Sermons & Talks

August 6, 2023 © Rev. Janet Onnie           In 1971 John Lennon wrote the wildly popular song, “Imagine”.  Some of the lyrics, “Imagine there’s no heaven, No hell below us, ” is core Universalist theology.”  No one is damned, all are saved.  What I find problematic, however,   is the lyric, “Imagine there's no countries, nothing to kill or die for – and no religion too.”  And also no religion??  The implication is that religion is the basis for all conflict and if we could j

By Andy Schmookler July 16, 2023 Who are we human beings by nature? Why has our story been such a troubled one? What do we need to do to achieve the kind of world we want? As a civilization, we have not had adequate answers to those questions. And an important part of the reason for that is this: We have not been seeing ourselves in the perspective that shows us some fundamental truths about the story of our species. For millennia, humankind developed its answers without good

by Bill Faw July 2, 2023 INTRODUCTION Happy Birthday, America. Happy 247 th Birthday. What kind of a nation are you? What kind of government do you have? Let us begin to answer that by considering this distinction between “nation” and “government”.  The “nation” constitutes the land and the people, while the “government” is the network of administrative, legislative, and judicial forces which governs the nation.       Christian nationalists generally blur that distinction an

This poem. by Linda Dove, was part of the Tight Lines service by Richard Foust. It was read at the end of Richard's talk. How often nowadays do you look long at that framed photo of your father on the dresser, his young smile fixed on you and mother? How often do you take time to imagine his hand cradling you when you were born, his hand tossing balls when you were ten, his hand doing high-fives with you way back when, his hand, as he aged, trembling, rough and worn? Remembe

by Richard Foust June 18, 2023 We have been fascinated with water and rivers since ancient times. D?gen Zenji, the Buddhist philosopher, made the following statement in the “Mountains and Waters Sutra” in 1240 A.D. From ancient times wise people and sages have often lived near water. When they live near water, they catch fish, catch human beings, and catch the way. . . . Furthermore, there is catching the self, catching, catching, being caught by catching, and being caught by

by Tom Hook June 4, 2023 I am “delighted” to be with you again this beautiful Sunday morning! I’m always humbled by your gracious response to what this “seeker” has to say about our journey through this world. So, again, I say “Thank You”. Let me begin with two questions: How can we be joyful in a world, in a moment like this? How can we NOT be joyful in a world, in a moment like this? After all, we are alive today. We are taking each breath without the need to decide whether

by Sandy Greene May 7, 2023 Opening – Martha Sider (Thomas Rhodes)       “We come in a variety of colors, shapes, and sizes. Some of us grow in bunches. Some of us grow alone. Some of us are cupped inward, And some of us spread ourselves out wide. Some of us are old and dried and tougher than we appear. Some of us are still in bud. Some of us grow low to the ground, And some of us stretch toward the sun. Some of us feel like weeds, sometimes. Some of us carry seeds, sometime

by Bill Faw April 16, 2023 Part One: Theodore Parker, James Luther Adams and My Call to Ministry As a Peace Studies major at Manchester College, I took my obligatory two religion courses and one psychology course, and yet, after we graduated in 1961, Martha and I moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, for me to attend Harvard Divinity School on a one-year financial scholarship, even though I had no plans of becoming a pastor. But I enjoyed my first year so much that I went a seco

By Bill Weech April 2, 2023 What makes you happy? What fulfills you? What makes your life work living? These are questions that are explored in the field of positive psychology, which is something I have been interested in for roughly two decades now. This morning I would like to share with you some of the things I have learned from this field, as well as some of the questions that I still have. (By the way, it is important right up front that I emphasize my utter lack of cre

By Rev. Kirk Ballin March 5, 2023 Readings “Sustained shortfalls in emotional intelligence are, sadly, no minor matter. There are few catastrophes, in our own lives or in those of nations, that do not ultimately have their origins in emotional ignorance…Soberingly, despite all our advances in technology and material resources, we are not much more advanced in the art of delivering emotionally healthy childhoods than generations before us. The number of breakdowns, inauthentic

By Linda A. Dove February 19, 2023 I ended my last talk at the point when, in 1961,   Unitarians and Universalists finally united to form one religious community. Today, in a brief overview, I select a handful of the significant issues the UUA and UUism have faced over the last, challenging 63 years. But, later, the main focus is our own Harrisonburg UU and its evolution since its founding. David Lane and Cathy Gardner will share their perspectives on HUU. Initially, the UU A

By Tom Hook February 5, 2023 I appreciate being with you this morning to share some thoughts on the path of love in our lives. Most of you know that HUU subscribes to a UUA spiritual resource called “Soul Matters”.  Each month there is a new resource for communities to reflect on during that month.  Hopefully, you have noticed that this theme is featured in the  Enews each week with pertinent reflections.  I do hope you enjoy the Enews.  I try to keep it informative and relev

January 29, 2023 By Linda A Dove Lighting the Chalice: Reading  “Life is protected and saved by those who embody presence, wisdom, resistance, gratitude, humility. These are the gifts people can bring to one another and can foster through long participation and practice as members of religious communities devoted to saving and protecting life, rooted in rituals of praise and thanksgiving.” Rebecca Parker SLT Hymn No. 113 Where is Our Holy Church? , verses 1, 2, 5. Way back l

January 22, 2023 By Bill Faw My outline is quite simple: An emotional episode begins as we make snap, gut-feeling or rational judgments that a person, thing, or situation is threatening or rewarding in some way. Our emotions then change as our judgments change. Our judgments change when the external situation changes, or when we clarify an ambiguous situation, or when we place the current situation into the context of past experiences, present concepts, or future expectations

By Linda A. Dove November 13, 2022 Last time, I traced our UU origin story through the long centuries of the Holy Roman Empire with leaders like Athanasius, Arius, Scotus, Wycliff, Servetus, Ference, and the Socinuses . Their efforts planted the seed of UUism’s tree within Christianity. In the 1500s and 1600s, many Protestant sects, fleeing persecution, migrated back and forth between the Netherlands and England. I ended by noting how UUs, among others, fled to America, again

September 25, 2022 by Linda A. Dove In my talk today, we’ll discover some roots of our many-branched Unitarian-Universalist tree, mainly in Europe. Later, we’ll climb some of our younger branches reaching into the western world. This way, I hope all of us will come to share an appreciation of how our roots and branches spread, and how we must now stand tall as a mature, life-sustaining tree. I hope this will help fertilize seedlings for the future of HUU. UU-ism has a histor

August 7, 2002 A service to celebrate our “Grand Reopening. Merle Wenger will present the message on what it means to “come home to our physical space” after more than two years when we met on Sunday morning through Zoom. Linda Dove will present an original poem to mark the occasion and several members will offer their reflections on coming home. Opening Reading: “So are we bound together” By

July 24, 2022 by Linda Dove Good morning, my dear UU community and friends. Are you in love? Have you ever been in love? It’s a wonderful feeling, isn’t it? But today I share with you, my feelings of intense grief and loss. Love and loss, of course, are yin and yang and so grief stares at me in the mirror these days. Lately, grief, even horror, have worn down my resilience and sense of connectedness. So today connectedness is my theme. I grieve about the contemporary absence

July 10, 2022 by Mwizenge Tembo, Ph. D Emeritus Professor of Sociology In my message this morning, I will discuss the relationship between Critical Race Theory (CRT), Power, Humility, and Happiness in Our Lives. I will first define and describe these terms and conclude with how they may be related to our happiness. We may not appreciate the significance of CRT unless we understand its brief history. This may help dispel some of the myths and controversy that surrounds the ter

HUU – July 3, 2022 By Robin McNallie I recall Forrest Church once asserting that Unitarian Universalism is the denomination that, in its principles, is the most representative of American democracy, and we can look retrospectively to find earlier evidence of this freedom tendency in our denomination, specifically at the era of Transcendentalism, extending roughly from the 1830s to 1850. The great guru of that avant garde Unitarian movement was, of course Ralph Waldo Emerson,