A theology of gratitude offers a way to approach ultimate reality not through fear, submission, or entitlement, but through awe, humility, interconnection, and reverence. In a Unitarian Universalist frame, where belief is not bound to a single creed but to shared values and a free search for truth, gratitude can serve as a spiritual foundation … Continue reading My Theology of Gratitude

Fred Rogers once said that when scary or tragic things happen, his mother would tell him:  “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”  When we “look for the helpers,” we are not denying that something hard or frightening is happening.  We are shifting our gaze — if only slightly — … Continue reading Look for the Helpers

Gratitude, though deeply meaningful, isn’t always simple.  It lives both as a genuine inner posture and as a cultural expectation—and those expectations can uplift or burden, connect or silence, depending on how they’re held.  Gratitude can be a social glue, cultivating warmth, reinforcing respect, and guiding us to look beyond ourselves.  And gratitude can be … Continue reading Welcoming Gratitude

Making gratitude a way of life is less about a single moment of feeling thankful and more about developing a habit of noticing what’s already here. It’s about training our hearts and minds to keep returning, again and again, to wonder and appreciation. It’s about the rituals we create that move gratitude from an occasional … Continue reading Gratitude as a Choice

When the gap between the suffering we witness and our capacity to respond become overwhelming and unbearable it is time to pause – both as individuals and as a community.  Compassion fatigue is a kind of moral injury.  It is crucial to name it honestly rather than push through with gritted teeth before unacknowledged fatigue … Continue reading Compassion Fatigue

How do we build compassionate bridges between people and communities that do not trust, respect, or value each other?  So many bridges have been destroyed in recent years.  Many continue to be under attack.  It may take generations to re-build some of what has been lost.  What foundations can we lay today?  How can compassion … Continue reading Building Compassionate Bridges

Empathy is feeling with someone – absorbing their pain, mirroring their distress. It’s powerful and connecting, but it can also be overwhelming and paralyzing. Compassion adds something crucial: it holds awareness of suffering and the desire to alleviate it, but with enough emotional equilibrium to actually be useful. It’s empathy plus wisdom and action. How … Continue reading From Empathy to Compassion

If the self is an illusion or construct, as Buddhism, neuroscience, and postmodern philosophy postulate, what happens to our sense of belonging, our deep human need for connection and place? How might we let go of the stories our narrative-self tells, constraining our freedom, limiting our fundamental wellbeing?

Our theme for the year is “Building Bridges,” an aspiration to listen beyond our echo chambers, to leave our silos of comfort, to explore the possibility of expanding our sense of belonging while holding the tension of difference and disagreement. What are the essentials in building belonging? What tools do we require to build the … Continue reading Building Bridges, Building Belonging

“Oh the longing for belonging, it is real and it is strong. With the yearning for connection, for respect, a holy song. Our dignity acknowledged, with love centered, we can flourish. In a meadow of belonging, each can flower (or move on). Many meadows overlapping, open to each other’s fruit. Each with value, beauty, kindness, … Continue reading To be Known and to Belong