Opening Reading: Morning Poem, by Mary Oliver Every morning the world is created. Under the orange sticks of the sun the heaped ashes of the night turn into leaves again and fasten themselves to the high branches –and the ponds appear like black cloth on which are painted islands of summer lilies. If it is […]

 Opening words from May Sarton’s Well:  “If one looks long enough at almost anything, looks with absolute attention at a flower, a stone, the bark of a  tree, grass, snow, a cloud, something like revelation takes place. Something is ‘given,’ and perhaps that something is always a reality outside the self.  We are aware of […]

Morning Poem, Mary Oliver Every morning the world is created. Under the orange sticks of the sun the heaped ashes of the night turn into leaves again and fasten themselves to the high branches –and the ponds appear like black cloth on which are painted islands of summer lilies. If it is your nature to […]

Mothers always feel like their child is a reflection of them so they worry about what the little ones will say.  For example, they often reveal things to teachers about what’s going on at home. Children generally come into the sanctuary on the first Sunday of the month for the first part of the service.  […]

(Minister’s note:  The following is the sermon I prepared to deliver on May 4.  The actual sermon, delivered from the pulpit, is available on tape and may be purchased or borrowed.) Revelation The Roman poet Lucan asks rhetorically, “Is the dwelling place of God anywhere but in the earth and sea, the air and sky, […]

The sermon begins with silence: simply connecting, person to person. We’re here in this special place, this house of worship, to be reminded that we are part of a community; to be reminded that we are capable of making meaningful connections; to be encouraged to take the risk of caring, of loving.  We need one […]

Opening Words:   Today we are a nation in mourning.  We mourn the loss of life in Iraq and Kuwait.  We mourn the loss of peace.  Once again we are at war, but this time it is different.  Diplomacy failed.  Raw and rampant power pervades.  As the bombs blast away at Baghdad and families flee for […]

A preacher put this question to a class of children: ‘If all the good people in the world were red and all the bad people were green, what color would you be?’ Little Linda Jean thought mightily for a moment. Then her face brightened and she replied, “Reverend, I’d be streaky.” We would all be […]

Opening Words From Howard Thurman who served as chaplain at Boston University for many years and was mentor to M.L.K. Jr. when he was a student there. The concern I lay bare before God today is my need for courage: I need courage to be honest: honest in my use of words; honest in accepting […]

Some time ago–in a different era–one of the basic, most essential courses in our Unitarian church schools was called, ‘Jesus the Carpenter’s Son.’ (The new curriculum that has come out of the UUA is called: Jesus, Kingdom of Equals). The title of the old course, which was the title of a book by Sophia Lyon […]