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Our fears are real, and very individual — our fear can keep us safe, but it can also keep us from doing things we love. Join me to explore how I’ve begun to face fears that have held me back for years, and suggestions that may help you face your fears as well.
Join us on Sunday at 10:15 on Zoom.
A few years ago social researchers were asking the question – what is your religious affiliation? A rather sizable portion of those questioned answered…..”I am not “religious”, but I AM spiritual”. What that means specifically can be left up to a wide range of interpretation and speculation. I have a theory and a story I would like to share with you of how, through observation, investigation and invitation, we move from that “feral”, spiritual world to the domesticated community of Unitarian Universalism. And I promise you, I will include those furry creatures we like to cuddle at our Zoom gatherings. They are key to my “tail”.
A few weeks ago, Sky Waterpeace and Christine Denario led us in exploring the realization that the present moment is the only time we have, an ancient understanding of human life that we often ignore. Today, we focus on a related reality: Moment by moment, our lives change. Let us journey together as Holly shares her experience of using Buddhist concepts of impermanence to understand and cope with her anxiety over retirement.
Love is the spirit of this church. In this second of a two-part series, we consider our relationships in the expanded circles of our lives, where we practice love in covenant, in right relations, in community. How do we move beyond our tribal preferences to create loving connection, finding common ground and building a network that brings ever-expanding love into the world?
Love is the spirit of this church. In this first of a two-part series, we consider our relationships with the beloveds in our lives: given family, chosen family, close friends, those with whom we share our closest and most nurturing connections. Relationship begins with ourselves and expands outward in circles. How do we practice being with one another in loving relationship?
The Christian season of Advent is a time of waiting, the threshold space that leads to the holidays that bring light to the dark time. Let us observe this time of expectation with love for ourselves and others, cultivating the space of waiting to deepen into the present time.
The Celtic tradition of Samhein celebrates the bounty of harvest as we enter the season of cold and darkness. In this time, tradition has it that the veil between the planes of existence becomes thin, and we sense the continuing presence of those who have gone before. How shall we deepen into this mystical time of the year, acknowledging the transitory and the permanent in all things?
As we commemorate Indigenous People’s Day, National Coming Out Day, and prepare for a forum on Reparations and Reconciliation, how can we act on our UU commitment fully to honor human worth and dignity , moving in our faith toward full and open-hearted inclusion of all? Isabel Wilkerson’s concept of Radical Empathy lights the way as we embark on this path to justice and wholeness in our full humanity.
Again and again, we rise, we stumble, we fall short of our best selves and we rise again. Honoring ancient sacred traditions of faith, we seek and create new beginnings for ourselves, for our communities, sometimes for entire societies. Living in the world is all about relationship, and so we acknowledge the reality of our human nature, seeking to begin and begin again in love.
Our culture constantly tells us how we should look, what we should think, and how we should spend our time. It requires courage to show others who we really are. True connection to others occurs when we are courageous enough to be authentic and vulnerable, receiving and showing compassion.
