SaturdaySpecial: #Crochet #PlasticBags

Posted on November 2, 2019 by spiritualcincinnati

New Church of Montgomery Board Member, Gloria Shepherd took time out of her Saturday to share a special skill: Crocheting sleeping mats made of plastic bags!

These mats require some basic materials:

About 800 plastic bags! (collect them from your friends, collect from the Kroger plastic bag recycling bin or purchase them online)
Sharp scissors
Size 8/9/10 (approx) Crochet hook
Patience!

You will begin by gathering clean, un-ripped plastic shopping bags. Flatten them, making sure the rounded sides are tucked in. Stack them by threes. Flatten again and cut off the handle end and bottoms of the bags, making straight cuts.

Fold them in half lengthwise twice. Then, cut them into 2″ strips, discarding any that are jagged or not strong enough.

Next tie the strips together with knots (see video 1) and continue making a chain. Eventually you will have a ball. This project will use multiple “yarn” balls.

Make a side knot for your crochet hook, to begin your first chain (see video 2.)

To discover how to make a crochet chain stitch, see video 3:. Make about 75 chains to create your beginning row. It should be approximately 36″ (3 feet long).

Begin your next line of crocheting by hooking into the last hole of the line you just created. You will then make a double chain, which you will pull the “yarn” through. Continue along that line in the same fashion. When you reach the end you will make a single chain stitch and start the third line! Make an extra crochet chain stitch at the end of each subsequent line to create room to line up with your previous line.

When your mat is done, the dimensions should be 3′ x 6′, and you can donate to Matthew 25 Ministries or give them to a person experiencing homelessness!

Cutting into your folded bags: 2″ strips

Plastic strips, still folded up

Plastic strips, unfolded

Beginning “yarn” creation

plastic “Yarn” ball

Loop for your crochet hook to fit into

Stay tuned in the months ahead to see the finished product! Learn more about basic crocheting here!

Organizations in our city that help the large population of un-housed people.

https://bethanyhouseservices.org/

http://www.shelterhousecincy.org/

https://www.lys.org/services/shelter-and-resources-for-homeless-young-adults-18-24/

https://cincihomeless.org/

http://www.iamsomebodyministries.org/

and more…

#FridayFeeling #Up or #Down?

Posted on October 11, 2019 by spiritualcincinnati

“We’re chasing money and possessions. Not service, not purpose. If we have a purpose at all, it’s to make ourselves happy. But if there’s one thing I know, it’s this: You’re happiest — as well as most beneficial to society — when you’re doing things to help others.” -Esther Wojcicki

Read the whole article here.

#ThursdayThoughts: Let’s Work Together

Posted on February 21, 2019 by spiritualcincinnati

In case you missed it, here is the order of service from Sunday, February 17, 2019.

February 17, 2019, Layperson Leader: Maggie Panyko

Opening Song: Let’s Work Together, by Canned Heat

Candle Lighting:

1. We light the first candle to honor the good and truth to be found in all spiritual traditions.

2. We light the second candle to honor the earth and all of life as the creation of the Divine—the one Lord and God of us all.

3. We light the third candle to honor and support the variety of individual paths which, together, make our one spiritual community.

4. We light the fourth candle to honor and provide an open and safe place for all who seek greater understanding and a life of deepening spirituality.

Opening prayer: Trusting Guidance, (pg 136, Uplifting Prayers to Light Your Way) by Sonia Choquette:

Holy Mother-Father God, Divine Loving Light and Heart of the Universe,

I humbly ask for the healing power of your grace to help me turn all my goals and intentions over to you. Grant me the ability to quiet my mind and tune in to my heart so that I may receive your guidance and trust the outcome. Please send in your angels to allow me to release my limiting ideas and open up to your unlimited ones. I thank you in advance, with my whole heart and soul, for answering my prayer and guiding me to a brighter path. Amen and with infinite gratitude.

Opening Poem: No Man is an Island, by John Donne

No man is an island entire of itself; every man 
is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; 
if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe 
is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as 
well as any manner of thy friends or of thine 
own were; any man's death diminishes me, 
because I am involved in mankind. 
And therefore never send to know for whom 
the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.

The “Our Father”: We will read the Red, our understanding of the prayer is in Black.

Our Father	The Lord is our heavenly Father
who art in the heavens	The Lord is in the heavens.
hallowed be Thy name	Let Thy name be kept holy.
Thy kingdom come	A wish for the church to come on earth as in the heavens.
Thy will be done	The Lord’s will is to give us the happiness of heaven.
as in heaven so upon the earth	Do the Lord’s will as the angels do.
Give us this day our daily bread	Food for the body and food for the spirit.
And forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors	Our praying must be in the spirit of forgiveness.
And lead us not into temptations, but deliver us from evil	A prayer for the perpetual presence of the Lord to guard us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom	We seek to enter into the Lord’s kingdom.
the power	All spiritual power is from the Lord alone.
and the glory	Divinity is the Lord’s alone.
forever	The idea of eternity must be present in our prayers.
Amen	“It is true.”

Message with Service:

We come today and all Sundays to be open to the Word of God and strive to make our will worthy of a life fully lived. If we are to love our neighbor, we should be willing to use our talents, to not only improve our lives but those of others around us, our neighbors.

So today, we will do a little brainstorming. A little networking. A little helping. A little offering of ourselves and our talents. To learn that to by having faith in God, we are opening to being led to use our naturally-given gifts, and also those that we’ve worked hard at learning, to make a little headway towards Heaven on Earth.

In this effort: I would like to ask you to:

Introduce yourself

Say what are you good at

What are your gifts, your hobbies, etc.

What kind of jobs have you done?

And after we go around the circle, if someone has a problem, big or small that they feel comfortable presenting, please do, so we can be of help. We can work for a little on each one and if two people find they are working together on a problem, they can break off and work together and we will start on a new one.

These could be pet problems, working to understand others, how to get started on something, where to find a resource.

Let’s begin! Problem solving…

Offertory/Meditation Hymn: Long Way Off, by Gungor

Closing Prayer: Finding Solutions (pg 191, Uplifting Prayers to Light Your Way) by Sonia Choquette.

Exit/Closing Song: Put Our Heads Together, by The O’Jays

The service was more open-ended than we planned, so we ended up exploring our connections versus our problems (within the time constraints). It was enjoyable.

Photo by rawpixel.com on Pexels.com

#FBF #Cincy #Trivia @MacDowellColony

Posted on February 2, 2018 by spiritualcincinnati

What famous local chanteuse, was a pianist and composer (also a Swedenborgian,) a two-time president of the Woman’s City Club, and took over Thomas James Kelly’s position for a time at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music?

Corinne Moore Lawson.

A gifted pianist, she is her own accompanist in recitals that have won instant recognition among the musically cultured everywhere. Mrs. Lawson is prominent on the Faculty of the Conservatory of Music, is a member of the Cincinnati MacDowell Society and was, for two years, President of the Woman’s City Club.

“At Home with the Enquirer.” Cincinnati Enquirer, 5 June 1927, p. 17.