Thursday, February 14, 2019 at 9:40AM Feb. 3, 10:30 am Rev. Dawn Sangrey
What are people like? What is the nature of humans? Where do they fit in the natural order of things? Are humans good or evil, worthy or unworthy, powerful or impotent, in control or out of control, eternal or ephemeral? This sermon is the first in the series of Five Questions, Theology for Unitarian Universalists.
Sunday, January 27, 2019 at 5:02PM
Like I suspect many on the left, I'm a pessimist as far as science (and technology) is concerned: we do tend to focus on the harms that science has brought upon us. But maybe it's time to give science some credit for making our lives immeasurably better than were predicted even a century ago and recognize that some dire predictions have just never panned out: we have no Malthusian famines; resources have not run out; plagues are not circling the globe; pollution is being tamed; and neither war, crime, nor disease are halting humanity's ever-increasing life expectancy. This is not to minimize the challenges that undoubtedly lie ahead. But there's a good probability that science will solve those too.
Sunday, January 27, 2019 at 5:00PM
How The Rabbis Put God On Trial, Hebrew Spiritual Wisdom in A Gavel (or nutshell)
The Hebrew Sages taught that God is to be obeyed with eyes wide open and many questions asked. This deep sacred irreverence is expressed in a number of earlier and later tales of the Hasidim and others. We will explore Hebrew spiritual philosophy as it appears in these tales of wit and wisdom.
Saturday, December 15, 2018 at 4:07PM Dec. 2, 10:30 am Leslie d’Oronzio
Listen to your heart, Follow your heart, My heart is filled with love, I know in my heart it’s the right thing to do. We’ve probably all used these terms at one time or another to express the sincerity and resoluteness of a feeling or a choice. In Yoga we speak of the sacred chakra of the heart, Anahata, as the wellspring of love, warmth, compassion, and joy. Are these just simply expressions? Does science offer any alignment with the heart being at the center of it?
Wednesday, December 12, 2018 at 11:28AM Dec. 9, 10:30 am Rev. Dawn Sangrey
Speaking about their UU congregation, some people say, “I love it. It’s just like a family.” They mean the good kind of family, of course: the intimate family where everyone is loving and helpful. James Luther Adams, one of the most preeminent UU theologians of the twentieth century, said that people need “intimacy and ultimacy.” We long for a sense of belonging. And we need to reach for whatever seems highest and most important, whatever matters most. Adams also said that in order for goodness to prevail, it has to be institutionalized. He said the kind of institution you create reveals your beliefs. Let’s explore the family as a metaphor for UUCR and ask how this idea shapes the congregation today.