ATONEMENT/REDEMPTION - Mar 2012 How often do we pause before words come pouring out of our mouth, which we might regret? EVIL - Feb 2012 I had no idea that the theme of “evil” would be so popular. The response to this month’s services has been strong and enthusiastic. “More evil,” they say. Well, probably just more discussion about evil.
FREEDOM - Jan 2012 Several years ago I enjoyed a written discussion between two UU colleagues on the principle of freedom and how it informs our UU faith. They arrived at similar conclusions, but their paths were marked by important distinctions on the role freedom plays in our liberal religious faith.  GOD - Dec 2011 You might not like to be reminded of last summer’s Washington Post article about Unitarian Universalism, the one that gave all of us much pause ("Grappling with the G-word"). DEMOCRACY - Nov 2011 I recently came across this quote from Abraham Lincoln:
“As labor is the common burden of our race, so the effect of some to shift their share of their burden onto the shoulders of others is the great curse of the race. As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. CREATIVITY - Oct 2011 When I visited China a few years ago, I had the chance to visit a secret village for artists. It was a quiet visit, because it was a clandestine location, as was our visit to it. The government in China is not too fond of artists, unless they’re portraying government sponsored topics, which these artists were not. 
HOSPITALITY 2 - Sep 2011 I call them “Catastrophe Neighbors.” They’re the neighbors we see when a catastrophic event -- a blizzard, an earthquake, a hurricane -- strikes. Front doors open, affording a rare glimpse of what is inside, heads poke out like groundhogs, or (if it’s an earthquake) people run out, and lo: neighbors meet neighbors! HOSPITALITY - Sep 2011 “Hospitality is the art of making your guests feel at home even though you wish they were.” -- Anonymous
VISION - May 2011 Several years ago I impulsively handed some money to a woman in the French Quarter in New Orleans who offered to tell me my future by reading my palm. LIBERATION - Apr 2011 This month’s theme at MVUC is liberation. It is a time to think about celebration of Passover and about how, as with liberation of the Hebrews by their leader Moses, an Exodus from slavery brings new freedom but also responsibility.