Category Archives: Spiritual Practice

Keep Going On (sermon)

Posted on November 22, 2020 by KGJ

Thanksgiving is not as we imagined or hoped it would be. This will likely be true for Christmas and New Year’s. So much loss, sacrifice, change.  And still, we keep going on. Some of us have lost loved ones – … Continue reading →

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“Oh, Honey” Healing Practice

Posted on November 8, 2020 by KGJ

I want to invite you into a healing practice I’m callig the “Oh, Honey” practice, inspired by the poem, “Self Compassion” by James Crews.  I invite you, as I am speaking, to bring your attention to your body and its … Continue reading →

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The Impossibility of Universalism

Posted on September 27, 2020 by KGJ

Reverend Karen G. Johnston The Unitarian Society East Brunswick, NJ September 27, 2020 While Buddhism asserts that we all have Buddhanature – that at our core can be found a golden goodness – the roots of Unitarianism or Universalism does … Continue reading →

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Growing Equanimity: Via Rumi’s Guest House (sermon)

Posted on February 2, 2020 by KGJ

Do you know that old, and perhaps tired, and perhaps true, cartoon about Unitarian Universalists? There are two doors.  Each has a sign over it.  The first door says, “Heaven.”  No one is going through that door. The second door … Continue reading →

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Awestruck (sermon)

Posted on December 8, 2019 by KGJ

It is said that in each of his pockets, Rabbi Simcha Bunim carried a slip of paper. On one was written: f or my sake the world was created… How awesome is that?!? On the other was written: I am … Continue reading →

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Failure is Our Only Option (sermon)

Posted on March 11, 2018 by KGJ

The Unitarian Society East Brunswick, NJ March 11, 2018 In the 1960s, the Unilever corporation, in their quest to make and sell laundry detergent, encountered a problem. Now, remember, this is more than fifty years ago, so the ubiquitous form … Continue reading →

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#metoo prayer ritual

Posted on November 5, 2017 by KGJ

The Unitarian Society, East Brunswick, NJ Remembering to breathe and to breathe deeply and then once more, to take the breath in and let the breath out, we pause, poised as we are, at a point of risking, at a … Continue reading →

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A Compass, Not a Map (sermon)

Posted on March 19, 2017 by KGJ

The Unitarian Society, East Brunswick, NJ March 19, 2017     A compass, rather than a map. Last week I told you that I have been reading Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Its subtitle is “Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, … Continue reading →

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Walking City Sidewalks as Acts of Democracy

Posted on December 10, 2016 by KGJ

Not all that long ago I was reading (= listening while driving) to Parker Palmer’s Healing the Heart of Democracy. In it he offered up a solution to the loss of mutual connection that undermines the democratic essence of our … Continue reading →

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Leaving Familiar, Learning to Love New Places

Posted on July 31, 2016 by KGJ

I’m pretty sure no one calls New Jersey a wilderness, but given that it will be new to me, given that it will be my personal next Unknown, at least for awhile, this piece of wisdom from beloved Wendell Berry … Continue reading →

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