When Nothing/Everything Changes
So I set out to write a sermon about change this week, in keeping with this month’s theme of The Gift of Transformation—and then I changed my mind. I’m going to talk with you about the moment before us today–a moment that comes into all relationships, at least once and usually many times–the moment of commitment to a shared future.
It’s (Not) Magic
I was spending a few days with my friend Ruth when Ruth’s cousin came by for the afternoon with her kids and one of her daughter’s friends.
What Love Looks Like in Public
I am among what must be the last generation of former kids to have learned to read with Dick and Jane. The editions we studied–I was in first grade in 1970–gave Dick, Jane and younger sister, Sally, black friends.ppeared in 1930. …
Deep Gladness and Deep Hunger
In our most recent Starting Point class someone asked me how it was I came to be a Unitarian Universalist minister. I gave my usual answer–that having been raised by a schoolteacher mom and a social worker dad, the chances I would end up a helping professional were great, and that having also been raised in the Unitarian Universalist church by those same parents who brought our family to church more Sundays than not, and who were active volunteers at church in a variety of roles, the chances that that profession would be Unitarian Universalist ministry were also great.
What Does It Mean for Us?
I started this month with its Soul Matters theme of The Gift of Liberating Love, three weeks ago, talking about how that gift, which I understand to be the gift of Universalism, is that it releases us from the fear of what might happen to us after death.
For Want of a Nail
When I read or hear or speak those words of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., about the inescapable network of mutuality, I often think about Jesus saying, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me.’ Or sometimes the less eloquent adage “what goes around comes around.”
Sort of the Definition of Universalism
When I was hospital chaplain many years ago, I received a phone call one day from someone who begged me, sobbing, to go visit her grandmother- in-law. The caller was terrified that that woman would die without having accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior, and thus not go to heaven.
Mysterioso
Sophie proclaims her Auntie Claus. And really, that is the word not just for his fabulous sister but for Santa Claus, too. So many mysteries–how does that elevator get from a New York City penthouse to the North Pole? What exactly does Auntie do from Halloween to Valentine’s Day? Santa declares he couldn’t be ready for Christmas without her help but we don’t see her in the mailroom. Is she sequestered in package wrapping, where Sophia never quite makes it?
Not a Jewish Christmas, Not a UU Holiday
I was first introduced to the Jewish Festival of Lights in Unitarian Universalist Sunday School. We made tiny menorahs out of modeling clay and birthday cake candles, and took home a mimeographed sheet of readings to accompany lighting of the tiny Hanukkah candles.
Preparing for a Mystery
Not Yet, Yvette is my favorite Advent story, with nary a scripture or traditional liturgical image or color in sight, for the way it so accessible-y and lively-y portrays the delicious tension between waiting and preparing for something big about to happen.
Out of Gratitude, Generosity
Now, Pumpkins* isn’t a typical Thanksgiving story. And it might not even really fit our monthly theme of generosity. The man was creative and acted with a sense of whimsy and determination, an admirable sort, but he didn’t send his four hundred sixty-one thousand, two hundred and twelve pumpkins all around the world out of generosity.
We’re All in This Together
“All humans want to do is break down every barrier. That's been our great success story. But death is the hard boundary. It's the barrier that everybody on this planet will meet at some point in their life, no matter how wealthy they are, no matter who they are, no matter what their achievements. You know, that's coming for them.
Heritage of Martyrdom
Two weeks ago, I mentioned Jan Huss, a Bohemian Catholic martyr who was burned at the stake for, among other critiques, saying the Catholic church of his day got it wrong in restricting the cup of communion wine to priests alone, excluding the laity. I tied Huss’s theology of more broadly inclusive access to the elements of the Eucharist to my understanding of the meaning of our Unitarian Universalist symbol of the flaming chalice.
Why a Flaming Chalice?
Upstairs in Phillippa’s Place this morning Megan and our children are having a lesson about symbols and making chalices for the children to bring home with them. I remember a similar lesson from my Sunday School days. The mimeographed symbol sheets included religious and international symbols–Red Cross, the peace symbol, a cross, the Star of David, the then quite recognizable logo from a now defunct local grocery store chain
As If We Weren’t Animals Ourselves
It’s a tender, bucolic image, isn’t it?--imaginary though it likely is. The saint, when he was but a man, placing his hand upon the nursing sow, murmuring blessings of earth to her, until she remembers the long, perfect loveliness of sow.
Is It a Gift If We Don’t Have a Choice?
The Buy Nothing Facebook group I belong to mandates that all posts begin with either the word “gift”’ or the word “wish”. If you want to give something away you label it gift. If you’re looking for something, you label it wish.
Arriving at Our Own Door
“All kinds of people, round that table.”
And one of them is you. One of them is me. One of them is each of us. So I’m channeling my inner flight attendant this morning, to urge you to Be sure to secure your own [oxygen] mask before assisting others.
Cycle of Water, Church, Life
Water Ceremony and Ingathering Sunday. Ingathering Sunday and Water Ceremony. These two not inherently related events have, through repetition, become fused in the liturgical cycle of many Unitarian Universalist congregations, and in the hearts of many individual Unitarian Universalists.
Welcome Rest
Labor Day, celebrated May 1 around the world, and on the first Monday in September here in the United States, is supposed to be about the workers. About those who have built our economy, our cities, our roads.
Let Me Try to Explain...
When my dad was nominated to join the board at our family Unitarian Universalist church he wrote to following in the church newsletter:
"I believe that my employment…[has] developed the two assets I can bring to the Board of Trustees: perspective and positive outlook on life. Corrections, when approached as a helping profession, teaches much about good and evil inherent in all individuals and institutions, and about their ability to grow."