There is a brief, profound, and provocative poem by Antonio Machado that tells its readers “Beyond living and dreaming, / what matters most / is waking up.” Where does this poem guide us and what, exactly, is the condition of wakefulness? This wide-eyed sermon joyfully wanders into those two questions.
Sunday, August 7, is the annual Favorite Poem Service! This popular event follows a simple format: A person stands before the congregation, tells why a particular poem is important in their life, and then reads or recites the poem. This home-grown service is part performance art, part anthology, and every Favorite Poem Service intimately shows … Continue reading Favorite Poem Service
For our final service of the regular church year Joseph Bednarik and Rev. Bode invite you to submit any questions you may have – either for Joseph, Bruce, or both to answer. During the sermon portion of the service, they will read your question (without name) and give a brief response. Listen to the reading … Continue reading I’m Glad You Asked That Question
If the two certainties in life are death and taxes, a third may very well be “and everything will break along the way.” This sermon explores breakage and repair, with a special focus on “kintsugi,” the Japanese practice of repairing broken pottery with lacquer mixed with gold, to create visible repairs that accentuate, rather than … Continue reading Golden Cracks: Breakage and the Fine Arts of Repair
Barely within hearing range of Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount, a listener reports to those nearby, “I think it was ‘Blessed are the cheesemakers.’” Peacemaker, cheesemaker… The infamous “cheesemaker” scene from Monty Python’s religious comedy The Life of Brian is the launching point for a sermon that explores scissors-and-glue answers to the question “Whadeesay?” Click … Continue reading Blessed are the Cheesemakers: Whadeesay?
This service, held in the middle of the day in our sanctuary, adapts and universalizes the Good Friday tradition. In a culture that forever wants to be up, this service provides the rare opportunity to drop down. Rev. Bode and Joseph Bednarik each give meditations related to times of darkness and descent.
In his brilliant story “The Zax” Dr. Seuss takes fundamentalism to its logical extreme when a North-Going Zax and a South-Going Zax meet on a path and neither will step aside to allow the other to pass. As these Zax stand puffed-chest and glowering, let’s try to discover whether UU values might help loosen this wet-knot situation.
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In our age of polarized and righteous opinions, this sermon considers the wisdom of “The Middle Way” and the astronomical idea of the “Goldilocks Zone,” all the while searching for that sweet spot between brittle extremes.
