Inspiration

UU thoughts, sermons, music

The VUU is Back

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Aisha Hauser, Christina Rivera, Rev. Michael Tino, Quiana Perkins, Dawn Fortune, and Julica Hermann DelaFuente host this live Unitarian Universalist talk show discussing today’s topics from an anti-racist, anti-oppressive, and multicultural perspective. The VUU streams live on YouTube every Thursday at 12 pm ET. It is sponsored by the Church of the Larger Fellowship. Here is there most recent episode.

BLUU HAVENS

BLUUBerry Jam & Youth Open House

UU Lent 2020 – Day 46 – Rejoice

CZ

We don’t live into our redemption very much, or get to win the fight over death. Jesus’ resurrection is a symbol and a promise that we are redeemed and that death’s dominion is not the final word. On Easter the Deep Magic breaks through. We proclaim and sing that love’s redeeming work is done — and then get back to that very work. – Sarah C Stewart

All my life through, the new sights of Nature made me rejoice like a child. – Marie Curie

I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. – George Bernard Shaw

Brave men rejoice in adversity, just as brave soldiers triumph in war. – Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Alleluia! by Jeanne Lloyd

The Easter Egg We Need by Anne S. Howard

On laughter and liberation

CZ

“Humor obliges us to have an open mind. It obliges us to empathy and forgiveness. If you lose the power to laugh you lose the power to think. Sometimes only humor can break down entrenched positions and rigid ideology… If we can laugh together, we can live together…”

UU Lent 2020 – Day 45 – Anticipation

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Anticipation is the electricity of childhood. – Jason Kotecki

I like to compare the holiday season with the way a child listens to a favorite story. The pleasure is in the familiar way the story begins, the anticipation of familiar turns it takes, the familiar moments of suspense, and the familiar climax and ending. – Fred Rogers

Long intros are cool because there’s a little bit of anticipation, you know? – Miranda Lambert

Radical Expectations by Robin Tanner

Meditation on Planting by David Snedden

UU Lent 2020 – Day 44 – Gratitude

CZ

Gratitude is a powerful catalyst for happiness. It’s the spark that lights a fire of joy in your soul. – Amy Collette

The discipline of gratitude is the explicit effort to acknowledge that all I am and have is given to me as a gift of love, a gift to be celebrated with joy. – Henri Nouwen

Silent gratitude isn’t much use to anyone. – Gertrude Stein

We learned about gratitude and humility – that so many people had a hand in our success, from the teachers who inspired us to the janitors who kept our school clean… and we were taught to value everyone’s contribution and treat everyone with respect. – Michelle Obama

A Thanksgiving for the Elements by Eric Williams

Blessed Curses, Cursed Blessings by Becky Brooks

UU Lent 2020 – Day 43 – Transcend

CZ

According to Merriam Webster, transcend means 1) to rise above or extend notably beyond ordinary limits, 2) to outstrip or outdo in some attribute, quality, or power, 3) to be prior to, beyond, and above (the universe or material existence), 4) to triumph over the negative or restrictive aspects of

Prayer: Revel in the Mystery by Antonia Bell-Delgado

May we find the courage to revel in the experience of the mystery. 
May we approach the unknown with excitement (even if we can only muster a tiny bit).
May we celebrate the curiosity that leads to searching.
May we meet ourselves along the way and love us, unapologetically.

Amen.

Prayer for When Words Fail by Leslie Takahashi

Calling by Nancy Shaffer

Passover Blessings

CZ

Passover this year lasts from sundown on April 8, 2020 to sundown on April 16, 2020.

The eight-day festival of Passover is celebrated in the early spring, from the 15th through the 22nd of the Hebrew month of Nissan, April 8 – April 16, 2020. Passover (Pesach) commemorates the emancipation of the Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt. Pesach is observed by avoiding leaven, and highlighted by the Seder meals that include four cups of wine, eating matzah and bitter herbs, and retelling the story of the Exodus.

In Hebrew it is known as Pesach (which means “to pass over”), because G‑d passed over the Jewish homes when killing the Egyptian firstborn on the very first Passover eve. – from Chabad.org

Ready by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat

Passover by Kathleen McTigue

Image Creator: Joel S Fishman Image Credit: Getty Images/Photo Researchers RM