In our enlightened age, science and technology explain almost everything to us. But still, there are some mysteries in the world— some things that defy rational explanation. What do we make of those? Rev Joan Shiels is a long-time friend and frequent speaker at UU. She has graduate degrees in Religion, Theology and Divinity but […]
An introduction to our 20th Anniversary year, with songs and words provided by UUFDC founding members and others. Music and messages will prepare us for the holidays and our celebration. After the candle-light service, a sweet and savory reception will follow.
Everybody’s life runs dry. We all have developed certain patterns, a framework, a modus operandi out of which we live our lives. You should not expect to continue to run down the same path and not lose vitality. Suicide is an indication that something needs to die in order for something new to be born; it’s […]
The deep dark quiet of December nights reminds us it is the season to listen to stories and reclaim our stories. It is a time to remember the long, long ago time when we were children and saw the world through eyes less dimmed with human tears. What do you remember? What do you see? […]
Thoreau said “Every time something is gained, something is lost.” When it comes to growing old, it’s easy to see what is lost but sometimes hard to realize what is gained: a meditation on the good, the bad and the fabulous. Joan Shiels is an old friend and frequent speaker at our Fellowship. She has […]
FAMILY THANKSGIVING BREAD SERVICE Gary Synder, a Buddhist practitioner and writer who grew up in a Christian home, wrote an essay entitled “Grace”, meaning the words you speak before a meal; he said that “…grace is the first and last poem, the few words we say to clear our hearts, and teach the children, and […]
In a deep and profound sense, trouble and problems are the very best thing that could happen to us. It is rare in my experience to have anyone give thanks for their trouble at the time it is happening. Most of us have been conditioned to move toward being freed of all our distresses and our troubles and ills. […]
The religious imagination is a wonderful companion for daily living. Imagine my shock when I had a startling twinned Buddha-encounter at 10,700 feet in China – and such insights sort of keep on happening. I can hardly believe it myself. Cynthia Johnson, a retired Unitarian Universalist minister who served UU congregations in Texas and Oklahoma, joined […]
“I cannot say whether things will get better if we change; what I can say is that they must change if they are to get better.” – Georg C. Lichtenberg Research shows that civility, if embraced by one person, and then another, and then a few more, can suddenly and profoundly impact the community in […]
Rev. Phil Sweet & Friends (Angela Lensch, Bob Bultman, Keith Koch, David Smirz) While traveling in India, Joseph Campbell met with Sri Krishna Menon, a renowned Hindu teacher. Menon asked him if he had a question. Indeed Campbell did. “Since in Hindu thinking all is Brahman, all is a product of divine energy, no matter how […]