According to author Yumal Noah Hurari, humans may be unique among species in our level of imagination. How might we use this power wisely and well to create a more compassionate and connected community within our walls and beyond? Join us via Zoom at: https://zoom.us/j/565460176 Rev. Taddeo and Bob Patrick, Service Leaders Order of Service … Continue reading Sapiens: the Gift (and Curse) of Imagination
There’s no way to know for sure what our country and our lives will look like in the aftermath of Election Day. Many predict upheaval, uncertainty, and uprisings. How can and does our Unitarian Universalist faith guide us to be agents of healing and change during this time, for ourselves and for others? Order of … Continue reading One Nation, Indivisible?
Poet, Mary Oliver writes: “That time I thought I could not go any closer to grief without dying I went closer,and I did not die.” We have all, as a community, a nation, and a world gone closer to death. In this service we reflect on this very important, precious, and mysterious part of human life. … Continue reading Liberating Grief
Stretching a muscle can feel good. Stretch that muscle too far, and it can hurt. Don’t stretch at all, and muscles tend to become dysfunctional. What if the same is true for our minds, our hearts, and that of the human being we call soul or spirit? Bob Patrick, Service Leader Bill Benshoof, Worship Associate
In American-speak, the words “freedom” and “responsibility” have been reduced to a kind of viral individualism. Freedom means “what I am free to do.” Responsibility means “what I have to take care of–and none of that is any of your business.” In this service we will consider some questions that may re-frame what it means … Continue reading Free and Responsible: Please Check Your Prepositions
In Buddhist tradition, Zen is a way of entering into the experience of another and finding peace in the unity of being with that other. In Christian tradition, the Tenebrae service invites us to enter into the experience of the final hours of the life of Jesus. We are holding a Zen Tenebrae service in … Continue reading Zen Tenebrae Good Friday Service
In this service we will reflect on how suffering arises in our lives and consider some practices for letting go so that we may continue on our life’s journey. Bob Patrick, Service Leader
“Life is filled with suffering, but it is also filled with many wonders . . . To suffer is not enough. We must also be in touch with the wonders of life. They are within us and all around us, everywhere, any time.” These are the opening lines of Being Peace, the small book by … Continue reading Cultivating Peace for a New Year
Sorrow and joy often appear in our culture, sometimes even in Unitarian Universalist worships services, as binary opposites. Whether we mean to or not, we speak and act at times as if when there is sorrow there can be no joy and when there is joy there can be no sorrow. What if they are … Continue reading The Cauldron of Vocation
Recent brain research correlated across 11 academic fields shows us not only how important stories and storytelling are to being human but, in fact, that story is the organizing principle of the human brain. In this service we will explore the kinds of stories a beloved community can tell and offer to the world. Bob … Continue reading Beloved Communities Tell Powerful Stories
