Yes, We Are Part of the Natural World, Aren't We?

Yes, We Are Part of the Natural World, Aren't We?

Close your eyes for a minute and imagine in your mind’s eye a place in the natural world that is special for you, a place in nature that restores you, calms you, brings you some peace. It could be your backyard, the small park behind this church, a place in the woods, by the lake, the river, the sea. Maybe it’s a place far away that you rarely see, or someplace you go to often. It doesn’t have to be more than a small patch of this good earth that provides us with much needed calmness and beauty.  Imagine yourself there and observe. Allow yourself to ask a question that starts with the words, “I wonder…” I wonder why that bird seems to return to the same branch in the morning to sing? I wonder how the ducks swim so smoothly? I wonder how that tree remains so strong during this powerful storm? I wonder why this rock I’m sitting on has this perfect indentation for a seat? I wonder!!

At Home in the World

At Home in the World

That’s a good song we just sang, and it seems like one of our favorites here, from the way we sing it. It resonates, doesn’t it? “There’s a river flowin’ in my soul.” When we sing it, most of the time I think of that river as something intangible; as a metaphor for the Spirit, flowing in us and around us, or as a feeling or a presence that we catch glimpses of from time to time.

We, Us, Ours

We, Us, Ours

One thing that’s been saving me lately is listening to church music in my car, and singing along; hymns and choir anthems mostly. You know, when you do this, these programs start making suggestions! And one day that suggestion was a version of Amazing Grace, sung by Judy Collins, a recording I’d never heard. On the first verse she’s singing alone, a cappella, her voice clear and beautiful. But not unlike so many other recordings of this popular hymn.

Theology Matters, and Love Wins

Theology Matters, and Love Wins

I’ve loved digging into Universalist theology this month, and I loved what Clare did with our young people last Sunday, teaching them about Universalism and asking them about their church. I loved how Clare treated them like young theologians. When she asked them about their church, one said something about acting with love, and another said, “People are hungry. Not everyone has enough money to buy food.” It’s like they’ve been paying attention to our unison affirmation! “Love is the doctrine of this church, the quest for truth is its sacrament, and service is its prayer.” Doing theology is simply questing after truth.

Jesus for Universalists

Jesus for Universalists

I love that we have this beautiful Jesus up front here. And that this prophet, teacher, and healer was so central to our forebears that when they built this church they put him front and center. I love that at night, our Jesus turns from light- to dark-skinned. Which is what he actually would have looked like. I’m pretty sure our forbears back at the start of the 20th century didn’t intend for their Jesus to be other than light-skinned, but this is what they got. As an old friend of my mom used to say, “God moves in mischievous ways.”

Paradise Waiting

Paradise Waiting

My first real understanding of a notion of paradise didn’t come to me from the years of Sunday School I attended in the Catholic Church. It didn’t come to me from the Bible or any sacred text. It came to me from my musician father, and his rendition of the song Paradise by the late folk musician, John Prine that that he used to sing to my sister and me as kids.

The Spirit of Universalism

The Spirit of Universalism

This, for me, is the spirit of Universalism – it is on the move. A spirit that embodies the unconditional, ever-present and all-abiding loves that moves between - whenever we reach out beyond the bounds of our individual lives toward each other and the world around us. I found and felt that love, most deeply, for the first when I walked into that little historically Universalist church and I continue to feel it here. 

WELCOMing. Caring. Faith. Community.

Universalist Unitarian Church of Haverhill
15 Kenoza Avenue, Haverhill, MA • 978-372-5173 • office@uuhaverhill.org
Mailing & office address: 16 Ashland Street, Haverhill, MA 01830