For Celebration
From To Bless the Space Between Us, John O’Donohue (2008)
 
Now is the time to free the heart,
Let all intentions and worries stop,
Free the joy inside the self,
Awaken to the wonder of your life.
 
Open your eyes and see the friends,
Whose hearts recognize your face as … read more.

Our theme for May is nurturing beauty. I don’t tend to spend a lot a time thinking about the concept of “beauty,” or the concept of “nurturing” for that matter, so pondering both at the same time is a challenge.
 
It’s hard not to think immediately … read more.

Awakening the Soul

One summer, in those liminal months between middle school and high school, I rode my bike to the library nearly every day and checked out books. I must have read close to a hundred books that summer, one after the other devoured sprawled … read more.

It’s been a long couple of years coming through this COVID-19 pandemic! Our hustle bustle lives of go-go-go with little to no boundaries came to a…. whoa…wait… what?! A shutdown! Really, in this 21st century? Crazy! Really? What a reality check! A virus from the … read more.

What does it mean to Widen the Circle? What is our goal? As we have discussed in a number of meetings at First Parish over the past several years, the goal of Widening the Circle is to WELCOME into our congregation and our community all those … read more.

One thing I really appreciate about UUism is the unique lack of certainty. There is no great promise to believe in. We do not try to explain the unexplainable. It is OK to not have all the answers; it is good to ask questions. My curiosity pulls me into the oddest … read more.

Lately, we’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to be a part of a covenantal community. A covenant, at its core, is an agreement between two or more people. In the context of Unitarian Universalism, we have come to understand it (in part) … read more.

“History” provides us with a story larger than the epic saga we make about ourselves (our identity).  Just as You as a being exist differently in your own and everyone else’s mind, history is not a monolithic truth. We do all sorts of things to get other people to … read more.

The UUA suggested theme for October is “Cultivating a Relationship”.   As a First Parish Board member, I wondered what I could say about this, since I am not exactly a philosophical thinker (I believe Susan’s term for someone like me is “linear”).
 
The first thing that … read more.

Dear Friends,

September always brings with it a sense of anticipation. Over a decade of schooling will do that to you, I think. It ingrained a sense of a new beginning as the weather turns cool and the leaves begin to fall. A curiosity of what … read more.