Sermons & Talks

September 23 2012 by H. B. Cavalcanti All preaching is an exercise in metaphorical analysis. We compare things similar in some ways but dissimilar in others; hoping that in sorting out the differences we may derive some insight and wisdom for the journey. This morning, I want to invite you look at your life as a garden. Clearly, this comparison has clear limitations - our lives are far more important than a small patch of land. But there are parallels too intriguing for us to

Linda A. Dove July 28, 2012. I was born on a Saturday. And you probably all know the ditty? Saturday’s child works hard for a living. This morning I’m going to talk about my work and ask you to share about yours. I owe much of who I am today to the different types of work I’ve done in my life. After many other jobs, I was a World Bank official in international aid for 19 years. I’ll use just that job as an example of my theme. In your OOS, there’s a brief (if simplistic) guid

May 13, 2012 Presented by Joni Grady and Norman Lawson The tag on our OOS says “One Journey, many paths.   There are many kinds of journeys but we can assume that this is talking about a spiritual journey, the spiritual journey that we are all on, whether we realize it or not. What might the nature of a spiritual journey be? What is the destination of such a journey?  It is a journey we start as soon as we can talk and perhaps before. As a child we always were asking “why . A

By Lisa Ellison February 5, 2012 To live is to engage in work. The body engages in constant work – the lungs filling with air, the heart pumps. Our minds engage in problem solving, learning, and decision-making. Together the body and mind take action. Life is the only job we do not apply for and the only one where termination is guaranteed after an unspecified number of years. We are not given explicit job descriptions. We may or may not know our qualifications. We may spe

October 30, 2011 by Beryl Lawson At this time of the year when it is said that the separation between the living and the dead is thin it might be good to consider another view on what survives after the death of the body. Readings Bhagavad Gita chapter 2 As the lord of this mortal frame experienceth therein infancy, youth, and old age, so in future incarnations will it meet the same. One who is confirmed in this belief is not disturbed by anything that may come to pass. As a

October 16 by Rev. Emma Chattin First Reading Ecclesiastes 3:1-15 For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to e

ASSOCIATION SUNDAY - October 2, 2011

Rev. Mike Quayle Labor Day 2011 Today we pause to reflect on the meaning of Labor Day. For many of us the arrival of Labor Day marks the end of summer, schools have resumed, vacations have been taken and the church schedule returns to a predictable rhythm. In many places, politicians emerge during Labor Day celebrations and rally their supporters with stirring speeches and great promises of what the party will accomplish in the coming year. Those seeking office use this

We are disappointed to find the following edict in a UUA pamphlet that is available on a table in our sanctuary, headed "10 Things Your Congregation Can Do To Become More Welcoming : “Avoid using words which are necessarily gender specific. Use the word ˜children’ instead of ˜boys and girls’ and ˜people’ instead of ˜women and men.’ (It’s Item No. 8 in an updated version of the pamphlet; an earlier version is on the UUA website.) We live in a time when misguided, ho

Choral Reading By Rev. Mike Quayle PRIDE Sunday Starting quietly, stirring deep in the hearts of those oppressed; Growing louder, catching fire; spreading throughout the land; The arc of the universe bends toward justice. 1969 The Stonewall riots transform the gay rights movement. Patrons at the Stonewall Inn fight back during a police raid, sparking three days of riots and giving birth to a movement. Starting quietly, stirring deep in the hearts of those oppressed; Growi

July 24, 2011

Laura Dent July 10, 2011 Dawn of Light When I was 16 – like many young people in the late ˜60s and early ˜70s – I was questioning the religion I grew up with. I was yearning for something more profound, more expansive, more universal. Just at that moment, when I was the most impressionable, my brother played for me this album: Tales from Topographic Oceans by Yes. When I saw from the liner notes that the music was inspired by ancient Hindu scriptures, I glimpse

by Beryl Lawson July 3, 2011 The celebration of Independence Day brings forth many nostalgic ideas about our founding, the people who made it possible and questions as to how we are doing today. How well are we keeping to the ideals of those who started it all, what might we change of those ideals, do they need changing, and how can these ideals carry us through the difficult times ahead. The current attack on our country from the “Religious right comes in the form of a

INTRODUCTION TO FLOWER COMMUNION: In the city of Prague, in the land of Czechoslovakia, in the year nineteen hundred and twenty three, there was a church. But the building did not look much like a church. It had no bells, no spires, no stained glass windows. It had no organ to make beautiful music. It didn't even have a piano. It had no carvings of wood or statues of stone. It had no candles or chalices. It had no flowers. The church did have some things. It had four walls a

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Sermon for HUU’s 20 th Anniversary Rev. Wade Wheelock and Rev. Anne Marsh May 15, 2011 Wade: We are honored to have been asked to participate in this very special service of the Harrisonburg Unitarian Universalists. We’re so glad Kirk, Emma, and Mike are here this morning, along with many of the lay leaders who have been instrumental in bringing HUU to this day of celebration. We offer our congratulations for what you have accomplished already and our best wishes for

May 1, 2011 Four members of our congregations shared from their hearts “ Why it Matters to Me That Harrisonburg UU Becomes A Welcoming Congregation ." Singing for Our Lives - David Lane I want to tell a story this morning, a story that took place in Salt Lake City in the summer of 1999 at my first Unitarian-Universalist General Assembly. The first night we were there, I entered the convention center (amusingly named the Salt Palace for its towering entrance shaped like a

EASTER APRIL 24, 2011 Rev. Kirk Ballin Readings RESPONSIVE READING #530 “Out of the Stars “Out of the stars in their flight, out of the dust of eternity, here have we come, stardust and sunlight, mingling through time and through space. Out of the stars have we come, up from time; Out of the stars have we come. Time out of time before time in the vastness of space, earth spun to orbit the sun, Earth with the thunder of mountains newborn, the boiling of seas. Earth warmed b

Put your dictionaries away folks, it’s not that kind of service. Come Closer Come closer she mimes; if I am to be yours And you are to be mine Come closer she says if all you see is differences Come closer to see the goddess in me If he is too queer to draw him near Come closer dear friend where all can mend There is always a boy inside of a man All you need to do is come closer if you can. At 15 I joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints – The Mormons

Experiencing the Divine Through Every Day Life By Lisa Ellison HUU Spiritual Journey’s Service March 27, 2011 Spiritual journeys are often long and winding roads. There are often forks in these roads and blind curves to navigate, but I believe we all possess an internal compass that shows us the way. I grew up in a Lutheran, Catholic, Buddhist family. Needless to say I was offered many different entry points on my spiritual journey; yet, all of these thresholds contained pre