Ready to Be Unsteady with Rev. Karen Hering What does it mean to keep our balance when the unknowns of our times require that we let go of so much that was familiar before? How do we find balance in times of change – in the world, in our communities and in our personal lives? Rev. […]

Halfway between the fall equinox and the winter solstice, when the ghosts and ghouls of Halloween appear on our doorsteps, is a time regarded in many cultures as one when the veils between this world and the next are thin or even lifted. We will mark the occasion, known variously as All Souls or All […]

With so much focus on immigration today, what might we learn from the efforts of many today to secure and lock down our borders? What happens in that lock down, on our physical borders or the borders of difference and identity? Who gets locked in and who is locked out? And who holds the keys? […]

Thoreau once wrote, “Though I do not believe that a plant will spring up where no seed has been, I have great faith in a seed. Convince me that you have a seed there, and I am prepared to expect wonders.” We’ll consider what the natural world teaches us about faith, wonder, and hope, especially […]

With the unfolding conversations and awareness around gender identity and diversity, how do we understand what it means to be “us” in ways that welcome and open the fullness of all our gender identities and possibilities? Rev. Karen Hering is consulting literary minister, rooted at Unity Church-Unitarian, St. Paul, and author of Writing to Wake the Soul: Opening […]

Improv performances are based on a simple formula of saying “yes” to whatever is given — a word, a scenario, an action — and adding to it, to create a rich story of shared authorship. Far from the panacea of positive thinking, this challenging practice can be useful when living through significant change, especially in […]

Some describe paradise as being idyllic and someplace else – whether left behind in the myths of our origins or awaiting us in stories of an afterlife. Inspired by Henry David Thoreau’s death bed words — “One world at a time!” — we will look for the glimpses of paradise to be found in the […]

“We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake,” wrote Thoreau, “not by mechanical aids but by an infinite expectation of the dawn.” How do we awaken hope in times of loss and winter’s darkness, while cultivating the inner transformation we will need for the challenges ahead? The Rev. Karen Hering serves as consulting literary […]