October 1, 2017

Love is the spirit of this program. The music spans many genres but has unifying themes of justice, love, learning and hope. The messages come from podcasts, sermons and readings from Unitarian-Universalist and other allied sources in liberal religion. The title of this program comes from the words of a beloved Unitarian-Universalist hymn, “Spirit of Life,” including, “Sing in my heart all the stirrings of compassion” and “Move in the hand, giving life the shape of justice.”

Braver Wiser

"Between Wonder and Fear"

By Elizabeth Harding

Second Unitarian Church of Chicago

Sermon

"Gotta Get Up To Get Down"

By Rev. Marisol Caballero

Unitarian-Universalist Association

Prayer for Hurricane Recovery

By Anna Bethea

Unitarian-Universalist Association

The quickness of nature to tear up roads, strip trees, and collapse buildings
Doesn’t compare to the long process of survival and recovery.
Splayed electric lines, floodwaters, and landslides mark devastation,
Yet will never match the lives, dreams, and memories of precious things swept away.

Amidst the dirt and muck, families get up another day to search for clean water and food
While struggling to stay cool and communicate with loved ones,
There is time for tears and emotional release.
While watching, waiting, adjusting, surviving,
There is time for embrace, reunions, prayers.

A return to normal is hard to even imagine - months and years away.
Trauma is a time for us to center the sacred:
The core of who we are, shielded from any storm or disaster.
As we seek resources for immediate needs,
May we also tend to our own and our communities’ needs to restore hope, love, and the seeds of new life.

Natural Silence

"Morning in the Australian Bush"

By Andrew Skeoch & Sarah Koschak of Listening Earth

World Religions

Today in Islam is Ashura, a holiday that means more for Shia than it does for Sunni Muslims.  For the Shias, it is the climax of a mourning period for one of Muhammad’s grandsons, Husayn ibn Ali, whose death in 680 CE fueled the Shia religious movement.  For the Sunnis, it marks the day that they believe God parted the Red Sea to save Moses’ followers from the Pharaoh in the story known to Christians, Muslims and Jews.

Tomorrow is the birthday, in present-day Gujarat, India in 1869, of Mahatma Ghandi.  A lawyer by training, he employed non-violent civil disobedience to lead India in 1947 to independence, inspiring freedom movements around the world.  A Hindu committed to religious pluralism, he undertook several fasts unto death to stop religious violence.  He was killed by a Hindu nationalist.  His birthday is the International Day of Nonviolence.

Wednesday in China and Vietnam is the Moon Festival, also called the Mid-Autumn Festival.  With origins in Shang Dynasty China, in moon worship and in Taoist and Buddhist beliefs, the festival celebrates gathering, thanksgiving and prayer.  Traditions include lantern processions, round-shaped moon cakes, cassia wines and match-making.

Wednesday many Tewa-speaking people will celebrate the deer dance.  Tewa refers to a group of co-lingual tribes in New Mexico.  Their deer dance includes colorful costumes and music in which each song is a prayer and each act a ritual of social obligation.

Wednesday in Santeria is the feast day of Orunmila, the god of wisdom, knowledge and divination.  The faithful believe that he was present at creation and is the only god who sees the future.  His feast day traditions include offerings of palm oil and honey.

Wednesday many Western churches will celebrate the feast of St. Francis of Assisi.  One of the most revered Christian saints, Francis is the patron of animals, Italy and nature.  He venerated poverty and believed that nature was the mirror of God.  His feast day is the same as that of Italy’s other patron saint, Catherine of Siena, who worked to establish peace between warring cities.  She believed herself united with Jesus in a mystical union.

Wednesday many Buddhists will observe a memorial for Bodhidharma, a fifth or sixth century monk credited with transmitting Buddhism to China.  He’s also regarded as the creator of kung fu.  Although little is known of his life and many legends surround his biography, works attributed to him include an important text called Two Entrances and Four Practices, which details how sentient beings are to realize their true Buddha nature.

Wednesday in Judaism begins Sukkot, an eight-day holiday known in English as Feast of Tabernacles.  The holiday is seen as both an end-of-harvest in-gathering ceremony and a commemoration of the Exodus, a central story of the Jewish faith, in which God delivers the Israelites from slavery.  Holiday traditions vary greatly by sectarian observance but might include dining or dwelling in a temporary hut, waving of tree branches and reciting of prayers, all of which relate in some way to the themes of harvest and deliverance.

Sermon

"Smashing the Patriarchy"

By Rev. Angela Henderson

First Unitarian-Universalist Church of Houston

Conclusion

Seven Principles of Unitarian-Universalism

All readings and audio segments on this program are used by permission.