Leading this worship service, our youth will look at how to identify performative activism and discuss proactive steps moving towards substantive activism. This worship service led by the youth of our congregation is open to all, and all ages.
What does it mean to care for yourself. For women, we’re told to get a mani-pedi or have a hot bath, maybe indulge in a box of chocolates. I’ve never seen recommendations for men! What does it mean to be taking care of your soul and your heart?
Things seem out of balance in the human world these days. Yet nature is ALWAYS in balance. Can the natural world teach us what we need to learn to find a more sustainable way forward in our lives?
An essay in the January edition of Harper’s Magazine explored the trajectory of social change in the GLBT community. Having won the fight for marriage equality, the author seemed to suggest, had tamed the previously wild and outrageous action of the gay community. No longer employing the tactics of ACT UP, it seemed that everyone was settling into assimilation into the straight world. We’ll consider what it means to persevere, and how to keep it real.
Most people run into times when the obstacles of life seem insurmountable. Sometimes hope is gone. Sometimes life just seems to be getting worse. Sometimes, lemons are just lemons and there is no lemonade. This sermon will reflect on how people live life with grit and perseverance.
Our annual love service near Valentine’s Day invites us to focus on the love we’ve put into the world and our intentions to keep it going! In particular, we’ll cheer our work with Mann Elementary, write some valentines to people who are working to create more love, encourage ourselves and each other by creating reminders of what we mean to do. Come and demonstrate YOUR perseverance in loving the world!
Sometimes people who love us tell us so directly. Sometimes we need to learn to translate their words and actions to know how much they love us.
Intention is the “So What” of life.
“I just heard a great talk about water pollution in Pierce County, so what am I going to do now?”
“My elderly neighbor can no longer mow her lawn – so what am I going to do now?”
“I am clear about my beliefs and values, so what am I going to do to apply them to daily life?”
This sermon will explore several Unitarian Universalists who have been intentional about their lives and had a significant impact on their communities. It will also explore Benjamin Franklin’s and your own spiritual practice to develop virtues that lay the foundation for living an intentional life.
The poet Dorothy N. Monroe said, “Death is not too high a price to pay for having lived. If choice there were, I would not hesitate to choose mortality.” Of course, we don’t have the option to choose mortality. Sooner or later, death comes to all of us. But we do have choices: How do we live so that our lives are worth dying for? And, knowing that we and those we love will die, how do we prepare for that inevitability?
Many of us cobbled together a list of inspiring-sounding intentions to inspire ourselves as we prepared to welcome the New Year. But did we all remember to include the most important intention of all?
