For the last year, I’ve had a daily practice I call my “soul check-in.” I have a dear friend and colleague, and we touch base almost every morning. First, we get the basic stuff out of the way…bringing each other up-to-date on happenings in our lives. Then we try to remember whose turn it is…
May 1, 2016 Rebecca: Sixty-four years ago, when my mother was 22, she had me, her third child of what would end up being a litter of six by the time she was 28. One of the things I’ve heard her talk about is when I was a baby and she had to walk to…
How many of you have ever had a really memorable meal in a restaurant? It doesn’t have to be fancy- maybe just a place where something special happened…a first date, a job interview, a marriage proposal…that sort of thing. Does everybody have one? Okay. Who remembers what you ate? Who remembers what you had to…
When you think of Transylvania, who do you think of? (Dracula.) So then if I tell you that I went on pilgrimage to Transylvania in 2009, would you be worried that you may have gotten mixed up with a weird, vampiric cult or something? We Unitarian Universalists have deep roots in Transylvania. Let me tell…
Reading Prayer of Caregiving by Jane Ellen Mauldin May the burden of caring not feel so heavy as I remember all who have gone before me and all who will come after me. May I know myself to be part of a great dance that circles and comes round again. I give thanks for…
Just as Christianity has its center the story of the life of Jesus and his teachings, and Islam has at its center the story of the life of Mohammed and his teachings, so the life and teachings of Gautama Buddha are at the center of Buddhism. The young Buddha was a high-caste Brahmin prince who…
We are born embraced by unconditional love, and we live and move and have our being embraced and transformed by that same love. We forget that, though, or are convinced otherwise. Our first teachers in the art of love are our parents. If we are lucky, they swaddle us and respond to our needs and…
Meditation: In words We bring all of who we are to this place…our stories, our identities, our passions, our connections, our wounds, and our scars. We choose what to show, and when, and to whom. Over time, little by little, we learn to trust, learn to share, learn to listen, learn to hold the…
Since we believe that Black Lives Matter…what are we going to do about it? Yesterday, Alicia Garza talked about the freedom ride to Ferguson, MO…where Black Lives Matter activists first began to organize. They networked, held trainings and discussions, broke bread together, wrote poetry, made music. As many of you know, I was there in…
The Worst Indignity UU Church of the Palouse · January 10, 2016 Ritual of Remembrance and Re-weaving One year ago today, Belinda Neibuhr got up, got ready for work, and headed to Arby’s. One year ago today, Dave Trail went in to work on a Saturday to meet with Michael Chin, a young lawyer, home…
Readings included: “The Moment of Magic” by Victoria Safford Excerpts from “The Norwegian Secret To Enjoying a Long Winter” by Laura Vanderkam The Winter of Listening by David Whyte (abbreviated) Sermon There are literally thousands of myths and stories that explain the changes in seasons. Many involve temperamental and powerful women, such as the Greco-Roman…
Reading: “Chanukkah” by Lynn Ungar Come down from the hills. Declare the fighting done. Be bold-declare victory, even when the temple is wrecked and the tyrants have not retreated, only coiled back like a snake prepared to strike again. Come down. Try to remember a life gentled by daily acts of domestic faith-the pot set to…
