World Naked Bike Ride

I hade a tremendous time participating in Ottawa’s 4th edition of the World Naked Bike Ride (WNBR) last summer and I am excited that this year’s Ottawa edition of the WNBR is just around the corner. In fact this year’s Ottawa addition, Ottawa’s 5th edition of the WNBR is coming up on Saturday June 13th. For all those unfamiliar with the WNBR, well it’s firstly a naked as you feel comfortable bike ride. But it is way more then that. It is also a fun protest against car culture, oil dependency and a fun celebration of the human body. Yes people in about 70 city in both hemispheres do this event in early summer. Some editions are small and some like the ones in London England and Seattle Washington are big ones which have grown to have quite a festival type of atmosphere with music from local artists and body panting before the actual ride throw the heart of the city begins. So if you would like to find out more about this fun event and to find out if there is an edition happening near you this year just head over to the WNBR wiki.

I am going to read the Bible in 90 days…

I have discovered this Bible reading program called The Bible in 90 Days. It divides the Bible into 88 day chunks, with two lag days, thus it enables you to read the Bible in 90 days like its name applies. And yes I am going to attempt to do this program starting on Monday, meaning I should be finishing reading the bible by the end of August. As one who was raised in a Unitarian Universalist community, I did not get much bible education back in my childhood Sunday school’s religious exploration classes. Well except a bit about Moses, the Passover story and yes the Christmas story. So this is going to be quit a learning experience for me. So why am I embarking on this summer reading challenge? Well the more I hear about liberal Christian beliefs, especially Trinitarian ones, the more I find myself feeling yes these things seem right for me. So I am going to read the bible to find out more about them. Yes there is nothing better then an exploration of the sources of something to understand it better. And the bible translation I have chosen to use is the New Living Translation. So at least ons or twice over this summer I will post about this. And I will do a overall review of this and post it in early September. So if you won’t to take this challenge up too, just head over to BibleGateway.com and search for 90 Days under the Reading Plans section. And yes you don’t even need to own your own copy of the bible because over on BibleGateway.com you can choose from many of the most popular translations and read it right there in its entirety.

Devin Murphy’s List of Life Goals (Version 1.1)

This is a revision of my personal list of life goals. If you go here and have a look at the original incarnation you will notes that their were some things on the list that I have removed from this list do to the fact I did not have the financial ability to attend and the resulting fact they have taken place with out me being at them. Also you will notes I have added an item to the list as well as completing one of them.

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What fallow is a list of goals to which I hop to achieve. And some of these goals are short-term goals achievable in a few years, months or even just weeks. But others are more long-term goals only achievable by the fruition of some of the short-term goals. And it is worth noting that this list was inspired by a workshop, which was port of a coming of age retreat to which I helped to facilitate not this Fall but last Fall. And it is also worth noting that the very workshop that inspired this list was itself inspired by the one and only John Goddard and his “Life List” of 127 goals to which he wrote way back in 1940 at the age of 15 will living in LA. It is as well worth mentioning he has to date completed 104 of his 127 goals. Now I am not saying that I will necessarily be like John and complete the majority of my goals, but I do hop to complete a godly some of them over the coming years of my life. Ok I am only 26 not as young as Goddard was wen he wrote his list but I still think I am young enough to make a big bent in my list. A list to which I am sure will continue to wax and wane as I complete and add new stuff to the list and from time to time even removing a few items from the list whether do to an inability to no longer achieve them or a change of interest on my part.

Devin Murphy’s List of Life Goals

Things To study/research:
-The long-term affects of bullying on the bullied
-Learning styles
-Teaching styles and teaching techniques/approaches
-The causes of bullying
-From grate masters in the felled of education (I have yet to determine who the masters are but I will and then I will study/learn from a few of them)

Things To Accomplish:
-Open an alternative high school and tech their
-Marry and domestically adopt two children
-Became a Unitarian Universalist youth adviser
-Read the bible, both the new and old testaments (in 90 day)
-Have some of my art displayed in the lounge at “My Church” the First Unitarian Congregation of Ottawa as the fetched artiest of the month
-Put out a CD of original poetry and/or songs
-Finely get the “Secondary Potential” web site on line (I completed this task)
-go to university (Concordia in Montreal, Quebec) to study and get accreditation to be able to teach art at a secondary level (i.e. in high schools)

Events to Attend:
-The CUC ACM 2008 in Ottawa from May 16th-19th (I completed this task)

Do lifelong UU identifying young folk feel connected to UUism?

I thick before I go any further I should disclose that I was raised in UU community. So here goes. This is what I have to say. And I mean no offence to by it.

I feel to often UUs (individuals and their communities (churches, fellowships and societies)) go out of their way to make newcomers feel welcome. This is done throw providing things like special green mugs during the Sunday fellowship hour and courses such as “Introduction to UUism”; intended to give them some further knowledge on their new spiritual community and the history of the religion it’s a member of (UU). This is all fine and well but sometimes it feels to me that this is all done at the expense of the needs of the ones who grew up in UU communities. Well maybe this is only do to the fact that most of those that are active in UU communities came as adults having either grown up in another religious tradition or a lack of one, that this mite be going on. I mean maybe the adults are thinking on an unconscious level that you can’t expect to find the spiritual fulfilment that is right for you in the places you grew up in, you see we didn’t.

So I am not suggesting we as UUs stop trying to welcome new people and our attempts to help them feel welcome in our midst. But I do think this will never help UU communities to grow which, I always hear is a big goal for UU communities and the wider UU movement. Well I mean that they will never grow unless we try and respond to the needs and honour the religious/spiritual discovers made by those of us UUs who went throw UU religious exploration classes and YRUU. Just tack a look at the current results of this poll being don on FUUSE the online community for UU and Unitarian youth and young adults. It should be noted that most of the members of FUUSE either have gone throw the YRUU experience and or a young adult one modelled after the YRUU one. So what is this poll saying? Well, it asks the question “Do you feel yourself connected to Unitarian Universalism?” and these are the options and the results (as of 10:45 pm EST).

“Yes, better than ever 34 (28.10%)
Sometimes 25 (20.66%)
I used to, but not so much anymore 37 (30.58%)
Nope 16 (13.22%)
No, I never identified as a UU 0 (0.00%)
No, I’m in the process of finding a new faith community 9
(7.44%)”

So as you can see out of the 121 respondents 62 (51.24%) a little over half of them are struggling with their connections to UUism or have decided it’s better to go look for a new religious/spiritual community and another 25 (20.66%) only feel connected to UUism sometimes. And 34 (28.10%) said “Yes, better than ever”. So what does this all tell us abut the way UU treats its young long time members? Well if the results of this poll are representative of UU identifying young folk (and I think it is) then I feel UUism and its communities thy have a major problem which needs urgent addressing if UUism is to stay vibrant and flourish for a long time to come.

Devin Murphy is declaring he now forgives all his former bullies.

Devin Murphy is declaring he now forgives all his former bullies. I posted this as my status on Facebook on Tuesday evening; in fact it’s still listed as my status today. Yes it’s a bold statement to make but it’s something I now feel I most declare to the world. Yes I can’t let the hurt that was afflicted on me by those who did bully me continue to hold me back from moving my life forward. I mean I may never understand why they did hurl all that shit at me. And I may never think it was nice or even something the school system should have turned a blind eye to, but what is don is don. And who in their right mind wants something to have a hold on their life forever, yes forever preventing them from making their life into a real top-notch success. Well I do not want that. In fact what I want to do is create environments for young people to learn in safety, both physical and mental safety. Yeah my schooling was vary unsafe for the must part well mostly in high school. Look it was not all bad. It’s just that the bad times they really heart my and over shadowed any chance of me getting all the good I could have otherwise gotten from the experience. So I am going to start in the next couple of weeks the process that will get the ball rolling for me to hopefully go to university at Concordia in Montreal this coming fall to study to be a high school art teacher.

I know I haven’t posted here in a long time…

I know I haven’t posted here in a long time. But I will try from now on to post at least one post every couple of moths if not one every moth to this blog. And I know I posted this youth and young adult resolution hear that I said I wanted to try and get passed at this years Canadian Unitarian Council’s Annual Conference and Meeting. But I have not been able to get my act together to put it forward for consideration. And further more I am not even able to go to the conference this year after all. Oh well at least there is a birthday party for my Nana happening in Toronto the same weekend, the May long weekend, that shooed end up being quit a good time. Well maybe I will make it to Thunder Bay but not this year.

My new sister blog

I have started a sister blog to this one. But unlike this blog, this new one of mine it will have a more focused reason for being. And that reason for being will be to serve as the online home of my new Unitarian Universalist (UU) journey, which I am dubbing UU Quest along with the blog itself. And this new journey in brief will seek to understand the needs of raised UUs wen it comes to them being full and active members of UU communities. It will also be seeking to help strengthen the aspects and components of UU, which are authentically unique to it. And this blog will be the repository of the stuff-gathered throughout this journey.

I’m bringing copies of my resolution to the CUC ACM

I’m bringing copies of my resolution (the “Youth and Young Adult Empowerment Resolution”) to the Canadian Unitarian Council’s (CUC) Annual Conference and Meeting (ACM) in the hopes of spreading the word about it and it’s importance. As I have already stated in some of my previous posts, I am planing to get it on the agenda for next year. But what I have not mentioned is the process I most fallow to have it put on to the agenda. Well my resolution is not a General Social Responsibility Resolution and I was tolled it is not a Social Responsibility Resolution without Notice, so then what is it? Well apparently it is a Social Responsibility Resolution with Notes. So what dose that men? Well it means that in order for it to go on the agenda it must be sinned by at least 15 delegates, which represent at least 5 congregations, and this most be don by the time all the delegates are chosen. Apparently this is 3 months or so before the CUC ACM. And the sinned copes most be sent to the CUC’s offices in Toronto ones they are sinned. Well in order for it to be approved in time to go out with all the other resolutions in the pre-ACM packet which is sent to the congregations and their delegates.

Well how do I know this to be true? – Devin Murphy’s credo statement

Believing there is a purpose to this life is one of the things that keeps me going on. Well wen I say I believe that there is a purpose to this life I am in no way saying that I believe that all the things to which we experience or will eventually experience are predestined. But rather that the mere fact that us human beings are living this collective thing we call life must be in someway not an accident. And to me it’s only logical that if it’s not an accident that we humans are living this life then a force or creature that’s greater then us must have had a hand in this. I say force and creature not forces and creatures because I can’t imagine a set of something’s greater then us agreeing on the creation of such a being as us or even just a process which ultimately led to us. Yes it must have been a process not an end result that led to us. And the evidence which we have had to date has led must of us to believe in this thing to which we have dubbed evolution. And yes evolution is just the work of this creature or force unfolding. And this force or creature I choose to call it God because that is what we humans have daubed it for millions of millennia. And yes I would say that God has three parts. The first being God the crater, i.e. that part of god which put evolution into motion. The second being Good the corrector or redeemer, i.e. that part of God, which tries to bring its creatures, back from destructive ways as well attempting to assist them to never be destructive again. So the third and final part of God I believe it to be the spirit of God, i.e. that part of good that is within all of us. And I believe that God the spirit gets put in us by us coming into contact with the results of either God the creator or God the corrector. But I also believe that there is another force, one working against the forces of God as well as those who have been touched be it’s spirit. And this force is one, which feeds us lies and deceit in order for us to help it destroy us and this beautiful creation to which we find ourselves living in. And those who give into this force become its agents or henchmen going around putting dawn others, the other animals and even this world to which we inhabit. And I call this evil force the Devil seeing that’s what we humans have daubed it for many billions of generations. So what happens wen we cease to live this life thing? Well, our bodies they decompose becoming fertiliser for this planet of ours. And then out of us comes our souls. Yes I believe we all have a soul of our own. And I believe they are something which gives us our easiness and wen we die I believe they get judged. And if we tried to be good in our life it goes to live for eternity in God’s home, the place we humans have daubed Heaven. And if we were not good then it goes and toils forever in the Devils realm, yes the place we humans have dubbed Hell. Well who do I know this to be true? Well I don’t know if it’s really true. So then why do I believe this? Well because I just have a feeling I must.

Youth and Young Adult Empowerment Resolution Canadian adaptation – condensed version

After reviewing the Canadian adaptation I made of the Youth and Young Adult Empowerment Resolution written by Victoria Mitchell and Kimberlee Tomczak as well as their newly edited and condensed version, I came to the conclusion my adapted Canadian version it to could be condensed as well. So here is a condensed version of the Youth and Young Adult Empowerment Resolution Canadian adaptation. And I hope a finale version will be ready for adoption by the delegates at next years Annual Business Meeting of the Canadian Unitarian Council tacking place in Thunder Bay over the May long weekend.

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Youth and Young Adult Empowerment Resolution

WHEREAS the future of our organization benefits from the full participation of youth and young adults to enliven, grow and sustain our Unitarian Universalist movement, principles and ideals, including the use of the democratic process within our congregations and society at large; and

WHEREAS Youth and Young Adult empowerment is an attitudinal, structural and cultural process whereby young people gain the ability, authority and agency to make decisions and implement change in their own lives and the lives of other people to create multigenerational equity; and

WHEREAS unique opportunities at the congregational, regional, national and continental level for youth and young adult self-direction create synergy for a larger youth and young adult identity and promote communication and connections between local youth and young adults across the nation and the continent;

BE IT RESOLVED that the delegates at the 2009 Annual Business Meeting of the Canadian Unitarian Council mandate the Canadian Unitarian Council and its member congregations to:
1. Invite ministerial support to youth and young adults through inclusive worship and intentional presence; and
2. Invest financial support in youth and young adult, regional and national leadership bodies when viable; and
3. Provide and promote youth and young adult conferences, leadership and spiritual development events on the regional and national level including appropriate resources to insure they are accessible by all youth and young adults who which to attend them; and
4. Provide support for youth and young adult staff and volunteers to receive suitable training and resources; and
5. Support youth and young adult self-directed anti-racism and anti-oppression work; and
6. Provide and support Our Whole Lives for both youth and young adults; and
7. Attend to the needs of youth and young adult constituents with marginalized identities by providing resources and opportunities within the congregation and at the regional and national level; and
8. Establish and maintain a formal process of cooperation between the Canadian Unitarian Council and the Unitarian Universalists Association and its affiliated organizations (such as YRUU and C*UUYAN), with the stated goal of insuring long-lasting and healthy continental programming for both youth and young adults.