Let’s explore the historical roots of some concepts of afterlife as we consider what justice means to us and to our neighbors. Rev. T. J. FitzGerald serves as Minister of Community Care and Engagement at First Unitarian Church of Dallas. He has previously served congregations in Portland, Oregon and Honolulu, Hawaii. His recent book Together Again: Reconstructing … Continue reading Divine Justice
We are all faced with change and hardships at points in our lives. No matter the size, these occurrences can leave us vulnerable or lost. It is through our communities we find support at these challenging times, allowing us to overcome and be stronger. First Sundays: On the first Sunday of each month, we have … Continue reading Always Look on the Bright Side of Life
What does it mean to be a people of courage? Each of us have counter-cultural “leanings” that we don’t lean into as fully as we’d often wish. How might we lean into our counter-cultural self a little bit more? Where are the everyday moments of courage in your life? Rev. Jennifer Hamlin-Navias recently retired from the … Continue reading Be Ordinarily Brave
Resilience is our capacity to “bounce back” from the hard things we experience. As science studies this vital capacity which helps us endure and thrive, we are learning concrete ways we can increase our resilience as individuals and as a community. Together we will consider: how can we be more resilient, and how can we … Continue reading Resilience
Let’s dive deeper into the words of Mishneh Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers/Ancestors). Hillel used to say: “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And if I am for myself alone, then what am I? And if not now, when.” Rabbi Barbara Goldman-Wartell is in her fourteenth year serving as the … Continue reading If Not Now When – Reflections on the text from Pirkei Avot 1:14
There are many different kinds of love and perceptions of what love means. Generally love is used to describe the connection shared between partners and close family. Come join us as we unravel the word and its meaning to us as individuals and community. First Sundays: On the first Sunday of each month, we have … Continue reading What Is Love?
The freedom to read is increasingly under attack in America. Schools and libraries are facing demands to remove or restrict access to books, especially those dealing with race, gender, sexuality, and those that challenge our myths about American history. Why are these efforts escalating and how should we respond? Join us in the chapel after … Continue reading Book Banning: A Threat to Democracy and our UU Values
From my experience in nursing and volunteering to be with different families and their dying ones, I have had to ask myself many questions and have come to some conclusions that I would like to share. Let’s talk about death. How death is viewed and treated in our society today. What do we want for … Continue reading How Do You Spell DEATH?
UU musician Jim Scott wrote a song that starts with the line, “May your life be as a song, resounding with the dawn to sing awake the light.” How in today’s world can we greet the day with this kind of courage? It is our intention to wake the glimmer of this song in each … Continue reading Courage
We often over-individualize our vision of what it takes for someone to flourish, and that a great many social supports are necessary to make human flourishing possible. I’ll outline in broad strokes examples of the essentially social dimensions of human development in the history of Judaism and Christianity. Humans grow into more of psycho-social and … Continue reading Come Alive
