Beyond Self-Reliance
This sermon examines the tension between self-reliance, as famously espoused by Ralph Waldo Emerson, and the attributes needed to achieve the goal of the beloved community.
Services
Turning Fear into Love
Vietnamese Buddhist teacher and activist Thich Nhat Hanh spoke of four mantras “effective for watering the seeds of happiness in yourself and your beloved and for transforming fear, suffering, and loneliness.” This service will examine those mantras and how they might be practiced. No RSVP required, masks optional for the in person service! PS- Sunnyhill … Continued
Pride!
Being a “welcoming congregation” is not merely an academic exercise or just a nice thing to do. Welcoming our LGBTQIA+ siblings is a life-affirming and potentially life-saving act. In this service we will examine what we can do to work for justice for LGBTQ people while becoming a more fully inclusive and welcoming congregation.
Decoration Day
Memorial Day began in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War when formerly enslaved African Americans conducted a series of commemorations to express their sense of the meaning of the war. This service will explore the deep roots of Memorial Day and how those roots might change the way we experience this holiday in our … Continued
Beloved Conversations
Beloved Conversations is a program for Unitarian Universalists seeking to embody racial justice as a spiritual practice. In Beloved Conversations, we are here to heal the impact of racism on our lives, in order to get free together. Sunnyhill’s Beloved Conversations Team will share their experiences of this program.
The Purpose of Beauty
The Navaho blessing “May you walk in beauty” seems to imply that beauty plays a central role in our lives, both as a path that we tread and as that which surrounds and enfolds us while we are on that path. In this sermon, we will explore how we might recognize, embrace and engage beauty … Continued
Mothers and Others
For various reasons, Mother’s Day is not a holiday that everyone celebrates. Rather than beatifying or idealizing mothers, this service will look at the importance of supportive, nurturing relationships and how anyone can give or receive such nurturance.
Coming of Age
Credo is a Latin word which is generally translated as “I believe,” but its literal meaning is closer to “what I set my heart to.” Sunnyhill’s Coming of Age (COA) class (8th-grade youth) will share what is close to their hearts in this service which is a capstone of the COA curriculum.
Book of Awakening
Drawn from ideas in Mark Nepo’s book of the same name, this service will explore, in Nepo’s words “our ongoing need to stay vital and in love with this life, no matter the hardships we encounter.” How might we go about cultivating this love for life, even when the going is rough?
Rise Up
One of the central themes of Easter is the ultimate triumph of life over death. Even when everything around us seems cloaked in darkness, the potential of resurrection of various kinds still exists for us as individuals and for us as a society. How do we prepare to “rise up” when the time comes?