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Watch the service HERE. How can and should we be “good relatives” to the many Native Americans who have lived for centuries on the land we inhabit? Regardless of our individual and communal heritage, how have we benefitted from living and working on these lands? What are the ethics of land acknowledgements, and what reparations … Continue reading Honoring Indigenous People’s Day: “Being A Good Relative”
Watch the service HERE. In a 1980 speech at the First Parish Unitarian Church in Indianapolis, renowned novelist Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. declared: “Doesn’t God give dignity to everybody? No, in my opinion. Giving dignity, the sort of dignity that is of earthly use, anyway, is something only people can do. Or fail to do.” Throughout … Continue reading We Are UUs: An Occasional Series – “So It Goes: Kurt Vonnegut’s Humanism”
Watch the service HERE. In the words of a colleague, “Autumn people slow down, enjoy a certain pace.” Sounds appealing, doesn’t it? Many of us run around being bouncy Spring people year-round and 24/7, not looking very closely at much except our watches and our smartphones. Can you “remember the kind of September that’s slow … Continue reading Autumn People
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
