Tuesday Talk
Beware!
Every now and then a First UUer tells me about being scammed online, on the phone, or by mail.
Every now and then we have a visitor who begs for money as we come and go from church.
Every now and then we have someone who ‘liberates’ us from various items we might have in coat pockets or laying around.
Sometimes the take is small, sometimes large. In all cases, it pays to be careful. Here some guidelines:
– there is a cruel scam going around with people calling from your bank. It is NOT your bank. DON’T give them your information. Your real bank already has your info. Read this article.
– If someone approaches you in our parking lot and asks for money, food, travel or medical expenses, etc., DON’T do it. Ask them to see either Rev. Eric or myself. We have ways to help (and we recognize some of these folks). Also note that sometimes, they use my name or Eric’s and a little bit of church info to lure you. DON’T fall for it. Refer them to us.
– It is always a good idea to keep your valuables with you. We are a busy church with many people coming and going. A little bit of precaution goes a long way.
Your donations to the Ministerial Discretionary Fund (MDF) on Christmas Eve (and anytime) help us give assistance to those in need. We do this on behalf of the church. Mostly this fund is for First UUers, but on occasion we can help others too.
I am writing about this now because not only has the latest ‘bank’ scam been in the headlines with folks losing a lot of money, but also because we had a visitor here last Sunday who worked the parking lot. I know we are caring folks; please be careful. Send them to Rev. Eric or me.
RESOURCES
On Sunday I preached an auction sermon on hope. I promised to share some of my favorite resources.
(two books I mentioned on Sunday)
The Age of Overwhelm by Laura van Dernoot Lipsky
Hope in the Dark by Rebecca Solnit
Others
An Altar in the World by Barbara Brown Taylor
Broken Open by Elizabeth Lesser
How Lovely the Ruins: Inspirational Poems and Words for Difficult Timesedited by Annie Chagnot and Emi Ikkanda
The Places That Scare You by Pema Chödrön
Standing at the Edge by Joan Halifax
Anything by these Authors
Brené Brown
Mark Nepo
Blessings,
Rev. Marian
P.S. Can you bake bread?
For our Sunday services on Nov. 24th, we need homemade bread. Can you help with this? Email me if you can and let me know how many loaf/loaves and what kind. Thank you! |