Why are some human beings, or families, or communities, or cultures, particularly resilient? Living through difficult challenges plays a part… but the kind of deep resilience that keeps people centered, determined and even joyful does not inevitably result from finding a way through hard times. How can we help one another grow stronger?
When I was growing up, “integrity” meant doing what was right and being a good person. That, in turn, meant a whole host of “shoulds” and “should nots,” which could sometimes make integrity feel pretty heavy. This heaviness could inspire a certain spiritual discipline, making me feel like I was on the right track…but was … Continue reading “Trusting Our Joy”
Celebrating the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is important every year… and never more than now, in this time of heightened dangers for people of color and greater understanding of the persistent costs of our nation’s legacy of slavery and racism. What does Dr. King’s life teach us, and call us to do and … Continue reading “Dreaming the World”
January is a good time to take a step back from day-to-day congregational life and assess how this Society is doing: where you’ve come from during the last decade and where you are heading in this new time. My role as your developmental minister calls me to share my sense of the challenges, opportunities, and … Continue reading “The State of the Society”
It has been many decades since Unitarian Universalism took the bold step of rejecting the need for a creed: a set of core beliefs that announces our religious identity. There were (and are) many good reasons for being creed-less… and it can be confusing, not just to the religious world but for UUs ourselves. What … Continue reading “Believing Whatever We Want?”
Saleemul Huq, a climate scientist, recently said, “Well, I think the year 2019 will, in hindsight, be seen as the tipping point, when human-induced climate change became reality.” The climate crisis we are in appears to be turning into climate collapse. How will we face this? Guest minister Rev. Jane Dwinell will share some ideas.
Running beneath most winter holidays is the recognition of light and dark and the Earth’s movement. The longest night, the return of light – this rhythm affects us deeply, and many cultures celebrate the turning point with story, song, and ritual. Join us for a multigenerational Winter Solstice Service.
Did you know that for a long time in the early decades of European settlement in “America,” Christmas was not regarded as a legitimate religious holiday? Come hear some of the stories of how Christmas became a beloved and sacred holiday in our country, and how Unitarians and Universalists led the way!
Leonard Cohen wrote somewhere that a huge chunk of life is “full of dulling and forgetting. …[W]e lose the gift of speech with animals, … birds no longer visit our windowsills to converse.” Let this holiday season encourage us to explore how human experiences of awe and wonder, fear and mystery, as experienced perhaps by … Continue reading “Awesome!”
Reflections on Advent.
