When we think about the difficult days we have been walking through, it’s natural for us to lament the ways that we have been negatively altered: the irritability that seems constant, the loss of optimism about the future, the sense of dread always hovering in the periphery. We can easily inventory the changes within us that we are unhappy about.
Yet, it’s important to realize that there is more going on here. We can, and we should, consider the ways we have
Have you ever sacrificed your integrity to belong? Have you ever sacrificed belonging for integrity? How might engaging with strangers lead to stronger communities of resilience and flourishing? This morning we reflect on our need to “belong” and its effects on our communities and ourselves.
Trees have profound spiritual significance to most world religions, including Unitarian Universalism. Come join us while we consider the history (roots!) of tree-hugging and the many physical, emotional, psychological and of course spiritual benefits we can enjoy when we “welcome the company of trees.”
Your minister for the day thinks anger has gotten a bad rap. Come join us this morning to consider the positive aspects of anger. We’ll touch upon the benefits and justifications of anger from psychological, political and of course spiritual/religious grounds and deliberate upon the transformative power of sacred rage to help heal our hurting world.
Interfaith and interspiritual minister Becky Suzik explores the mysterious possibility that our sufferings, challenges, and unexpected initiations might be sacred material for transformation. Drawing from the life and teachings of Jesus, the Lakota Inipi Sweat Lodge tradition, and the transformational wisdom of the Butterfly, let us reflect on how pain and suffering sometimes opens us to deeper meaning, acceptance, humility, insight, and even wisdom. Together we will
We’ve each lived with our voice in our heads since the day we were born. It has been our constant companion. We rarely think about it, it’s almost white noise to us. We use it lazily or take it for granted.
We so easily forget the power we hold in our voices, the ways our volume and our silences make such a difference in this life, to those close to us and those at a distance.
It has never been more important for people of faith, morality, and conscience
Pride Month is here, and though much of the next few weeks will rightly be about celebration and visibility for those among us who are members of the LGBTQ community, they are critical days for those who aspire to be good allies and advocates, as well.
We are all facing the question, “Who am I?”
Pride at its heart is about identity; about fighting to ensure that everyone can live into their truest truths without fear or hindrance. It’s important to remember
Together let’s explore the many ways we experience Love through family, friendship, romance, compassion, and community, and the shared wisdom found across the world’s faiths and philosophies calling us to treat each other with dignity, empathy, and care. Beneath many traditions and differences, there may be one guiding principle capable of transforming both our relationships and our world: Love.
When we look around right now, it seems like there is nothing but terrible disaster, endless suffering, perpetual injustice.
Our timelines, news shows, and our heads are filled with the cruelty and inhumanity around us, so much so that it can feel as though all is lost; that we are in a hopeless spiral downward with no way of recovering.
But that is only part of the story. There is a dissenting news feed that is filled with reasons to be hopeful, if we’re able
Emerson said “Every church has a membership of one.” We UUs are encouraged to build our own theology. We give ourselves permission to do this, but how many of us take the time to consider the various theological elements and what we might put in place of—or re-insert with a different interpretation—those religious elements we perhaps rejected from our childhood or previous faiths, or just build completely new ones? We’ll reflect on this this morning.
You are invited to come home to yourself through a full spectrum of our senses. Beyond sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell we each have human capacities for varying ways of experiencing life: our sense of balance, our awareness of movement, our innate knowing … subtle signals within our human experience.
War is everywhere right now: in the Middle East, on the news, in our tiny screens, in our communities, and in our hearts.
From morning until night, we are immersed in conflict and cruelty, trying to figure out how we should be responding, the wisest use of our lives, what we can do to change anything.
For many of us, a sense of helplessness comes easily, but it doesn’t have to.
How do peace-making people navigate these days of prolific war?
LOVE.
It is a word we’ve overused and cheapened: a convenient catch-all label for everything from the food we enjoy to the shoes we found online to the people we hold in the deepest recesses of our hearts.
It is the stuff of cable TV movies, overplayed pop songs, massive ad campaigns, and candy-coated holidays.
Love is ubiquitous; it’s literally everywhere… and, yet, it feels like we’re starving for it.
But what is the nature of and shape of love in its purest form?
This service invites us to notice our inner lives with honesty and compassion. Drawing from Theravada Buddhist teachings on mindfulness and equanimity, we shall reflect on forgiveness, witnessing our thoughts, and focusing rootedness in peace to calm our monkeyminds. Rev Becky shall share some history and teachings from the Walk for Peace monks.
Often when we hear the word “resistance” we think of the most politically charged and publicly visible examples of activism. But sometimes the most critical protest begins at home, with a resistance to our usual patterns that get in the way of all that is good in our world.
Join us for a seasonal service weaving Christmas, New Year, and the solstice. Together, we will share a fire release ceremony, and moments of joy as we let go what no longer serves and step towards the new year with warmth, and renewal.
