January 14, 2018
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
Teresa Honey Youngblood
Sermon
“Edict of Torda” (1/7/18)
The Rev. Kathy Schmitz
First Unitarian Church of Orlando, Fla.
World Religions
Today in Hinduism is Makar Sankrati. Called by various names in different parts of the Indian subcontinent, the festival is dedicated to the Hindu sun god, Surya, and marks the end of the first Hindu month in winter. The celebration welcomes longer days to come and most notably includes bathing in sacred rivers to purify the soul. Other traditions include colorful decorations, fairs, dances, kite-flying and delicious feasts.
Today in Islam is an unofficial day of remembrance for Ibn Arabi, renowned among Sufi practitioners as the greatest spiritual master. A poet, philosopher and mystic, Arabi was born in 1165 in modern-day Spain. He believed that humans are reflections of God and therefore on a path of oneness. His views on gender show a non-binary understanding of the divine. Arabi said that men and women are equal in terms of human potential.
Tuesday the tribes of the Iroquois Nation will celebrate their midwinter festival. Taking place on the winter’s first new moon, the holiday celebrates spiritual beginnings and the new year. Events might include a tobacco invocation, a dream sharing ritual, a bear dance and a feather dance. Elders might go from house to house, stirring the ashes in fire pits to thank the Creator as ashes serve as symbols of the earth and our own cycle of life.
Tomorrow is the birthday, in 1929 in Atlanta, of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. A Baptist minister and leader in the American civil rights movement, King’s advancement of non-violent and civilly disobedient social change was inspired by his Christian faith and the Hindu faith of Mahatma Gandi. In his later years, he fought against poverty and war, reminding us that they, too, are sins against humanity, condemned by all religions.
Tomorrow many Central American Catholics will celebrate the Feast of the Black Christ. Named for a statue of the crucified Jesus in Guatemala, the holiday draws pilgrims from around the region. Often bearing fruit and blackening their hands with juice, they come to pray at the Black Christ, whose image reminds us that Jesus was not blue-eyed and white. The figure also has become a symbol of peace and justice in a war-ravaged nation.
Tomorrow in 1933 in Banneux, Belgium, a 12-year-old girl, Mariette Beco, began seeing an apparition that later would be called Our Lady of the Poor. A reported sighting of the Virgin Mary, its location, a spring near modern-day Liege, is now one of the most visited Marian shrines in northern Europe. A Liege Bishop later wrote that Mary appeared a few years before World War Two to summon leaders of society to becomes artists of peace.
Sermon
“Let It Be Beautiful” (9/10/17)
Aaron McEmrys
Unitarian-Universalist Congregation of Arlington, Va.
Conclusion
Seven Principles and Six Sources of Unitarian-Universalism
- 9:02am The Middle by Jimmy Eat World on Single (Dreamworks Records)
- 9:10am Everything New by Daniel Nahmod on Water (Nimble Notes Record Company)
- 9:48am First In Flight by Blackalicious on Blazing Arrow (MCA Records)
- 9:54am Hands by Jewel on Spirit (Concord Music Group)
- 10:03am Beyond Vietnam A Time To Break Silence Pt. 4 by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on The Anthology 1957-1958 (WOW Words of Wisdom)
- 10:09am Eyes on the Prize (Hold On) by Sweet Honey In the Rock on Freedom Song Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Sony BMG Music Entertainment)
- 10:42am The Beauty of All Things by Kurt Elling on The Messenger (Blue Note Records)
- 10:52am Hold On Tight by Greg Holden on Chase the Sun (Warner Bros. Records Inc.)
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