We reside in a troubled world where we have multiplied exponentially the avenues for the world’s troubling news to reach us. Each day we hear about the suffering of others – near and far – and each day we experience severe challenges in our own lives. All this can make it very difficult to experience […]
The Spring Equinox celebrates the return of balanced hours of dark and light. We are reminded of the importance of appreciating and growing from both dark and light in our lives. Many writers and traditions recognize that this is a key to living fully. Bob moved to Door County full time in 2008, after a […]
As conditions for women worsen in the U.S., this International Women’s Day offers a good occasion to examine the case for both public and private expressions of compassion. What is compassion? How do we promote it? How is it discouraged? What role does this emotion play in Unitarian Universalist principles? To consider these questions, Estella […]
There is a lot of baggage attached to the name “God” which leads many to forgo the idea altogether.  Can we let go of that name and still be able to talk about the ineffable? How do we name it in order to leave open a sense of “the more”? A graduate of Union Theological […]
“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 […]
Robert Johnson, the Jungian Analyst, says that romantic love is the single greatest energy system in the Western psyche. He believes that it has supplanted religion as the primary way we experience ecstasy and wholeness. The gods have left the temple, migrated. But love can never produce human relationships as long as it stays romantic. […]
Sometimes a tune gets stuck in our brains. So, too, do stories from long ago. Two stories I revisit again and again have to do with crimes: murders, trials, juries, and verdicts — and how they affected my personal and professional lives even though I was neither a perpetrator nor a victim. Cynthia Johnson, a […]
Groundhog Day, a 1993 film starring Bill Murray, may be the only movie not actually made to illustrate Buddhist principles, that does. A look at some Buddhist beliefs through the lens of this delightful film. Rev Joan Shiels is a longtime friend and frequent speaker at UUFDC. Once a year she brings us an analysis […]
Do we create an instantaneous resonance with people? A resonance that simultaneously acknowledges them and their reality and expresses ourselves? We create a mutual understanding in very few words when we consciously communicate. Carol Hackbardt served Calvary and Zion United Methodist Churches in Door County (2004-2011) before she retired after 32 years of ministry. She […]
As somas, each of us is already meaningfully structured in relation to our changing world – in other words “able to adapt.” This meaningful structure is “ourselves” – it already exists beneath all of our searching and rational thinking. From a somatic perspective, we are suffering from sensory motor amnesia – that is, we have […]