Knock, knock! Hi there. Did you know there’s only 12 days left until the start of Chalica? You know. Chalica. The weeklong holiday, starting on the first Monday in December, with each day focused on one of the seven UU Principles. You may have heard of it or even remember celebrating with me by watching my daily videos last year. Here is a great article about Chalica: uuworld.org

When creating the RE Vision statement we knew that we wanted to bring attention to celebrating this specifically Unitarian Universalist holiday because the bulk of the celebrating takes place at home. And home is where religious education and spiritual nurturing begin.

This year we want to celebrate together virtually. During the week of Chalica (December 6-12) we will be holding brief evening vespers. Each evening a member of the RE Vision team will lead a chalice lighting at 6:30 pm and talk about ways to recognize the principle of the day. This is such a simple way to recognize and reflect upon the principles by which we live our lives as well as show our youngest UU’s that church is not a building, but a community.

In my home we recognize Chalica by lighting our home chalice, and the corresponding candles, at the dinner table and then using that time to talk about the principle of the day. This is a holiday that is meant to fit easily into your life and bring the light and spirit of community to the forefront. Chalica invites us to put one principle into action each day and set our intentions about how we spend our time and energy throughout the holiday season. There is no special meal that needs to be prepared or gifts to wrap. The only thing you need is your home chalice. Many people also light 7 other candles, one for each principle. They can be different colors or they can all be the same.

Don’t have a home chalice? No problem! Click this link for some great ideas for creating a chalice from things you have at home: esuc.org/making-chalices-at-home OR drop me an email! I have lots of chalica supplies and I would love to share. We can work out a pick up or delivery.

Watch your mailboxes for more information about this year’s 2U Chalica Celebration!

We are also planning a very FUN and SPECIAL service for December 19th! If you’d like to be involved please email dre@2uomaha.org.

Ashleigh Fuson, Director of Religious Education