Last Sunday, I talked about Viola Liuzzo, the civil rights (and Unitarian Universalist) hero and martyr. Right now, learning more about the prophetic people who came before us not only honors their stories, it gives us a chance to learn from their lives. There’s much to admire about Viola, so...
What a heartbreaking week, the heartbreak of the killing of Alex Pretti coming right after the heartbreak of the killing of Renee Good. I collect lines of poetry and lyrics of songs in my head, and they pop up often when I least expect them. This week, two dissimilar songs...
Merry Christmas, dear Live Oak congregation! In our family, Christmas and New Year’s blend together without a clear and beginning. We, more or less, follow the maxim that Christmas begins on December 25 and goes through January 5, just as the “12 Days of Christmas” decrees. (And then on January...
This past Sunday, at the end of the sermon, I asked the ushers to come back up to the chancel and to bring their offering baskets with them. I don’t know what folks were thinking – maybe that I was going to ask for a second go-round of people digging...
A personal sharing here. I attended a Grief Retreat for Clergy last week. People have kindly asked about it, and I’m happy to share some of my experience, especially since I believe as a society, we don’t talk enough about navigating grief. As many of you know, the last couple...
I’ve had some requests for more information about last Sunday’s sermon, “To Protect and Defend the Constitution” – I’m posting some of the direct primary sources below. I can also recommend some storytelling about the creation of the Constitution. One you may want to watch with your family is a...
On Sunday, we talked about witches, or more specifically, beliefs about witches across thousands of years. This was one of those sermons where the information far outpaced the limited time of a service. Since I received so many interesting comments and questions afterwards, I thought I’d share more for those...
When I saw the photos of the East Wing of the White House being demolished to make way for the construction of an unvetted ballroom, I viscerally felt sick. I realized that I had seen images like this before, but they were a) always fictional and b) from an attack...
Sunday was our Question Box Sunday, where members submit questions and the ministers answer them on the fly. The questions I receive are always impressive, but I think y’all outdid yourself this year. So many good ones, we couldn’t address them all. No problem, you’ve given me great fodder for...
This Sunday, it’s time for one of our most popular services, “The Question Box.” During the offering, you’ll be invited to write down your question on an index card. We’ll gather them, then AJ and I will answer as many as we can during the “sermon” time of the service....