I start my days in the garden right now. I like to hand water my plants – it means that I get a good sense of what’s going on with them from day to day. There’s a feeling in the air that I’ve come to associate with the change of seasons. It’s very subtle –…
Category: Sermons
This Sermon was offered on Sunday, July 16th, at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Frederick. I see articles regularly on how to make friends over age 40. The Surgeon General recently released an advisory that points to the loneliness epidemic and the very real, dangerous impact that isolation can have on people. Obviously, we have…
This short sermon was offered to the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Frederick on Sunday, April 23rd. When I’m in emotional pain, I seek the outdoors. I grew up here in Frederick, which means that throughout the region I have special places I go to find solace – certain boulders at Cunningham Falls, the far edge…
This sermon was offered live (via Zoom) to the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Wyoming Valley (Pennsylvania) on Sunday, November 27th. To be human is to be part of the natural world and also oddly separate from it. We technologized so quickly. Electric light wasn’t common in homes in the United States until the 1920s, roughly…
This sermon was offered at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Frederick on Sunday, July 10th, after my the ceremony that made me a Commissioned Lay Minister. I remember the moment it happened. The exact moment I accepted my call to service. I was just a kid – nine or ten years old. There was…
When I turned 40, my social media feed changed. I’ve always gotten some advertisements for yoga and other fitness products and programs. I’m a yoga teacher, so I’m a good target for those kinds of ads. Likewise, I’ve always seen at least a handful of ads for makeup and hair products. But it seemed…
This sermon was offered to the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Wyoming Valley in July of 2021 Every year I coordinate a large event for my chapter of the Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans in Frederick, MD. It’s a masquerade ball – a formal gala with a faery and fantasy theme. It’s our big fundraiser of…
Like many Unitarian Universalists, the braid of my spirituality is made up of many strands. For me, one strand of belief originates in the far north – Scandinavia, Norway, and Iceland. I find the old myths and folklore compelling and resonant, touching a deep thread of spirit within me. One of the things I love…
This short sermon was offered for the December 13th, 2020, streaming service at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Frederick. Full text below. I sometimes joke that paganism is an unusually intense form of environmentalism. One of the common threads that comes up when talking to other pagans is that we were pretty feral as children. …
This short sermon was offered for the October 25th, 2020, streaming service at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Frederick. Full text below. This is one of my favorite parts of the year. I think I am a constant disappointment to my friends who love beaches and summer. It’s just not my thing. Give me gray,…