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Dear Ones,  Sometimes the Universe aligns matters in a way that unavoidably resonates with what is happening in our lives. That’s how I experience the fact that our Soul Matters liturgical theme for March is Vulnerability. I recently found myself standing before the assembled mourners at my mother’s memorial service remarking on her loyalty, steadfastness, and readiness to provide a safety net whenever one was needed. I concluded by saying  that with her death I felt a little less secure…

Dear Ones, Our liturgical theme this month is “Love.”  On Sunday, we explored eight types of love and the Greek names for them – agape, eros, ludas, philia, philautia, pragma, mania, and storge. As I said on Sunday, this message focuses on philautia or self-love. A healthy self-love is an empathetic way of loving yourself which, in turn, will enhance your ability to love others. Parker Palmer, a  member of the Religious Society of Friends and an inspirational writer, speaker,…

Happy Holidays, Everyone! Our liturgical theme for December is “The Path to Wonder.” That path invariably leads me to contemplate sources of light – the stars, the moon, the sun, the torch, and the candle in the window. Research estimates that eighty to eighty-five percent of our perception, learning, cognition, and activities are mediated through vision. No wonder we associate darkness with death and destruction. When it is dark, we either can’t see at all, or we are seriously limited…

Dear Ones,  Our liturgical theme for November is Path to Change. When I realized this, I laughed out loud. Sometimes I think the Universe is playing jokes on me and other times, like now, I think the Universe is giving me just what I need – whether I like it or not! You and I are being given an opportunity to explore the role of change in our lives – both its pain and its possibilities.   A Unitarian Universalist congregation…

Dear Ones, Our Seventh Principle reminds us that we are part of an interdependent and interconnected web of existence – that we belong to each other. We feel each other’s pain and share in each other’s joy.  So, as we begin meteorological autumn and a new liturgical cycle, it is appropriate that our first monthly theme is “belonging.” John O’Donohue asserts that “the word ‘belonging’ holds together the two fundamental aspects of life: Being and Longing, the longing of our…

Dear Ones,  This month’s theme is Celebrating Blessings. A blessing has traditionally been thought of as a favor or gift bestowed by G-d that brings happiness and well-being.  So, I’d like to share with you an ancient blessing that empowers the speaker to invoke the blessings of G-d. In the book of Numbers it is said that G-d taught the Israelite priests what to say over the children of Israel on G-d’s behalf so that “they will put my name…

Dear Ones: The theme this month is “Renewing Faith.” Faith is an ambiguous word, like “spirit” and “love,” difficult to define and yet, like pornography, you generally know it when you see it, or in this case experience it. In this month’s Soul Matters material for small group ministry (a link to which is found below) Ernie Jones’s Quora answer to the question “What are the origins of the word ‘faith’?” is quoted. I like his answer and so I share it…