The midwinter holidays are filled with generosity and gift giving. Christmas, in particular, has made gift-giving so central, that it’s sometimes hard to remember that it is not the true purpose of the holiday. The commercialization of Christmas and the juggernaut force with which advertisement campaigns have co-opted the season, almost require us to put … Continue reading The Gift of Greatest Price
We are entering into the season in our trip around the sun where we are the farthest – and most tilted away – from the light and the warmth of the sun. This means light and warmth are most scarce. Those who are unfamiliar and sensitive to living in cold, dark climates struggle. When it … Continue reading It’s Dark Out There
More than 80 years ago, a small delegation of the Unitarian Service Committee were sent to western Europe to offer a response to those victims of the ethnic cleansing and human rights violations taking place under the reign of terror imposed by the Third Reich. That essential and successful justice campaign set into motion a … Continue reading Guest at Your Table
How in the world did we make it this far? Had impartial observers witnessing evolutionary dynamic been asked to place a wager on which human species would thrive and go on to dominate the planet, Homo Sapiens would certainly not have been the leading candidate. But the reason we did is not due to the … Continue reading Survival of the Friendliest
Our MPUUC CaYRE program (for Children and Youth) has been in significant transition. Several events over the last five years have led to families, parents, Youth, Children and others taking a step back. Most recently, a beloved DRE also stepped away. The good news is that I strongly believe there are amazing insights that will … Continue reading A Dream Forgotten
Habits of the Heart is an idea from Parker J. Palmer as he talks about conditioning our hearts to break in the right way – which is to say, ‘break open.’ What kind of preparation is required of us if we are to be expected to respond with compassionate service and healing as opposed to … Continue reading Habits of the Heart
At a time when the U.S. was still a fledgling democracy and we were even more tenuous and fragile than we are today, Abraham Lincoln attempted to play a role in leading this democracy to a place where he asked us to appeal to ‘the better angels of our nature.’ What was he asking and … Continue reading The Politics of the Brokenhearted
This is part one of a 4 part sermon series on politics and democracy. This one speaks to Capitalism as a special element of democracy and how capitalism has positioned itself to be more important than almost everything else – including health and well being. The Zoom link and Order of Service will be provided … Continue reading Why the Right Get it Wrong and the Left Don’t Get it
Sometimes singing an unfamiliar hymn in church can be really painful. Enough so, we may find ourselves looking ahead at the hymns scheduled to decide if we should attend on Sunday. There is an old Dutch proverb which says that ‘Trust walks in on foot and rides out on a horse.’ It’s true enough in … Continue reading Death by Hymn
Our annual in-gathering service – the Water Communion – is a mainstay of many (if not most) UU Congregations. This year we will look back on where it came from, how it changed, and reflect on what might be some of the most important aspects of the service to honor. The Zoom link and Order … Continue reading Walking Upstream to the Original Water Communion
