As the varied brooks, creeks, and streamlets of life bring us back together in our beautiful sanctuary for our annual water communion service, may we experience a sense of renewal, welcome, and belonging with hearts opened by music and ritual, invited by friendly faces and a caring community. Our water communion honors the diverse stories … Continue reading Watering the Garden: A Water Communion Service

As we celebrate our annual Flower Communion service, may we remember the Navajo prayer that there is beauty before us, behind us, above us, and below us – provided we choose to notice.  Please bring a flower if you can – though we’ll have plenty of extras.  The sermon will be the story of the … Continue reading Flower Communion Sunday: Now I Walk in Beauty

Music Sunday will trace the musical journey of our choir this year, acknowledging the emotional ups and downs we have experienced as a community, singing about the centrality of love as we follow the way of the heart, embracing faith and hope as life calls us on.

There is great energy arising in response to the many changes the U.S. government is envisioning for us. How do we channel that energy into concrete actions while also capitalizing on this opportunity to imagine new ways of being with each other, of treating the earth, of relating to the world beyond the US borders, … Continue reading Imagination – Now More Than Ever

Imagination needs the freedom to wander, to stumble, to be playful, and even be ridiculous. Creativity thrives in permission, not perfection. Asking “what if?” is often the doorway into our imagination, a ramble where certainty ends and the need for utility is put on hold. Don’t worry. You won’t be put on the spot, though … Continue reading Unlocking Imagination

In times of devastating loss and disorienting transitions it often seems impossible to reconnect with contentment, much less joy.  Love of self and others can be a stretch.  The Easter story is one of resurrection of love incarnate, the reanimation of our soul as we begin to find hope, an invitation to open to joy … Continue reading Opening to Joy

Deciding to have joy is an act of resistance.  Embracing joy, especially in the face of adversity or authoritarian rule, is a forceful and defiant act, a way of reclaiming agency and challenging those in power.  Joy contains the seeds of hope.  Joy undermines those trying to control others through fear and intimidation.  Yes, joy … Continue reading Joy as Bravery

“When I first came in I did not expect to find such warm and inquiring minds, such open and honest share, laughter, oh laughter everywhere.”  These choral lyrics will help welcome our largest cohort of new members in recorded history.  While there may not be laughter everywhere, there is a joy being in community, belonging … Continue reading Joy of Community

“Trust is like the air we breathe – when it’s present, nobody really notices; when it’s absent, everybody notices.” (Warren Buffett)  Trust involves vulnerability.  The wounds of broken trust run deep.  Recovery is often hard and not always possible.  Yet without trust we cannot find love or joy in our relationships, nor can we have … Continue reading Restoring Trust

Historically, the Western encounter with difference has been catastrophic:  the extermination and displacement of aboriginal populations, the transatlantic slave trade, and colonialism.  China took a different historical path.  What can we in the West learn about our understanding of racial identity and racism from the Chinese approach to pluralism informed by Chinese philosophy?  How does … Continue reading Metaphysics of Harmony