It may sound counter-intuitive, but humility is part of living a life of calling. It is necessary for growth and deepening, and best of all it’s spiritually liberating. Humility does not mean self-abasement, but, rather, something much more to do with interdependence. How can we understand humility so that it deepens the relatedness that allows … Continue reading “Touching Earth”
Being a people of calling means knowing your past, trusting your future, and opening the heart. Wandering into a touch of cosmology, we’ll consider how the past becomes part of the present and calls us to the future. What invitations do both past and future make to us during a a transitional period in the life … Continue reading “Past and Future”
Our Ingathering Service this year is for FUUSB the beginning of a transitional period, which follows the ending of a ministry. Where do we find ourselves at this meeting? What does it mean to be a people true to their calling during such a time? This will be the first of two sermons to try … Continue reading “Endings and Beginnings” – Multigenerational Service
This I Believe was a five-minute CBS Radio Network program in the early 1950s, originally hosted by journalist Edward R. Murrow. The show encouraged both famous and everyday people to write short essays about their own personal motivation in life and then read them on the air. The show became a cultural phenomenon that stressed individual belief rather than … Continue reading “This I Believe”
Our minister emeritus Gary Kowalski returns this Sunday to recount his experiences working as a volunteer firefighter and emergency medical responder in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Being a first responder, he discovered, means more than driving a big red truck. It means facing grief, fear and depression, but also offers glimpses of altruism, teamwork and … Continue reading “The Fire Sermon”
On August 19 we welcome Chief Don Stevens, Chief of the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk – Abenaki Nation. Chief Stevens will share Abenaki creation stories and speak about the spiritual heritage of the Abenaki. Chief Don Stevens is an award-winning leader, businessman, writer, and lecturer. He has been featured in magazines, books, TV shows, and documentaries. He … Continue reading “The Circle of Life”
In these times, activism is insufficient. To strike at the roots of the multiplying crises we face, we must stand on firm ground, on unshakable bedrock. But where do we find this bedrock in a society whose economic system and political institutions are little more than quicksand? How can faith orient us in this ever-changing … Continue reading “A Rock in Turbulent Times”
Linda Hogan, Chickasaw poet and novelist, writes: “Most of us are taught, somehow, about giving and accepting human gifts, but not about opening ourselves and our bodies to welcome the sun, the land, the visions of sky and dreaming, not about standing in the rain ecstatic with what is offered.” During this service focused on … Continue reading “Giving Thanks”
Winner of the 2016 UU History & Heritage Sermon Award, this sermon illuminates the 19th-century ministry of Rev. Joshua Young, who served many Unitarian congregations, including this one in the 1850s. A co-conductor with his wife of the Underground Railroad, the officiant at John Brown’s funeral, and a fervent supporter of the notion of collective … Continue reading “Collective Liberation 19th-Century Style: Rev. Joshua Young”
Stories help us to make meaning out of our world. They help us to answer deep questions such as where do we come from, who are we, and where are we going? Some stories have played this role for countless generations, only to be rejected in modern western societies. Examining a variety of sources which … Continue reading “Reclaiming Stories for a Better World”
