October 8, 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 the program comes from the words of 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.”

Braver Wiser

"Pulled by a Fragile Thread"

Robin Tanner

Beacon Unitarian Universalist Congregation, Summit, New Jersey

Sermon

"Emergency"

Rev. Stephen Kendrick

First Church Boston, Unitarian-Universalist

Message

"Ordinary Miracles"

From "A Year of Spiritual Companionship" by Anne Kertz-Kernion

Natural Silence

"A Walk in the Rainforest"

Andrew Skeoch and Sarah Koschak (ListeningEarth.com)

World Religions

Tomorrow in Sikhism is the birthday, in 1534 in present-day Pakistan, of Guru Ram Das.  The fourth of ten gurus in Sikh faith, Ram Das is credited with founding Amritsar, the holiest city in Sikhism; writing about 10% of the hymns in the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh holy book; and reorganizing Sikh religious orders.  Sikhism is a monotheistic Indian religion with about 24-million adherents, including about a quarter million in the US.

Tomorrow is Columbus Day, a day to mourn the killing, enslavement and genocide of indigenous people in the Americas.  Christopher Columbus, an Italian colonizer working Sprain, did not discover America on October 12th, 1492.  Native peoples settled this land thousands of years earlier.  Pre-Columbian population estimates range from 50 to 100 million people.  Disease, war, exploitation and forced displacement led to depopulation.

Wednesday is the birthday, in 1884 in New York City, of Eleanor Roosevelt.  The First Lady of the United States during the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Eleanor was instrumental in drafting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948.  She also embraced a modest Civil Rights agenda and was the first presidential spouse to hold regular news conferences, among many other First Lady firsts.

Wednesday was the opening date, in 1962, of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, also known as Vatican II, a meeting in which the Catholic Church embraced ecumenism, social justice and freedom of religious.  The council modernized the Catholic Church, reshaping it into much of what it is today.  It also encouraged friendships with non-Christian faiths and opened the doors to languages besides Latin to be used in Mass.

Friday and Saturday in Judaism are two related holidays, Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah.  Together, the holidays mark the end of a seven-day period devoted to themes of togetherness and gratitude.  They also mark the end and beginning of an annual worship cycle in which the Torah, the Jewish holy book, is read from beginning to end each year.  Holiday traditions vary by religious sect but might include singing and dancing, parading Torah scrolls through the streets and rabbis blessing children entering religious schools.

And Saturday is Fall Migratory Bird Day, the signature program of Environment for the Americas, recognizing that nearly 350 species of birds migrate at this time of year from the US and Canada to Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean as winter approaches.  Fall Migratory Bird Day celebrates the connections, spiritual and otherwise, that humans and birds have shared throughout history.  Or as the English writer D-H Lawrence wrote: “Birds are the life of the skies, and when they fly, they reveal the thoughts of the skies.”

Message

"Discovery"

Phil Marshall

First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco

Message

"The Problem of Evil"

Rev. Aaron White

First Unitarian Church of Dallas

Conclusion

Seven Principles of Unitarian-Universalism