110: Justice and Compassion for Refugees
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Rev. Eric Cherry joins The VUU to discuss organizing UU engagement with the global refugee crisis. The VUU is hosted by Meg Riley and Joanna Fontaine Crawford and airs on Thursdays at 11 am ET. This episode originally aired on September 10, 2015.
New Orleans Ten Years After – 109
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The VUU Team returns from summer vacation to talk with Quo Vadis Breaux and Deanna Vandiver of The Center for Ethical Living and Social Justice Renewal. The VUU is hosted by Meg Riley and Joanna Fontaine Crawford and airs on Thursdays at 11 am ET. This episode originally aired on September 3, 2015.
A Forgiveness Ritual
Rev. Rob Eller-Isaacs wrote a ritual of forgiveness for Unitarian Universalists, based on the Jewish Yom Kippur service. In this ritual, everyone repeats: “I forgive myself and I forgive you. We begin again in love.”
When someone hurts us, or we hurt others, the goal is not only that the person who was hurt forgives, we also need to forgive ourselves, and to start over in love. For those times when someone hurts you, or you hurt someone else, you might want to keep this in your pocket: “I forgive myself and I forgive you. We begin again in love.”
Forgiveness
September 2015
“Forgiveness is the name of love practiced among people who love poorly. The hard truth is that all people love poorly.”―Henri J.M. Nouwen
Articles
Forgiveness
“Forgiveness is the name of love practiced among people who love poorly. The hard truth is that all people love poorly.” ―Henri J.M. Nouwen Read more »
A Lesson in Forgiveness
The Days of Awe—the ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur—are considered the High Holy Days in the Jewish tradition—significant moments that even secular Jews may celebrate in some fashion. It’s the New Year, after all. Read more »
Forgiving the Broken
I believe that our human survival depends on waking up to our connection with the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part. Read more »
Radical Forgiveness (Excerpt)
Corrie ten Boom was living with her older sister and her father in Amsterdam when Holland was occupied by the Nazis. Read more »
Hall of Records
In the Administrative Department of my heart, which is down the hall from Feelings, Major, I wrote down the time you offended me. Read more »
Finding Forgiveness
Many of us are struggling to forgive our parents. As adults, we’re wrestling with our parents’ inability to give us what we needed when we were kids. Read more »
An Opportunity to Give
One thing is certain, each one of us will be given opportunity after opportunity to practice forgiveness towards ourselves and others over the course of our lives. Read more »
REsources for Living
The evening of September 22nd this year marks the start of the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, which is often known as the Day of Atonement. Read more »
Did You Know?
That the CLF offers resources on our website for children, families and religious educators? Check out the Family Quest page. Read more »
An Opportunity to Give
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One thing is certain, each one of us will be given opportunity after opportunity to practice forgiveness towards ourselves and others over the course of our lives. Read more →
Did You Know?
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That the CLF offers resources on our website for children, families and religious educators? Check out the Family Quest page. Read more →
Adin Ballou: Peace and Forgiveness
This month, as we think about forgiveness, we honor Universalist minister Adin Ballou (not to be confused with his earlier Universalist ancestor Hosea Ballou).
Adin Ballou came to believe that his religion called him to practice peace in all things, following the message of Jesus, who said that if someone slaps your cheek, that rather than hitting back it is better to offer your other cheek to be slapped.
Adin founded a community called Hopedale, which was based on these principles of radical peace and non-violence.
One day a man came to Hopedale, hungry and homeless. They offered him food and a place to stay the night. Later that night two young girls heard noises downstairs and went to investigate. They saw feet sticking out from the couch, and a bag full of dishes and candlesticks!
They called their parents down, and quickly determined that the feet belonged to the man they had fed and sheltered. The parents called in their community leader, Adin Ballou, who helped the man out from under the couch. The man explained that he was desperate, with no food or job, and he figured that if he was caught stealing he would be sent to jail, where at least he would be able to eat. Instead of sending the man to jail, Adin not only forgave the man, he even invited the him to join their community, and to make a home with them!
Lorraine’s Choice
July/August 2015
“In honor of Lorraine Dennis’s 15 years as Executive Director of the CLF, we asked her to choose some favorite pieces to share with us before she retires at the end of the summer. This issue, then, is a special “Lorraine’s Choice” edition.
Articles
Lorraine’s Choice
In honor of Lorraine Dennis’s 15 years as Executive Director of the CLF, we asked her to choose some favorite pieces to share with us before she retires at the end of the summer. This issue, then, is a special “Lorraine’s Choice” edition. Read more »
Faith in the Borderland
I love Abhi’s language about the “hyphenated space between perspectives.” It really speaks to me and gives me hope for a more accepting and just world. —LD Read more »
Our Religion
In this homily from the CLF worship at the UUA General Assembly in 2009, Jane writes a primer on Unitarian Universalism, with my favorite message that beauty and fun are really important to UUs. —LD Read more »
Friend
I find Kim’s words about friendship, excerpted from a sermon of hers we printed in the February 2011 Quest, very helpful as a roadmap to a meaningful life. My friends as chosen family and my family as chosen friends. —LD Read more »
Joy
I always feel something when I read Lynn’s poems. “Building the structure of joy” seems like such a good aspiration to take into retirement. —LD Read more »
A Bittersweet Time
This is a bittersweet time for the CLF as we bid farewell to Executive Director Lorraine Dennis, who will retire in August. We feel both gratitude and sadness as we thank Lorraine for her 15 years of service. Read more »
Be Like Water
I just love this poem. I get a little slide show in my mind and so appreciate the idea that this very simple thing—water—is so darn complicated. —LD Read more »
From Your Minister
I am not happy to be writing this column to honor and celebrate Lorraine Dennis. No, I’m not happy at all, because underneath the honoring and the celebrating is the letting go. I hate goodbyes. Read more »
REsources for Living
Lynn has very good ideas in general, but particularly when it comes to having fun. Her list of boring things to do seems perfect for a person who is about to retire from a busy, inspiring job, doesn’t it? —LD Read more »
Did You Know?
Did you know that you can make an online gift in honor of Lorraine’s years of wonderful service to the CLF? Click here to learn more. Read more »
Music Together
Here’s one that I wish we had published, since it speaks to me as a singer and in my work for the CLF—so many precious times with CLF members, colleagues and friends. —LD Read more »
“Stars,” by Namoli Brennet
“Stars,” by Namoli Brennet
Lyrics:
Maybe we’re just one of a million tiny galaxies
Hurtling on towards some unrevealed destiny
Maybe we’re somebody’s unfinished symphony
Maybe we’re the defenders of the indefensible
Just trying to make sense of the incomprehensible
And what if we, what if we are
What if we, what if we are
Stars
Maybe we’re the victims of reincarnation
Maybe we’re the phantoms of manifestation
Maybe we’re just here to fix our mistakes again
Maybe we’re planets like Venus and Saturn
Surrounded by gases and protons and atoms
And what if we, what if we are
What if we, what if we are
Only stars
Maybe this world is just thinner than it seems
Maybe we’re all partners in the same lucid dream, yeah
Well maybe we’re vapors, and maybe we’re just steam
Maybe we’re creatures of habit and malice
That pale in the light of aurora borealis
And what if we, what if we are
What if we, what if we are
Only stars
Only stars
in the dark
just a
spark
Maybe we’re just lucky and blest to bear witness
to the flashing of this meteor, the tale of this comet
Maybe we’re cursed, and maybe we’re fortunate
Maybe we just go on our milky white way
Maybe we get to stay
And what if we, what if we are
What if we, what if we are
Stars
From the album Chrysanthemum, available here for download.
