UU Collective
I cannot help but to wonder: Read more
I cannot help but to wonder: Read more
Why bother joining a congregation rather than, oh, say, a bowling league? 1. To meet people. OK, yes it’s true that you will meet new people by joining a bowling league as well, but by joining a particular sort of congregation, you will find a particular sort of people. In Unitarian Universalist congregations, and particularly in Humanist congregations, you will meet people who put integrity above comfort—because, let’s face it, belonging to a more traditional congregation is more comfortable. When... Read more
I need a little respite for my soul, soul, soul take a little time to leave my cares behind, find a little comfort and some peace of mind, some time to sit with myself and be still. –Pat Humphries, Same Rain This Labor Day, I went for a long walk with a friend and then came home and went upstairs to the attic space that serves as my sewing room, Mardi Gras costume storage space, and guest bedroom (among other assignments). ... Read more
You’ve heard it; you’ve thought it; perhaps you’ve even said it: “She is SO together!” “How does everybody else keep it together?” “I SHOULD get myself together.” “I can’t get it together!” “Why can’t I get myself together?” “I’ve got to get myself together!” “It’s time I get myself together!” But what’s so together about “together”? I ask because I for one have NEVER been there. I don’t know what “together” feels like. Why should we scattered people even bother... Read more
The poet Mark Nepo writes that when “we find ourselves in an emergency at night, in a life-changing crisis or a passage that feels quite dark, we need to lean into life, not away, and strike ourselves against the situation in order to release our soul and see by our own light. How we hold this is crucial” (The Endless Practice). I have turned my attention to the poets in this last week as the nation has turned its attention... Read more
The Methodist Church across the street from my church has a large lighted sign that reads, “It Will All Be OK!” Having been raised a Christian, I know what they mean by that. It’s a reassuring message. Perhaps those who put those words out there even believe it. It is, however, a myopic view and irresponsible besides. There are two ways of viewing the world we see around us. One way, the Methodist Way, claims that the reality we see... Read more
You can’t drown a fire ant. Not if it’s got friends. What happens in a downpour, or if they end up in a puddle or a bucket of water is that a group of fire ants will cling to each other. Well, more than cling: what they do is to make a raft out of themselves. People say it’s like waterproof material, how they’re woven together. And they stay afloat. My family is part of a CSA–a community supported agriculture... Read more
This is a love note to my people, to friends and family and strangers who are loved simply because we went through the storm and the flood together. This is a love note to my people, friends and family and strangers who are loved because they bore witness and did not forget us. This is a love note to my people, friends and family and strangers who aren’t quite sure what we are talking about, but who send love and... Read more
We don’t know how the ready access to information will ultimately change the human condition, but religions are already feeling the heat. A person today can, with a few keystrokes, discover facts about religions that, when I was young, were assiduously and successfully suppressed—particularly in those traditions common among disadvantaged people such as I was. A search of “Oneness Pentecostalism” reveals more than I learned in twenty years of attending a Oneness Pentecostal church. Can religions survive the availability of... Read more
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