2020-10

Rev. Gretchen Haley begins our new worship series, Moments & Movements, with this homily titled “How We Eat the Stars.” She preaches that we are connected to the universe and the universe is connected to us, that we are a part of a larger movement that began before us, and will continue on long after we are gone.   You can read the written text of this homily on Gretchen’s blog and the full exchange between the young activist and Thomas Merton here.

Rev. Elizabeth Nguyen is a Community Minister and works with the National Bail Fund Network as their Immigration Bond Coordinator. She joined us live on Sunday morning for our special UU the Vote worship service.   Rev. Elizabeth talks about how voting is just one part of the democratic system. In fact, it is the last part. She tells us about the need to organize, donate, protest, and demonstrate our UU values all season, not just on November 3rd.   Get involved with UU the Vote at https://www.uuthevote.org/get-involved/. Learn more about Rev. Elizabeth at https://www.uua.org/offices/people/elizabeth-nguyen.  

Rev. Gretchen responds to her conversation with Florence Field (find it here), reflecting on the challenge of holding contradictory truths as a single whole, and the practice of self-differentiation as a path to greater orientation.   Read Jake Morrill’s article on self-differentiation here: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/uucollective/2016/02/self-differentiation-in-3-puzzle-pieces/.

Rev. Gretchen draws on the work of Bernard Loomer to explore the challenge and the imperative to zoom out and listen for and receive other people’s often vastly different stories and experiences.   Learn more about the work of Bernard Loomer here: https://processandfaith.org/bernard-loomer-1/   For a good overview of Thich Nhat Hanh’s idea of interbeing, look here: https://www.garrisoninstitute.org/blog/insight-of-interbeing/.

Rev. Sean Neil-Barron invites us to consider how we find that place between overwhelm and underwhelm, where we can stay present to life’s challenges without checking out, and where we can be a part of true transformation.   Learn more about Routes to Safety here: https://www.mswjake.com/resources.