The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Winona (UUFW)

Services Sunday 10 am  For audios of previous services, click HERE
Guild Hall of Wesley United Methodist Church
114 W. Broadway, Winona, Minnesota

Theme Two: What is Spirituality? / Expressing our Hearts through the Arts.

05/18/2025 Speaker: Jennifer Anderson

Title:   An old view of our Moon: My spiritual understanding of my place in our Universe

Description: As a child, I was always asking questions and reading.  My endless curiosity about the night sky was encouraged and supported by my parents.  I’d lay on my back on the picnic table and learn my way around the night sky using paper maps.  I built my first telescope and read Carl Sagan’s Cosmos when I was twelve.  I’ve always felt connected to the night sky and the Earth.  I went to college to be an astrophysicist and eventually decided upon planetary geology, specifically impact craters.  My connections to the heavens and Earth have only strengthened over the years as I see myself as a part of this Universe, all its atoms and its lifeforms, over 13.7 billion years of time.  My favorite night sky object is the Moon, covered in craters, and I look to her daily as a reminder of my connection and my place in our Universe.  In this talk, we’ll explore a bit about the science of the Moon, our cosmic dance partner, and think about our connections to our Universe.

Bio: Jennifer Anderson, PhD, is a Professor of Geoscience at Winona State University. She holds BS degrees in astrophysics, geophysics, and physics from University of Minnesota and a master’s degree and PhD in geological sciences from Brown University specializing in planetary geology, geoscience education, and impact cratering processes. She loves talking about Astronomy to anyone who will listen to her and one of her favorite things to do is to share the Universe with others under a clear, dark sky.  Her impact cratering research is funded through NASA which has allowed her to bring 20 students down to NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX, as part of their undergraduate research projects.  But mostly, she just loves the night sky (and the Earth too).

Sunday May 18 is our Flower Ceremony, an event that our Fellowship has taken part in for at least the past 25 years.  We ask that everyone, adults and children bring one flower, however humble.  The children and parents will be part of the ceremony. 

After the service on Sunday May 18 is our End of the Year Pot Luck Picnic.  Please bring a plate of finger foods to share (no fork or spoon needed to eat them). 

                    The Sources of Our Living Tradition

                    life.

Words and deeds of prophetic women and men which challenge us to confront powers and
structures of evil with justice, compassion and the transforming power of love.
Wisdom from the world’s religions which inspires us in our ethical and spiritual life.
Jewish and Christian teachings which call us to respond to God’s love by loving our
neighbors as ourselves.
Humanist teachings which counsel us to heed the guidance of reason and the results of
science, and warn us against idolatries of the mind and spirit.
Spiritual teachings of earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life and
instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature.

LAKOTA PRAYER
TEACH ME how to trust my heart,
My mind, my intuition, my inner knowing,
The sense of my body and
The blessings of my spirit.
TEACH ME to trust these things
So that I may enter my sacred space
And LOVE beyond my fear
And thus WALK IN BALANCE
With the passing of each glorious sun.