Famed Unitarian minister Ralph Waldo Emerson once remarked “A great man is always willing to be little.” This morning, we will explore the topic of “humility.” What does it mean, or might it mean, to be a “somebody” and a “nobody” in the age of YouTube channels, suspect news, reality TV, AI fakes, and salacious political … Continue reading I’m Nobody, Who Are You? Fame and Fakery in the Social Media Age
Watch the service HERE. The Day of Atonement is the most sacred holy day in Judaism and the culmination of the Days of Awe. It takes places on October 12th this year. As we meet the day after, which is also the day before Indigenous People’s Day, we’ll explore the complex question: Who Will Atone? … Continue reading Yom Kippur: Who Will Atone?
Watch the service HERE. How are we made whole? The “1/2” in this sermon stands as a symbol of our incomplete natures, and the need for our human bodies to be made whole in relation to something beyond the physical. This may be something deep and meaningful, or something rational or something mystical involving a … Continue reading The Path, Part III: The ½ That Makes Us Whole
Watch the service HERE. Drawing on personal experiences, Homilist/storyteller Gloria Holland explores her own loss of Faith, mostly in herself, then discusses the relationship between Faith and Doubt. Worship leader Eric Tschuy, Music from Mary Reese and a Time for All Ages from Tara Toler. Gloria returns to Eastrose for the 3rd time; she is … Continue reading Confessions of an Imposter
Watch the service HERE. We live in a death-phobic, youth seeking culture. From anti-aging face serums to cryogenics to theologies of eternal life to potential AI technologies that could keep the brain alive indefinitely, humans have chased immortality despite the enduring reality: If you are human, your life is finite. Given this immutable fact (at least … Continue reading Chasing Immortality: Would You Want to Live Forever?
Watch the service HERE. Listening is complex, requiring keeping our mouths shut, feeding back what we hear, and asking deepening questions. It also requires stillness. What is this stillness, and how do we use it in the service of being more present to others? Rev. Barbara Stevens preaching, with Worship Leader Jan Apland-Curtis. Music from … Continue reading Listening Out of Stillness
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 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. 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)
Watch the service HERE. OR 7 is the famous wolf who trekked hundreds of miles across Oregon looking for a mate. He found his mate in Northern California, and they moved back to Oregon and raised their family there. OR 7 became a father against all odds. What can we learn about human fatherhood from … Continue reading Of Dads and Wolves
