September 23, 2018

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.”

Two new sermons on today's show talk about how love and compassion are universal values that we can cultivate beyond belief and politcs.

Commentary by Orlando Montoya

Mississippi writer Eudora Welty ends her short story, “A Piece of News,” with this line: “The storm had rolled away to faintness like a wagon crossing a bridge.”  In the story, the storm was a domestic argument and a murder that never materialized.  In our “Piece of News,” the storm was an actual storm that veered away from us.  As the waters recede from the Carolina path of Hurricane Florence, I’m drawn to the image, or rather the sounds in my mind, of a storm rolling away to faintness.  Most times, we can hear a storm coming.  An argument, poor health, divorce, war.  They have their signs.  The wagon comes with a clip clop of a horse, a rustling of the leaves and a turning of the wheels on the rocky forest path.  The wagon crosses the bridge.  And as it rolls away, the clip clop, the rustling and the wheel sounds slowly blend into the faintness of the forest, the creek and the path.  In time, if we’re lucky, neither will we hear the wagon nor imagine it, neither coming nor going in our mind, and all we’ll hear is nature.  That’s my goal with the wagons that have come my way, including job loss, bitterness and loss of friends.  Unfortunately, when you have good ears, you hear distant wagons.  The people of the Carolinas will need much time to recover.  We can help them rebuild.  We also can learn the lessons of serious storms in terms of climate change prevention and mitigation.  But as rebuilding relates to other storms in our lives, I remember a message that in many respects sounds unsatisfying: “It gets better.”  Or said in Welty’s more elegant words: “The storm had rolled away to faintness like a wagon crossing a bridge.”

Sermon

“Love Beyond Belief” (8/5/18)

Gaye Ortiz

Unitarian-Universalist Church of Augusta, Georgia

Sermon

“Guerilla Compassion” (7/15/18)

Tim Kutzmark

Unitarian-Universalist Church of Fresno, California

UUA Principles and Sources

Our liberal faith as defined by the Unitarian Universalist Association

UUA Statements

Messages from the Unitarian Universalist Association

Natural Silence

Used by permission of ListeningEarth.com

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

World Religions

Written by Orlando Montoya

Interfaith Calendar

Written by Orlando Montoya

UU FAQ

Written by John Sias from interviews with Rev. Steve Edington

Published by the Unitarian-Universalist Church of Nashua, NH