What does it mean to be a people of Commitment? There’s a natural, and important, go-getter quality to this month.  After all, huge payoffs come when we keep our commitments. Maintaining loyalty to healthy habits not only lengthens our lives but enriches them.  Faithfully following through on our relationship commitments allows us to fully realize … Continue reading Commitment (March 2021)

What does it mean to be a people of Beloved Community? Henri Nouwen, the treasured Catholic teacher, activist and pastor, once described beloved community as “the place where the person you least want to live with always lives.” On its surface it seems to be a straightforward reminder not to expect perfection from the communities … Continue reading Beloved Community (Feb 2021)

What does it mean to be a people of Imagination? Maybe our most important work is to re-imagine imagination. Imagination’s great gift is improvement.  At least that is what we’re usually taught.  The deep magic lies in the way it can reshape our reality.  We are urged to imagine the world we dream of.  A … Continue reading Imagination (Jan 2021)

What does it mean to be a people of Stillness? Don’t tell me to be calm when there are so many reasons to be angry … I didn’t say to be calm, said the wind, I said to breathe.  We’re going to need a lot of air to make this hurricane together.      – Rev Lynn … Continue reading Stillness (Dec 2020)

What does it mean to be a people of Healing? Jewish teaching includes frequent reminders of the importance of a broken-open heart, as in this Hasidic tale:  A disciple asks the rebbe: “Why does Torah tell us to ‘place these words upon your hearts’?  Why does it not tell us to place these holy words … Continue reading Healing (Nov 2020)

What does it mean to be a people of Deep Listening? This is your chance to listen carefully. Your whole life might depend on what you hear.     – Joyce Sutphen Listening helps us find our way.  The listening of therapists allows us to navigate our way through life.  We turn to prayer to hear God’s … Continue reading Deep Listening (Oct 2020)

September is a season of homecoming for us UUs.  And renewal is central to that.  At the opening of each new church year, we renew our commitments to each other and our church community.  We renew our energy for another year of journeying together. It’s also a time of renewing our renewal questions.  Yes, that … Continue reading Renewal (Sept 2020)

It might seem like one of our easier monthly themes.  After all, compassion sounds … well, nice.  It conjures up a bunch of warm feelings.  Images come to mind of people telling each other they are keeping them in their thoughts.  It would seem to be all about emotional connection and empathetic feeling. But then … Continue reading Compassion (June 2020)

When encountering thresholds, we often talk as if our work is that of successfully “passing through” them.  We speak of “making healthy transitions.”  We seek out advice and support as we decide which thresholds to lean into and which to resist.  The goal, it would seem, is figuring out how to travel forward in the … Continue reading Thresholds (May 2020)

True wisdom comes in understanding that sometimes, you are both the prison and the key.        — Johnathan Jena Jena is right. Liberation is much more complicated than we usually tell ourselves. It would be so much easier if life really was divided up neatly between the good and bad guys, between those trapped and those … Continue reading Liberation (April 2020)