Greatness via Generosity; Generation to Generation

by Terrance Andrew Robinson; Intern Minister

Sermon for October 7, 2007

This service was originally to be given on Oct 28 and to be on the subject of All Hallows Eve. Halloween is the holiday Americans spend the most money on—after Xmas, of course. It is NOT celebrated by Moslems, and several Christian denominations. Personally, I’ve always had a lot fun on this event –especially when our kids were in grade school. Anyway, Dorothy sent me an urgent email in early August requesting I speak about your Capitol Fund on this Sunday. I already had a service planned and finished about Columbus Day for today so I was going to give the capital campaign service on Oct 28. Several people have since made the request that I tell you more about my life in much more detail than I did on my brief introduction to you in the first service I did here Sept 2. I discussed this with Dr. Gaines and suggested to him that I reverse these services. He thought that was a “wonderful” idea. SO, today you are receiving the service I was going to give near Halloween and on the 28th I will give you the service I prepared for Columbus Day. Now, please set your minds on Halloween, the Capital Campaign for a full time minister for you, and a lot of personal information about me—that you have requested…Here we go!

I was born in Canada just before the end of WW11 to English parents seven years after they had married during the Depression. I was destined to be an only child (which was neither my parents nor my choice). In order to better all our lives and especially my future, we all immigrated from Canada to the USA on Halloween (Oct 31, 1946). We had a ’34 Ford pulling a year old house trailer and our original destination was my Great Uncle’s in Oregon. US Customs determined the house trailer to be new—with the marked increase in duty due before we could enter the country. My Dad parked the trailer there at US Customs on the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron and left my Mother and me in it, went back to Sarnia, rounded up all my aunts to go to the bank and withdraw all the rest of our funds from selling their little cottage (the banks only allowed $500/ per person per day be withdrawn), came back, paid off customs, re-hitched up the trailer and we entered the US early in the evening. We stopped at a bar to park for the night and the door wouldn’t lock as the trailer wasn’t leveled, causing my Mother (already distraught at having to leave all her family and friends) to not sleep all night for fear some inebriated person would enter our little home. The Customs had completely cleaned out our nest egg so we had no more money to travel to Oregon and had to stop at a trailer park in Royal Oak, Michigan. On the second day, my Mother was getting some groceries and strongly considering returning to Canada. When she got back to the car, my Dad informed her he had gotten a job installing fences. She thought he was making it up to help her feel better, but he really did have a job—at twice the wages he had been getting in Canada.

My Mother’s sister (an old English RN) and her husband (the Canadian Customs agent who had told us we would only owe duty on a used trailer) visited on their way to Merry Island off the coast of British Columbia. Unbeknownst to any of the family, she had bad TB (eventually had to have a lung collapsed) and they were going there to avoid having to enter the sanatorium in Ontario. Eventually, I became weak and thin and we discovered I had contacted it from her. Our Canadian family Dr (the one who delivered me) tried to have me also committed, but my Mother begged him to let her take care of me. I was under strict quarantine-no contact with any children or others. Since our trailer had no running water and we had to use the public facilities of the park, this was difficult, but she managed to pull it off. I had to be rechecked by him monthly, and became quite attached to him. She fed me rich foods and fresh air, according to his treatment plan. In 2 years I was cured of the disease, but obese and somewhat socially crippled due to the lack of communication with any other children and most adults during that time period. When I was 4 years old I made up my mind at that very early period of my life to “become a Dr- and help people like Dr. Carruthers ”. Since neither my parents or any of my other blood relatives on either side of the family had graduated from high school, and I grew up in a lower middle class area-mostly blue collar with no networking to be admitted to college or med school, this really seemed to be –practically- a pipe dream. My Dad was a tool and die maker—having taken a rush 6 month course during the war. My Mother had no trade or profession. She had left home at 14 to become a nanny-1/2 day off a week, fully responsible for 5 kids and being paid the paltry sum of only $1.50/ week. My Dad was from a coal mining family in Durham, but had been in a mining accident soon after going into the mines at 14. He had never been more than 17 miles from where he was born, but left England at 19 under a population program by the Canadian government. He became essentially an indentured servant bound by contract for 2 years to work clearing the prairie for little money in Western Canada. My Mother’s family had emigrated from England to run a small farm there on the newly cleared land. They never had a successful crop in the seven years they were there before moving to Eastern Canada. Locusts, hail, drought, etc were the yearly yields instead.

My father eventually got a job in the jobbing shops as a tool and die maker and my Mother became the #1 dealer in Michigan selling Stanley Home Products. After living in the trailer 5 years they had managed to save enough to buy a small home—on a 40 foot lot—in a village of 2000 people-Warren, Michigan. She went to and graduated from Beauty School in 1955 and we built her a small shop in the back yard. From there she made the money to put me through college and medical school. My father paid the family living expenses, but was laid off many times-sometimes for 6 months at a time when we would lose our health insurance, etc. I grew up in Warren and went all the way through the same school system to graduate from Warren High School in 1962. Played flute and piccolo in marching Band, attended Interlochen Music Camp, played piano in orchestra, swam butterfly (the first year it became an official swimming event) on the swimming team. Saved for 4 years to buy my own ’54 supercharged Kaiser at 16. I was christened Anglican, grew up , confirmed, perfect Sunday School attendance for 8 years, and choir in Evangelical and Reformed (later UCC) village church. Boy Scouts (only Protestant in Polish Catholic troop), Explorers, Thespians, National Honor Society, Sr. Prom committee, etc. I was in the Methodist Youth Fellowship as our UCC was not very good. I went on a trip to Washington, DC with them at when I was 15.Off to Methodist Adrian College where I met my first black friend (we still are-- he was best man at our 2nd wedding at Starr King 2 years ago). That’s where I began to think for myself and reject the culturally racist attitudes of my childhood. I also saw so much religious hypocrisy that it jolted me to start a search for a religion that preached something in a Sunday sermon that I could use practically in my life over the following week to make the world a little better. I was the first to graduate from college on either side of the family and applied to 17 medical schools—being accepted at 3. I realized I needed to get away—by distance—from my smother mother and picked Oklahoma. My first plane ride was on United from Willowrun Airport in Detroit to an interview in Salt Lake City. My Father wasn’t happy at the cost (they never had their first plane ride for 5 more years), but my Mother said to him—what if this is the one? (I did get on the alternate list at Utah). Oklahoma’s attitude was to HELP students succeed rather than the standard at the time to weed them out early. The draft was going and Viet Nam War well on its way when I graduated from college in 1966. I had actually believed our government—gulf of Tonkin, domino effect, etc, so decided to volunteer for the Navy rather than await drafting into the Army. I had an American great uncle, British Uncle and Canadian Uncle in the respective Navies which made for a family tradition. The Ensign 1915 program allowed one to finish med school, be paid your senior year, and apply for summer clerkships. I received one in 1967 to Pensacola for the greatest summer of my life. Many trips to New Orleans seeing gas stations with 4 bathrooms and separate water fountains along the way shocked me to the realities of segregation in the South. Back at med school in the fall where I had worked incredibly hard the first year—eat sleep and study only— which had put me in the top 10 % of my class. That was the year Miss Oklahoma was Miss America and she attended Oklahoma City University. We had only 5 female students in my class (most classes are over ½ today) and I was so desperate for a date I called up 3 dorms over there for a blind date before finally getting one! The 2nd year was even tougher. My apartment was in what had become an all black neighborhood and I became good friends with the Landlady. I almost went back to Wayne State in Michigan as the social life was SOO barren in Oklahoma. The dean called me in to say he was signing my application to transfer, but they wanted me to stay in their school and the social life should improve the next year as I’d be on call in the hospital every third night. That should allow me to meet student nurses, nutritionists, and a few other female med students. I stayed, he was right and I met Barb 40 years ago this month on a cirrhotic ward in the VA. I asked her to marry me on the 2nd date (she demurred until her birthday in Dec) and we were married by the VA Baptist chaplain in the VA hosp chapel the next April. I wanted us to become grounded in a similar religion before we got married as those who usually put it off till later often paid the price when the kids came along. Being an only child, I really wanted a large family—both biologic and adopted as we realized the problem with overpopulation—and this even at a time when the US had only about ½ the population it does today. We attended a Baptist service which I liked, but thought that calling up for converts—pleading actually- should be restricted to once a month rather than every service. The Methodist minister said at the offering—he didn’t want to hear any change (this when we were living off $200/mo—total). Barb’s Missouri Synod Lutheran had communion every service and demanded to see my membership card before letting me take part. My UCC church welcomed ALL who wanted to partake. The most popular professor in med school had been Gordon Deckert –Chief of Psychiatry. At the end of our freshman year 90% wanted to be psychiatrists (not including me, however). Many of his lectures had been given at the 1st Unitarian Universalist Church of Oklahoma City. I’d never heard of this religion, but thought any church that allowed such practical matters to be presented would be worth some investigation. We went and Bruce Cleary gave a sermon on The UUSC and its work in Biafra and Africa. I thought –now that’s MY kind of missionary work and knowing no more about the religion than that was an INSTANT convert! Barb took a while longer and still—to this day—retains her Christian beliefs. What makes UU’ism so great—is that she can!

We became quite active in the Civil Rights Movement via our friendship with our landlady. We were in several local marches and protest meetings. It’s probably the proudest time of my life. The values at stake are so basic—literally black and white, right verses wrong. So much else in life has had multiple ways of thinking and resolution. Not so the racial justice issue.

We both graduated from OU in 1970 and moved on to an internship and dermatology residency (these were REALLY hard to get—only 187 spots nationwide) at Philadelphia Naval Hospital. We lived in New Jersey the first year and on base the last 3. Barb was once trapped working in a Camden Hospital for 36 hours during a riot there (with my precious Studebaker Avanti parked on the street!). She worked the last 3 at the Naval Hospital where she literally went out the front door and down to work still inside the security fence. We began traveling—first to Spain for a week over Thanksgiving on a charter via the base Oficers club for $195 each! The next year we went to England for 10 days where she met my Grandpa and Dad’s relatives. Then to Russia—had to get special permission from Pentagon to go—and our gift to our Leningrad guide was 10 pairs of 99 cent pantyhose as they were impossible to get there. We traded chewing gum with the kids (Russia wouldn’t import chicle) for red stars and other medals and toured St. Basils cathedral on Red Square. This was when Ivan the Terrible gouged out the architects eyes so he wouldn’t ever create anything as beautiful again. We were members of the Cherry Hill UU church (shaped like a flying saucer) where Keith Munson looked right at me one Sunday (we were in the choir) and I was in uniform. I was to be on call at the hospital soon after service. Keith said- I assume to me--“Damn the War in Viet Nam”. We had our first child—a boy-destined to have Ashburger’s syndrome—near the end of our tour and Keith dedicated him. I visited Keith at his summer home at Ferry Beach 3 years ago and reminded him of both events—he had forgotten the former.

We were transferred to Pearl Harbor where I was Chief of Dermatology and we immediately applied for adoption—and having no racial clauses made it possible to get home study completed. Barb had taken Clomid to have the first child and we assumed the next would take the same. She stopped breast feeding, had one period and was pregnant again! We went to New Zealand on MAC while my Mother came to watch Andrew. We came back 1 month later and Barb had put on 40 #s. She was in pre eclampsia and the Dr. immediately put her in the hospital—right next to the delivery room—as they expected her to have to deliver at any time, but she wasn’t far enough along for the baby to survive. I had to get baby sitters every 3ed night as I was on call then in our ER and she held out 10 weeks before delivering—prematurely---TWINS—much to the shock of everyone. Barb had bled out to a Hct of 16 (normal is 45), and had an out of body experience before they finally got some blood into her. I had a similar experience with an accident and I bled down to Hct of 17 in the same hospital 27 years later! The boy was only 2 #’s and the girl 5#s but developed necrotizing enterocholtis—which meant death during my medical eduction. The new treatment (no surgery) was nothing by mouth, suction, and iv hyperalimentation. The 10th night, she was better, but the iv infiltrated and left her with gaping wound- right to the scalp bone- on her forehead that took a year to granulate in. The boy got up to 4# and was sent home. Barb tried to breast feed both of them, especially Tasha as breast milk best for her with her GI abnormality. They were both home for about 3 weeks and got slight colds. Aaron died of SIDS the next day. I was left with the decision of what to do, so I had him cremated and kept the cremains out of Barb’s sight for the next 25 years until my parents were both buried together on my Mother’s Mother’s grave in Canada. There we had all three attended to at the funeral by an Anglican priest from the church my parents had been married in. We were told SIDS was inherited and the girl was at risk for a year. We had her on a rubber blanket that blew a fog horn if she quit breathing. She kept rolling off and giving us false alarms. The state made our adoption application inactive due to the birth of the twins. We had also applied to Holt Agency and a private lawyer in California. We tried to have more of our own, due to the precariousness of Tasha and not wanting Andrew to be an only child like me. In January, the lawyer from Los Angeles called with the offer of a 3 week old girl with black father and white mother. We’d been trying for about 5 years to adopt and accepted her right off. I flew to California, paid the lawyer, met the Mother who put her in my arms and flew back to Hawaii the same night. It was truly love at first sight and –31 years later I still have the same love in my heart for this beautiful and intelligent woman—who has also given us our only grandchild. We had to hire a family lawyer (from the UU Church) because the father was contesting the adoption. But he never showed for the hearing, so we eventually got to adopt her. In February, we found out Barb was pregnant again and March were OK’d for a Korean boy adoption. He had the same birthday as the twin that died! He came in July and the “twins” celebrated their 2nd birthday August 1st. Our last child-a girl-was born Sept. 21st , Barb had her tubes tied and we left Hawaii—you guessed it—on October 31st—Halloween--,1977 with 5 children under 4 years old and four of them using cotton diapers. We began a solo private practice in Adrian, Michigan and the Navy delivered the washing machine—broken! We had had 2 of the children dedicated in the Honolulu UU Church (where the minister-Dick Allen –was an atheist and his Jewish wife the choir director). We eventually had Trevor dedicated in the Toledo Unitarian Church by Dr. Murray. Anne was dedicated at Lyons, Ohio Universalist Church where our Granddaughter was also 5 years ago –in the same christening gown all my aunts and uncles, mother, as well as Andrew and I were christened in . It is now over 110 years old. In order that they also had Christian backgrounds to choose from, Barb had Christened Aaron before he died, Andrew was Christened in my childhood UCC church, and the other 4 in a ceremony at my Methodist College Chapel with the president- Rev Dr. John Dawson performing the ceremony.

Our 7 years in private practice were most eventful. We found a little Universalist Church in Lyons, Ohio where we were members for most of that time and I eventually became President. The love that exuded in the confines of that 1868 country family church was just infectious. I am a life member and go back to services whenever I am anywhere near. Our kids were 5 of the 7 members of the local Lutheran Church of America children’s choir as the Lyons church had none. Medicine was fast becoming a market driven business with the Reagan years and our county unemployment rose to 26%. We had to find more dependable employment to supply the children with their needed educations, etc. I searched for over a year and finally found a job with Cigna here in Phoenix. We packed up into the 2 largest U Haul trucks they rent and moved here with Barb driving the girls and towing one car and me with the boys in another towing another car. I had joined the Army Reserve while in Michigan and then transferred to the 403ed Combat Support Hospital here. We sold the big hose at $45,000 loss in Michigan, but couldn’t sell the office house. Barb stayed there where she had a job at the local community hospital as night supervisor, and I had all 5 kids down here—alone. All of them at least were starting the same new elementary school and could walk to school. I knew no one here so asked the next door neighbor if she’d sign to come in to pick up the kids in an emergency as they wouldn’t register them without it. Thank Heavens, she was Mormon, used to large families and did sign. She did have to come in 2x that year for me as I worked in Sun City and we lived at Union Hills and 10th St. The next summer we sold the office house for $35,000 loss and were reunited as a family. I must say, I learned a LOT about what Mother’s do—since I was the one that had to do it without the Mother being there. We became active in the monthly SAWUURA hikes by the Paradise Valley Church and I attended weekly Parent’s as Resident Theologian classes—and got lots of pointers from the Mom’s there. We were all in Choir and I eventually was on the SAWUURA board and the Foundation Board. All 5 of our kids took the About Your Sexuality course—one of the best decisions we ever made. I , myself, am a certified OWL instructor for the teens as I took the course at seminary last semester.

We all loved Ray Manker and still are in contact with both he and Gretchen regularly. We both traveled to China, I took Andrew to India and Nepal, Barb took Tasha to Israel, we both took Anne to Australia, Tahiti and Fiji, and I took Trevor with my parents to a Baltic Sea cruise ending in Russia. The for-profit Cigna (versus the not for profit like Kaiser) HMO turned out to be a disaster. I called up Ray and told him of my profound unhappiness with the situation where most things I were being made to do were either illegal, immoral, or unethical. He told me to follow my heart which I did I and then turned in my resignation the next day, still not knowing how I was going to support and educate my family. 2 weeks later I got a call form the Chief of Dermatology at Ft Sam Houston in San Antonio telling me that if I wanted to go back on active duty there were14 spots available world wide. I talked with Barb and pointed out that if Gorbachav meant what he said, we’d not need 300,000 troops in Europe anymore, so the need for my specialty would be drastically reduced. She said go for it, so I applied for and eventually was made Chief of Dermatology at Landstuhl Army General Hospital in Germany. That summer I drove all the kids to Alaska, camping on the way with Barb flying up for a trip to Artic Circle and Denali. We got back 9 weeks and 11,000 miles later. I left for Germany in the spring and had 2 girls over there till Barb came over in the fall with the other 3 kids. We spent 2 magical years there-traveling to all European countries in existence until the Soviet Union fell and experiencing Gulf War ONE first hand as well. I was with the 4 busloads of UUs visiting Transylvania right after the fall of Chauchesque. One Christmas we spent in Morocco-traveling by bus from Germany. We attended the UU fellowship in Wiesbaden irregularly and then started meeting with 2 other UU families in our homes bi weekly. We used Church of the Larger Fellowship materials for our worship, and so were able to keep up with RE for the kids that way. It made me SO grateful to them that I became a board member for 6 years after we came back. On return trip to Germany years later, I made a pilgrimage to the place in Geneva where Calvin burned Dr. Michael Servates at the stake—with green wood—. I also made a tour of the floundering English Unitarian churches and the “Black Hole” of Wales where 17 small Unitarian Chapels exist—with all services in Welsh. I have also visited the Unitarian Churches of the Khasi Hills in India and the U-U churches of the Philippines. I have attended services at over 100 UU churches in the USA and Canada (including 2 of the 3 Universalist Churches there) to compare our various and intriguingly different worship styles. My Father had developed Alzheimer’s and my Mother couldn’t take care of him alone, so we came back to CONUS to Ft. Knox. My Dad died unexpectedly 5 days after my return and I did the funeral service. The books I needed were in transit and so I sent an urgent SOS to UUA headquarters. They sent all 5 books FedEx in time for the ceremony and I later got a hand written note of condolences from Bill Shultz—also an only child. I never did get a bill for those books! Richard Beal (a Universalist) was our minister in Louisville. On a church camp out he suggested I join the Worship Committee. He didn’t inform me that he was going on sabbatical in the spring with the committee taking full responsiblity for all the church services during his 6 month absence! It was a wonderful experience with me preaching and creating the services about 4 times—including a Mother’s Day service that a life long parishioner (with her first child) told me was the best one she’d heard at that church. I think that’s where I got the message that I might do well in UU ministry. When my family left to come back to AZ to start school and I had only 3 months left on my obligation, some Universalists had a weekend retreat in Northern Indiana to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Universalists Church’s founding in 1793. On Friday night they handed out a booklet with about 30 questions/answers in it (published in 1956 by the Universalist Church of America). I read it that night and found I didn’t disagree with ONE of the conclusions. SO-quite inadvertently, I discovered that I was part of this “antique” religion—which has really come to the forefront again in the last few years. After 2 years at Ft Knox I had finished up my Army contract and we came back to Arizona where I played housefather/husband while Barb worked at the VA in ICU for the family health insurance. I traveled extensively and we finally—when all the kids left for college— sold the house and moved into an apt near the VA. I had a small VA disability pension and then when Barb retired, we lived in Hawaii for 6 months. After that we lived in a beach house on Puget Sound for a year before separating for a year when I lived with our daughter in Phoenix. We were members of the Honolulu Church and then the Bremerton Fellowship. I had tried to join the Peace Corps, but was rejected because of physical disabilities. I had had the calling to the ministry several years ago, but thought I was too old. I went to a “Prospective Student Weekend” at Meadville-Lombard just to see how our ministers were educated. I had an idea that because of the security of my Army Reserve pension starting at 60, I could afford to yoke 3 small struggling churches in the South at ¼ time each—leaving the 4th weekend for me to live somewhere else and catch up. I presented this idea at the final tea we took part in and –no one—thought it was impossible. I was in a very unique position--no debts--kids educated, retirement income and health insurance, so didn’t need the regular Fair Compensation Package the UUA requires to assist congregations in obtaining ministers. There still was that age problem but one of the fellows pointed out to me—I’d be 63 at graduation—if I went to seminary or not! Unfortunately, they had a requirement that we take 4 courses at the U of Chicago—for grades. I attended one of these—Old Testament by a rabbi-- 250 students and very regimented. Been there-done that. Spent 1 year of my life studying for Dermatology Boards and didn’t want a repeat of that! Went home and gathered the 4 required UU minister recommendations, then let it pass. I visited Lyons Church minister-Larry Hutchison a year later. First time I’d seen him in 20 years. He wanted to know what had happened to my application. When I told him, he asked me if I’d thought of Starr King? I hadn’t. He said they were on Pass/fail system and very spiritual. I applied, got in, made it through the first semester, and became really enthused to actually accomplish this noble calling. Remarried Barb 2 years ago At Starr King and she started her masters on line in Nursing education on my 62nd birthday. She should finish next April and I graduate next May. I have found 3 little churches that need my help in Mississippi and we hope this works out after I finish my internship with you June 1. Lots left out, but you all get the picture. It’s been an incredibly exciting and adventurous life and I’ve been so blessed.

Now to the Capitol Campaign to provide yourselves with a full time professional minister here at this wonderful church. Dorothy gave me a book to read on Sermons on giving –some by my schoolmates. She also gave me an exceptional DVD of Rev Terry Sweetser on the Liberating Power of Generosity. He talks about 4 topics: Theological model of Ministry and Money, Ministers in Money Management, Ministers mentor the Canvas, and Ministers and their OWN Giving. Most of this is being very well attended to by the committee for this campaign. (Give till it Helps!, the weekly announcements, the penetrating questions about your own and the congregational dreams versus goals, etc). It was pointed out that we all want to see the actual results of our giving. In this case, it is the amount needed to assure a fair compensation to a full time minister for 3 years, after which we all hope the church and its resources have grown enough to continue on with a full time ministry. Giving to big organizations like the United Way, doesn’t give us the satisfaction of seeing OUR money spent on a certain obtainable goal. I decided to tell you about my personal giving to the UUA in various forms over the years, and so fulfill the last topic-the ministers and their own giving. I remember a story about one of my Black female classmates Grandmother. She was poor as a church mouse, but noted that EVERYTHING she did have was a gift of God, and that she followed the Bible guidance that the top 10% of anything she had went to the Lord. I see we only ask here for 5% and that UU’s in general only give about 2%. In contrast to that, 3 years ago I gave away 35% of my income for that year.

At the first Church in Oklahoma City we replaced all the choir robes. We also gave all the choir robes (they’d had none) in memory of my Father to the Louisville Church and the same in memory of Aaron to the Paradise Valley Church (they’d never had any robes, either). I paid for the restoration of the Lyon’s Universalist Church 11 Tiffany Windows. We became Charter members of SAWUURA so that they were able to retire the mortgage and I have offered to fund the proposed lodge to possibly be built there next year. A few years ago, we saw a presentation by UU Pat McCully of California about her Circulo de Amigas center in Nicaragua. She presented a young woman who could go to Medical school, but had no funds. We supported her for 6 years of Medical school and she is now an obstetrician on Jinotega, Nicaragua (I went down for her graduation). One of our Colleagues in Nashville has composed a cantata for the 7 principles. They needed funds at CLF to print these so that congregations could borrow them to produce the cantata and I provided those funds. We here at West Valley may be invited to do this cantata with the Chandler and Paradise Valley churches next spring. The Winchester New Hampshire Universalist Church (where the Winchester Confession of Faith was written in 1803) was up for sale and I supplied the last $4000 needed to purchase it by a group who plan on having it made into a Universalist Trail Museum (Hosea Ballou was born near there). The Univesalist Herald asked for money for an endowment to keep it going and I gave money in memory of my father for this. I am now on the Board of this, the oldest continually published liberal religious magazine in America which has been in print since 1847. A primitive church in the Philippines had been destroyed by hurricane but one whole wall was still needed. It was the best deal of all--$300- to folks that just didn’t have it completed the restoration of their church. My gift to this congregation will be to fund (up to $2000) a Wayside Pulpit sign—provided we can get the proper zoning. That is about 17% of my compensation package here. The UU Pooled Income Fund was established several years ago to capture property, stocks and bonds that had appreciated in value from people who wanted to help the UUA, get credit on their taxes for full amount the property was presently worth, not pay the capitol gains taxes, and get an income off the interest for the remainder of their lives with the principle going to the UUA upon their death. This is, of course, available to any of you also. I started this before we went to Europe with the Army and was blessed with 3 bonuses all the time I was on active duty. I gave all the cash of these 3 bonuses to the UUA and we lived off my regular salary. When I retired, that was my main income which comes in quarterly. I am told, I am the biggest contributor to this fund and that my part ($50,000 earmarked for CLF, $50,000 for UUSC, and $25,000 for Starr King—maintenance fund) is still the largest amount from one contributor. It is now worth $1/3 million. This will go to the UUA and those 3 named divisions when I die.

I had my own an almost impossible unrealistic dream of becoming a physician. This then became our family goal/vision and via the generosity and hard work of my parents, became a reality. I now have another dream which has become the goal/vision of my becoming a UU minister to help 3 small congregations in the South. This goal is coming to fruition because of my own hard work, my Army pension, and Starr King giving me the opportunity to do this at this late stage of life. Just as I have had my dreams turned into attainable goals, you had the dream of becoming a thriving congregation via obtaining the help of a full time minister. You know, and I know that with determination, hard work, and the needed resources provided by your generosity –again from generation to generation--this WILL be done!

Now, in my opinion, everyone in this room is blessed. We have food, clothing, housing, and opportunities that can reach to the stars. I have used my life as an example, but I’m sure each of you could tell a similar story. I know that by your very presence here you are expressing the deep meaning that this religious community has for and to you. You are being asked to not only invest in the future of your religious community, but in the values we all hold in common here as well as hope to make available to even more of our fellow citizens. In the end, it comes down to how you wish to live your life and who you hope to help along the way. Remember the story of The Good Samaritan. He gave the stranger his help—because he was concerned about what would happen to the stranger if he didn’t help versus the others who had passed by because they were afraid what might happen to themselves if they did help. Success here can only mean the betterment of the immediate world around you—and by extension to our larger world. Take the step toward that positive future and it will become a reality when this goal is reached. And do it for your own sake--Give Until It Helps! Amen!!