As a holiday, Labor Day itself has never really meant much to me. Typically known as a blue-collar holiday, Labor Day is an annual celebration of the social and economic achievements of American workers. But for myself and many others, it’s more known for the wild philosophies, smart wit, and personal interpretations of a former … Continue reading “Labor Day Service”
Not the monarch kind of King, bare with me…. We are in a struggle for saving Democracy from its possible post-modern growing pains. David Brooks writes in the Opinion Section of the New York Times, “The task… is to build a new cultural consensus that is democratic but also morally coherent. My guess, and it … Continue reading “We Need a New King”
For my final sermon here at First Unitarian, I’d like to share some thoughts about change and how we deal with it. I’ll concentrate on change in the church, especially the changing religious landscape in the United States, and corresponding changes within Unitarian Universalism. Will we meet these changes with hope and creativity? Or will … Continue reading “New Occasions Teach New Duties: Navigating Change”
You might call this my “icebreaker sermon.” Looking back on my life, I realize that much of it has been experimental. One of those experiments involved leaving UU ministry for two years, and going to live in a women’s monastic community. Why did I do this, what did I learn – and what led me … Continue reading “What I Learned from the Sisters”
How do we become who we are? Not in a vacuum. We are not self-made despite our commitment to making informed choices for ourselves. Rather we grow in the soil of community and through the sense of connection that is relational power. Explore with Frederick Douglass, Starhawk, Saul Alinski and the Velveteen Rabbit the significance … Continue reading Becoming in Community: Claiming Relational Power
Direct link to YouTube stream HERE. Rev. Diana’s final sermon, a love letter to First Unitarian, its past and its future. This service will include the minister’s leavetaking ritual.
Join us for our farewell service to Rev. Diana. We will be celebrating her and her ministry in Oklahoma City and hearing from folks who have been changed by her work. Note: Next week, (March 10) is Rev. Diana’s farewell to us. Direct link to YouTube stream HERE.
Direct link to YouTube stream HERE. During “candidating week” a UU minister candidate typically gives two sermons. The first is intended to introduce the candidate to the congregation (“Who Am I?”) and the second is focused on who the congregation and minister might be together (“Who Might We Be?”) In our final weeks together, I … Continue reading “COVID and Cacti of Love”
Direct link to YouTube stream HERE. From two different cultures come two different concepts of mysterious powers. From Spain, especially from the writings of Federico Garcia Lorca, comes the idea of duende, a powerful force of passion and vulnerability, that seems to rise from the Earth itself and that is utterly dependent on an awareness … Continue reading “Duende and Puhpowee: On Answering Your Calling”
Direct link to YouTube stream HERE. Any list of famous UUs will include names like William Ellery Channing, Louisa May Alcott, John Adams, Margaret Fuller, Theodore Parker, and James Reeb. Henry Whitney Bellows isn’t as well known, but he played a major role in organizing Unitarianism as a denomination. In the years after the Civil … Continue reading “Where Do We Come From? Where Are We Going?”
