Archive | Congregational Care

Michelle Murphy, Care Team Co-Chair As we gaze with awe and reverence at the changing foliage through our sanctuary windows, many are unaware that an insidious stranger has invaded some of our homes changing our lives forever. The impact on familiar systems is profound and permanent. It brings anxiety, fear, helplessness, frustration, anger, and a […]

Dear Folks, Our theme for the month of October is “vulnerability.”  To be vulnerable is to be susceptible to pain, to wounding, or to some sort of harm.   We make ourselves vulnerable when we love someone, when we speak an unpopular truth, or when we push against a tide of injustice.   We all have the […]

Dear Folks: Our theme for the month of September is “Resilience.”  Resilience is not just a quality that involves bouncing back from an infinite number of life stressors.  In fact, at times, there is absolutely no bouncing involved, but there are always stressors.  Here are a few examples of things we’re expected to “bounce back” […]

Dear Folks, Our theme for this month is “Ways of Knowing.”  Confucius said that “by three methods we may learn wisdom.  First, by reflection, which is noblest.  Second, by imitation, which is easiest.  And third, by experience which is the bitterest.”  As I contemplated this month’s theme, I recalled times when I learned wisdom by […]

Dear Folks, I write these words from a tiny parsonage on the Isle of Shoals—miles off the New Hampshire coast.  I’m honored to serve as the minister for Arts Week here on Star Island this week.  Tomorrow morning, (now in the past as you read these words), I’ll offer the first of our daily chapels […]

Dear Folks, Our theme for April is creativity.  Erich Fromm, German psychologist, sociologist, and philosopher had this to say about our topic: Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties. Having the courage to “let go of certainties” opens up all kinds of possibilities for us as humans, as seekers of good, and as […]

Dear Folks, Our theme for the month of March is covenant.  As a religious community gathered in love, the Piedmont Unitarian Universalist Church seeks to nurture the spirit, cherish diversity, and cultivate justice.  In the context of caring for one another, how are you living into our mission of nurturing the spirit? How are you […]

Dear Folks, Welcome to a brand new day!  Our theme for the month of February is embodiment.  The word embodiment conjures images of tangible representations of the intangible.  Many religions speak of avatars or incarnations of divinity in various forms—whether it be the Hindu elephant god, Ganesh (the embodiment of wisdom as well as the […]

Dear Folks: Welcome to January, Beloveds.  This month we welcome a new year, a new minister, and a host of opportunities for growth as we seek to live into who we are—a community that nurtures the spirit, cherishes diversity, and cultivates justice. Appropriately, our theme for the month of January is “change.”  What an interesting […]