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: …
Love is the power that holds us together and is at the center of our shared values. We are accountable to one another for doing the work of living our shared values through the spiritual discipline of Love. These words are from the Article II Study Commission’s proposal to the UUA Board in their recommendation …
Just before this ceremony, we told the story, “Red: A Crayon’s Story” by Michael Hall (which ends with the phrase that this text begins with). We also handed out small vials of bubbles to be used for the joyful bubble blessing at the end. We have someone here, among us, who is reaching for the …
January 29, 2023 The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Somerset Hills Somerville, NJ part of our annual NJ UU pulpit swap Reverend Karen G. Johnston The Ware Lecture is an annual lecture, sponsored by the UUA, that has been happening since 1922 – last year’s lecture marked 100 years and nearly as many actual lectures. Lectures …
October 9, 2022 The Unitarian Society, East Brunswick, NJ One definition for what it means to “decolonize” is to reverse the harms created by Settler Colonialism. Before we go deeper into what it means to decolonize, let’s spend a little time on that last phrase: Settler Colonialism. As it relates specifically to the indigenous peoples …
(I didn’t actually give this sermon this morning. I had planned to do so, but time did not allow. Turns out it wasn’t necessary. The rest of the worship service connected with Spirit and fed the spirits of all in attendance – no need for a sermon! Here it is, anyway.) Back in 8th grade, …
I have safely arrived in New Orleans. I took the requisite photo of my feet at the airport, a strange ritual I began doing about a decade ago. I don’t remember how I started it. I am thinking it must have been after I acquired my first smart phone, these miraculous machines with their built-in …
When I look at this painting by Jonathan Harris, a painter based in Detroit, and when I spend with it the time it deserves, I feel sad in my body. When I just breeze past it, observe it quickly, judge it one way or another, I can get away with an intellectual engagement, one that …
The Unitarian Society, East Brunswick, NJ November 21, 2021 Reverend Karen G. Johnston Holding history. That is this month’s Soul Matters theme. This month is also Native American Heritage month. In just a few days most, if not all of us, will be celebrating Thanksgiving in some way, so it seems appropriate for us to …
Holding History: Honoring Indigenous Communities (sermon) Read More »
May 9, 2021 The Unitarian Society, East Brunswick, NJ Rachel, 22 and Rozenah, 6 weeks Sarah, 22, and Diannah, 7 months Hagar, 39, and Augustus, 4; Mary, 2 Christeen, 37 and Diana, 9, Dorcus, 1 I say these names of some of the Lost Souls of 1818 – some stolen from their home and families; …