Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is an important American, and we celebrate his life’s work on the third Monday of January every year.

Martin was born on January 15, 1929, long ago, when people in many parts of America thought it was okay for people with my skin color to discriminate against (or be mean or unfair to) people with his skin color, which was a beautiful chocolate brown.

Yet, Martin grew up believing, like we Unitarian Universalists do, that judging others by how they look is wrong, and he wanted to change how the people of the world treated each other.

So, after finishing college and becoming a minister (like our Rev. Barbara), Martin began acting on his ideas for making the world a better place for all people. He led non-violent (peaceful) protests and marches against war, racism, and poverty. (“Racism” means judging people on their skin color, and “poverty” is when people don’t have enough money for all their needs like food, clothes, housing, and medicine.) He also wrote letters and gave speeches, which he was very good at because his words made people stop, listen, and think about fixing the things that are wrong and unfair in our world. Even the president of the United States listened to Martin and helped pass laws to make sure that people were treated fairly no matter what their skin color. He also won a very important and world-famous prize—The Nobel Peace Prize—for all his good work.

Sadly, Martin was killed by someone who hated him for his ideas and the changes he helped make. So, today we celebrate the life he gave to help make our country a nicer, fairer, and just-plain-better place for every American.

Many people celebrate Martin’s life by gathering to remember him and his ideas, which is what we are doing today in worship circle, but, another way to celebrate Martin when you get older is to do good things to help make the world a better place, like feeding people who don’t have enough to eat, teaching people to read and write, and speaking up when people are being unfair to each other.

Discussion Question:
How would you feel if someone didn't like you because of your hair, skin, or clothes?

On a happy note, two nights after Frances blew through, the tremendous showmanship of Reverend Horton Heat blessed our town with some spirited rockin', and I had the best seat in the house--the woofer! Jimbo even caught my eye above the crowd and sent me that cool-guy-backward nod in addition to some good vibrations. The band rocked the Market Street Pub with a sound greater than the three of them, a synergy of power in an otherwise un-electrified week.

"Our findings were that women don't change their sexual behavior when [the morning-after pill, or Plan B] is easily available, but rather that they're more likely to use it if access is easier," said lead author Tina R. Raine of the Center for Reproductive Health Research and Policy at the University of California at San Francisco.

The study looked at the experiences of 2,117 San Francisco-area women ages 15 to 24 who were randomly put into one of three groups -- one was given the drug to take home, the second could pick it up without a prescription at a clinic, and the third could get it without a prescription at a pharmacy.

The study found that about the same percentage of each group had unprotected sex over a six-month period, that incidence of sexually transmitted disease was equal, and that about the same percentage became pregnant.

Nonetheless, about 37 percent of women in the group given Plan B to take home used it at least once during the six months, compared with 21 percent in the clinic-access group and 24 percent in the pharmacy-access group.

The FDA's initial decision to reject nonprescription sales touched off sharp criticism -- from the FDA's staff and members of its expert advisory panel, among others -- that the agency was bowing to political pressure from social conservatives. In a letter to President Bush, 49 members of Congress asked that the application be rejected.

The medical profession does not consider emergency contraception to be an abortion pill such as RU-486, or Mifeprex, because Plan B works by preventing a pregnancy rather than ending one. But some critics of Plan B consider it an abortifacient.

The new study, being published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association, supports the position taken by much of the FDA review staff and 23 of 27 members of the FDA advisory panel that the drug could be safely and properly used without a prescription.

A special appeal from the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee and the Unitarian Universalist Association:

The images, stories and death toll from the tsunami in South and Southeast Asia have struck us all, demanding a response. The Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, the Unitarian Universalist Association, and the UU Holdeen India Program are all working hand-in-hand with each other, with many of their overseas partners, and with other non-governmental organizations to aid the victims and help restore essential services.

If you've already given, thank you. If not, your contribution now can greatly increase the impact of our work at this critical time. In Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka - throughout the region - your help is needed. Please make a contribution through our website at: [link].

Or, if you prefer, you may make a check out to UUSC, write "Tsunami Relief" in the memo line, and mail it to: UUSC-UUA Tsunami Relief Fund, Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, P.O. Box 845259, Boston, MA 02284-5259 (800.766.5236)

It is important, in the face of such overwhelming tragedy, to affirm our common humanity, and to help one another know that each of us can make a difference. History is seldom made by individuals but rather by the sum of their responses in any situation. In the face of massive need, any contribution - no matter how small - can make a difference. The median annual income of Americans is $37,810,compared to $930 in Sri Lanka or $530 in India. So $100 can be a very significant contribution towards restoring, to the extent possible, wholeness to a family.

UUSC is committed to helping to address the immediate dangers faced by survivors as well as helping restore livelihoods they have lost. Fishing communities in all areas have been hardest hit. Already struggling with poverty, they now find themselves completely destitute. Their dwellings are destroyed, their boats, nets and livelihoods lost and many members of their families are dead or missing. We will be working to help these communities so that the fishing boats can once again provide an income for those who work on them and provide food for the communities surrounding them.

...

In a time such as this I find it helpful to keep in mind some words from the Talmud: "Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world's grief. Do justly, now. Love mercy, now. Walk humbly, now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it."

Your generosity and your force of spirit make our work possible. Thank you.

Warmly,

Charlie Clements

President/CEO
UUSC

...results showed that the top brand, able to take the most punishment, was the Durex Extra Sensitive Lubricated Latex, according to the report.

Other top-performers include the Durex Performax Lubricated, Lifestyles Classic Collection Ultra Sensitive Lubricated and TheyFit Lubricated.

A melon-colored model distributed by Planned Parenthood performed the worst, bursting during a test in which the latex condoms were filled with air.

Both groups were asked to meditate, specifically on unconditional compassion. Buddhist teaching describes that state, which is at the heart of the Dalai Lama's teaching, as the "unrestricted readiness and availability to help living beings." The researchers chose that focus because it does not require concentrating on particular objects, memories or images, and cultivates instead a transformed state of being.

Davidson said that the results unambiguously showed that meditation activated the trained minds of the monks in significantly different ways from those of the volunteers. Most important, the electrodes picked up much greater activation of fast moving and unusually powerful gamma waves in the monks, and found that the movement of the waves through the brain was far better organized and coordinated than in the students. The meditation novices showed only a slight increase in gamma wave activity while meditating, but some of the monks produced gamma wave activity more powerful than any previously reported in a healthy person, Davidson said.

...

"What we found is that the trained mind, or brain, is physically different from the untrained one," he said. In time, "we'll be able to better understand the potential importance of this kind of mental training and increase the likelihood that it will be taken seriously."