Presenter: Bob Craft, Service Associate: Michael Swords
Using his own memories as examples, presenter Bob Craft will suggest that using AI to seek context around historical events we lived through may help to bring back fading details and memories of our personal stories attached to them. He will also present evidence that AI can reframe memories of difficult times in history by integrating them into a larger context, suggesting that even in dark times there is hope and reason to believe that not only have we have survived but can and will flourish individually and as human society

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We will explore whether AI is truly conscious or merely mimicking human traits. The discussion will be based on an article in Noema Magazine entitled “The Mythology of Conscious AI.” The session focuses on the distinction between data processing and actual experience. Thank you to Trudy Crippen for finding the article. This month is an experiment in concentrating on one article, albeit highly detailed.

Read the full article at https://www.noemamag.com/the-mythology-of-conscious-ai/.

Moderated by Bob Koches

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Presenter: Rev. A. Shirley, Service Associate: Hyacinthe Miller, Musician: Wiley Beveridge

The Rev. Sarah A. Shirley, Rector of St. Andrew Anglican Church will be the guest speaker at the Lake Chapala Unitarian Universalist Fellowship on Sunday, May 24. Her presentation will address such questions as, What is unity? Is it achievable on the earthly plane? Is it something which human beings actually desire? Her message is informed by the controversial nature of ‘unity’ as a spiritual principle, which made worldwide news in January 2025 when The Rt. Rev. Mariann Edgar-Budde preached on it at the (U.S.) National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. The response? A mix of kudos and death threats. Shirley’s talk explores the concept and value of unity in light of these responses, as well as other local aspects of how unity is at work among both the Anglican and UU congregations here at Lakeside, along with the mutual values each group cherishes.

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Presenter: Richard Clarke, Service Associate: Carol Johnson.
Richard Clarke will explore the Tibetan Book of the Dead as a guide not just for dying, but for living with clarity in the later years of life. Drawing on Tibetan Buddhist wisdom and the open, questioning spirit of Unitarian Universalism, he shows how the “Bardo”—the space between what was and what comes next—perfectly describes the transitions of aging. The talk offers practical insights on meeting fear, letting go, facing the mind honestly, and supporting each other through life’s biggest changes. It’s direct, relatable, and grounded in real experience—an invitation to approach the final chapters of life with steadiness, curiosity, and an open heart.

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Presenter: Rev. Matt Alspaugh, Service Associate: Jane Castleman
What are the questions you live with? How do you cope with the lack of answers, with uncertainty, and doubt? Many people ‘find religion’ because they are uncomfortable with those unanswered questions, they want certainty, some form of truth. Many others ‘lose religion’ because they realize that the answers they were given don’t really work for them, so they’d rather just live the questions. Many of us in this congregation are like that. So, how do you live the questions? How do you dwell with not knowing? How do you inhabit this very contingent, uncertain world? We may not be able to answer these for you, but we hope to leave you more comfortable with the questions.

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Presenters: Elly Contreras, Joan Fletcher and Ann Godshall

This introduces a new nonprofit initiative at Lakeside called “Lakeside Memory Neighborhood” which seeks to bring compassionate culturally responsive dementia care for all those facing this affliction in our neighborhoods. The three-part presentation spearheaded by LCUUF member, Elly Contreras, along with her collaborators, Joan Fletcher and Ann Godshall will feature the Montessori approach for offering effective care for those living with dementia and their families.

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Presenters: Elly Contreras, Joan Fletcher and Ann Godshall
Service Associate: Tim Boeve

This service will introduce a new nonprofit initiative at Lakeside called “Lakeside Memory Neighborhood” which seeks to bring compassionate culturally responsive dementia care for all those facing this affliction in our neighborhoods. The three-part presentation spearheaded by LCUUF member, Elly Contreras, along with her collaborators, Joan Fletcher and Ann Godshall will feature the Montessori approach for offering effective care for those living with dementia and their families

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Peter Jeschofnig : Presenter, Lamar Allen: Service Associate

In 1964, at the age of twenty-one, Ajijic resident Peter Jeschofnig spent six months as a volunteer at Albert Schweitzer’s legendary hospital in Lambaréné, Gabon — one of the last people to know the great humanitarian personally before his death in 1965.

In this talk, Peter reflects on Schweitzer’s remarkable life: his parallel careers as theologian, philosopher, Bach scholar, and physician; his founding of the Lambaréné hospital; and the philosophy of “Reverence for Life” that guided everything he did. Drawing on personal memories of daily life at the hospital — caring for injured chimpanzees, attending Schweitzer’s evening table readings, and sharing private walks with the man himself — Peter offers an intimate portrait of a towering figure seen up close. The talk concludes with a reflection on why Schweitzer’s ideas feel more urgent today than ever, in an age of ecological crisis and the need for genuinely engaged lives.

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Hosted by Bob Koches.
Are we transitioning from being a product of evolution to being its architect? Are we no longer waiting to see what nature does to us; are we deciding what we want to become. What will a future Human look like?

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Presenter: Rev. Tim Boeve, Service Associate: Ted Fahy,
Musician: Wiley Beveridge

Two ways of being are available to us and we see both on display in today’s world of politics, daily living, and in nature. The Rev. Tim Boeve will speak to these two ways in his message, Pro Bono, Quid Pro Quo and Us. One of these ways is transactional, the other springs from grace. Both have their place, albeit one requires a return on an investment and the other predominantly feeds the human spirit in ways that benefit both the giver and our world’s needs, without expecting anything in return.

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Presenters: Frank Watson, D’Vorah Kelley, Bob Koches
Service Associate: Bob Craft

Each of us is on a spiritual journey. Each of us is following our own path through life. Join us Sunday, April 12 as three of our members of the Lake Chapala Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Riberas share their personal spiritual journey and how they ended up becoming UUs. Mary Doane will be the musician.

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Talk by Matt Alspaugh.
When the world seems more disordered than ever, when life seems more challenging, more difficult, when hope is hard to find, maybe we can tap into hope’s near neighbor, possibility. “Why not?” is the question we might explore as we open to what might be possible in our lives and in this current world.
We’ll also touch on the messages of possibility in the two great seasonal stories: the Jewish Passover week, and the Christian Easter week (and yes, they are interlinked). However we might approach these stories, as metaphor, theology, narrative or fiction, we’ll look for the thread of possibility that runs through them.

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Rev. Matt Alspaugh, Presenter, Michael Swords Service Leader, Wiley Beveridge, Music

When the world seems more disordered than ever, when life seems more challenging, more difficult, when hope is hard to find, maybe we can tap into hope’s near neighbor, possibility. “Why not?” is the question we might explore as we open to what might be possible in our lives and in this current world.
We’ll also touch on the messages of possibility in the two great seasonal stories: the Jewish Passover week, and the Christian Easter week (and yes, they are interlinked). However we might approach these stories, as metaphor, theology, narrative or fiction, we’ll look for the thread of possibility that runs through them.

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Rev. Matt Alspaugh, Presenter

When Unitarian minister Rev. Norbert Capek created the flower service that we continue today, he asked people to bring flowers of their own choosing from their own gardens or from a field or roadside. The diversity of the flowers was important, for it symbolized our diversity, and how we all can make a contribution with our diverse gifts. Please bring a flower, of any kind, to the service if you can; however, extras will be available.

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Hosted by Bob Koches
We'll delve into its remarkable advances, from curing genetic diseases to enhancing crops, while grappling with profound ethical questions like equity, consent, and the boundaries of human intervention. Grounded in Unitarian Universalist principles of justice and compassion, this discussion invites your insights on balancing innovation with our shared humanity.

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Presenters: Rev. D’Vorah Kelley and Joyce Kinnear
Musician: Wiley Beveridge
The Earth is forever turning, bringing us the seasons. Join us to celebrate the arrival of Spring through song, readings and meditation at this Spring Equinox. The equinoxes were seen as times of balance, beauty, and renewal. The spring equinox was associated with abundance and wholeness. For ancient peoples, these moments marked the transition between seasons and symbolized harmony between light and dark. Victor Hugo said that, “The equinox is nature’s truce, a momentary pause before spring unfolds its radiant tapestry.”

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Rev. Matt Alspaugh, presenter
Mike Blanco, service leader: Note, his mic is echoing badly. I could not remove it, sorry.

There’s a Zen story about a man asks the great master Ikkyu to write him a teaching of great wisdom. With his brush Ikkyu writes just the word, “Attention.” Dissatisfied, the man asks, “is that all?” Ikkyu writes again, “Attention Attention.” The man grouses, “that doesn’t seem profound at all!” So Ikkyu writes “Attention Attention Attention.” Finally, in frustration, the man demanded, “What does this word ‘attention’ mean?” Ikkyu’s reply was simple: “Attention means attention.”
What is this attention? It’s not just a zen thing. We’ll look into paying attention, how to do it, and why it is important for us and this fellowship.

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Service Associate: Priscilla Taylor

Dr. Robert Waldinger is Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, Director of the Lifespan Research Foundation, and Director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. He is author of ‘The Good Life: Lessons from the World’s Longest Study on Happiness’. This service will feature a Ted Talk in which he will share the lessons learned from 8 decades of research about what makes a good life, a happy life.

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Presenters: Trudy Crippen, Mardele Harland, Fred Harland
Service Associate: Lynn Cleek

Which came first, 20 years ago, being a Unitarian Universalist fellowship or being a community? This service is the story of what happened when a small group of UU’s in a small town in Mexico met to share a vision.

Six people met in February of 2006, and came out of that meeting with a clear decision and direction. Their purpose, their mission, was to form a Unitarian Universalist spiritual fellowship based on their shared experience of what that meant.

Trudy Crippen and Mardele and Fred Harland were three of the founders who will share their journey, beginning in the early years, and touching on milestones along the way, as well as their hopes for the future. Others who were there in that first year will also be recognized.

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Intelligentization (a new term) refers to the increasing integration of advanced AI and intelligent systems into human society, reshaping how we think, decide, and connect. For our February UU humanist discussion , it raises profound ethical questions about preserving human agency and values like empathy and justice amid AI-driven efficiencies, forcing us to explore whether technology enhances or erodes our shared humanity.
Moderated by Bob Koches

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