December 15, 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: Are you the bow or the arrow? The one that bends? Or the one that impales? Also, we look at privacy as a moral concern.  A holiday message from the UUA President, some words about Fred Rogers and much more.  Tune in for your dose of bravery and wisdom each Sunday from 9-11am in mostly words and from 1-2pm in mostly music on WRUU 107.5 FM Savannah and WRUU.ORG.

Commentary

Written by Orlando Montoya

“Anything human is mentionable and anything mentionable is manageable.” These words stuck in my head from the recent movie about Fred Rogers, “It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.” The film isn’t really about Rogers. The beloved children’s television host, portrayed by Tom Hanks, appears on screen only about a third of the time. The story actually is about transforming sadness and anger into more healthy emotions. The movie posits that this can be done by first acknowledging the feelings. In a memorable scene, Rogers asks the movie’s main character, an embittered writer, not unlike myself, sad and angry, doubtful of cheesy wholesomeness, to talk about his feelings – with puppets. The writer has seen nothing more stupid in his life and walks out on Rogers. But in the audience, in our darkened seats, we see what’s happening. The writer is more human than he would believe. And anything human is mentionable and anything mentionable is manageable.  Now, I’m not about to self-diagnose the sources of my sadness and anger on the radio and social media. Indeed, much as the rain has its sources in distant unseen oceans and winds, I find them too numerous to identify, much as in a song by Dawers: “It’s a little bit of everything, it’s the mountains, it’s the fog, it’s the news at six o’clock, it’s the death of my first dog.” In the movie, Rogers listens to this litany. And in the listening, the writer softens. I think Rogers’ saintliness in he story is his persistence at pursuing the writer until he does open up. How many of us have this persistence? Certainly, boundaries keep many of us from this persistence. But from my position, teary-eyed in the fourth row, I’d recommend persistence of this nature, lest some things remain unmentionable and unmanageable.

Sermon

“The Morality of Privacy” (11/17/19)

Rev. Lissa Gundlach

Neighborhood Unitarian Universalist Church of Pasadena, California

Sermon

“The Bow and the Arrow” (10/6/19)

Rev. Lucas Hergert

North Shore Unitarian Church of Deerfield, Illinois

Sermon

“Can Pluralism Survive?” (8/19/18)

Rev. Andy Burnette

Valley Unitarian-Universalist Congregation, Chandler, Arizona

Sermon

“Our Loyal Companions” (12/9/18)

Rev. Joe Cherry

Unitarian-Universalist Church of Cleveland, Ohio

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