May 5, 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.”
This week, we welcome a new participating minister to our program. The Rev. Peter Friedrichs serves a UU church in the Philadelphia metro and talk about his experiences at the Southern border any why people migrate in the sermon linked below.
Commentary
Written by Orlando Montoya
I love karaoke. I sing karaoke every week at my neighborhood bar. On any given night, the karaoke mood might be country, rock, soul, rap or Frank Sinatra. I sing it all. One night, a bar regular, a man who never sings, stopped me in the bar’s parking lot. He wanted to thank me. I had helped him with a personal problem he was having, although I didn’t remember it. I didn’t even know the guy’s name. He told me that once, he was at the bar complaining to a friend, a third person, about some family problem, the details of which flew by me. And the friend confronted him with my example. I sing week after week. My singing sometimes fails spectacularly yet I still do it. And I don’t very much care about what people think about my song selection or performance. This third person said of me, “At least he’s not afraid.” Except, instead of the word “afraid,” he used a word not acceptable for the radio. The point was, at least I try. This insight changed the way he dealt with this problem. And it helped him, he said. In a moment of quiet, under the flickering parking lot lights, in view of a bar sign that said, “Everyone needs an alcoholiday,” completely sober, this person I hardly knew said that I changed his life and the lives of people that I didn’t even know. More than a compliment directed at me, I took it as humbling proof that you’ll never know your life’s full impact. So live your life as if people are watching. Live your life as if someone will come up to you and say, in the most unexpected time and place, that your example meant something. And may that meaning be helpful.
Sermon
“Is It Possible To Be Good?” (3/31/19)
Rev. Kate Landis
Shoreline Unitarian Universalist Church, Seattle
The sermon begins at 16:00 minutes into the above linked video.
Sermon
“A Migrant’s Story” (3/10/19)
Rev. Peter Friedrichs
Unitarian Universalist Church of Delaware County, Media, Pennsylvania
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
