Opens with “All That We Share Is Sacred” By Andrée Mol. Rev. Reid-McKee explores compassion and what distinguishes this from empathy. So often we are unsure how to respond to others as they suffer in some way. It may be that we can learn to create spontaneous, compassion within ourselves, and how to respond to others with care.
Air, one of the four elements, is the only one we can’t actually see. But we sense it with our eyes, hearing and touch. We will explore the ways we know air, and then as a communion together we will take a collective breath, honoring this essential element of life. Includes readings from John Fire Lame Deer, Gail Forsyth-Vail, Richard Gilbert, Lewis Latimer, David Abrams, and Lyall Watson, and concludes with Maria playing Prelude in D flat op. 43 no. 1 by R. Glier.
At the end of your life, will you be able to reflect back and know you have lived the life you wanted? Or are you urgently attending to one thing after another, without the time to take care of your basic needs? And what are those basic needs? These questions help give each of us clarity about whether we are doing the works that brings us alive and gives us meaning. We will explore how we prioritize our lives.
Unitarian Universalists have seven principles that guide us… but in 2017 an Eighth Principle was introduced for consideration. This principle is about how we dismantle racism and move to anti-oppression in our faith. This is a fitting topic as we celebrate Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (Includes a chalice lighting written by Rebekah Savage.)
Recording opens with a prayer reflecting on the events at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. This is followed by a reading from Ivone Gebara in Longing For Running Water. Then Rev. Nancy:”Many of us have rejected the theology of God we were raised with. For some, this has left us without a theology and without religious language. We explore theologies that may offer a new way to move into our religious home with intellectual engagement.”
This will be the longest night this year. So often we use this time of year to long for the light and wait for a kindling of fire to instill new life in us. How about we think about what the night offers to us? Instead of looking for something else, let us explore where we are (darkness) and why this is a normal part of each day, and each life. Recording begins with hymn Dark of Winter, by Shelley Jackson Denham, sung by Northlake choir, ends with When I am Frightened by Denham. Also includes a reading by Barbara Brown Taylor, from her book Learning to Walk in the Dark.
Begins with song “Let Your Little Light Shine”. The Time for All Ages was about Creating a Home. Hymn: Return Again. Sermon on Coming Home – synopsis: “Our theme for the year is Our House of Belonging, and we will begin by welcoming you home to Northlake after a summer of wanderings. Which leads to the questions…what makes a place home? Where do you belong, and when we ultimately are alone with ourselves in life, what makes us feel a sense of belonging?” Ends with song: Love Come and Be with Me.
