Tara Bedeau is a recovering Attorney, after almost 20 years of service. She is the Founder and Principal of The Alchemical Workshop. It is a change management organization dedicated to the cultivation and optimization of *individual* and *organizational* health. Through its three divisions The Alchemical Workshop addresses the “root cause(s)” of the issue at hand, using a dynamic, interdisciplinary approach leveraging instinct, intuition, intellect and inspiration. Collectively, they reflect Ms. Bedeau’s more than two decades of professional experience and education in the fields of religion & spirituality; law; leadership & organizational development and [systems]change management.

As part of her psycho-spiritual development and training, Ms. Bedeau has traveled and lived throughout the globe, participating and being initiated in spiritual and wisdom communities, mystical practices and traditions. She also received her Masters in Religion at Union Theological Seminary, a Columbia University Institution. Her concentrations were in Interreligious Engagement (Diversity, Pluralism & Inclusion) and Psychology & Religion. There, Ms. Bedeau was awarded a Henry R. Luce Fellowship to study in Indonesia, where she published and later presented on her work.

Ms. Bedeau has been an Educator, Trainer, Speaker and Consultant as well as a featured keynote and panelist, broadcast commentator and media guest at local and national events and venues, including the American Academy of Religion (AAR). She has authored several publications. Ms. Bedeau also interned as a Chaplain at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, providing wellness, spiritual and emotional support to more than 800 patients, families and hospital staff of various social identities and diversities.

Ms. Bedeau is committed to assisting others in manifesting their unique form of the Formless in their lives as well as helping folks navigate this journey we call Life. To that end she has gladly served various UU congregations on numerous occasions in meeting their pulpit supply needs.

Sermon Topics Include:

• Pathways to Wholeness - Did you know that holiness and wholeness are derived from the same root word? Thus, our pursuit of wholeness - which is all around us! - is one of holiness as well. Join us as we look at pathways to living wholly. * [re: Instruction on healing and the Vedic chakra systems]
• A Resilient Technology - On the February theme of “Trust” we will explore considerations and implications of trust and the adage captured in the acronym “A.S.K.” and the applications of such on this earth walk we are on.
• The Expansive Power of Curiosity - “Coyote. Rabbit. Raven. Anansi-the Spider. Hermes. Krishna. What do they represent, and teach about the power of curiosity? Join us as we explore this and other questions about their invitation to us to remain curious.”
• Reclaiming Civic Symbols: The Other Interpretation of Christianity’s Gospel Message
• Signing Up for the Unexpected
• A New Way of Travel - As part of our American Civic Religion Series, we are going to look at mode of transportation prescribed, confronted, challenge, illustrated and recommended by the Judeo-Christian text, to help us face the challenges confronting and affronting us in this time. Mind you, this is the same text that is used in our current collective to inform many societal constructs, both life giving & affirming and not. So what can it tell us social justice loving folk, about how to fulfill our purposes and meet our destinies, individually and collectively, during these times?
• What’s Love Got to Do with It? -- Last in our American Civic Religion Series, we will be addressing love and how it relates to us, our lives and our respective purposes, through the lens of the text cited so often in the political context today and that which continues to undergird our American culture in the areas that are so important: education, law &; order (aka “justice”), health & well being, family, citizenry (inclusive of refugees, migrants, the undocumented, etc), government, foreign relations, finance, science & technology, industry and the other pillars comprising our society. Admittedly, it is a text that is so misunderstood, abused and in dire need of an OS update. Yet, like the lotus flower, there are still gems to be found, which social justice warriors can utilize for these times.
• The Ricochet of Pain
• The Neighborliness of the Collective - For the annual commemoration of Martin Luther King.
• Am I My Sister's/Brother's Keeper? - While the origin point of this adage is the gruesome story of murder featured in the religious texts of each of the Abrahamic traditions, and it is the sarcastic response of the murderer, the question has been redeemed in its utilization in and inspiration for various civil liberties and social justice movements. Such movements have been as diverse as the US Civil Rights, Labor & Food Justice Movements, and as recent as President Obama's White House Program, Pope Francis' address for the XLIX World Day of Peace and the Global community's responses to the Refugee Crises. In fact, the affirmative response to this question is among the drivers of various multifaith and multiwisdom movements for community healing and social change initiatives. To that end, today's sermon inquires, in this legacy of reclamation, how does this question apply to the xUUx community? And especially in this time and this place??
• Thoughts on Persistence - Like those who have gone before us, we in 2018 are confronted with challenges that appear insurmountable. And, they can emerge acutely in all areas and levels of our lives: the intra-personal, interpersonal (family & relationships), group (communal, work places) and systemic levels (governments, the "isms," white supremacy, climate care, ) - and sometimes, with more than a couple erupting at the same time! Among other things, these challenges demand that we cultivate the skill of persistence and its corollary muscle, resilience. Today's conversation will reflect on these traits, and the traps to be avoided as we plow forward in our righteous work of fighting for and living as we were intended, as the glorious human beings that we are.

Availability: Within 2 hours travel of Brooklyn, NY.

Contact: Email Tara Bedeau at tpolemica@gmail.com.