UUCUC Sermons

And Now for the Good News

2012-01-22T11:30:00.000-08:00

"It behooves us to be careful what we worship, for what we are worshipping we are becoming."-- Ralph Waldo EmersonOpening Words: Let us gather for worship mindful of the words of Mark Morrison-Reed, who wrote: The central task of religious community Is to unveil the bonds that bind each to all… Once felt, it inspires us to act for justice. It is the church that assures us that we are not

Of Race and Rationality

2012-01-15T09:13:00.000-08:00

"Like life, racial understanding is not something we find but something we create."-- Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.Reading: by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. from an essay entitled “A Testament of Hope,” which was written in 1968 and published after his death Whenever I am asked my opinion of the current state of the civil rights movement, I am forced to pause; it is not easy to describe a

The Promise of New Beginnings

2012-01-08T07:57:00.000-08:00

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."-- Lao-tzeMeditation: by Mary Oliver, a poem entitled “The Journey” One day you finally knew what you had to do, and began, though the voices around you kept shouting their bad advice - though the whole house began to tremble and you felt the old tug at your ankles. “Mend my life!” each voice cried. But you didn’t stop. You knew what you

A Bridge Around the World

2011-12-04T09:23:00.000-08:00

Reading: written and presented by Anne Sharpe I will share a brief overview of this church’s Partner Church Committee mission and objectives. The Partner Church Committee’s mission is to develop a long-term mutually supportive relationship with our fellow Unitarians in Transylvania, Romania, and in the Khasi Hills of India. The Committee’s objectives are • To strengthen the bonds of friendship

This Land Is Your Land?

2011-11-20T15:50:00.000-08:00

"There is, of course, a difference between what one seizes and what one really possesses."-- Pearl S. BuckReading: from a piece published in The Sun Magazine (Nov. 2008), the name of the author was withheld The morning the U.S. marshals rang our doorbell at 5 a.m., I answered in my green frog pajamas. When I saw the police cars and flashing lights, I figured our downstairs neighbors had had

Taming the Monkey Mind

2011-11-13T08:41:00.000-08:00

"The mind is its own place, and in itself Can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven."-- John MiltonMeditation: by the Unitarian Transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau (Singing the Living Tradition #660) Why should we live in such a hurry and waste of life? We are determined to be starved before we are hungry. I wish to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life. I wish to

Wisdom on Wall Street

2011-11-06T14:18:00.000-08:00

"The virtue of justice consists in moderation, as regulated by wisdom."-- AristotleReading: by Rev. Craig T. Roshaven, Witness Ministries Director for the Unitarian Universalist Association, from an October 31, 2011 statement about Occupy Wall Street and related events: Across our nation and around the world, thousands of people have taken to the streets to question the morality of our financial

The Afterlife and Before

2011-10-30T10:37:00.000-07:00

"The most rational cure after all for the inordinate fear of death is to set a just value on life."-- William HazlittMeditation: a poem by Mary Oliver entitled “When Death Comes” When death comes like the hungry bear in autumn when death comes and takes all the bright coins from his purse to buy me, and snaps his purse shut; when death comes like the measle-pox; when death comes like an

Remembering Troy Davis

2011-10-23T11:20:00.000-07:00

"It is better to risk saving a guilty man than to condemn an innocent one."-- VoltaireReading: by Steven Stewart, Prosecuting Attorney of Clark County, from the website of the Fourth Judicial Circuit of Indiana Along with two-thirds of the American public, I believe in capital punishment. I believe that there are some defendants who have earned the ultimate punishment our society has to offer by

Rituals of Forgiveness

2011-10-09T11:13:00.000-07:00

"Forgiveness is the answer to the child's dream of a miracle by which what is broken is made whole again, what is soiled is again made clean."-- Dag HammarskjöldReading: by journalist Lee Kravitz from …unfinished business… One Man’s Extraordinary Year of Trying to Do Things Right (p. 12) On Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, we fast and pray. I used to love Yom Kippur when I was a kid. At

Many Sources of Faith

2011-10-02T12:17:00.000-07:00

"There are no elements so diverse that they cannot be joined in the heart of a [person]."-- Jean GiraudouxOpening Words: by Unitarian minister Theodore Parker (1810-1860) Be ours a religion which, like sunshine, goes everywhere; Its temple, all space; Its shrine, the good heart; Its creed, all truth; Its ritual; works of love; Its profession of faith, divine living. Reading: from the Bylaws

Beyond Us and Them

2011-09-25T09:35:00.000-07:00

"I am part of all that I have met."-- Alfred, Lord TennysonMeditation: by Judy Chicago And then all that has divided us will merge. And then compassion will be wedded to power. And then softness will come to a world that is often harsh and unkind. And then both women and men will be gentle. And then both men and women will be strong. And then no other person will be subject to another's

Time for Everything

2011-09-18T09:38:00.000-07:00

“Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.” -- Robert Fulghum Sermon Part 1 - “Celebrations of the Autumnal Equinox” by Pam Blosser This Friday, September 23rd, is the autumnal or fall equinox in the Northern Hemisphere. An equinox occurs twice a year, when the tilt of the Earth's axis is inclined neither away from

Fear Nothing But Fear Itself

2011-09-11T08:41:00.000-07:00

"We are all dangerous till our fears grow thoughtful."-- John CiardiMeditation: a poem by Wendell Berry entitled “The Peace of Wild Things” When despair for the world grows in me and I wake in the night at the least sound in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be, I go and lie down where the wood drake rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds. I come into the

Getting to Work

2011-09-04T11:41:00.000-07:00

"We put our love where we have put our labor."-- EmersonMeditation: by Jan Beatty, a poem entitled “My Father Teaches Me to Dream” You want to know what work is? I’ll tell you what work is: Work is work. You get up. You get on the bus. You don’t look from side to side. You keep your eyes straight ahead. That way nobody bothers you—see? You get off the bus. You work all day. You get back on the

Listen With the Ear of Your Heart: Rev. Elizabeth Marsh

2011-05-17T08:45:00.000-07:00

The stories I tell you today may or may not be true, but they have truth in them.Two boys had grown into men and no longer living with their mother, who was widowed. Thissmall family tended to converge on the mother's house at the winter holidays. During one Christmas and New Year holiday season, tensions in this small family were particularly high. For various reasons, in this particular year,

So Must We Think Anew: Rev. Philip Gulley

2011-05-11T11:42:00.000-07:00

It is good to be here in Urbana. My mother grew up just down the road, in Danville, where we used to travel on weekends when I was a child to visit my Uncle Fritz, a very kind man who caused me to think well of people from Illinois. He loved The Lawrence Welk Show and when Myron Floren, the Happy Norweigan, would play Lady of Spain on his accordion, which he did just about every Saturday night,

“The Spiritual Discipline of Parenting” Rev. Elaine Gallagher Gehrmann

2011-02-18T12:06:00.000-08:00

Order of Service Cover Quote: Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body. ~Elizabeth StoneOpening Wordsby the UU minister Joy Atkinson“The womb of stars embraces us; remnants of their fiery furnaces pulse through our veins.We are of the stars, the dust of explosions cast across space.We are of the Earth: we

A Cultural Diversity of Religion:Rev. Jerome Chambers

2011-01-18T11:43:00.000-08:00

Subtitled: A Universal Quest for God-(for January 9, 2011)(A Position Paper on Diversity and Spirituality)By Rev. Jerome C. ChambersThere is perhaps no subject that transcends the thoughts and emotions of man,as religion does and of all that can be discussed in the name of God. With itssimilarities and diversities come cultural cohesion and solidarity alike, making anamalgam of his beliefs as

Light in the Darkness

2010-12-19T12:50:00.000-08:00

"As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being."-- Carl JungMeditation: by Howard Thurman a poem entitled "Life Seems Unaware" (The Mood of Christmas, p. 28) Once again the smell of death rides on the winds And fear lurks within the shadows of the mind. One by one the moments tick away. Days and nights are interludes Between

Inevitably Grateful

2010-11-21T05:48:00.000-08:00

"If the only prayer you ever say is thank you, it will be enough."-- Meister EckhartOpening Words: by W. E. B. Du Bois Give us thankful hearts… in this the season of… Thanksgiving. May we be thankful for health and strength, for sun and rain and peace. Let us seize the day and the opportunity and strive for that greatness of spirit that measures life not by its disappointments but by its

The Greater Good

2010-11-14T10:46:00.000-08:00

"A good thing which prevents us from enjoying a greater good is in truth an evil."-- SpinozaReading: by the psychoanalyst James Hollis from Why Good People Do Bad Things (p. 128) One day a discussion with a distressed [client] revealed that she no longer understood what was happening to her world, the world in which she had grown up, in which she believed, and whose values she presumed both

Of Loss and Gain

2010-11-07T10:25:00.000-08:00

"Loss is nothing else but change, and change is Nature's delight."-- Marcus AureliusReading: by Anne Lamott from Bird by Bird - Some Instructions on Writing and Life (p. 179) I remind myself nearly every day of something that a doctor told me six months before my friend Pammy died. This was a doctor who always gave me straight answers. When I called on this one particular night, I was

A Perfect Life

2010-10-24T07:19:00.000-07:00

"Whoever thinks a faultless piece to see,Thinks what ne'er was, nor is, nor shall be."-- Alexander PopeOpening Words: by 19th century Unitarian minister Theodore Parker (Singing the Living Tradition # 683) Be ours a religion which, like sunshine, goes everywhere; Its temple, all space; Its shrine, the good heart; Its creed, all truth; Its ritual, works of love; Its profession of faith, divine

When Our Cup Overflows

2010-10-17T10:49:00.000-07:00

"If riches increase, let thy mind hold pace with them; and think it not enough to be liberal, but munificent."-- Sir Thomas BrowneReading: by Ishwar C. Harris from The laughing Buddha of Tofukuji: the life of Zen master Keido Fukishama (p. 56) In the context of Zen there is a true story that has been mentioned in many books. The event took place in Japan. A scholar had gone to Japan to study

Guest Sermon: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

2010-10-10T10:40:00.000-07:00

"I can't say nuthin bad about science, but I won't lie, I would like some health insurance so I don't got to pay all that money every month for drugs my mother's cells probably helped make."-- Deborah LacksThe Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Samuel N. Beshers A service and sermon led and preached by Sam Beshers in the Unitarian Universalist Church of Urbana-Champaign, October 10, 2010

Bring Many Names

2010-10-03T11:04:00.000-07:00

"That which Love begets,That which Rebellion creates,That which freedom rearsAre three manifestations of God."-- Kahlil GibranMeditation: a poem by Virginia Hamilton Adair entitled “Games with God” I played, a child both wild and meek, with God at games of hide-and-seek. I searched in vain the usual places and found a thousand saddened faces. "Your God is hidden in heaven," they said; "You'll

Religious Living in a Lonely Age

2010-09-26T12:08:00.000-07:00

"No [one] is an island, entire of itself; every [one] is a piece of the continent."-- John DonneReading: by Jacqueline Olds, Richard Schwartz, and Harriet Webster from Overcoming Loneliness in Everyday Life (p. 188) The problem we face in today’s society is that the network of shared connections has frayed so much that we do not know how we can alleviate loneliness when it takes hold. In

Tolerance at Ground Zero

2010-09-12T08:26:00.000-07:00

"Tolerance implies no lack of commitment to one's own beliefs. Rather it condemns the oppression or persecution of others."-- John F. KennedyReading: by Richard Cohen, President of the Southern Poverty Law Center, from a letter he sent this week As we mark the anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy and remember its victims, the signs of a renewed backlash against the Muslim population are everywhere.

The Value of Work

2010-09-05T06:40:00.000-07:00

"Work is love made visible."-- Kahlil Gibran Reading: by Joanne Ciulla from The Working Life (p. 25) The word work is not only a kind of activity but a set of ideas and values related to that activity. Consider why we say the following are performing work: a construction worker digging a ditch, an executive at a meeting, a professional

Guest Sermon: Finding a Place in the Natural World

2010-08-15T11:28:00.000-07:00

Readings: read by Joe Finnerty The readings this morning are from the book, Desert Solitaire, by Edward Abbey, published in 1968. Last fall when Sandy told the church's Office Administrator, Janis Hooper, that Sandy and I were planning on spending a month volunteering in southern Utah, Janis immediately recommended that we read Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey. Knowing nothing of Abbey or

Take Back America?

2010-05-23T10:06:00.000-07:00

"Sitting at the table doesn't make you a diner, unless you eat some of what's on that plate. Being here in America doesn't make you an American."-- Malcolm XMeditation: by Joy Harjo, a member of the Native-American Muscogee (or Creek) Nation, a piece entitled “Eagle Poem” To pray you open your whole self To sky, to earth, to sun, to moon To one whole voice that is you. And know there is more

The Art of Heresy

2010-05-16T12:39:00.000-07:00

"The heresy of one age becomes the orthodoxy of the next."-- Helen KellerReading: by Mark W. Harris from “Unitarian Universalist Origins: Our Historic Faith” Unitarians and Universalists have always been heretics. We are heretics because we want to choose our faith, not because we desire to be rebellious. “Heresy” in Greek means “choice.” During the first three centuries of the Christian church,

Of Fundamentals and Fundamentalism

2010-05-09T08:50:00.000-07:00

"The fundamental desire of life is the desire to exist."-- Rabindranath TagoreReading: by the Iranian born author Reza Aslan, from No god but God (p. 79) Islam has often been portrayed, even by contemporary scholars, as “a military religion, [with] fanatical warriors, engaged in spreading their faith and their law by armed might,” to quote historian Bernard Lewis…, This deep-rooted stereotype

The Authority We Share

2010-05-02T11:17:00.000-07:00

"I call religion a natural authority, but it has usually been conceived as a supernatural authority."-- Herbert ReadReading: by the Unitarian Universalist theologian James Luther Adams, from an essay entitled “From Cage to Covenant” (The Prophethood of All Believers, p. 136) Liberal religion’s attitude of mind we generally characterize as a critical stance before mere tradition, impatience

Person to Person

2010-04-11T12:26:00.000-07:00

"[A person] is a knot, a web, a mesh into which relationships are tied. Only those relationships matter."-- Saint-Exupery Opening Words: by Sophia Lyons Fahs (Singing the Living Tradition, #439) We gather in reverence before the wonder of life - The wonder of this moment. The wonder of being together, so close yet so apart - Each hidden in our own secret chamber, Each listening, each trying to

Guest Sermon: On Pests

2010-03-28T10:19:00.000-07:00

"If all mankind were to disappear, the world would regenerate back to the rich state of equilibrium that existed ten thousand years ago. If insects were to vanish, the environment would collapse into chaos."-- Edward O. WilsonOn Pests by Amy Hassinger March 28, 2010 You may have noticed lately that Urbana is rife with bees. All through the neighborhood, black bees hover and buzz over patches of

Tending the Soul

2010-03-21T10:36:00.000-07:00

"There is one spectacle grander than the sea, that is the sky; there is one spectacle grander than the sky, that is the interior of the soul."-- Victor Hugo Meditation: by Mary Oliver a poem entitled “This World” I would like to write a poem about the world that has in it nothing fancy. But it seems impossible. Whatever the subject, the morning sun glimmers it. The tulip feels the heat and

When Life Isn't Fair

2010-03-14T10:22:00.000-07:00

"Justice is the very last thing of all wherewith the universe concerns itself. It is equilibrium that absorbs its attention."-- Maurice Maeterlinck Meditation: by the Unitarian Universalist minister Rev. Martha Munson It was Wendell Berry who said: "For a time, I rest in the grace of the world and am free." In this time of meditation, may you rest in the grace of the world and be free. In

Of Peace and Violence

2010-03-07T10:12:00.000-08:00

"Not only do most people accept violenceif it is perpetuated by legitimate authority,they also regard violence against certain kinds of peopleas inherently legitimate, no matter who commits it."-- Edgar R. Friedenberg Meditation: a poem by Alice Walker entitled “S M” I tell you, Chickadee I am afraid of people who cannot cry Tears left unshed turn to poison in the ducts Ask the next soldier you

Guest Sermon: This I Believe. How About You?

2010-02-28T09:58:00.000-08:00

"Beauty is God's Handwriting"-- Ralph Waldo EmersonThis I believe. How about you? A Sermon Delivered on February 28, 2010 By The Reverend Lone Jensen Broussard Let me begin by thanking you for lending me your free pulpit this Sunday. It is a bit like a homecoming for me as I lived here as a graduate student wife back in the early seventies. I used to work at Robsons department

Religion in a Digital Age

2010-02-21T09:22:00.000-08:00

"Is TCP/IP another name for God?"-- Rabbi Yosef Y. Kazem Reading: by Carol Lee Sanchez, who teaches American Indian and Women’s Studies, from an essay entitled “New World Tribal Communities” Tribal peoples around the world honor and therefore celebrate life in all its aspects, its disasters along with its riches, and so I always suggest that as a group, we formally acknowledge some important

Love In Action

2010-02-14T12:15:00.000-08:00

"Love alone is the true seed of every merit in you and of all acts for which you must atone."-- Dante Reading: by the psychologist David Buss, author of "The Evolution of Desire," from a short piece on True Love (New York Times, Jan. 4, 2005) I've spent two decades of my professional life studying human mating… While love is common, true love is rare, and I believe that few people are fortunate

A Community Worth Building

2010-02-07T06:30:00.000-08:00

"There is no hope of joy except in human relations."-- Saint-ExuperyMeditation: by the Reverend Max Coots (from Leaning Against the Wind) I have witnessed a miracle,… I have seen God! I saw God last spring, underground, pushing seeds up into plants; between the rows, pulling beans and tomatoes and squash out of blossoms; and, after frost, wilting it all down to give it back to soil - as all

Divine Desire

2010-01-31T11:28:00.000-08:00

"The desire for imaginary benefits often involves the loss of present blessings."-- AesopOpening Words: (from Singing the Living Tradition #434) May we be reminded here or our highest aspirations, And inspired to bring our gifts of love and service to the altar of humanity. May we know once again that we are not isolated beings But connected, in mystery and miracle, to the universe, To [all

Guest Sermon: The Life and Work of F. Forrester Church

2010-01-24T08:46:00.000-08:00

"Religion is our human response to the dual reality of being alive and having to die."-- Forrest Church Opening Words: from Life Lines (Introduction p. xvii) During twenty years as a pastoral counselor, I have seen people hold on for dear life through every manner of personal crisis. It is humbling to be asked to assist another who is in pan. Often crises that other people struggle to

Dreams of a Post-Racial World

2010-01-17T14:28:00.000-08:00

"Judge of your natural character by what you do in your dreams."-- EmersonReading: by the white author Tim Wise from Speaking Treason Fluently - Anti-Racist Reflections from an Angry White Male, from an essay written in May of 2008 (p. 16) Obama’s undeniable charisma, savvy political instincts, passion for his work, and ability to connect especially with young voters is unparalleled in recent

A Place Called Home

2010-01-10T11:15:00.000-08:00

"Home is a place where, when you have to go there,they have to take you in."-- Robert FrostMeditation: a poem entitled “Dressed in Doubt” by Robert Roberg, a member of a writing workshop at a Nashville homeless shelter (from An American Mosaic by Robert Wolf) I the pilgrim dressed in doubt set out one morning to see God and I didn’t see him in any of the rich new churches where the people

Theoretically Thankful

2009-11-22T13:43:00.000-08:00

"Gratitude is a debt which usually goes on accumulating like blackmail; the more you pay, the more is exacted." -- Mark TwainMeditation: by the Unitarian Universalist minister Richard Fewkes We lift up our hearts in thanks For the sun and the dawn which we did not create; For the moon and the evening which we did not make For food which we plant but cannot grow; For friends and loved ones we

A Public or Private Church?

2009-11-15T09:13:00.000-08:00

"With public sentiment, nothing can fail; without it, nothing can succeed."-- Abraham Lincoln Reading: by progressive evangelical author Jim Wallis from God’s Politics - Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get It (p. 31, 36) God is personal, but never private. And the Bible reveals a very public God. But in an age of private spiritualities, the voice of a

God Reconsidered

2009-11-08T18:22:00.000-08:00

"Canst thou by searching find out God?"-- Job 11:7Meditation by the Unitarian Universalist minister, the Rev. Jacob Trapp “To Worship” To worship is to stand in awe under a heaven of stars, Before a flower, a leaf in sun light, or a grain of sand To worship is to be silent, receptive, before a tree astir with the wind, Or the passing shadow of a cloud. To worship is to work with

Living Happy and Gay

2009-11-01T15:10:00.000-08:00

"Years hence, perhaps, may dawn an age,More fortunate, alas! than we,Which without hardness will be sage,And gay without frivolity."-- Matthew Arnold Reading: by Benoit Denizet-Lewis from an article entitled “Coming Out in Middle School” which appeared in the New York Times Magazine on September 27, 2009 Though most adolescents who come out do so in high school, sex

How We Are Haunted

2009-10-25T11:03:00.000-07:00

"Where'er we tread, 'tis haunted, holy ground."-- Lord Byron Reading: from a letter sent to the Parapsychology Laboratory at Duke University in 1960: I do not know whether or not you answer or act as consultant for an individual ‘problem,’ but I know of no one else who might understand, explain (or dismiss) a particular concern, may I presume on your time? …

It Isn't Over 'Til It's Over

2009-10-20T11:29:00.000-07:00

“In spite of illness, in spite even of the archenemy sorrow, one can remain alive long past the usual date of disintegration if one is unafraid of change, insatiable in intellectual curiosity, interested in big things, and happy in small ways.” -- Edith WhartonReading: by Mary Oliver, a poem entitled “A Bitterness”I believe you did not have a happy

The Pursuit of Health and Happiness

2009-10-04T16:31:00.000-07:00

“Those who have never been ill are incapable of real sympathy for a great many misfortunes.”-- André GideReading: by Nicholas Kristof, from a article entitled “The Body Count at Home” (NYTimes 9/12/09)Nikki was a slim and athletic college graduate who had health insurance, had worked in health care and knew the system. But she had systemic [lupus], a chronic inflammatory disease that was

Of Guilt and Forgiveness

2009-09-27T16:46:00.000-07:00

“Forgiveness is the answer to the child’s dream of a miracle by which what is broken is made whole again, what is soiled is again made clean.”-- Dag HammarskjoldReading: from the Jewish Talmud (The Jewish Holidays, by Michael Strassfeld, p. 103)[We] should always consider [ourselves] evenly balanced, i.e. half sinful and half righteous. If [we perform] one mitzvah, happy [are we], for [we have]

Living the Questions

2009-09-13T18:31:00.000-07:00

“It is better to ask some of the questions than to know all of the answers.”-- James ThurberReading: by the Indian philosopher Krishnamurti (The First and Last Freedom, p. 28)What is it that most of us are seeking? What is it that each one of us wants? Especially in this restless world, where everybody is trying to find some kind of peace, some kind of happiness, a refuge, surely it is

Finding Work

2009-09-06T10:13:00.000-07:00

“Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.” -- Theodore Roosevelt, (Labor Days Address, Syracuse, NY, 1903) Reading: by Matthew B. Crawford from Shop Class as Soulcraft (p. 9) The scope of the economic crisis is still uncertain as I write this, but it appears to be deepening. We are experiencing a genuine crisis of confidence in our