“We sometimes wrongly say it is the absence of creed that is most important to who we are [as Unitarian Universalists]. This is wrong. Any one of us could practice religious freedom at home on Sunday mornings. We could practice religious freedom all day long, every day, and never come into community. It is covenant … Continue reading Beginning Again with Covenant ~ Multigenerational Service
“In true community we will not choose our companions, for our choices are so often limited by self-serving motives. Instead, our companions will be given to us by grace. Often, they will be persons who will upset our settled view of self and world. In fact, we might define true community as that place where … Continue reading The Challenges of Building Community
E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G—is connected… Our work is intersectional and multifaceted. Nature teaches us that our work has to be nuanced and steadfast. And more than anything, that we need each other—at our highest natural glory—in order to get free.” – adrienne maree brown This abbreviated multigenerational service will explore moving closer to peace, liberation, and justice and … Continue reading “E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G—is connected”
“Listening is about showing people they matter, and the way you show people they matter is by aiming your curiosity at them. Ask yourself, what kinds of people do I talk about but never with? Whoever is underrepresented in your life will be overrepresented in your imagination.” – Mónica Guzmán In times as divided as … Continue reading Softening Judgement with Humility and Curiosity
“Resurrection means that the worst thing is never the last thing.” -Frederick Buechner This service will be an exploration of the overlap between Earth-centered traditions and the Christian holiday of Easter, acknowledging the symbolic hope that we all may cultivate and commit to. There will be the invitation to consider how even in emergence, there … Continue reading Ostara and Easter as Ongoing Emergence
“We need a new paradigm that convincingly shows that humanity is inherently good and thoroughly interconnected. With that understanding, we can finally move from being ego-, family-, and ethno-centric to species-, bio-, and planet-centric.” – Richard C. Schwartz Negativity bias can be compared to Velcro, and the positive moment humans witness often slips out of … Continue reading Intentional Attention
“Grief has always been communal, always been shared and regarded as a sacred process. Too often in modern times our grief becomes private, carrying an invisible mantle of shame forcing our sorrow underground, hidden from the eyes that would offer healing. We need to restore the conversation we need about the place of mourning in … Continue reading Imbolc and Grief Rituals as a Path to Embodying Resilience
“You were not just born to center your entire existence on work and labor. You were born to heal, to grow, to be of service to yourself and community, to practice, to experiment, to create, to have space, to dream, and to connect.” ― Tricia Hersey Drawing inspiration from adrienne maree brown, Tricia Hersey, Jenny Odell, … Continue reading Presence, Pleasure, and Joy as Acts of Resistance
“Hope just means another world might be possible, not promised.” -Rebecca Solnit If fear of the darkness has been a part of your experience, as it is for many of us, how was that learned or sensed? Did someone model or teach you that fear and anxiety is how to respond to what is dark, mysterious, … Continue reading Ingredients for Hopeful Communities
“The harder I tried to sever ties with the person I had been, the more I found myself embodying that self. Only when I began to offer Old Me compassion, kindness, and love did a more permeating sense of freedom begin to emerge.” -Andrea Gibson We will explore practices of stillness, creativity, and connection to … Continue reading Foundational Compassion
