Elea Kemler

Rev. Elea Kemler's author photo

Rev. Elea Kemler (she/her/hers) has been the minister of First Parish Church of Groton, MA for twenty years and counting. She lives with her husband and two 17-year-olds and mostly loves being a small-town minister where she gets to bless just about everything, from chickens to the new postmaster.

From Elea Kemler

Displaying 1 - 10 of 11

a child smiles up in wonder amid multiple vertical strings of light

The stories remind us there is still and always joy in this world, but it usually comes right alongside the struggle.

Reflection | By Elea Kemler | December 16, 2020 | From Braver/Wiser
Tagged as: Advent, Christianity, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Direct Experience, Hope, Joy, Searching, Worship
In a suburban neighborhood, a girl lies stomach down on a lawn, holding a camera up to her face.

I hope that this Great Silence, which has come alongside the suffering, holds the beginnings of our healing.

Reflection | By Elea Kemler | May 6, 2020 | From Braver/Wiser
Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Balance, Beauty, Body, Direct Experience, Earth-Centered, Hope, Humanism, Imagination, Nature, Presence, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Secular, Spring
A silhouette of two people reaching out their hands to each other.

A lot of us feel like our lives should have come with instructions. Or maybe they did, but we lost the only copy a long time ago.

Reflection | By Elea Kemler | February 12, 2020 | From Braver/Wiser
Tagged as: Brokenness, Caring, Change, Direct Experience, Friendship, Humanism, Interdependence, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Relationships, Trust, Vulnerability
On a church chancel, children dressed as sheep and cows kneel during a Christmas pageant

Every year, I tell the congregation not to worry about mistakes because there aren’t any; there is only us, telling an old story about love getting born into this aching world.

Reflection | By Elea Kemler | December 18, 2019 | From Braver/Wiser
Tagged as: Advent, Brokenness, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Community, Direct Experience, Forgiveness, Love, Playfulness, Tradition, Transcendence, Unitarian Universalism
The tile in the bottom of a Magic 8 ball says "You may rely on it."

What I do know for sure is that hope matters. One of the best things we can do is to hold hope for someone when that person cannot hold it for themselves.

Reflection | By Elea Kemler | October 2, 2019 | From Braver/Wiser
Tagged as: Hope, Listening, Ministry, Presence, Searching
A small button, leaning against a rock, that says "you are beautiful"

It is deeply spiritual work to learn to treat ourselves with compassion; to learn to see ourselves, if only in moments, the same way we look at something or someone we find beautiful: a newborn baby, the ocean, a sunset.

Reflection | By Elea Kemler | February 13, 2019 | From Braver/Wiser
Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Acceptance, Beauty, Body, Caring, Compassion, Direct Experience, Integrity, Love, Relationships, Self-Care, Self-Respect
The corner of a gravestone, which is bedecked with toys and flowers and a fake butterfly stuck in the grass.

In my small-town congregation, our beloved dead seem to linger with us for a little while.

Reflection | By Elea Kemler | October 31, 2018 | From Braver/Wiser
Tagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), All Souls Day, Awe, Death, Día de los Muertos, Direct Experience, Generations, Grief, Love, Memorial Services, Mystery, Remembrance Day, Sorrow
A stone engraved with "Town of Groton ALL ARE WELCOME Town Meeting 2017"

I choose to believe in community. I choose to believe in the difficult, slow work of building a common life.

Reflection | By Elea Kemler | May 16, 2018 | From Braver/Wiser
Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Challenge, Community, Conflict, Democracy, Direct Experience, Humanism, Interdependence, Relationships, Secular, Seven Principles, Unitarian Universalism
A small child at a checkers board, his arm slung on the table.

I wanted so much to believe that God was watching over this boy, that God was tender and protective and fiercely on the side of life and that this boy would not slip away.

Reflection | By Elea Kemler | February 21, 2018 | From Braver/Wiser
Tagged as: Children, Depression, Direct Experience, Family, Healing, Humanism, Illness, Mental Health, Mothers, Presence, Secular, Unitarian Universalism
On a dock extending into a smooth pond, four teenagers sit.

"Fear's pronoun is singular: I've got to watch out for me and mine. Love's pronoun is plural: we're in this together, and together we can grow things that will blossom even in a time of drought." —Kathleen McTigue My son, Caleb, and I went to Starbucks on a recent Saturday morning. We often do...

Reflection | By Elea Kemler | July 19, 2017 | From Braver/Wiser
Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), Children, Direct Experience, Disability, Humanism, Interdependence, Kindness, Living Our Faith, Love, Mothers, Multiculturalism, Parents, Secular, Unitarian Universalism

For more information contact .