literature

Kwanzaa Service 2012 UUCFL

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You may or may not have noticed, but there is a busted up lookin' chair on the stage. There's a story behind that chair that goes back to before I was born. Sort of. From before I can remember my mama has been taking me dumpster diving. Bulk trash came around and there we'd be, picking up a chair or a table or a shelf or an entertainment center - and you'd see two women doing their best to strap some bulky something or other to some vehicle that could generally only be described as unfortunate. I thought it was the best thing ever. Man, free stuff? Who doesn't like free stuff? I liked it so much I got my friends in on it. I don't know that their parents appreciated it but that table has what? A few scuff marks and a loose leg? A screwdriver and a walnut will take care of that! To this day, as you can see, I am still rescuing things from the doom of the dump. I've developed a new appreciation for it as the years have passed, though.

It's not just about dusting it off and making do. It's about taking something unwanted and making it beautiful and functional again. It's about breakthing new life into things. Like a stick and some bottle caps becomes a musical instrument. An old cutting board becomes a canvas for some art.

The chair needs some more work. But I guess that's true in life. For as long as you're alive there's always something that could use some tending to.

George Washington Carver said, "no one has a right to come in to the world without leaving behind a distinct and legitimate reason for having passed through it."

I don't know that he'd approve of my interpretation but, for me, if I leave this world just a little more beautiful...and a little less filled with trash, then I did alright.
This was my part from a Kwanzaa service at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Ft. Lauderdale in 2012. The chair still isn't finished yet (it's going to be a planter, ALMOST done) but the painting on the cutting board is in my gallery and the musical instrument will be posted soon (mystery item!).

My part in the service was to illustrate Kuumba or creativity.

"Creativity/Kuumba: To do always as much as we can in the way we can in order to leave our family and community more beautiful and beneficial than when we inherited it."

You can learn more about the Seven Principles of Kwanzaa here.

There was also a write up on this service (which I'm quoted in...weird) in the Sun Sentinel here. Photo here. Video somewhere but I can't find it.
© 2013 - 2024 loralye
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