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by Rev. Janet Onnie August 10, 2025             For those of you who like courtroom dramas, this is your day.  I’ve been intrigued by this story since I heard it in seminary, and it has informed much of the way I think about the tension between individuals and their institutions. The setting is Ottoman Empire in the sixteenth century. This was not a period of history known for its tranquility.  In the rest of Europe at this time blood was flowing freely over religious dispute

By Rev. Janet Onnie July 20, 2025             Well, my friends, life in this not-so-United States has not gotten better for those of us who center our values in love.  I admit I am suffering with the realization that it’s likely that we’re not who I thought we were.  I imagine I’m not alone in this disillusionment no matter where you fit on the political spectrum.  For the past five months or so we have been whip-lashed from one catastrophe to another. Chaos and uncertainty i

By Rev Janet Onnie July 13, 2025 The Shenandoah Valley is in mid-summer.  So are the mountain towns in the Blue Ridge.  I know this because the Farmers Markets are brimming with produce and flowers, there’s a smell of charcoal and sunscreen in the air, and I read email messages from friends in far-flung places.  I know that many of you are no longer confined to summer to indulge in your wanderlust, but the rhythms of childhood are hard to break.  July in America – at least th

by Dianne Davis-Meadow June 29, 2025 I'm sure you already figured it out and won't be shocked by what I'm about to say because you've already seen the Order of Service. I am an atheist. It feels strange, honestly, to be standing inside a church and saying that out loud. As an atheist, walking into a church feels a little like going to a costume party where I’m the only one not in costume… and I’m afraid they might hand me a Bible instead of a drink. But for the first time in

by Bill Faw June 22, 2025 In November, 2021 , I gave a zoom sermon to HUU on “ The Seasons of Our Life and of the Soul”.  Irv was also my facilitator that day. Today, I will repeat part of the Seasons of the Soul, in order to then expand the metaphor to seasons of democracy for nations and the world . PART ONE: SEASONS OF THE SOUL In her challis reading, Andi set the stage for seeing seasons of the soul as cycles of good and bad experiences in life, through the famous wo