Sundays: 12 noon (CT) in-person and online
REMINDER THAT DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME BEGINS TODAY! How much of the course of our lives is the result of the luck of the draw? Is it all purely chance, or pre-ordained, or maybe somewhere in between? How about the development of our species, or for that matter, all life on earth? We’ll look at the … Continue reading Leaving it all up to Chance
In Greek mythology, Sisyphus was punished for cheating death by being compelled to roll a heavy boulder uphill, only to see it roll back down just as he reached the top. We consider meaningless and difficult tasks to be Sisyphean in nature, and we worry that such tasks in life can lead to depression. How … Continue reading Sisyphus was on a Roll
Faith is a complex topic for us Unitarian Universalists. We don’t trust the blind faith that some other religious traditions. We are uncomfortable being told to ‘just believe.’ Yet, over time, many of us have developed an abiding faith, maybe better, enduring trust, in our answers to the deep questions of life. In this service, … Continue reading Faith, Trust & Doubt
Emptiness, sometimes called boundlessness, is the idea in Buddhism that our understanding of world of things is illusory, hiding a deeper, more interconnected reality. This idea is difficult, even impossible, to grasp cognitively, but may come to us through a spiritual experience like awakening. We don’t have to be practicing Buddhists to find appeal in … Continue reading Emptiness – Zoom Only
–Critical Race Theory is the idea that one can analyze systems, institutions, and power through the lens of racism. It developed in the United States in the 1980’s and is beginning to be applied in other countries today. It has come under attack by conservatives who see it as divisive and unpatriotic. We’ll explore how … Continue reading Critical Race Theory – Zoom Only
As a precaution, this service will be on Zoom only – not in-person. As this is the service just prior to our Annual General Meeting, let’s take time to reflect on what we’ve accomplished in the last year, and in the years before that. We’ll also consider what the future might hold, what big questions … Continue reading State of the Congregation – Zoom Only
One of my Unitarian Universalist ministerial colleagues has said, “I often like to think of us as the religion of ‘Why not?!’” At our theological core is a sense of openness, of making space for possibility. We have an expansive religion, easily able to hold many ideas, beliefs, values, at once, all as possible. As … Continue reading Welcome to this Place of Possibility
We take up one of the more challenging parts of the Biblical Christmas story, Matthew 2:13-23, sometimes known as “The Slaughter of the Innocents.” This text reveals a dark side of Christmas, as Herod, representing imperial power, has all the male infants in the Bethlehem region killed in a desperate attempt to eliminate the baby … Continue reading After the Birth the Slaughter
A favorite Wendell Berry poem begins: To go in the dark with a light is to know the light. To know the dark, go dark. Our culture eschews the darkness, fears it, chases it away. And yet, the darkness has much to offer us. But going into the dark can be a fearful thing. In … Continue reading To Know the Dark, Go Dark
Most of us say we want a good life, but what does that mean? This has been a question for thinkers since at least the ancient Greeks (and Stoicism has reemerged in popularity in recent times). More recently, psychology has weighed in with ideas about the good life. We’ll explore what these might mean for … Continue reading “What is the Good Life?”
