Opening Words: The German wildlife photographer Norbert Rosing has a particular affinity for polar bears.  His work has been featured in National Geographic, and in 2006 he published, The World of the Polar Bear, which follows a family of bears over the course of a year in words and pictures.  You may have heard the story I’m about to […]

Opening Words: The abbot of a provincial monastery was in something of a tizzy, because the abbot of his school’s main temple was coming for a visit, and he wanted everything to be just perfect.  He had set his students to polishing every bit of wood, and brass, and gold, and to seek out every single […]

That still, small voice inside of us is like a beam of light, evaporating the chaos of a turbulent world. The way toward our still, small voice is listening to what is inside us with discernment and compassion and believing it. When empowering beliefs seem so quiet and hard to hear but angry, uncompassionate voices […]

Once there was a man, walking along in the countryside, when he chanced upon a woman hard at work doing something which seemed kind of strange.  By the time the man got there, she had already stretched out two long ropes in parallel, staking the ends on either side.  Now she was in the process of laying […]

“Many Meanings of Freedom” A Sermon marking the 450th Anniversary of the Edict of Torda This morning I would like to talk about religious freedom, and how that relates to freedom of conscience, and then the distinction of spiritual freedom.  Three meanings of freedom, with different opportunities and callings for us today. RELIGIOUS FREEDOM Let’s start […]

I want to tell you something absolutely amazing this morning.  Or, to be more precise, I want to tell you aboutsomething absolutely amazing.  You might think that I’m going to tell you about the youth who will be bridging in a moment – and you’re right, I could, they are amazing, and the journey that has brought them to this […]

In April of 1865, at the end of the Civil War, Union troops entered the city of Charleston, S.C.  A great many of the white residents of Charleston had left the city in advance of the soldiers, but the Black citizens remained, welcoming the troops to the city where it had all begun four years earlier.  Among […]

In life, borrowing and sharing are pretty basic. But can we (predominantly white) UUs really “borrow” from other cultures when we’re in a position of power? When does borrowing feels like a form of theft? In his Music Sunday sermon, director of music Scott DeVeaux will explore this, with the choir singing apposite examples. The […]

Like so many things, there are deep roots to Mother’s Day (and yes, the placement of that apostrophe after the “r” and before the “s” is important to story). During the 19th century, there have been several attempts by women’s peace groups to establish a holiday which celebrated peace, rather than war.  It was not uncommon, for […]

This service was a celebration of the 75th anniversary of the formal founding of the congregation. Looking Back; Looking Forward It was the early 1940s, and a woman named Carrie Baker moved to Charlottesville from Montclair, NJ.  In a letter to a friend she said that she liked her new home well enough, except for one […]