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Displaying 1 - 34 of 34
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I belong, and you belong, and we belong—just as we are.Reflection | By Li Kynvi | May 31, 2023 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Anti-Oppression, Body, Courage, Direct Experience, Humanism, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Oppression, Pride Sunday, Privilege, Secular, Worship -
This reflection was part of Side With Love Sunday 2021.Homily | By Julica Hermann de la Fuente | March 10, 2021 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #30DaysOfLove, #BlackLivesMatter, #SideWithLove, 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), Anti-Oppression, Direct Experience, Equity, Humanism, Justice, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Multiculturalism, Power, Privilege, Race/Ethnicity, Relationships, Secular, Unitarian Universalism, WorshipWeb, Worship -
The person who enjoys privilege always knows less about the person who lives under the weight of that privilege than the people who are actually under it.Quote | By Ta-Nehisi Coates | November 24, 2020 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, Anti-Oppression, Direct Experience, Justice, Power, Privilege, Race/Ethnicity, WorshipWeb, Worship
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I once saw a little sign, carved in wood, that read, “There is only the hard way.” Many of us have been harmed by theology that told us that suffering was a sacrifice that would bring us closer to God. Many of us were told that our suffering would redeem us, even when we knew that actual...Reading | By Elizabeth Nguyen | November 14, 2019 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Activism, Anti-Oppression, Direct Experience, Humanism, Integrity, Interdependence, Justice, Living Our Faith, Privilege, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Redemption, Sacrifice, Secular, Seven Principles, Solidarity, Unitarian Universalism -
Can we strive to have the grace to back away when our presence doesn’t feel like safety?Reflection | By Misha Sanders | November 13, 2019 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Anti-Oppression, Direct Experience, Discernment, Humanism, Privilege, Race/Ethnicity, Secular, Unitarian Universalism -
Love our Earth. Take action to consume less, use less energy, respect water; And be cooperative, collaborative and creative community – like the moss and the mushrooms. Our children’s lives depend on us.Closing | By Denise Cawley | June 20, 2019 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Commitment, Earth, Earth Day, Earth-Centered, Environment, Food Justice, Interdependence, Privilege, Respect, Responsibility, Simplicity, Six Sources, Climate Justice -
Traditions and habits can be changed or broken and that’s not always bad. It doesn’t mean we didn’t learn or like what we did in the past, it just means that we moved on to something else and that’s okay too.Reflection | By Rayla D. Mattson | January 16, 2019 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Body, Children, Choice, Direct Experience, Generations, History, Parents, Privilege -
You can’t be prejudiced, racist, sexist, or homophobic. After all, you belong to this faith. You don’t carry pitchforks and march with the Charlottesville gang. You don’t vote for Trump and you started the Women’s March chapter in your city. You are a good person with good intentions; you...Quote | By Brittany Packnett | June 24, 2018 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Anti-Oppression, Direct Experience, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Privilege, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Race/Ethnicity, Relationships, Seven Principles, Solidarity -
Last year for Lent, I decided to say yes to any request. I made it all the way to Easter without having to honor my decision.Reflection | By Nathan Ryan | March 14, 2018 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Choice, Christianity, Direct Experience, Humanism, Lent, Power, Privilege, Relationships, Spiritual Practice, Transformation, Unitarian Universalism -
When I was in middle school, I was taught that every person, to some extent, holds a set of prejudices that impact our perceptions of others. We were asked to think about what our prejudices might be, and how they might inform our relationships and our movement through the world....Homily | By DeReau K. Farrar | October 15, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Anti-Oppression, Direct Experience, Integrity, Living Our Faith, Money, Multiculturalism, Pain, Personal Stories, Privilege, Race/Ethnicity, Reconciliation, Unitarian Universalism
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In the moment that I switched to “teacher mode,” I recalled moments in which I had inadvertently said ungracious things. I was fortunate enough to have professors, ministers, and friends illuminate my clumsiness for me. They did so in a way that was gracious enough that it increased my appreciation and respect for them, and clear enough that I will never forget the teaching.Reflection | By Seanan R. Holland | August 2, 2017 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Direct Experience, Growth, Humanism, Humility, Inclusion, Military, Privilege, Secular -
He phoned more than an hour ago to say he was on his way home. But I have yet to hear the scrape of the iron gate, the rattling keys, so I worry. Most married women fret about a tardy husband: black women like myself worry more....Reflection | By Rosemary Bray McNatt | March 29, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), 6th Principle (World Community), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), America, Anti-Oppression, Direct Experience, Family, Fear, Home, Humanism, Multiculturalism, Oppression, Privilege, Race/Ethnicity, Secular, Unitarian Universalism -
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is a time when particular songs get sung; one of them is "Lift Every Voice and Sing." It gets sung in school, in church, and at various MLK day celebrations or over the course of Black History Month....Reflection | By Aisha Ansano | February 27, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), America, Anti-Oppression, Arts & Music, Black History / Whitney Young / James Reeb, Direct Experience, History, Juneteenth, Martin Luther King, Jr. Sunday, Pain, Privilege, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Race/Ethnicity -
Over 500 years ago, European governments adopted something called the Doctrine of Discovery: any lands and resources not already ruled by a European Christian monarch automatically became the property of whatever government whose subjects traveled to and occupied the territory. This Doctrine of...Homily | By Kristin Grassel Schmidt | November 25, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 5th Principle (Conscience & Democracy), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Activism, America, Anti-Oppression, Brokenness, Direct Experience, Earth, History, Indigenous American, Privilege, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Race/Ethnicity, Solidarity, Spirituality -
Please join me in a litany of solidarity. Many of us face oppression, or our loved ones face oppression, and we fear that oppression will worsen....Litany | By Catie Scudera | November 10, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Activism, Anti-Oppression, Commitment, Disaster or Crisis, Humanism, Interdependence, Justice, Privilege, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Relationships, Secular, Seven Principles, Solidarity, Unitarian Universalism -
Spirit of Life, if you have a lesson for us, it is that all life is beautiful. We are each born into this world who we are, tall or short, with our own colour of skin, with our own sexual orientation....Prayer | By Brian Kiely | October 7, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 6th Principle (World Community), Acceptance, Anti-Oppression, Democracy, Gender, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Pride Sunday, Privilege, Secular, Unitarian Universalism, Wholeness -
"The thing that's really slick about whiteness, if you will, is that most of the benefits can be obtained without ever doing anything personally......Quote | By john a. powell | May 9, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, Anti-Oppression, Direct Experience, Gender, Identity, Justice, Power, Privilege, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Race/Ethnicity -
Bruises are a part of roller derby — a celebrated part. It’s not uncommon for players to take pictures of their biggest, most colorful shaped bruises: bruises that go deep into your tissue, and come out in amazing blues, purples, and blacks that eventually fade to greens, browns and yellows. A...Reading | By Dawn Skjei Cooley | February 23, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 6th Principle (World Community), Anti-Oppression, Black History / Whitney Young / James Reeb, Body, Commitment, Direct Experience, Healing, Justice, Multiculturalism, Privilege, Race/Ethnicity, Secular -
This prayer's author suggests that for each paragraph of the prayer, an accompanist (on piano or some other instrument) softly play the hymn that's indicated at stanza's end. For clarity, these instructions are included below....Prayer | By Lisa Doege | January 11, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 6th Principle (World Community), Arts & Music, Christianity, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Humanism, Immanence, Joy, Justice, Peace, Privilege, Unitarian Universalism, WorshipWeb -
As we approach our agenda let us remember that we are doing the work of the congregation.* When we do the work of this congregation*, we touch lives. When we touch lives, we change the world. May this chalice flame we now kindle remind us throughout our meeting of our ministry and our mission....Chalice Lighting | By Erik Walker Wikstrom | November 10, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Business Meetings, Commitment, Covenant, Discernment, Leadership, Mindfulness, Power, Privilege, Purpose, Responsibility, Service, Seven Principles, Unitarian Universalism -
Let us wake up. Not just from the Sunday morning exhaustion, from the wish for a few more drowsy minutes in bed. Let us wake up to this world we live in: to its beauty and wonder, and also to its tragedy and pain. We must wake up to this reality: that not all in our world have what we do, however...Opening | By Christian Schmidt | October 29, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 6th Principle (World Community), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Activism, Anti-Oppression, Black History / Whitney Young / James Reeb, Challenge, Direct Experience, Justice, Martin Luther King, Jr. Sunday, Privilege, Race/Ethnicity, Unitarian Universalism -
#BlackLivesMatter Let the only burning be the fire of commitment in our hearts, minds, hands, spirits in our community of faith. Live solidarity. Use your voice. Demand justice... better, live it into being. Cry out for others to join you. Name hate as hate—without shrinking back without...Poetry | By Jeannie Shero | August 11, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 6th Principle (World Community), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Anti-Oppression, Black History / Whitney Young / James Reeb, Change, Direct Experience, Honesty, Humanism, Martin Luther King, Jr. Sunday, Oppression, Power, Privilege, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Race/Ethnicity, Solidarity, Unitarian Universalism -
This charge was written to be led by several voices: one person says a line, and then all in attendance respond, “We charge you to engage.” Because your congregation is located in one of the poorest cities in the nation in the richest state per capita in the country We charge you to engage...Litany | By Cathy Rion Starr | June 19, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 5th Principle (Conscience & Democracy), 6th Principle (World Community), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Activism, Faith, Humanism, Installations, Justice, Oppression, Ordinations, Privilege, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Race/Ethnicity, Solidarity, Unitarian Universalism
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At age twenty, I had the fortune of traveling the world. Through a study abroad program, I journeyed to awe-inspiring destinations like India, Cuba, and South Africa. In the process, I witnessed extreme poverty, global wealth, power disparity, and the effects of war and militarism—all while...Reading | By Betty Jeanne Rueters-Ward | April 27, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: America, Change, Direct Experience, Globalism, Living Our Faith, Personal Stories, Privilege, Transformation, Young Adults -
Holy Unnamable One, Wholly Unknowable One, Again we have read the story. Again we have sung the tale. Again we wonder at our place in it. Is it ours to tell? How can it beours to live?...Prayer | By Lisa Doege | March 16, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Birth, Christianity, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Direct Experience, Hope, Listening, Mystery, Peace, Privilege
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In the summer of 1989, I attended the annual gathering of Unitarian Universalists at the General Assembly at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Yale is right downtown, and it was my custom to get out of the hotel and university setting for most of my meals. One morning, as I was in town...Sermon | By Sara Campbell | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Anti-Oppression, Change, Oppression, Privilege, Race/Ethnicity, Anti-Oppression
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The journey was a long one. We started on an airplane, a 16-hour trip crossing the international date line. A van for an hour, then another hour’s plane ride. A pedi-cab trip, and a four hour van ride. Then another hour’s drive up a windy mountain road, turning off the road onto a rocky, bumpy,...Sermon | By Vail Weller | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Direct Experience, Generosity, Globalism, International, Justice, Poverty, Privilege, Unitarian Universalism, Universalism
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My friend Marcy and her boyfriend Brian recently ate dinner at a local Chinese restaurant. As they enjoyed a plate of lo mein, engrossed in conversation, a hand reached down and ushered away their platter of noodles....Reading | By Kaaren Solveig Anderson | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), Class, Compassion, Empathy, Poverty, Privilege
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Readings 1: The Gospel of Mark, Chapter 14, verses 3-91 While he was at Bethany, in the house of Simon the Leper, as he sat at the table, a woman came in with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment of nard, and she broke open the jar and poured the ointment on his head....Sermon | By Joanne Giannino | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 6th Principle (World Community), Class, Humanism, Privilege
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Gadgets: The downfall of a free society, electric litter paving an inexorable path to our culture’s moral, intellectual, spiritual, and inevitable destruction. If you are an American living in the 21st century, you likely have fretted over this topic, or some variation on it. You might even have...Sermon | By Anne Welsbacher | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Despair, Discernment, Privilege, Responsibility, Secular
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Each week we take up an offering for the support of this congregation, and often, for the support of others who are working for a better world. To be honest, we need your support—especially in todays economy, when pledges are down and the future appears uncertain. But there is another truth here...Reading | By Thomas Rhodes | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Brokenness, Generosity, Privilege, Stewardship, Unitarian Universalism, Wholeness
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In March of 2002, the Unitarian Universalist Ministers’ Association held its every seven years gathering in Birmingham, Alabama. I was excited to go to Birmingham, partly because it would be my first convocation with a thousand or so colleagues, but for another reason as well. My first husband,...Sermon | By Susan LaMar | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Privilege, Race/Ethnicity
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What you risk telling your story: You will bore them. Your voice will break, your ink spill and stain your coat. No one will understand, their eyes become fences. You will park yourself forever on the outside, your differentness once and for all revealed, dangerous. The names you give to yourself...Reading | By Laura Hershey | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Conscience, Direct Experience, Identity, Power, Privilege, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Truth, Vulnerability
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"Few of their children in the country learn English Unless the stream of their importation could be turned they will soon so outnumber us that all the advantages we have will not be able to preserve our Language, and even our Government will become precarious." Does this sound familiar? This...Sermon | By James (Jay) C Leach | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 6th Principle (World Community), Anti-Oppression, Globalism, Immigration, Oppression, Privilege, Immigration