November always invokes for me the theme of gratitude with Thanksgiving in the midst of it. And I love that we have a national holiday dedicated to this spiritual practice. Take a moment, if you can, to think about all the ways you are grateful… Go ahead. I’ll wait. Sometimes it seems a bit trite…
Costa Mesa, California
Reverend Sian Wiltshire, Minister
By all means reach out and say hello! I can be reached by email, revsian@ocuuc.org, or by church phone at 714-556-2882, x302. Mondays are my day off, but I’m generally at the church during normal business hours T-Th and happy to meet with people at a time that is convenient to both of us during other times of the week. ~Rev. Sian
Have you ever noticed that the greatest gift a person has is also often their biggest challenge? For example, I know people who have the most generous hearts (their gift), but they often give more than they are truly able (their challenge). And so can start to feel resentful, or get burnt out, or people…
September 11th is our Water Ceremony, which marks for most Unitarian Universalists as the beginning of the church year. This ceremony was developed a long time ago as a way for the church to come back together after a summer hiatus. People would tell about what they did for the summer and reconnect. But gone…
A few months ago I got an email from another minister in the area named Bobbi Becker. I didn’t know her at all, but she had heard of me and wanted to invite me to a meeting she was organizing of local clergy around GLBTQ issues. You see, she herself was gay and had moved…
A friend of mine from Chicago recently was approached by a homeless person who asked my friend if he would buy him a one-day CTA Pass. The homeless person said he was a vet and was struggling with VA red tape. The pass was $10 and my friend paid it. But he’s been wondering… was…
I once read a book called “Games Criminals Play” by Bud Allen and Diana Bosta. It was published 35 years ago, but its truths ring today. In the book, Allen and Bosta posited that freedom is intrinsic to human nature; that when we try to bottle it up – or cage it – people will…
Have you ever done something you regret? I think we all have. Maybe it’s something we said, or didn’t say; maybe it was the way we treated someone long ago, or just last week; maybe it was something illegal, or just morally wrong. We’ve all had those moments. What do we do with them? How…
Recently, I used the “speech to text” feature on my phone to send a friend a text. I said into the phone something about “UUism.” My iPhone translated “UUism” to: “your your wisdom.” It made me laugh. But then it also made me think. Is UUism all about “your wisdom?” In other words, are we…
“and now we welcome the new year. Full of things that have never been.” ~ Rainier Maria Rilke I love this time of year. It’s the beginning of a new year and I have a lot of hope for it. Ralph Waldo Emerson said “Write it on your heart that every day is the best…
I’m a big fan of Albert Einstein. I love his open and creative mind, his passion for peace and justice in the world. I should probably love him for his theory of relativity, but it’s such a difficult concept! But Einstein had a gift for explaining difficult concepts, even God. In response to a question…