May 6, 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

"Blue Sky Returning"

The Rev. Lindasusan Ulrich

First Unitarian Congregation of Ann Arbor

Sermon

"Humanism" (2/11/18)

The Rev. Daniel O'Connell

First Unitarian-Universalist Church of Houston

Message

"Love Yourself"

Boxer Rebellion

Natural Silence

"African Night"

Andrew Skeotch

ListeningEarth.com

World Religions

On Tuesday, many Christians will mark the Feast Day for St. Julian of Norwich.  An important Christian mystic and theologian, her “Revelations of Divine Love,” written around 13-95, is the first book in the English language known to have been written by a woman.  Her work deals with incarnation, redemption, divine consolation, sin and other spiritual topics.  She is venerated in the Anglican and Lutheran churches.  The Roman Catholic Church has not declared her to be a saint but has given her the title Blessed.

Thursday many Christians will celebrate the Feast of the Ascension of Jesus, marking the bodily rising of Jesus into heaven.  The holiday is celebrated in Eastern, Western, Coptic and other Christian sects, although not necessarily on the same day.  Holiday traditions vary greatly.  But in Western churches they include the blessing of beans, fruits and candles; the wearing of miters by deacons; the extinguishing of the Easter candle and triumphal processions.  In Eastern churches, the faithful hold all-night vigils, beginning with an evening silent procession into the church and ending with a daybreak liturgy.

Thursday marks the anniversary of the death, in 1860, of the canonical Unitarian figure Theodore Parker.  A Boston Transcendentalist and Unitarian reformer, in 1841, he broke with Unitarian orthodoxy at the time, arguing for an ever-evolving Christian worship, one that centered religious faith on reason and individual experience.  He also denied stories of Christian miracles and the Bible’s literal authority, making him both loved and hated.  But his most controversial stance was anti-slavery.  He and his followers formed teams to hide escaped enslaved people.  He supported abolitionist John Brown.  Long after his death, his words inspired phrases by Abraham Lincoln, namely, “A government of the people, by the people and for the people,” used in the Gettysburg Address; and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., namely, “The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends towards justice,” used in several Civil Rights speeches.

And now, for the Feast Day of St. Julian of Norwich, a song based on the mystic’s words and usually associated with Christmas.  Here sung by the Albion Christmas Band, a song called simply “Julian of Norwich,” written by the English folk musician Sydney Carter.

Sermon

"Audacity of Death" (3/18/18)

The Rev. Kate Landis

Shoreline Unitarian-Universalist Church, Shoreline, Wash.

Message

"Poor People's Campaign"

The Rev. Susan-Frederic Gray

Conclusion

Seven Principles and Six Sources of Unitarian-Universalsm