Watch the service HERE. During the Days of Awe, the Jewish High Holidays that begin with Rosh Hashanah on September 16 and end with Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) on September 25, the Book of Life is open as we are asked to consider our behavior, our transgressions and how to turn towards reconciliation … Continue reading Honoring the Jewish High Holidays – “The Possum Experiment and the Choice to Be Kind”
Watch the service HERE. The “third place” is a sociological concept that defines a space of significance that is not one’s home or workplace. For generations, and across theological viewpoints, this third place has typically been a religious community. Today, that landscape has changed. Is Eastrose your third place? Has it been in the past but … Continue reading Ingathering and Homecoming with a Water Communion Ritual – “Is Eastrose Your Third Place?”
Watch the service HERE. As we gather to honor the contributions of workers, this service invites us to shift our focus from productivity to a more profound appreciation of human worth. Join us in considering a world where people take precedence over profitability, fostering a more compassionate and harmonious community. Worship Leader: Tyler Perez Katie Norris … Continue reading People Over Profits
Watch the service HERE. Much is often made of UU’s male forebears. Today, we will examine the stories and contributions of many UU women in history. Some of these names and their accomplishments may surprise you. Gloria Holland speaking with Worship leader Carol Knox, and music by Barbara Stevens. Gloria Holland is retired from the Salem-Keizer School … Continue reading Notable UU Women in History
Watch the service HERE. The conundrum of free will morality — thou “mayest” or “mayest not” — lay at the very core of both our American society and our liberal UU religion. This relative latitude to choose is both awesome and horrible at once. It begs the question: How do we know, or learn, moral … Continue reading Whooshing Up: Can America Be Moral?
Watch the service HERE. In her wry memoir, Jana Reiss shares a year-long quest to become more saintly by tackling 12 spiritual practices, including fasting, centering prayer, Sabbath-keeping, gratitude, and generosity. Though she begins with the question, “How hard could that be?” Reiss finds to her growing humiliation that she is “flunking sainthood.” In this sermon exploring … Continue reading Flunking Sainthood
Watch the service HERE. A sage once remarked that “you can never step into the same river twice,” meaning that life, like a river, is ever-changing and forever flowing downstream from its Source. There have been changes that have carried us around river bends to uncharted tributaries, some currents have mostly floated us safely along, … Continue reading We’ve Known Rivers: On the Constancy of Change
Watch the service HERE. At the UUA General Assembly the 1986 Ware Lecturer Kurt Vonnegut drew a distinction between love and respect. He said that one day his wife told him she did not love him. That is normal, Vonnegut noted. Then he said, “If she had wanted to terminate the marriage, to carry it … Continue reading Respecting Love and Loving Respect
Watch the service HERE. Sally Betser, a former member of Eastrose Fellowship, is a life-long health care practitioner and educator. A former paramedic, retired nurse, and current death doula, she spends her time (when she isn’t quilting) learning, sharing, advocating for, and speaking about end-of-life options in our modern world. She joins us today to … Continue reading Grace and Dignity
Watch the service HERE. We as human beings (and especially as churches) have an uncomfortable relationship with not being perfect, and work to try a project as much of an image of perfection as possible. But, by letting go and acknowledging that we are not perfect, there is the opportunity for understanding ourselves more deeply … Continue reading The Sermon That Almost Wasn’t (But Yet Still Needed to Be)
