bby Eoin Carroll

Many of the environmental problems we have today have a common cause, habitat loss and what we have replaced that habitat with.  Some of these problems are:

• Reduction of bird species
• Loss of insects especially pollinators
• Increases in flooding
• Excess sediment and nutrients draining from our watersheds
• Native trees and shrubs at risk from imported insects and diseases

We have replaced our forests and meadows with lawns, trees, and shrubs from Asia, Europe, and South America.  They were picked for their decorative value with no thought to how they will interact with the native ecosystems. In doing so we have created ecological deserts.  These plants are unable to support the complex food webs that are necessary for healthy ecosystems.

An even larger problem is that some of these non-natives become invasive and cause a great deal of damage.  They are laws that prevent me from throwing my garbage over the fence into my neighbor’s yard.  However there are no laws keeping me from planting a highly invasive shrub like Japanese Barberry that produces a lot of seed and has become a serious problem in our forests.

Even if we had the political climate that would support creating new national parks, they would still be too small and separated from one another to preserve native species in the amount needed.  What is needed is to restore some of the habitat in our front or backyards to support our endangered world.

However this doesn’t mean that you have to remove all of your landscaping and replace it with expensive native plants.  Most homes today have a lot of lawn.  If you are using it then great leave it alone.  However if the only time you walk across it is to mow you should consider replacing parts of it with native plants.  If every homeowner would replace 10% of their lawn with native plants we would have the equivalent of a really large new national park, hence the name Homegrown National Park.

This new park would also have the very important function of creating corridors for our native species.  You can think of each of them as being part of a puzzle that once assembled will produce a lovely picture.  You can learn much more at the website homegrownnationalpark.org.

I recognize that getting started can be scary and you may feel pretty intimidated by the task.  I recommend that you start small.  A great way to start is to add rather than subtract.  Try some native trees or shrubs.  Later this summer the Master Watershed Stewards will be having our native tree and shrub sale.  You place your order on-line and then pick-up the plants on a date in the Fall.  I will send out more information when it is available.

The Master Watershed Stewards also has a native plant sale which has just started.  There are five different kits featuring a selection of native plants for different types of locations.  They are being sold as plugs which is a great way to buy native plants, although you do need to baby them for the first couple of months.  The sale will go on until July 4th or until we are sold out.  You will pick up the plants in September which is a great time for planting native plants.  Please talk to me if you would like to know more.

by Lilly Gioia

It’s a joy for me this morning to bring our congregation some really great news for a change. Last Monday the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania ruled that our state’s long ban on public funding for abortion care through Medicaid is unconstitutional! A 4-3 majority opinion ruled our state constitution under the PA Equal Right Amendment, enshrines a “fundamental right to reproductive autonomy” and that a ban on public funds for abortion is unconstitutional.”

Here in Pennsylvania, our courts have made this landmark decision to protect the right of pregnant women to CHOOSE to have an abortion. This truly has national implications.

Under the PENNSYLVANIA ABORTION CONTROL ACT OF 1982, public funds were forbidden for abortions with very limited exceptions. Seven years ago in 2019 a group of medical care providers filed a lawsuit, arguing this law effectively served as an abortion restriction on women in poverty. This case has been argued by the PA Women’s Law Project, a group our congregation recently donated to through our Sunday Contribution for a Cause. As a long-time member of our UU Justice PA Reproduction Justice Task Force and supporter of the Women’s Law Project, I can’t tell you how thrilled I was to open an email Friday that said:

"Dear Lilly,
It’s been a beautiful, uplifting week celebrating our victory with you and advocates across the country. This ruling’s majority opinion is a powerful recognition of reproductive autonomy as a fundamental right: 
Recognizing this fundamental right to reproductive autonomy ... is necessary to restrict state government to its proper sphere, thus protecting our liberty, Judge Matthew Wolf, a Democrat, wrote. “This will mean that the state will face judicial scrutiny of its attempts to coerce reproductive choice. THOSE CHOICES ARE THE PEOPLE’S, NOT THE GOVERNMENT’S.”

The Court found that denying Medicaid coverage of abortion care constituted
a “sex-based discrimination” that failed to hold up to legal scrutiny. The Women’s
Law Project case argued that “There is no comparable exclusion of any health
coverage – reproductive or otherwise – for men.”

Also, Medicaid coverage is provided for pregnancy and childbirth for women who carry a pregnancy to term, “but the Coverage Exclusion forbids coverage of abortion unless the mother would otherwise die or the pregnancy results from rape or incest.” The medical costs of coverage a pregnancy and childbirth far exceed the cost of an abortion.

Governor Shapiro welcomed this ruling saying, “I’ve long opposed this unconstitutional ban, and a governor, I did not defend it – because a woman’s ability to access reproductive care should never be determined by her income.”

by Jenny Blanchard

During my childhood, my parents took my brothers and me on a trip to Washington DC, a journey that so many American families make, to view the monuments, the Smithsonian Museums, and the seat of government. As we were standing on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, we saw several federal workers assembling Easter lilies (it was springtime) in the shape of a cross. My father, ever the rebellious spirit, went over to speak to the workers. When he returned, I asked my father about the conversation. I then received my first lesson on the separation of church and state.

While Easter lilies in the shape of the cross on the grounds of a federal building may seem like a relatively benign example of a religious display in a public institution, we are now confronting a very real threat to our democracy from the religious right in the form of Christian nationalism, and there is nothing benign about this movement.

Christian nationalists subscribe to the notion that the government of the United States should declare America a Christian nation and that U.S. laws should be based on what they define as Christian values. Most alarming of all, they believe that God has called Christians to exercise dominion over all areas of American society.

During the second Trump administration, leaders of federal agencies have started hosting official worship services in government buildings led by Cabinet members during work hours. At one of the Department of Defense monthly Christian worship services, Secretary Pete Hegseth framed the war in Iran as divinely sanctioned, repeatedly invoking “God’s almighty providence” and expressing certainty that God is on the side of the US military. The defense secretary has promised to give “no quarter” to the “barbaric savages” of the Iranian regime and called on the American people to pray for victory “in the name of Jesus Christ”.

The Department of Homeland Security and ICE have consistently misused Bible verses in their public communications to legitimize attacks on immigrants. In ads posted by DHS to their social media account, dark images of helicopters and masked federal agents ominously scroll as the narrator quotes from Isaiah: ”Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I; send me.’

Christian nationalism activists are at work in American education, from posting the Ten Commandments in classrooms to requiring Bible studies in public schools. Proponents of Christian nationalism vigorously advocate for banning books in schools and libraries. They pressure educators to avoid teaching, or to alter, historical facts about slavery and race in America.

The Christian nationalism movement has led to discrimination, and at times violence, against religious minorities and the nonreligious, women, and members of the LGBTQ community. One of the most damaging actions Christian Nationalists took was to fight public health orders designed to protect all Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic. Christian nationalists ignored health precautions, based on their misguided belief that "God's chosen people" are protected from illness.

If my father had stood on the steps of the U.S. Capitol on January 6 of 2021, he would have been shocked by the signs displayed by the insurrectionists: a wooden cross and wooden gallows; “Jesus saves” along with Don’t Tread On Me;” Christian flags and Confederate Flags; even a prayer in Jesus’ name after storming the Senate chamber. The floral cross he objected to years ago might have seemed a minor issue compared to these violent images and hate-filled rhetoric.

But the principal remains the same: The United States was not founded to be an officially Christian nation or to espouse any official religion. The individual rights and diversity we enjoy cannot be maintained if the government takes on the trappings of a faith-based state.

by Eoin Carroll

Let me start by saying that if you want to know more about rain barrels the Penn State Extension website has a ton of information in a variety of forms.  Today I have only a couple of minutes so I am just going to stick with a few highlights.

The three biggest benefits of having a rain barrel is that it conserves water, it reduces pollution, and finally that the water is really great for your plants.

Conserving water has many benefits.  If you are on a well, as I am, then you know how conserving water is always on your mind.  Even if you are on a public water system, conservation helps both in reducing the demand and in saving the energy it takes to pump that water to your house.

A rain barrel reduces pollution in two ways.  As I’ve mentioned in some of my previous talks, the major way that excess sediment and nutrients end up in our waterways is through a process called surface transportation.  The water captured by your roof and channeled through your gutters is then usually directed to a lawn or driveway.  Here it can easily pick up plenty of pollutants.  By capturing some of that water you will lessen that problem.  This is especially valuable for small rain events.  The first flood of water will catch and transport the most pollutants.  By capturing the entire rainfall this can completely eliminate this source.

If you live in a city with storm sewers, those sewers are normally connected with the sanitary sewer which then goes to a treatment plant.  This is called a combined storm sewer system (CSSS). When it rains it is very easy to overwhelm the capacity of the wastewater plant and when this happens untreated sewage is discharged into our rivers and creeks.  In a built-up city environment this can happen with even very modest amounts of rain.  Having a rain barrel can help reduce the number of events.

One of the biggest benefits of having a rain barrel is how good this water is for your plants.  It makes sense that this is exactly the type of water plants were designed for.  It is perfect for pots, hanging baskets, and gardens.

Rain barrels are quite easy to build.  The Penn State Extension website has articles on this and also has rain barrel kits for sale.  I will use one of the kits after the service to hook up a rain barrel for use by our new pollinator garden.  Please come take a look if you have the time.

For more information on how to install a rain barrel, check out Install a Rain Barrel in the Projects You Can Do section of our Watershed Circle page.

by Lilly Gioia

USA Today recently reported on a new study by a think tank called Groundwork Collaborative. They looked into what they call the "high price of annoyance."

I don’t know about you, but I think the list of annoyances we’ve accumulated in recent decades has an impact of the quality of our lives every day. First, I am sick to death of TV commercials about medicines. Anyone watching TV coming to America from somewhere else, must think our entire country is sick, sick with itchy rashes, or constipation, or allergies or every disease under the sun.

But the Groundwork Collaborative attempted to quantify what it called “a torrent of small abuses” familiar to most consumers. They include the time we lose dealing with unwanted robo-calls, junk emails and scams. It was estimated that collectively this costs us $166 BILLION a year in lost time and money.

Waiting on calls with health insurance companies is bad for our wallets too costing $216 billion a year. Junk fees tacked on to bills from ticket providers, hotels, and other transactions add another $90 billion.

Here's how much the 'annoyance economy' costs consumers:

• Junk fees: $90 billion a year 
• Phone scams: $25.4 billion 
• Calls with health insurance administrators: $21.6 billion 
• Waiting for medical services: $19.4 billion 
• Robocalls: $8 billion 
• Waiting for government services: $1.6 billion 

According to the think tank this is getting worse. Over the past two decades, for example, time spent on the phone with customer service agents has increased 60%.

Personally I believe these frequent frustrations are a result of business consolidations and monopolies. A few mega corporations control too much. With reduced competition, customer service has so deteriorated. These huge companies don’t care how much our time is worth or how long we sit waiting on hold because they won’t hire adequate staff. What we really need is trust-busting, and corporate reforms, but I’m not holding my breath.

America’s ‘annoyance economy’ is booming. Here’s how much it’s costing you. USA Today

Taking on the Annoyance Economy  Groundwork Collaborative

by Eoin Carroll

Fireflies, lightning bugs, glow worms, whatever you call them are for me one of the highlights of the Summer when I see their almost magical flashing in the evening.  Of course, as a beginner naturalist, the first thing that I have to point out is that they are neither flies, bugs, or worms.  Instead they are a type of beetle. There are more than 2400 species of fireflies in the world and about 30 in Pennsylvania including one that is our official state insect.

They are not threatened but their numbers have been declining due to the very familiar problems of habitat loss and increased pesticide use.  Before I talk about what you can do to help fireflies, it helps to understand more about their lifecycle.

The fireflies you see flying around and perched on vegetation are the adults.  The flyers are the males who are flashing in order to find a female to mate with.  The perching firefly is a female who will respond to a flashing male with a flash of her own.  Each species of fireflies has its own specific flashing pattern which is how the female can detect whether the flash she sees is from a suitable male.  This mating time is the shortest part of their life cycle lasting only a couple of weeks.  Many fireflies will not feed at all during this time but some will occasionally feed on nectar.

Once mated the female will lay her eggs on wet ground or on organic matter.  The eggs too are bioluminescent although they emit a much softer glow.  The eggs then hatch in a few weeks to a couple of months and the newly hatched larva then burrows down into the ground.  The larva also glows giving it the name of glowworms.  This is the longest part of its lifecycle as it stays in this form for between six months and two years and is the stage when it needs a steady supply of food.  The larvae mostly eat the decomposers of the food chain; worms, snails, slugs, and sometimes other firefly larvae.  Finally the larva pupates and from the pupae an adult emerges with a very short time to find a mate.

We can help the fireflies by improving their habitat.  An important step is to avoid over tidying of our landscape.  When we remove all of the leaves and plant matter then we are removing the food that the decomposers (the worms, slugs, snails) eat.  This eliminates the larva’s food source.  We are also sometimes inadvertently removing the firefly eggs and larva.  So leave the leaves when you can.

We are also killing the fireflies with pesticides.  Spraying for mosquitos is not only ineffective but it is very indiscriminate in its killing of all sorts of insect life.  This also applies to lawn chemicals and agricultural pesticides which can be quite deadly to larva.

The last major issue is light pollution.  The firefly’s mating signaling of flashing can be easily outshined by night lighting which is magnitudes brighter and blinds the female from responding to the male’s flashes.  Installing timers or motion sensors on your outdoor lights can help reduce this problem. 

by Brian Dugas

The Social Action Committee initiatives Meeting next Tuesday: Immigration, Voting, the Environment. Things are starting to move, people are waking up to the risks we face. Some of the things I want to share.

UU the Vote- We’re investing in the foundations of a democratic society–care, relationships, safety, and collective action. UU the Vote 2026 will feature three critical elements to advance our values:

1. Voter Contact: Scaling our impact to reach millions of voters, combat suppression, win critical ballot measures, and fortify state and local partnerships.
   
2. Community Mobilization: Organizing public actions and gathering to build relational power, and creating hubs of democratic activity that last far beyond Election Day.
   
3. Community Safety: Equipping our communities with tools, training, and strategies to stay safe—at the polls, in the streets, and wherever democracy is under threat.
   

March 25, 2026 8:00 PM - 9:30 PM ET
Our faith calls us to build a movement beyond voter turnout. It calls us to strengthen relationships, shared leadership, and durable infrastructure that build and sustain democracy. Join us for the launch of UU the Vote 2026: Ignite Solidarity, Reimagine democracy -- an expanded program to meet this moment and the next. Learn more about our collective commitment to strengthening democracy and mobilizing our communities for the season ahead. The work will require clarity, discipline, and bold public witness. But the foundation is already beneath your feet. You helped build it. And we will meet this moment — as we always have — with moral grounding, strategic focus, and love powerful enough to shape public life.

I know that many of us are asking what’s next for UU the Vote. The answer is clear: we’re going to continue to organize. In this spirit, I am excited to announce that we have signed on to participate in the April 5th “Hands Off!” day of action. On Saturday, April 5th, communities nationwide will take to the streets to deliver a clear message: Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and their billionaire allies must stop undermining our democracy and our rights. This mass mobilization is a collective stand against the dismantling of essential services, healthcare, jobs, and democratic structures.

Poll Working - Poll workers fill a vital role in our communities, ensuring that polling locations are sufficiently staffed and the nuts and bolts of election day go as smoothly as possible.

Letter and Postcard Writing - Writing postcards and letters are one way to make sure potential voters have timely and accurate information to make their vote count. Postcards and letters can reach voters for whom we don’t have phone numbers and/or cannot be reached through door-to-door canvassing. We partner with the Center for Common Ground and Vote Forward for this work!

Vote Forward runs numerous RCTs (randomized controlled trials) to test the effectiveness of our voter turnout programs. Then, in our continued pursuit of innovation and commitment to transparency, we share our learnings with our volunteers and supporters, peer organizations, and the public.

Since launching in 2017, Vote Forward has been committed to scale, impact, and partnership. We’ve written over 40 million letters to voters with the help of over 285,000 volunteers and numerous nonprofit, political, and corporate partners ranging from Patagonia to Daily Kos to the Milwaukee Bucks and more. Now we’re hard at work developing new and innovative tactics for the upcoming election cycle. Volunteer-powered, Evidence-driven, Collaborative and Innovative.

Singing Resistance - A choir is forming in Honesdale, and all are welcome to participate. No experience required. The choir is being organized in response and in solidarity with a national movement of citizen singers called Singing Resistance. Led by theatre artist, Tannis Kowalchuk, the choir will develop a repertoire of songs (learned by ear) that gives voice to our concerns about rising authoritarianism and threats to democracy. The intention is to develop a group of singers that can join public gatherings such as No Kings Day and other events where music can be used as a tool for positive action, community strength and connection. Practice takes place Monday nights at 6 PM at Dem Headquarters 967 Main St. Honesdale starting February 16th. Let’s join together to breathe joy and song into the resistance, and to uplift and center our message of equality. Road Trip.

The Johnson Amendment 1954 prohibited all 501c3 organizations from participating in political campaigns or endorsing /opposing candidates. Loss of tax exempt status 2025 policy shift IRS clarified that houses of worship may now endorse or oppose candidates during religious services without losing their tax exempt status. IRS now treats internal communications to a congregation during worship service as a family discussion rather than prohibited political intervention.