The following sermon was shared at the July 30, 2017 worship service at Chalice Unitarian Universalist Congregation. To be a parish minister is to bear witness to loss and grief in their many forms and permutations. To be a parish minister is to companion…YOU…through your many losses, through your grief. It …
Beloved community, Most people are uncomfortable talking about memorial services. Not me. I’ve been planning my own memorial service since I was a teenager, with a particular interest in music selections. I’ve progressed from thinking I might like the Star Wars theme played to—more recently—thinking the song “I Lived” by …
Beloved community, Imagine that our community exists on a lake, with some of our congregants lounging at the shore, while others are in canoes and sailboats on the lake itself. Some of us are in boats that are sturdy and well stocked with supplies. Others of us are in flimsy …
The following sermon was shared at the January 13, 2013 worship service at Chalice Unitarian Universalist Congregation. Reading: “To Praise” by Ellen Bass Friends, it’s time for us to have a talk. It may feel a little awkward, but I know you have some questions. And I want you to …
When a man walks into a movie theater, kills 12 people, and injures over 50 more, it is easy to imagine him a monster, a “crazed madman,” a demon who must himself be destroyed in an effort to keep the rest of us safe. Indeed, he may face the death …
As part of my commitment to self-care, I’m trying to have more fun. It sounds easy enough on the face of it, but almost immediately the questions arise, what is fun? Is reading a book fun? Or is it just relaxing? Is all relaxation fun? Is all fun relaxing? I …
It’s early December and the days grow shorter. Where I live in Northern California, our “winter” doesn’t consist of snow and single digit temperatures, but the quality of sunlight is nevertheless different, many of our trees are dropping leaves, and the rains will inevitably come. The natural world is entering …
Once upon a time, there lived a young woman named Cecilia. She lived in the same village where she’d been born, and where her mother had been born, and her father, and their mothers and fathers. She knew everyone in the village. She knew every house in the village. She …
When you go to college, people start asking you, “What’s your major?” When you enter the ministry, people start saying, “Tell me about your call.” The idea of having a “calling” or receiving a “call” comes from the Hebrew and Christian Bibles and is described pretty thoroughly here, beginning with this …
The Center for the New American Dream is issuing a 2011 “Simplify the Holidays” challenge, noting “too often, the holidays seem to exhaust rather than uplift us.” The challenge invites us to commit to taking five actions in support of a simpler holiday season. I’m in! Won’t you join me? …