April 14, 2019
The unifying themes of this program are justice, love, learning and hope. The messages come from sermons and readings from Unitarian-Universalist sources. The program title comes from a beloved Unitarian-Universalist hymn, “Spirit of Life,” which includes the words, “Sing in my heart all the stirrings of compassion” and “Move in the hand, giving life the shape of justice.”
We’ll examine why America can’t call itself a Christian nation. Also, what role do religious liberals have in creating a new vision for how our nation can move forward? These messages are linked below.
Commentary
Written by Orlando Montoya
A few months ago, an environmental group, the National Pollinator Garden Network, announced that it met its challenge of registering a million gardens across North America in an effort to enhance pollinator habitat. They did that in part with the help of 345 gardens in Chatham County and 27,000 gardens across Georgia, big and small. Bees, butterflies, birds, bats and other pollinators are responsible for one out of every three bites of food that we eat. And yet, for many reasons, they’re declining. Increasing their habitat – even if it’s just a nectar plant here, a sunny area with wind breaks there, a good old college try to make a year-round blooming garden or the complete elimination of pesticides – everything helps these critical sustainers of us who consume. Earth Day this week reminds us that it will take pollinators of a different sort to save humanity. These pollinators are ordinary people like you and me who do small things that add up, build momentum and shift the winds of destruction to salvation. We fly from flower to flower, person to person, if you will, spreading this good word, that Earth Day is not about the earth. The Earth doesn’t care about us. And pollinator gardens are not about pollinators. Butterflies don’t care about us, either. No, Earth Day and all that we do to help the earth and its creatures is about the interconnected web between us and the people who will inherit our success or failure. It’s about cultivating not crops but connections, with our neighbors and friends and recognizing that a million gardens come from 27,000, which come from 345, which come from one at a time, perhaps in our own backyard. So, be the bee, one of many doing the good work, blessed be. And Happy Earth Day.
Sermon
“The Scream Factory” (1/27/19)
Rev. Kate Walker
Mount Vernon Unitarian Church
Sermon
“The Ironies of Life in Christian America” (12/2/19)
Rev. Roger Jones
Unitarian-Universalist Society of Sacramento
Sermon
TBD
Sermon
TBD
Braver Wiser
Used by permission of Braver Wiser, a publication of the Unitarian-Universalist Association
Quest Monthly
Used by permission of Quest Monthly, a publication of the Church of the Larger Fellowship
UUA Statements
Messages from the Unitarian Universalist Association
Natural Silence
Used by permission of ListeningEarth.com
UUA Principles and Sources
Our liberal faith as defined by the Unitarian Universalist Association
World Religions
Written by Orlando Montoya
Interfaith Calendar
Written by Orlando Montoya
UU FAQ
Written by and used by permission of John Sias from interviews with Rev. Steve Edington
Published by the Unitarian-Universalist Church of Nashua, NH
