Read the Order of Service The theme of ministry in our congregation this month is Peace. Peace can be considered on many levels: international peace, national peace, congregational peace, family peace, and inner peace. Its this last one that I want to focus on today. Peace is great when it is truly present: we have ease […]

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 […]

Our fourth principle states that we affirm and promote a free and responsible search for truth and meaning. Is that the same as becoming wise? How do we distinguish wisdom from knowledge? Join us this morning as we explore how this spiritual community supports us in becoming wise. Rev. Jamie McReynolds was our preacher.

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 Thanks to Christine Gresser for brainstorming and reflecting together and contributing metaphors and phrases for this sermon. THE ROAD MORE TRAVELLED The poet Robert Frost wrote a poem called The Road Less Taken about a traveller who comes upon a fork in a road.  The traveller considers options for a […]

Read the Order of Service. As we prepared to celebrate our nation’s birth, we considered what it meant to be independent—as individuals, as a denomination, and as a country. How might our legacy of independence be keeping us from reaching our full potential? Is it time to move beyond independence to interdependence, and if so, what […]

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.) […]