Inspiration

UU thoughts, sermons, music

UU Lent 2022 – Day 12 – Help

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The Holy Work of Showing Up by Ashley Horan

How is it with your soul?

This is the question that John Wesley, Anglican priest and the founder of Methodism, was known to ask of participants in small reflection groups. I ask you because, for me, this has been a hard week. So, beloveds, how is it with your souls?

If your response to that question is anything like mine, I want to invite you to pause as you read this. Take a deep breath, say a prayer, sing a song, light your chalice, feel the force of gravity pulling us all toward the same center—whatever helps you feel more rooted and less alone.

Now do it again. And again, and again.

And, once you feel that rootedness and connection, hear this:

You are loved beyond belief. You are enough, you are precious, your work and your life matter, and you are not alone. You are part of a “we,” a great cloud of witnesses living and dead who have insisted that this beautiful, broken world of ours is a blessing worthy of both deep gratitude and fierce protection. Our ancestors and our descendants are beckoning us, compelling us onward toward greater connection, greater compassion, greater commitment to one another and to the earth. Together, we are resilient and resourceful enough to say “yes” to that call, to make it our life’s work in a thousand different ways, knowing that we can do no other than bind ourselves more tightly together, and throw ourselves into the holy work of showing up, again and again, to be part of building that world of which we dream but which we have not yet seen.

Share Your Glorious Light with the World by James Morison

Within each of our hearts there is a most glorious light.
Go forth, and let its spark help you understand what troubles both you and others;
Go forth, and let its light of reason be a guide in your decisions;
Go forth, and bring its ray of hope to those in need of help in both body and spirit, that they may find healing;
Go forth, and fan the flames of passion to help heal our world;
Go forth, and spread the warm glow of love, pushing back the darkness of the world;
Go forth, and share your glorious light with the world.

March 2022 Theme – Renewing Faith

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Renewing Faith: A Call to Worship by Rev. Dr. David Breeden

We ask “what’s the point?”

to renew our faith, 

to renew our trust

that our world is enough,

that we are enough.

We ask “what’s the point?” 

to remind ourselves 

that loving our world

and each other is our way.

We ask “what’s the point?”

to renew our faith that 

loving choices create 

a loving life

Quote – Anne Lamott

My coming to faith did not start with a leap but rather a series of staggers from what seemed like one safe place to another. Like lily pads, round and green, these places summoned and then held me up while I grew. Each prepared me for the next leaf on which I would land, and in this way I moved across the swamp of doubt and fear.

UU Lent 2022 – Day 7 – Grief

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“But what is grief, if not love persevering?” – Vision in the show WandaVision

Weeping Willow (From The Film My Girl) Poem by Emma Jane Rae

Weeping willow with your tears running down,
why do you always weep and frown?
is it because he left you one day?
is it because he couldnt not stay?
on your branches he would swing,
do you love the happiness that he would bring?
he found shelter in your shade,
we thought his laughter would never fade!
Weeping willow stop your tears,
there is something to calm your fears,
you think death as you do forever part,
i know he will always be in your heart!

Why the Five Stages of Grief Are Wrong: Lessons from the (non-)stages of grief by David B. Feldman Ph.D.

Laying Dreams to Rest by Leslie Gatto