This prayer was written for this morning’s service, but because of a gaff, I did not get to speak it aloud. So I place it here. Let the spirit of meditation, of prayer, of reflection, of connection to that yearning inside you for something larger than yourself be your company, moving you to sound or …
First Unitarian Universalist Society Burlington November 12, 2023 “Tengo miedo.” I was just about to go on the down escalator when I heard those words. “Tengo miedo.” This is a true story. I was at Chicago O’Hare. I was heading to baggage and I heard these Spanish words. I looked and saw a woman at …
I recently officiated a memorial service for someone who died by suicide. I was moved by this family’s decision to be transparent that their loved one died by suicide – in the obituary and in the service. With the permission of the family, I am publishing an excerpt from the eulogy that speaks to choosing …
First Unitarian Universalist Society Burlington October 8, 2023 In her book, Medicine Stories, Aurora Levins Morales writes: “Acknowledging our ancestors’ participation in the oppression of others and deciding to balance the accounts on their behalf leads to greater integrity and less shame… It becomes possible to see the choices we make right now as extensions …
Reckoning with Heritage: Unitarian Indian Boarding Schools (sermon) Read More »
First Unitarian Universalist Society Burlington September 24, 2023 For those of a certain age (older than me, maybe older than you), there may be a recollection of Art Linkletter’s mid-twentieth century television show, and book, which revolved around “Kids Say the Darndest Things.” I want to bring that into this part of the 21st century …
First Unitarian Universalist Society Burlington September 17, 2023 Somewhere in Asia – Japan or Malaysia or some other country – there is a picture on a Buddhist monk’s smart phone. It is of the dining hall at Changmyay Meditation Center just outside of Yangon, Myanmar, where everyone is eating mindfully, heads bent with mindful attention …
First Unitarian Universalist Society Burlington August 27, 2023 When I entered into Unitarian Universalism, having grown up in a fiercely atheist household, surrounded by rural fundamentalist Christians who had a strong sense of mission and a poor sense of boundaries, this need was beginning to take shape in me. It was in Unitarian Universalism, when …
The following was the Call to Worship on August 20, 2023 at First Unitarian Universalist Society Burlington. The first line refers to a hymn we sung, a version of which is at the bottom of this post. This love: the world didn’t give it to us and the world can’t take it away. This love: …
August 20, 2023 First Unitarian Universalist Society Burlington (VT) Reverend Karen G. Johnston Part I Imagine, if you will, a lava lamp. Yes, I am talking about that electrified mechanism that has an incandescent light bulb illuminating a sealed, transparent container that holds brightly-colored goo. When heated by said bulb, that brightly colored goo begins …
Today is a gift. It is my day off from my job (which I love already). And since my job (which I already love) is new ~ like, really new, like I started four days ago ~ the timing is great because my brain needed a rest from all the new, NEW, NEW that has …