August 18, 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 on “The Heart and the Hand” with Orlando Montoya: There’s a new song from Peter, Paul and Mary in the hymn rotation. We UU’s often sing “Come and Go with Me,” which the trio sung beautifully. We’ll also learn about Biblical errors and the freedom to change our beliefs. We’ll talk about the value of doing nothing and digital detox. All that plus a new message about listening to trees and all the usual segments this Sunday from 9-11am for mostly words and 1-2pm for mostly music on WRUU 107.5 FM and WRUU.ORG.
Commentary
Written by Orlando Montoya
“Listen to the land we all love. Nature’s plan will shine above. Listen to the land.” The words from a Disney song of my childhood ring through me as I return from a trip to the Hoh Rainforest in western Washington. It’s one of the greenest and wettest places on the continent. Listen to the land. But what would this land say if it could speak? I like the story of the nurse logs of the rainforest. Nurse logs are dead trees. They fall on the forest floor and provide nutrients that sustain other plants. Mosses, ferns and mushrooms all grow on the nurse logs. And these mosses, ferns and mushrooms create a rooting media, a way for new trees to take root. These new trees then wrap their roots around the nurse log like fishnet stockings on a woman’s leg. Eventually, the nurse log decays, the fishnet roots fuse and you’re left with what looks like a tree with a round hole at the bottom. The hole that used to be the nurse log. Sometimes, several of these new trees grow from the same nurse log and it looks like three trees lined up in a row. If you didn’t know about nurse logs, you might look at that row of trees and think, “What a coincidence.” A nurse log produces five times its weight in new living matter and sustains new life for five centuries. Listen to the land. I think that in the nurse log story, it’s telling us to wrap new life around our ancestors, to nourish the future and to leave a legacy over centuries, even if it’s something that someone many generations later will look at and think, “What a coincidence.” Even if they don’t know, we’ll know. Nature’s plan will shine above.
Sermon
“Doing Nothing” (6/2/19)
Rev. Stephanie May
First Parish in Wayland, Massachusetts, Unitarian-Universalist
Sermon
“Open and Welcoming” (6/30/19)
Rev. Bridget Spain
Dublin Unitarian Church, Ireland
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
