Read the Order of Service. Am I in the right sanctuary? I can see that some of you’re wondering. Isn’t this a Unitarian Universalistcongregation? What’s all this talk about “repentance” and “sin” and “God”? In some religious traditions you don’t talk openly about sex, for instance, or social justice. In ours …? Yet we know – or […]
Read the Order of service. Most of us take a lot of care to keep our most wounded, most vulnerable parts of ourselves as out of sight as possible. We want to show the world our strengths, not our weaknesses. Yet all deep spiritualties agree that our woundedness is, paradoxically, our greatest strength. Can our wounds […]
The Chinese philosopher Lao Tse said something that many of us have no doubt seen printed on a refrigerator magnet. The shortest version is: “For there to be peace in the world … there must be peace in the heart.” Yet what is “peace in the heart”? Watch or read the news for even a […]
Read the Order of Service One of the essential teachings of the Buddhist tradition(s) is “dependent co-origination” (Pratītyasamutpāda in Sanscrit). This grows out of, and forms the basis of, Buddhism’s assertion that the fundamental nature of things is “emptiness.” What does it mean to say that everything depends on everything else for its existence? And what […]
Read the Order of service Our seventh principle states that we, as Unitarian Universalists, affirm and promote respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part. Yet we humans tend to talk (and think!) as though we are apart from the rest of the natural world rather than recognizing ourselves as […]
Read the Order of Service We began the month by looking at some of the “gifts” of simplicity, but why do people make such a big deal about it? Why do we put such a high value on living “simple” lives while actually living lives that are just about anything but? Let’s explore this together […]
Read the Order of service. I am embarrassed to say that I had never heard of “Juneteenth” until relatively recently. I keep discovering just how much American history I never learned and, perhaps even more disturbingly, that no one ever thought important enough to try to teach me – all that history that gets lifted up each […]
Read the order of service. There is a midrash on the story of Moses receiving the Ten Commandments on Mt. Sinai which tells of two trips up the mountain. First, it is said, Moses’ sister Miriam went up to receive God’s command, after which Moses re-made the trek. Why? (Hint: It has to do with simplicity.) […]
Read the Order of service. Worship for June 2016: “What does it mean to be a people of simplicity?” The well-known Shaker hymn tells us that it’s “a gift to be simple, a gift to be free.” Just what is the gift of simplicity? What does it have to do with freedom? And how does any […]
Read the Order of Service. Monthly Theme: What does it mean to be a people of blessing? Having spent a month exploring what it means to say that we are “a people of blessing,” some of us may still be wondering about this concept of “blessing.” What is it? What isn’t it? How do we recognize […]
