Church of the Larger Fellowship UU Worship

If our faith teaches us that every person is inherently worthy, it means that no one is disposable. How does this change the way we gather, live, and advocate for justice? How does it change how we approach redemption and salvation?

It has been over two years since the start of the genocide in Gaza and the world has been grieving the continued loss of life and potential of thousands upon thousands of Palestinians. Together we will honor the lives lost and hold in our hearts prayers for an end to the horror and destruction.

Description: Job's wife is vilified for her anguished, irreverent response to tragedy in her household. But what if we listened more closely to her challenge? What if, instead of avoiding or ignoring the pain of loss, we allowed it to open a path to a fuller, more courageous faith? Reflection question: It has been said that a broken heart is an open heart tenderized to love even more deeply. What's breaking your heart in these times? What losses have you avoided grieving? What haven't you said to God for fear of rebuke? What support do you need to tell God the truth?

Often when we discuss grief, we are being encouraged to identify, acknowledge and/or accept the layers and cycles of grief that we are experiencing. But how do we engage this subject when we are the cause of another person’s grief? This week. I will share a story about a time when I was a source of grief.

The Rev. Meg Barnhouse once said, "I believe in the inherent worth and dignity of every person, not every idea." In what ways can we lean into affirming each other and maintaining the humanity of all as we work to dismantle systems of harm.

Arundhati Roy, in her novel The God of Small Things, describes trauma, grief, and loss as leaving holes in the universe--shaped like the things we have lost. When we sew up those holes, we leave a mark behind even as we restore our fabric to wholeness. How do we honor those marks and help each other sew up our holes of grief?

Lamentation is a ritualized approach to grief. It creates opportunities for us to acknowledge, reflect upon and say goodbye to the piles of rubble we leave behind; our many unmet expectations, dreams and desires.

How do progressive religious folks maintain their faith in a time of monsters? This was the question posed during a symposium in Seattle recently. I will share my own reflections and learning on how we keep the faith in a time of monsters.

Can lament over the suffering all around us be our hope? Can we express lament without getting stuck there? We seek to build a religious community where that lament is welcome as part of a cycle of healing, growth, and action.