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…
Tag: stress
The best target for a spell was, is, and will remain the self. There are many reasons for this. We learn to manipulate ourselves into doing things really early on in life – picking up toys, brushing our teeth, being nice to our siblings when we don’t feel like it, etc. Self-manipulation on multiple levels…
I feel a little bit like I’m spinning my wheels right now. I work hard, but it often seems like any headway I make is short-lived, or simply reveals yet another task lurking beneath the stack I clear. I wrestle with the needs that are expressed to me and whether or not I can meet…
The Marine Corps motto is ‘Semper Fidelis’ – Always Faithful. For those of us who served in the Corps, there’s another motto we heard regularly as well: ‘Semper Gumby.’ This amusing saying means ‘Always Flexible.’ I’ve been thinking about it a fair bit as the latest pendulum swing of the pandemic knocks over various events,…
Some days, there’s just not enough coffee in the universe to get me going. During most of the year, doldrum days are pretty rare for me. I generally have good forward momentum: I have dreams and visions I’m trying to manifest, sacred Work I’m focused on, and a beloved community to serve. For some…
If it seems like the people around you are more volatile than usual, you’re not alone. Over the past month I’ve stood on the sidelines as multiple relationships around me caught fire in various ways. The stress of over a year’s worth of pandemic concerns and the whiplash of relief to restriction is applying pressure…
This time was serious. I’d been hauled into Top’s office first thing in the morning, and my Staff Sergeant’s face looked thunderous. My Master Sergeant, Top, was furious of course. But also, oddly, concerned. “Why are you always so angry? Do you even know?” Top loomed over me. He was Nordic – tall and pale,…
When I was a kid, I spent many of my summers attending YMCA Day Camp programs. I grew up in Frederick, MD, and the region is blessed with abundant parks and forests. For each session of summer camp I attended, I had a buddy assigned to me. One of the camp field trips I went…
This sermon was for the September 13th streaming service for the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Frederick. I like to remind myself that I would have lived. That several thousand years ago, I would have known that sometimes when the grasses rustle, it’s because there’s an apex predator behind them feeling a bit peckish. I would…
One of the types of Ancestors I personally venerate are Ancestors of the Order – humans who followed a similar life path to my own. In my case, these are the priestx classes of many cultures: the people who chose to place themselves in service to Spirit, the journey of human souls, and the creation…