Henry David Thoreau wrote, “If you have made castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.” I cannot tell you how many people, over the years, have told me that they discovered Unitarian Universalism at some...
Dear TJMC-UU Community, The past months have seen tragedy after tragedy wearing at our everyday existence…Cville August 12, Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Puerto Rico and now Las Vegas. It would be easy to try to minimize, to compartmentalize and to just plain give up...
In the fall we will be examining and exploring issues of identity. Each month within the season we’ll use a different image to help shape our journey of discovery. For October, the image is “roots.” If you want to continue, and deepen, your personal exploration beyond Sunday mornings, here are...
Nearly every religious tradition we humans have ever developed has had some way of describing the concept of there being a true, authentic self (who we really are), and a false self (who we are conditioned to appear to be). There are different terms used for these two states of...
“Water Like Memory” I am fascinated by water. Its patterns and dynamics are at once calming and stimulating. Water is ever changing and what lies beneath its evocative surfaces is never fully revealed – a mystery that drives my recent paintings. With camera in hand, I have spent many hours...
On Sunday, September 10th I began our formal recognition and celebration of the 25th anniversary of our Director of Faith Development, Leia Durland-Jones, beginning her ministry to and with this congregation. Here are the words I said: The people we’ve just honored are among the many ministers of this congregation. ...
Jonathon Blake is a University of Virginia graduate who has lived in Charlottesville for the last 20 years. Growing up in Mechanicsville, Virginia, he made the move from his hometown in 1998 while attending the university. Drawn to art, writing, mixed media and a variety of other expressive outlets from...
On Friday night, August 25, Hurricane Harvey made landfall as a Category 4 Storm and brought with it deadly winds and rain to an area of the United States millions call home. Much of the Texas Gulf Coast has been impacted and communities in Louisiana and across the state of...
In our worship life for the past several years we have participated in a program called “Soul Matters.” Developed at First Unitarian Church in Rochester, NY, Soul Matters provides monthly themes as a way to help focus worship so as to correct the all-too frequent model of jumping around week-to-week...
Our image/metaphor informing our worship this month is a bowl. You can take this into your life beyond Sunday mornings by musing on questions such as these: How many kinds of bowls (with how many uses) can I think of? Do I have any kind of association with a bowl?...