Minister’s Letter
Minister’s Message for March 2023
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…
Minister’s Message for February 2023
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,…
Minister’s Message for January 2023
Dear Ones, Our liturgical theme this month is “The Path of Finding Our Center.” What does that even mean? What comes immediately to mind is the way moments of appreciating my natural surroundings can often quiet the prioritizing, strategizing, and negotiations continuously taking place in the recesses of my mind. Last Friday evening, as I was packing my car for the long ride from White Stone to Jacksonville, I stopped to take a call from Tina as we were also…
Minister’s Message for December 2022
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…
Letter from the Minister for November 2022
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…
Minister’s Letter September 2022
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…
Minister’s Message for June
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…
Minister’s Message for March
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…
Minister’s Message for November 2021
Dear Ones, The theme for this month is “holding history.” While our history does not have to determine our future, it does have a significant impact on who we are today. The joys and the sorrows, the achievements and the failures, the hopes and the disappointments of each stage in a life leaves its mark on the present. Understanding our personal history is an essential part of spiritual growth and development. For many of us, we choose to remember only…
Minister’s Message for September 2021
Embracing Possibility Dear Ones, The theme for this month is “embracing possibility.” While congregations have personalities and ministers have personalities; with each new combination of congregation and minister is a new opportunity for them to share a ministry that is uniquely their own. As we begin our journey together, possibilities previously unimagined will emerge. Our challenge is to embrace them and each other. One of my favorite authors, Richard Bach, issued this caution in his book, Illusions, The Adventures of…