A New Year
There are only two days in which nothing can be done. One is called yesterday and the other is called tomorrow, so today is the right day to love, believe, do and mostly live. The Dalai Lama Happy New Year to you all! Despite the hardships we experienced in 2020 due to the pandemic and likely more hardships to come for at least part of 2021, I believe we all have much to look forward to in this coming year.…
The Solstice-Christmas Season
As many of you know, I love the Solstice-Christmas season. I love the messages of love, hope and family. What I don’t love is the commercialism, the sense of frantic and frenetic giving with all its politics and worries. It seems like the messages get drowned out amid the hustle and bustle. But this year with the pandemic we have a golden opportunity to approach this season with perhaps more mindfulness than usual. Because the normal round of parties, gift…
Stillness
Stillness. How perfect for the month of December…one of the busiest months of the year! But think of it. Feel the peace and serenity that comes from just breathing in the word before the panic of all that must be done to have a perfect holiday season rises from deep within. Then breathe the word stillness in again until the anxiety passes. Reflect on who told you what the perfect holiday is supposed to look like. How come they get…
Acknowledge the Darkness
Thank you to those of you who sang and played, attended, and assisted behind the scenes in our two big November events—Transgender Day of Resilience and Remembrance and NMIIC Thanksgiving Interfaith Music Celebration. Both events came off beautifully, and if you missed either of them, they are available on our church’s YouTube channel. For the past 10 or 12 years, we’ve held a Winter Solstice service at the church, complete with altar, candles, and a cappella choir. This year we…
Hope is on the Horizon
Here we are in December of 2020, a year like no other in our lifetimes. The pandemic has wreaked havoc on so many things we all used to take for granted, like family and friends gathering for the holidays and celebrating the season together at our church services. Thanks to our wonderful minister, music director, RE director, and our volunteer geek squad we can all still see each other through Zoom services and meetings. However, it sure will be nice…
Strengthening Your Mind, Body and Spirit
Did you know that there is a difference between “healing” and “curing?” Curing implies that whatever was bothering you—an ache, a pain, an illness, or a heartache—is gone. But healing is different. Healing is about not allowing the ache, pain, illness or heartache to rule your life. It’s about strengthening your mind, body and spirit when a cure isn’t possible and it allows you to live in peace, despite the issue. We’ve all seen it happen—or know stories. The person…
What Helps You Heal?
Our church-wide theme this month is Healing. I can think of no better area of life to focus on post-election in our country, in the midst of a pandemic, and continuously for our Earth. Not to mention the personal work of healing from trauma, abuse or everyday bumps and bruises. Contemplating healing in my own life, various spiritual practices like meditation and dream work have helped. I just learned with Youth Group a couple of Sundays ago that, not only…
Transgender Day of Resilience and Remembrance
OCUUC Music Ministries are preparing two big events for our community in November. Both annual events have been re-designed to work on Zoom this year. Transgender Day of Remembrance is an annual event on November 20 that honors the memory of transgender people whose lives were lost in acts of anti-transgender violence. This is the third year that OCUUC has observed this day with a ceremony, and the second year that we have produced it in collaboration with Resurrection Beach…
A Positive Difference
I am only oneBut still I am one.I cannot do everything,But still I can do something.And because I cannot do everything,I will not refuse to do the something that I can do. Edward Everett Hale, 1822 – 1909 This quote made me think of all the people at OCUUC who, with all of our contributions and working together, can and do make a positive difference for ourselves and community. One of the ways OCUUC made a positive difference this last…
Listen to your body, mind, and spirit
The theme in worship this October is “Deep Listening.” It’s a good thing, then, that I spent a lot of time listening to myself this last summer. I listened to what my mind needed, what my body needed, and my spirit needed. Unfortunately, what they needed is not always what they want! It’s often hard to tell the difference. And sometimes they are often in conflict. My body might need to move, but my mind wants to just sit on…
A People of Deep Listening
There is guidance for each of us, and by lowly listening we shall hear the right word. Place yourself in the middle of the stream of power and wisdom which flows into your life. Then without effort, you are impelled to truth and perfect contentment Ralph Waldo Emerson October is Deep Listening month. Let’s consider becoming, “A people of Deep Listening.” The Emerson quote is one of my favorites. Emerson was a Unitarian and leader of the Transcendentalist movement, the…
Some Interesting Connections
I would like to share some interesting connections that the Music Ministries have made through our new paradigm of recording collaborative videos remotely. First, our own Steve Morihiro and friends recorded “I Am the Very Model of a Modern Unitarian” back in June, and it now has over 3,000 YouTube views! I think it’s gone through the UU grapevine. That’s by far our church’s most widely viewed video of all time. And I have had many lovely conversations with composers.…