ChiCago EthiCal humanist Newsletter of the Ethical humanist sociEty of chicago

DECEmbEr 2016

Welcome to Our Sunday Morning Programs in DecemberJESÚS (J.J.) PÉREZ, standup come-dian and professional dog walker, speaks Sunday, December 4th, on “Jesus Walks Dogs.” Resuming our World of Work series, Pérez will describe his unique job as a professional dog walker. He will recount how the joys and travails of holding leashes on the streets of Chi-cago has changed his life.

CHRIS JOHNSON, award-winning New York photographer and filmmaker, speaks Sunday, December 11th, on “A Better Life: An Exploration of Joy and Meaning in a World With-out God.” Johnson will describe how a diverse group of 100 nonbelievers have

managed to lead meaningful and joyous lives—not in spite of their atheism but because of it.

Our ANNUAL WINTER FESTIVAL is on Sunday, December 18th. Kath-erine Ross and Tom Ho-eppner will lead us in our traditional winter solstice celebration. We’ll enjoy a candle-lighting ceremony, group singing, and musical and dramatic performances by our children. As a highlight we’ll decorate a “mitten tree” with donations of new winter clothing and nonperishable food items for people in need. You can bring your favorite holiday cookies, which we’ll serve with fruit and hot coffee, beginning at 10 a.m.

• Our popular monthly Game Night returns on Saturday, December 3rd. We’ll start at 6 and end at 9. Bring your own food and beverage—or if you come by 6:15 you can chip in for pizza. It’s a chance to meet new people and enjoy a variety of games. See you there! • Our next Ethical Humanities discussion, led by Ken No-vak and Sue Sherman, is on Sunday, December 4th, 12:15 p.m. We’ll examine theoretical physicist Leonard Mlodi-now’s popular new book, The Upright Thinkers: The Human Journey from Living in Trees to Understanding the Cosmos, now at libraries and in paperback. Noting that “search for knowledge is the most human of all our desires,” Mlodinow gives new life to the fascinating history of science. • Our Second Saturday Coffeehouse, hosted by Vicki Elberfeld, is on December 10th, starting at 8 p.m. We’ll welcome back the Bittersweet Christmas Band. Phil Cooper, Kate Early, Margaret Nelson, and Susan Urban will delight us with seasonal songs ranging from the reverent to the ridiculous. The $8 donation includes refreshments.• Our Film Discussion group, led by John Ungashick, meets on Monday, December 12th, at 7:15 p.m. Tell us what you think of one or both of these currently playing movies:

Moonlight is the candid, shocking coming-of-age story of a black gay man. Written and directed by Barry Jenkins, its ensemble cast includes Alex Hibbert, Ashton Sanders, Trevante Rhodes, Naomie Harris, and Janelle Monae.

Manchester by the Sea is the poignant tale of a Boston janitor who returns to his hometown fishing village to be-come the guardian of his orphaned teenage nephew. It was directed by Kenneth Lonergan, with Casey Affleck, Lucas Hedges, and Michelle Williams. • Our Creative Writers group, led by Sue Sherman, will meet again on Sunday, December 18th, at 12:15 p.m. You’re welcome to share some of your short, original works with us.

Recent Sunday Programs• CLARK ELLIOTT, professor of artificial intelligence and cognitive science at DePaul University, spoke October

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Other Society Events

The meetinghouse of the Society is at 7574 N. Lincoln Ave., Skokie. Sunday programs start at 10:30 a.m. A social hour fol-lows. For parking, use our lot, spaces at the adjoining store, How-ard St. or Jerome St., or the lot at the Albany Bank. If you need transportation, call the office by 1 p.m., Friday—we’ll try to get a ride for you.

23rd on “The Ghost in My Brain: How a Concussion Stole My Life.” Glenda Kenyon was moderator.

Elliott noted “an epidemic of head injuries,” particularly publicized in football, and recalled his own brain concus-sion, caused by a rear-end auto collision in 2006. He talked about his many resulting impairments, including balance control, persistent pain, poor depth perception and multi-tasking, and inability to plan and make decisions. Despite being told that no one ever does, after two years of treat-ment “I am completely recovered,” he said.

Elliott said “The brain is plastic and adaptable.” Noting that “we are visual-spatial beings,” he described how his neurologist and optometrist used line and dot puzzles and repeated changing of his eyeglasses to enable his brain to develop new pathways for healthy tissue to replace the injured. It is now “well-established science” that “brain injuries are treatable,” he said.“I’m so grateful!” he con-cluded.

• SETH DARLING, a research scientist at Argonne Na-tional Laboratory and a Fellow at the University of Chi-cago, spoke October 30th on “The End of Water as We Know It.” Tim Morrison was moderator.

Darling pointed out the “intimate connection of water” to the historical rise and fall of civilizations. He said water shapes our weather, powers our production of energy, and is necessary for agriculture. He noted that 97 percent of Earth’s water is in the oceans. Fresh water, he said, is locked up in glaciers, in lakes and rivers, and in ground water. He added that with climate change, glaciers are melting, sea level is rising, and more water is being lost to evaporation into the atmosphere. So less is available for our use, he said.

“We face a crisis—the golden age of water is ending,” Darling declared. He noted how Chicago dealt with water supply and waste disposal by its 19th Century reversal of the Chicago River and its current deep tunnel project. He pointed to current “disastrous” political disputes over water rights in the West. He called instead for “a smart policy” of water conservation and pollution control.

• AL YELLON, editor of the “Bleed Cubbie Blue” blog, spoke November 6th on “Bleed Cubbie Blue: A Diehard Look at the Cubs and Their Fans.” Pattie Mackenzie was moderator.

Yellon revisited the Cubs’ “decades of failure” and “the broken hearts of the largest fan base in baseball.” But with the team’s World Series championship this year, he now de-clared, “Some day is today!” He nostalgically recalled his teenage years in the Wrigley Field bleachers. He noted that, after its takeover by the Ricketts family in 2008, the Cubs have been rebuilt, with player development and expansion of the team’s media, marketing, and analytic staffs.

Yellon told many stories about the players. He hailed baseball for not being a “time game,” its slow pace “allow-ing for conversation” by fans. He praised Wrigley Field’s “intimacy and being part of a neighborhood” but regretted that many fans are being “priced out” of seats. He called manager Joe Maddon “a leader of men,” while questioning his pitching changes in the breathtaking final World Series game. He now hoped the Cubs will “avoid arrogance and be good winners.”

• The STORYTOWN IMPROV players presented an in-tergenerational improvisation program on November 13th. Katherine Ross was moderator.

The program began with our Sunday School children sketching and posting their visions of what the world would be like in a thousand years, while the five-person improv ensemble’s pianist played “The Future Is Now!” Accompanied by piano in a skit-like presentation, the play-ers described their work, which they noted is largely based on audience suggestions.

“It’s all made up,” but “we do a lot of practicing,” the group cheerfully explained. “We love playing characters—it’s fun to watch each other.” The resulting improvement in our listening skills “is a help in real life,” they added. Noting that as in a musical “we need a sense of story,” they pointed out that storytelling is an innate part of people’s lives.

Worth Repeating . . . As we emerge from our shock and disbelief at yester-

day’s election results for President of the United States, we must grapple with the reality of what a Trump presidency will bring. While humanists may not agree on every issue, and no matter who you voted for in this election, we agree that the values of compassion, reason, human rights, and equality are the very definition of what it means to be a humanist. . . .

We will fight back against ignorance, racism, misogyny, and bigotry. We will challenge threats against our freedom of speech and freedom of conscience. We will work toward an inclusive America where all of its citizens are treated equally. —This Week, on TheHumanist.com, November 10, 2016

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The Ethical Humanist Society of Chicago, founded in 1882, is a chapter of the American Humanist Association.Officers & Trustees: Katherine Ross, President; Jan Kuhn, Vice

President; Ray Berg, Secretary; John Ungashick, Treasurer; Svet-lana Bekman, Matt Cole, Alan Kimmel, Sue Sherman, Ed Thomp-son.Sunday School Director: Katherine RossYES Advisors: Lisa Crowe, Sharon Appelquist Office Administrator: Sharon AppelquistNewsletter Editor: Alan Kimmel Ethical Officiants: Matt Cole, Katie Merrell

Notices and Announcements• Our Pledge Drive has formally ended. Thanks to the ear-ly response from 50% of our members, we’ve reached 2/3 of the Society’s budgeted pledge amount. Let’s keep that momentum going and preserve more of our endowment interest income for our Society’s future. Follow-up letters will be sent soon to those who haven’t yet pledged. Please remember that our more generous members are gratefully recognized as Pillars of the Society. So let’s hear from you!• Our Ethical Action group is again collecting donations of new or like-new giftable items for adults and teens to stock the Monday, December 12th, Rice Holiday Store in Evan-ston. Children in residence at the Rice Child and Family Center will be able to “shop” there free for their loved ones for the holidays. Please leave your gift items against the back wall of the balcony—by Sunday, December 11th. You can see Marne Glaser for details.• Our Women’s Group meets again on Saturday, Decem-ber 17th, 10 a.m., at Curt’s Café, 2922 Central St., Evan-ston. Join us for coffee and conversation. As usual, no reservation is needed. Just come as you are.• The Society’s YouTube channel is periodically updated with videos of our recent speakers. If you didn’t see Kath-erine Ozment on her book Grace Without God, Geoffrey Stone in his commentary on “Academic Freedom v. Safe Spaces,” or Dana Suskind on her research into children’s brain development, you can watch these and other Sunday morning programs in the comfort of your own home. • Visiting the Society for the first time? Welcome! You may have first been with us at a Sunday morning program, or at our secular Sunday School, or at one of our many activities and interest groups. We hope you have met like-minded people and found the caring, nonsectarian humanist congregation you’ve been looking for. Come to our month-ly Newcomers Chat, where you can learn more about the Society and consider becoming a member. If you have any questions, please email joinus@ethicalhuman.org.• Enjoy the coffee and social hour after our Sunday morn-ing programs. We provide coffee and the bite-sized snacks brought by our members, who use a schedule correspond-ing to their last names: 1st Sunday, A–D; 2nd Sunday, E–K; 3rd Sunday, L–P; 4th Sunday, Q–Z. We thank the volun-teers who help with the setup and cleanup each Sunday.• Getting married? Naming your baby? Having a memorial service? Our Ethical Officiants are trained to perform weddings, baby namings, and memorials. For a caring, secular ceremony, inquire at our office.• Our Tribute Fund is a way we can honor each other—like condolences on the death of a loved one and con-gratulations on a birth, wedding, or personal achievement. Each tribute is printed in the newsletter. Forms are on the literature tables.

• Do you need public transportation to our Sunday meet-ings? A #290 bus leaves the Howard L station at 9:30 a.m. and goes to Touhy and Cicero, a short walk to our building. A return #290 bus to Howard leaves Touhy and Cicero at 1:20 p.m. The Skokie Swift’s Oakton St. station is nearby.• Join one of our committees—like Ethical Action, Development, Sunday Program, Hospitality, Building, Membership, Publicity, Audio-Visual, Adult Education, and Caring. Are you interested? Call Sharon Appelquist at the office.• For a weekly e-mail update on future programs and ac-tivities subscribe to our website: www.ethicalhumansociety.org. For our monthly printed newsletter, a subscription is $20 per year if you aren’t a member, a contributing friend, or new on our mailing list.

Sunday School Scoop . . . November began with a celebration of the World Cham-

pion Chicago Cubs! We made our own Championship Trophy and talked about what it means to us and Cubs fans, past and present, to be a champion. We then decorated paper bags and packed lunches for the Lincoln Park Com-munity Shelter.

During the month, we returned to our focus on Ethical Humanism, with discussions inspired by the recent Presi-dential election, Thanksgiving, and the North Dakota Ac-cess Pipeline situation. We enjoyed one another’s company during the Family Potluck Breakfast and our Intergenera-tional Program featuring the Storytown Improv Group, who urged us to say “Yes, and!” to what comes our way.

December begins with our monthly lunch packing for the homeless. The rest of the month will be filled with prepa-rations for our Winter Festival on December 18th, when we’ll light many candles and sing the darkness away. The children will entertain us with all kinds of performances. Don’t miss it! The Sunday School will be closed December 25th and January 1st for our Winter Break, but we’ll return January 8th to celebrate the New Year!

—Katherine Ross, Director

Who We Are

The Ethical Humanist Society of Chicago is a self-governing, inclusive, caring community—providing a home to those who seek a rational, compassionate philosophy of life without regard to belief or non-belief in a supreme being.We focus on the ethical values that bring people together, not

on the beliefs that keep people apart. In the spirit of intellectual, philosophical, and artistic freedom, we come together to explore life, nature, and the universe.We celebrate births, conduct wedding ceremonies, and host

memorial services. We provide for the ethical education of our children, based on rational, critical thinking. We believe in working together for a better world, and strive to

act so as to bring out the best in others and thereby in ourselves.

Ethical Humanist Society of Chicago

7574 N. Lincoln Avenue, Skokie, IL 60077-3335Phone: (847) 677-3334; Fax: (847) 677-3335Web Site: www.ethicalhuman.orgE-mail: office@ethicalhuman.org

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Ethical humanist sociEty

DECEMBER 2016 CALENDARThe office of the Society is openevery weekday - 10 am to 2 pm.

Call 847-677-3334 with any questions.

2nd SAturdAy CoffeehouSe

8:00 p.m.

SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

film diSCuSSion Group

7:15 p.m.

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BoArd of truSteeS

7:15 p.m.

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10:30 ChriS JohnSon

“A Better Life: An Exploration of Joy and Meaning in a World Without God”

10:30 JeSúS pérez “Jesus Walks Dogs” 12:15 - Ethical Humanities: The Upright Thinkers

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10:30 AnnuAl Winter feStivAl

12:15 - Creative Writers

Golden Rule Sunday School: Sundays, 10:30 a.m. to Noon

Sundays next month: Jan. 8: Alison Sideris; Jan. 22: Patty & Tom Erd; Jan. 29: Deborah Tuerkheimer

no proGrAm

GAme niGht

6:00 p.m.

Women’S Group

10:00 a.m.