn about in books, it's something you practice." At the Hajar/Hagar School, adults and children alike clearly practice how to relate well to one another, and it is inspiring!  Uri believes their emphasis on teaching both Arabic and Hebrew is a key to their program, for "When you learn the other's language, you are immediately drawn to him/her."

A former musician who holds an MA in social-political psychology, and with extensive educational experience, including work with Sesame Street International and as director of the Walter Lebcah Institute for Arab-Jewish Coexistence at the school of education in Tel Aviv University, Uri said it took becoming a father himself to push him to look for new ways to build connections with his Arab counterparts. He went on to explain how this extraordinary educational venture was begun in 2006 by some ordinary but social activist parents in Beer Sheva who wanted school environments that were relationship-and-peace-building, not trauma-inflicting, for their children.

Co-sponsored by UCM and the Montreal Dialogue Group, Uri came to Montreal to meet and speak with interested members of the public, plus members of the ICAN program at the McGill School of Social Work.  The International Community Action Network (ICAN), formerly known as the McGill Middle East Program (MMEP), is committed to the belief that social justice is the most reliable foundation for strong, healthy societies.  ICAN offers MSW degrees to persons in the forefront of civil society and social justice in Jordan, Palestine, and Israel.  Seven of these special graduate students attended Uri's talk, and several have connections to/with the Hajar/Hagar School (one is a graduate of "Neve Shalom," the original Jewish-Arab bridge-building school begun in 1979; another woman is a parent whose Gr 2 daughter spoke briefly about her experience at Hajar/Hagar).

Uri Gopher feels Israel has failed its most important challenge, to resolve the conflict between Arabs and Jews, and so he wrote a song (which was quite controversial) about that theme, when Israel celebrated the 60th anniversary of its founding. He concluded his presentation with that song, played beautifully on our Laliberte piano, and a photo of his daughter smiling "after an ordinary day at an ordinary school!"

Watch the video of the song here
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-DwpSY3or4