Unexpected
December 2019
Our brightest blazes of gladness are commonly kindled by unexpected sparks. ―Samuel Johnson
Articles
Answering the Angels
I want to acknowledge right up front that the story of the Annunciation, the visitation of Mary from the angel Gabriel as described in the Gospels presents us Unitarian Universalists, with all sorts of challenges. Read more »
Expect the Unexpected
Two months ago, Sky was having one of his recurring nocturnal fights against a bad thing, a monster of some sort. Read more »
Unexpected
I have five daughters. I wasn’t always in touch with them all—and one day out of the blue my youngest wrote to me. Read more »
Expecting the Unexpected
Joy and woe are woven fine, Clothing for the soul divine: Under every grief and pine Runs a joy with silken twine. Read more »
When I Wake Up
When I wake up I find myself in an environment that’s so different from the one I once knew. Read more »
Encountering Unexpected Success…
As the CLF, like all of us, encounters unexpected successes and setbacks, it helps so much to be able to count on recurring monthly donations. Read more »
From Your Minister
A few years ago, a group from CLF decided to take a trip to the Gulf Coast to help with some reconstruction after Hurricane Katrina. Read more »
REsources for Living
During a preaching class in seminary we were each assigned to read aloud to the class a brief passage from the Christmas story in the second chapter of Luke. Read more »
Audio Resources
You can listen to audio recordings of Quest Monthly, read back issues, or get electronic versions of the text to share with friends (and much more) at questformeaning.org Read more »
The Call
The call comes on a stunningly ordinary telephone: the doctor telling you the test is positive, the agency saying that you have a child, the lover who left so long ago wanting to make amends. Read more »
Unexpected
Our brightest blazes of gladness are commonly kindled by unexpected sparks. ―Samuel Johnson Read more »
Recap of LREDA Fall Conference – The VUU #278
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We sit down with folks who attended the LREDA Fall Conference to find out what is going on in the world of Liberal Religious Education and faith development across the lifespan.
Rev. Meg Riley, Aisha Hauser, Christina Rivera, and Rev Michael Tino host this live Unitarian Universalist talk show discussing today’s topics from an anti-racist, anti-oppressive and multicultural perspective. The VUU streams live on Facebook (or sometimes on YouTube) every Thursday at 11 am ET.
Production support for this episode is provided by Antonia Bell-Delgado.
The VUU is brought to you by the Church of the Larger Fellowship.
Meet the CLF Learning Fellows! – The VUU #276
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This week we sit down with current and former CLF Learning Fellows to find out more about how this innovative internship program prepares ministers for the challenges of pastoring in the 21st Century.
Rev. Meg Riley, Aisha Hauser, Christina Rivera, and Rev Michael Tino host this live Unitarian Universalist talk show discussing today’s topics from an anti-racist, anti-oppressive and multicultural perspective. The VUU streams live on Facebook (or sometimes on YouTube) every Thursday at 11 am ET.
Production support for this episode is provided by Antonia Bell-Delgado.
The VUU is brought to you by the Church of the Larger Fellowship.
Thanks and Praise
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Thanks and Praise is is exactly what we have for all of our wonderful CLF members and supporters who contribute so that CLF can be there for religious liberals around the world. Read more →
Nominating Committee Seeks Leaders
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From the CLF Nominating Committee: Cathy Chang, Jordinn Nelson Long, Diana Smith, Aisha Ansano
The CLF’s Nominating Committee seeks members to run for positions beginning June 2020: Read more →
Audio Resources
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You can listen to audio recordings of Quest Monthly, read back issues or get electronic versions of the text to share with friends (and much more) at questformeaning.org Read more →
Thanks and Praise
November 2019
Praise, my dear one. Let us disappear into praising. Nothing belongs to us. ―Rainer Maria Rilke
Articles
Grateful
There is a large duckling-yellow hardcover book in my mother’s house called a “baby book.” It is my baby book, in fact. Read more »
Giving Thanks
There’s an old joke—perhaps you’ve heard it. A man and his granddaughter are walking along a beach… Read more »
In Praise of Weeds
Pity the poor dandelion. It is, in many ways, nature’s perfect plant. Read more »
Thanks and Praise
Thanks and Praise is is exactly what we have for all of our wonderful CLF members and supporters who contribute so that CLF can be there for religious liberals around the world. Read more »
From Your Minister
Alice Walker has been in the media in some pretty awful ways, but I still think her book, The Color Purple, is one of the most extraordinary theological texts I’ve ever read. Read more »
REsources for Living
Alice Walker has been in the media in some pretty awful ways, but I still think her book, The Color Purple, is one of the most extraordinary theological texts I’ve ever read. Read more »
Nominating Committee Seeks Leaders
The CLF’s Nominating Committee seeks members to run for positions beginning June 2020. Read more »
Audio Resources
You can listen to audio recordings of Quest Monthly, read back issues or get electronic versions of the text to share with friends (and much more) at questformeaning.org Read more »
Praise the Sun, the Moon, the Stars
You can listen to audio recordings of Quest Monthly, read back issues or get electronic versions of the text to share with friends (and much more) at questformeaning.org Read more »
Thanks and Praise
Praise, my dear one. Let us disappear into praising. Nothing belongs to us. ―Rainer Maria Rilke Read more »
The Sacrifices You Make
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For many of our CLF members, their support is truly a sacrifice—not only members on fixed incomes who give what they can, but also our incarcerated members, for whom even the price of a stamp to write to a pen pal is a significant sacrifice. Read more →
Audio Recordings
Podcast: Download (Duration: 0:12 — 201.5KB)
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You can listen to audio recordings of Quest Monthly, read back issues or get electronic versions of the text to share with friends (and much more) at questformeaning.org Read more →
Sacrifice
October 2019
You can sacrifice and not love but you cannot love and not sacrifice. ―Kris Vallotton
Articles
The Wisdom Of Trees
This month we are taking on the gnarly topic of sacrifice. It is a concept that makes many of us uncomfortable, distrustful and a little bit surly, and rightly so. Read more »
American Sacrifice
Sacrifice is a powerful, ancient, evocative word that conjures images of animals slaughtered in rituals to bind a community together in a celebratory feast for a long-awaited harvest after a drought. Read more »
Always Faithful
I have learned about faithfulness and sacrifice as a result of a very strange journey I have been on since I inadvertently found some of the men who were in Vietnam with my older brother, 2nd Lt. Robert M. Christian Jr., “Bobby” to me, who was killed on April 11, 1969. Read more »
From Your Minister
The roots of violence: Wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, commerce without morality, science without humanity, worship without sacrifice, politics without principles. Read more »
REsources for Living
I confess I’ve never been a big fan of the concept of sacrifice. It’s always struck me as kind of punitive, like it’s morally superior to suffer than to enjoy life’s abundance. Read more »
The Sacrifices You Make
For many of our CLF members, their support is truly a sacrifice—not only members on fixed incomes who give what they can, but also our incarcerated members, for whom even the price of a stamp to write to a pen pal is a significant sacrifice. Read more »
Audio Recordings
You can listen to audio recordings of Quest Monthly, read back issues or get electronic versions of the text to share with friends (and much more) at questformeaning.org Read more »
Food Chain
Give up pretending. Everything, you know, everything, sooner or later gets eaten… Read more »
Sacrifice
You can sacrifice and not love but you cannot love and not sacrifice. ―Kris Vallotton Read more »
