So many people in this country see diversity as a strength and understand that a safety net for the most vulnerable is a sign of a caring nation. For such ideals, the election delivered difficult news. Many are in retreat, cursing the darkness, vowing to socially hibernate for the next four years. But this comes … Continue reading Lamentation and Loneliness
In 1941, after the horrific simultaneous Japanese attacks the day prior at Pearl Harbor, Guam, The Phillipines Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaya, Franklin Delanor Roosevelt addressed the nation, calling the horrific series of attacks, “A day that will live in infamy.” One might have hoped that such violence would have emboldened a commitment to peace. … Continue reading All We Are Saying, Is Give Peace a Chance
What do Martin Luther King, Jr. Barack Obama, Jimmy Carter, Howard Zinn, Maya Angelou, Malala Yousafzai and Greta Thornburg all have in common? They were / are all community organizers. That is to say, they responded to injustice imposed by the powerful upon the powerless. But don’t think that any of these people had all … Continue reading Hearding Cats Toward the Beloved Community
One of the most common tenates within the world’s varied spiritual truths is to do your best and let go of the outcomes. No matter how the election works out, there is work that needs open hearts and loving hands. We will have our very first Action Sunday – a new process for doing worship … Continue reading Action Sunday – Putting Our Values into Action
If you grow up in a democracy, in a place where ‘the common good’ and ‘love thy neighbor’ are even slightly familiar – and then you learn about Naziism and the holocaust, it is almost impossible not to ask, ‘how could such a thing happen?’ This is a service that explores that question drawing from … Continue reading How Facism Gains a Following – Even Where It Isn’t Wanted
There is an old adage that says if you want to know how anything works, ‘follow the money.’ Using this technique we will explore what research and economic studies have revealed. We will explore the influence and aims of corporate interests on society over time and we will ask whether profitability are at odds with … Continue reading The Politics of Money
Prisons, in this country, play a unique and incomparable role compared to other first-world nations. There are important things that need to be understood about the history of our prison system, the purpose we expect them to fulfill and the question of how well they are currently working for us. This is a service that … Continue reading The Prisons of the World and the Prisons of our Mind Good Vs. Evil Across Infinite Dimensions
This Sunday comes during a portion of the Jewish calendar known as ‘the Days of Awe.’ The great teacher Maimonides had a lot to say about the High Holy Days and the forgiveness and atonement that is at their heart. We will draw from some ancient texts and try to apply them to modern situations … Continue reading Forgiveness and Reconciliation
At some point, for those of us who consider ourselves even nominally ‘spiritual,’ it becomes important to ask how far such spirituality goes. Can we relate and connect beyond political perspectives. And how far does such spirituality go? If we consider ourselves worthy of great freedoms and diverse – even contradictory – perspectives, do we … Continue reading The Spiritual and Political Crises in the World, How They’re Related and What We Can Do
There are times in this world where the terrible truth of how cruel humans can be to one another just wears us down. Where the surface-level cheerfulness and benefit-of-the-doubt thinking encounter people who dismiss, demean, ignore or undermine the inherent worth and dignity of others. Sometimes, when we’re all alone and fear and doubt rush … Continue reading Love at the Center
