How Do We Nurture Beauty? This month’s theme—Nurturing Beauty—reminds us humans that we are more than just passive admirers or recipients of beauty. We have an active, mutual relationship with all that’s beautiful, whether the beauty lies in things, experiences, people, places, ideas, or whatever you find beautiful. If nurture means to “care for and encourage the growth … Continue reading How Do We Nurture Beauty?
Opening to Joy: Liquid Amber Trees by the Rev. Nancy Palmer Jones Today, during my weekly online Lunch with Rev. Nancy, Frey Leigh finishes up his check-in with the words: “Oh! And I have something for Show and Tell!” He reaches off camera to his right, and reappears holding up a large sketchbook, whose creamy … Continue reading Opening to Joy: Liquid Amber Trees
Welcome to the Practice of Holding History: Two Essays from the writers at the Soul Matters Sharing Circle, a Unitarian Universalist resource collaborative, with an introductory note from Rev. Nancy Before You Read—An Important Note from Rev. Nancy: Beloveds, in the work of anti-oppression, we student-practitioners learn to ask this crucial question about any writing … Continue reading Welcome to the Practice of Holding History: Two Essays
June/July Theme: Play by Rev. Nancy Palmer Jones “Across the globe, many of the etymological roots of the word ‘play’ locate it in the visceral: ludere in Latin refers to leaping fishes and fluttering birds. The Anglo-Saxon lâcan means to move like a ship on the waves, or to tremble like a flame. The Sanskrit … Continue reading Remembering How to Play
April Theme: Becoming Ah, spring! We usually think of it as a time of renewal, of birth and rebirth, of second chances and fresh starts. But how does it feel this year, when we are coming into spring after a yearlong “winter” of pandemic and other collective traumas? Wait. Let’s slow down for a minute. … Continue reading Who Shall We Become? (Or, The 15-Minute Sermon I Didn’t Get to Preach in March!)
March Theme: Commitment Dearly Loved Community, In this month of March 2021, we hit the one-year anniversary of the pandemic shutdown. Surely we have lived several lifetimes in the course of these twelve months, haven’t we? What we’ve lost, what we’ve learned, what we’ve gained, what we’ve come to understand in new ways during this … Continue reading “Keep Fresh Before Us …”: Commitments That We’re Called to Make and to Renew!
Beloved Community—now, there’s a phrase that many good liberal people have tossed around in recent decades. Often the speakers don’t pause to define the phrase. Maybe they assume that we listeners can all just imagine what this kind of community looks and feels like, and what it takes to build and sustain it. OK, I confess: … Continue reading Frequently Asked Questions: What Is Beloved Community?
Dearly Loved Community, Near and Far, As I write on this late October evening, the stress of all the uncertainties of these past months and years has reached a new level of intensity. The November 3 elections are very close; the pandemic and other natural disasters continue to keep us reeling. Even after the elections, … Continue reading A Letter to Our Near-Future Selves
Every single one of us, no matter what our age or life circumstances, has some story of resilience—some story about experiencing a tough time and finding our way through it. When we share these stories, what strengths do we discover? Who and what helped us? How might we mine those resources of resilience now? Now … Continue reading Where Can We Go to Find Resilience?
On the first page of Valarie Kaur’s beautiful book, See No Stranger: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love, she remembers a time in her childhood when “there was no question: The earth under me, the stars above me, the animals around me, were all part of me. And wonder was my first orientation to … Continue reading Wonder, Grieve, Breathe, Push, Love – A Practice
