Dear Friends, I visited our remote camp in Central Pennsylvania last week, and, on one lone afternoon, a raven visited me. As I sat reading by the fire, the raven slowly circled the second row of trees just beyond the clearing. It circled three times before leaving with another who had remained high above. The … Continue reading April 14, 2021 Minister’s Message
Rev. Rita is on vacation and will return next week.
I’ve been watching the Chauvin trial. And, I am very tired. Perhaps you are, too. Tired of COVID and preventable deaths. Tired of having to mask and physical distance because, despite more available vaccines, cases of COVID continue to rise. Tired of casual hatred and prejudice which lead to treating some of our siblings as … Continue reading March 31, 2021 Minister’s Message
Dear friends, Well, the world still feels like a mess, doesn’t it? It does to me. Yes, the vaccines are rolling out, yet children returning to school are contracting it and exposing their unvaccinated parents and causing more quarantining. Yes, places of business are opening up, yet people are out and about without masks or … Continue reading March 24, 2021 Minister’s Message
You may have heard the term “Cancel Culture,” used on the political Left and on the political Right in situations of grievance, where one side asserts that change is an effort to control discourse and values. You might have heard the term used in relation to Dr. Seuss titles and Potato Head toys. You might … Continue reading March 17, 2021 Minister’s Message
Let this be a week of remembering. Yes, this is the week that our world changed due to a virus. Our lives will never be the same, and in many ways they should not be. Yet some things return and repeat, demonstrating that the work for justice and anti-racism is not close to completed. On … Continue reading March 10, 2021 Minister’s Message
Dear friends, Our Soul Matters theme for worship this month is “Commitment.” The Rev. Galen Guengrich, co-minister at the Unitarian Church of All Souls in New York City, wrote these words: “Faith is a commitment to live as if certain things are true, and thereby help to make them so. Faith is a commitment to … Continue reading March 3, 2021 Minister’s Message
Dear friends, American author, professor, feminist, and social activist bell hooks wrote: “Beloved community is formed not by the eradication of difference but by its affirmation, by each of us claiming the identities and cultural legacies that shape who we are and how we live in the world.” hooks urges us to value and embrace our human … Continue reading February 24, 2021 Minister’s Message
Minister’s Message Contemplating his time imprisoned by the South African government, Nelson Mandela said, “I knew as well as I knew anything that the oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed.” May we take heed of Mandela’s words, and may we understand them. Certainly, the architects of overt and systemic institutional oppression … Continue reading February 17, 2021 Minister’s Message
Minister’s Message Unitarian Universalist minister, the Rev. Victoria Safford wrote, “The goal [of Beloved Community] is reconciliation, not to destroy your opponent, nor cast them out, but to stay in the struggle till love wins.” It is important to remember that we are not all equal in the struggle. Those who live with marginalized identities … Continue reading February 10, 2021 Minister’s Message
