Beloved St. Johners,
A friend of mine from seminary wrote the following piece. It made me think of you, a congregation I love and find to be incredibly resilient.
A Recipe for Resilience by Rev. Margaret Weis
This recipe has been tweaked over time, so adjust as necessary.
Sometimes … read more.
St. John’s, I’d like to share this poem with you.
“Because” By Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
So I can’t save the world—
can’t save even myself,
can’t wrap my arms around
every frightened child, can’t
foster peace among nations,
can’t bring love to all who
feel unlovable.
So I practice opening my heart
right here in this … read more.
Beloved St. Johners,
In 2020, shortly after the killing of George Floyd, country music artist Garth Brooks released a song, We Belong to Each Other. Here are the lyrics:
———–
Ain’t no wall can divide us, no matter how high
Ain’t no storm can untie us, for all it … read more.
Have you seen the 2015 animated film “Inside Out” or the sequel that came out last year? It’s a journey into the mind of an adolescent child, Riley. The main characters are Riley’s emotions: Joy, Sadness, Anger, Disgust, and Fear (plus a few new ones as … read more.
As some of you know, I love playing games. I am especially fond of games that involve group storytelling. When the COVID-19 pandemic began, I put out a call to my clergy colleagues to see if others might be interested in forming a weekly “Dungeons … read more.
If you ask a handful of Unitarian Universalists about the seven principles that have guided our Association of Congregations since 1985, I suspect many wouldn’t be able to list all of them. But I’m certain that you’d hear these two:
1st Principle
We affirm and promote the inherent … read more.
Dear Church,
August is here and autumn is around the corner. At St. John’s, fall often comes with an upsurge in energy around church programs and activities. Our yearly in-gathering service of water communion is coming up on August 21st. From there we nearly tumble into … read more.
Dear Church,
Sometime after we were married, my husband and I did the responsible thing and made wills. For a number of years – at least 7 or more – upon our demise, 50% of our wealth would go to the UUA and the other 50% … read more.
Last Thursday, we two, Rev. Alice Diebel and Rev. Mitra Jafarzadeh, attended a training from Faith Choice Ohio. Faith Choice Ohio is an organization of religious leaders who understand the necessity of abortion care for anyone and everyone who finds themselves in need. Abortions have been a … read more.
Trigger warning: sexual assault is mentioned
Dear Church,
After service today (April 3), I arrived home to a news reports of rape as a war crime in Ukraine. The horror of war is real and few escape being wounded or scarred in some way. For the civilians … read more.
