Category: Sermons / Services

The Pausing and the Pressing On

“Should I stay or should I go now?” The Clash asked this question in 1981 and we’re still asking it today. As we move through each day we are surrounded by need, by pain, by things that break our hearts and call us to move. Though some things merit our urgency and should propel us into immediate action, we can’t be in perpetual motion. That is not sustainable. Sometimes the most pressing need we have is to stop and tend to our own bodies and souls. How do we care for people outside our windows while still honoring the person in the mirror?. When do we pause? When do we press on? Let’s figure it out together.

The concept of pluralism celebrates that we are all sacred beings, diverse in culture, experience, and theology. This morning we’ll reflect on how ageism, with its pervasive stereotypes of each generation, hinders the potential found in our congregations.

The words we use have a profound impact on shaping our reality: they not only reflect but also co-create the world around us, and influence our experience of it.  Words can energize… words can deflate.

Join Interfaith Minister Becky Suzik at UU PEACE Fellowship to uncover how the words we use and the stories we tell ourselves shape perceptions, relationships, and collective experiences.

We won’t be here forever.  Sadly, we are not a permanent presence. But that doesn’t mean our lives aren’t incredibly meaningful: to those we love, to those we cross paths with briefly, and to a nation and planet that we get to steward during our time here. We have inherited this place from those who came before us and we will leave a legacy to those who follow. The beautiful things are in our hands.

Interfaith UU chaplain Rev. Colleen Clark explores the concept of “disenfranchised grief”- the kind of grief that is not openly acknowledged, socially validated or publicly mourned. These are hidden but significant sorrows, the losses of marginalized grievers.

Spring cleaning for your mind and spirit Rev. Becky Suzik considers the role nature plays in our daily lives. How might we find greater joy and meaning through the land we live upon and our personal awareness with nature, flora and fauna?

In a world where deciding what to watch on Netflix often feels like choosing a life path, saying “Yes” to this service may lead you to reconsider the power you have through two simple sentences: Yes! No!

Interfaith and Interspiritual minister Becky Suzik will share stories, readings and insights into the sacred art of decision making, when—if done with intention—might help you live with greater meaning, purpose, and–dare we say—joy?!

Will you watch this… Yes or NO?

Love.

We use that word all the time:

We love our partners.

We love our kids.

We love the beach.

We love cheeseburgers.

We love

It’s easy to misuse love, to overuse it, to forget how powerful a word it is and just what it requires from us.

Let’s talk about love: about what it means, what it asks of us, and how we love hateful people.

The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” remains a timeless and influential document that continues to inspire us and our movement seeking justice, equality, and positive social transformation. Written in April of 1963, the 27-page letter’s relevancy today should be revisited and read anew in the ongoing strides for civil rights, human dignity, and a more just and inclusive society. Join Interfaith minister Reverend Becky Suzik this Read more

Love is the power that holds us together and is at the center of our shared Unitarian Universalist values.  Yet often we forget to extend that love to ourselves.  This morning we’ll reflect on what that might look like.

Standing on a pedestal in the Musee d’Orsay in Paris, a statue of the goddess Isis lifts her veil to reveal just a glimpse of herself.  The sculpture – Nature Unveiling Herself To Nature – reminds us that the mysteries of life that sustain us call for curiosity, reverence, and celebration.  This morning we reflect on the wisdom and art of being able to say, “I don’t know”.

In the Beginning with Sue Hansen

UUPF History with Tim Hansen

Joan R. Gelbein’s Celebration of Life ceremony happened at Unitarian Universalist PEACE Fellowship on Saturday September 9 2023. Officiated by Reverend Becky Suzik. The full order of service can be viewd below.

The table is an image often used to speak about access and opportunity. It is the place where people are seen, heard, and respected.

We know that the table is still neither open nor available to everyone, which is an invitation to each of us.
As people of faith and conscience we seek to be people of the bigger table, to make a way for diverse humanity to experience the fullness of life here.

Every Voice in the Read more

Sermon from Little Big Trees service at UU PEACE Fellowship, Raleigh North Carolina with Reverend Rebecca Suzik, July 30 2023

Little Big Trees
Did you know that North Carolina is home to one of the oldest trees on Earth? Yes, a 2,624 year old Bald Cypress at a mystery location upon the Black River, a tributary to the Cape Fear River. The United States also boasts other aged and grand trees including the Coastal Redwoods and the Giant Sequoia trees of California. Join Reverend Rebecca Suzik Read more

We often look around at the world and feel as if life is out of control, like so much that happens is beyond our reach, like we are powerless to change everything

We’re not wrong when we feel that way.  That’s actually the good news.
Much of life is out of our control.  But we shouldn’t lose heart because of that truth.  Instead, we should embrace how much is within our hands.

Did you know that North Carolina is home to one of the oldest trees on Earth? Yes, a 2,624 year old Bald Cypress at a mystery location upon the Black River, a tributary to the Cape Fear River. The United States also boasts other aged and grand trees including the Coastal Redwoods and the Giant Sequoia trees of California.

How are we to change the world…as Unitarian Universalists? Let’s explore how we might ground ourselves in UU theology and its guidance for us as we work together for a just, peaceful, and ecological world.

We are in this together.

We and the people we love.

We and the people we don’t like.

We and the people we can’t stand.

Our interdependence isn’t optional. It just is. We are all tethered to one another here in this life, and even when we do our best to silo ourselves off, that distance is only an illusion. Right now it seems like we’re fighting with someone all the time or they are fighting us. The challenge is to remind ourselves that ultimately Read more