Seek and Find - Beyond Sunday

  Reflect, Accept, and Renew This last week, during Sunday worship, I shared the idea that it is at the beginning of a New Year that we take the time to think about new beginnings. This process of beginning again requires a time of reflection, acceptance and renewal. I shared the following plan as a way to move forward. I borrowed and changed it a bit for the people of First Parish and I thank Carole Lynn who put a lot of work into this plan posting it on the website PossibilityChange. The link is available here  (Carole Lynn, https://possibilitychange.com/renew-your-life/). It takes only seven days to engage in and renew/evolve a life.  In my Sunday sermon I also spoke about prayer as a way to connect with that something that is larger than one self. One possible way is through the use of prayer. I chose a well known prayer, originally written by Reinhold Niebuhr, known as the "serenity prayer." When life gets me down I turn here: Spirit of Life and Love, grant us the sereni

  Giving Thanks -> Metta Meditation On this Sunday before "giving thanks" I feel called to embrace peace and a commitment to non-violence. I feel that it is time to give back for all that has been done, throughout the generations, in our name. NOT IN MY NAME (NION) was a movement  founded on March 23, 2002 to protest the U.S. government's course in the wake of the  September 11, 2001 attacks ; it disbanded on March 31, 2008. Not In My Name  reminded us to speak out if there is violence, oppression, war done without our  explicit   consent; standing back and watching is consent. I ask you if you feel a calling that asks you to do something/anything to change the world consider praying/meditating on Metta, which translates to  positive energy and kindness toward ourselves but especially towards others. The Practice lovingly borrowed and adapted from:  Contemplative Mind It begins by taking a very comfortable posture. One of the aims in this meditation is to feel good, so

Each and every day I think/hope/pray that we will be back to "normal" soon and that place within that seems like it is filled with anxiety, concern, and loneliness will recede once and for all. . . .I want to say that it is getting easier/better or that this "new normal," in this moment, is going to evolve into something life-changing/seminal. I want to say and believe this, but like the image above I feel like we need to lean dangerously into the growth zone, that place of uncertainty that wants us to learn something from all of this messiness of life. . . . If there is a lesson from all of this, what is it?  Because I frankly need to believe that we are learning something. Everything is a bit better with that spoonful of sugar (or agave), right? The comfort zone in this image looks incredibly cushy, kind of like flopping over on a workout ball. . . just laying there protecting our vulnerable underbelly with no ab-crunches insight. The growth zone, on the other han

Reason :  To think about this topic, we need to begin with a definition or two... Reason can be defined as “ the power of the mind to think, understand, and form judgments by a process of logic.” To define logic, one   explains that it is “reasoning conducted or assessed according to strict principles of validity.” Operating from a place of reason requires the ability to engage in a scientific manner of thinking. The times that we are living through right now require a specific skillset based on facts, research, testing and the seeking of consistent results. It has been far too long to remember when we were not manipulated in some way by fear mongering, conspiracy theories, conjecture and out and out personal, mostly uninformed, opinion. Can we, should we allow this kind of misinformation rule the day? OR can we cultivate our skillset and manage our fear in a scientific manner in order to be reasonable and to move beyond our current conundrum? That is the question for each one of us to

  Naughty or Nice? Remember back in the day when the weeks before the holidays were all about being good? As children, we cleaned our rooms, washed dishes, took out the trash, etc  to glean the good graces of Santa Clause who just knew . Santa holds all of the magic of this mid-winter season. The song that was often played by my parents and parents near and far sang out the reality that we faced: Oh! You better watch out You better not cry You better not pout I'm telling you why Santa Claus is coming to town He's making a list Checking it twice Gonna find out who's naughty or nice Santa Claus is coming to town He sees you when you're sleeping He knows when you're awake He knows if you've been bad or good  So be good for goodness sake! More recently I realized that Santa was not on his own... He had a brigade of elves who kept an eye on us, the "Elf(ves) on the Shelf!"  those little beings who watched our every move ensuring that our actions were pure o

Bille Eilish is a contemporary American singer-songwriter who was born in December 2001. She had her first hit in 2015 at 14 years old. Billie is about as down to earth as one can be, with amazing soulful lyrics and she is an activist for equality. If a teenager can figure out the importance of voting to have one's voice heard I cannot imagine why the adults around the nation refuse to vote. This year will be Billie's first opportunity to vote and I am certain that she has already shown up to be counted. We are days away from the election and in large measure, I believe that with 327 million people in the country there should be a lot more than 70 million voting. As Unitarian Universalists and activists for equality voting is an important spiritual practice, it is akin to prayer or meditation. I voted last week and it was a privilege to show up and have my vote soon to be counted. Wear a mask, wash your hands, cast your vote, and wash your hands again... rinse and repeat and st