Category Archives for "Whole SoUUl Living (Monthly Themes)"

Generosity

GenerosityOur Whole Souul Living Theme for November is Generosity, a topic both deeply complex (if we think about it too much) and astonishingly simple (if we simply follow the impulse).  Consider the quote, “True generosity is guided by awareness.”  The implication is that if we are truly aware…: of our interdependence, of our inherent connections, […]

Scripture

ScriptureScripture is our Whole Souul Living Theme for October.  Spiritual traditions like Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism and many others look to very specific, historic texts for inspiration, truth, guidance, or comfort.  For our purposes, solidly in the liberal religious tradition, we will more broadly define Scripture as, “Anything we turn to for guidance, truth, […]

Freedom

FreedomOur Whole Souul Living Theme for September is Freedom, a profoundly important idea in liberal religion.Osho wrote; “True freedom is always spiritual. It has something to do with your innermost being, which cannot be chained, handcuffed, or put into a jail.”  Victor Frankl wrote, “Between stimulus and response, there is a space.  In that space lies […]

Hospitality

HospitalityHospitality is an ancient value.  Legend has it the Hebrew prophet Elijah would wander about disguised as a beggar to test whether people would be hospitable or hostile.  On one occasion, a rabbi turned him away, only to learn later that it was Elijah in disguise. The moral in the Hebrew tradition is that you […]

The Sources

​The SourcesBelow is a paraphrased summary of the spiritual sources of Unitarian Universalism: Direct experience of life and the divineWords and deeds of prophetic women and menWisdom from the world’s religionsJewish and Christian teachingsThe guidance of reason and science.Earth-centered traditions and the rhythms of natureThe fact that we have a list like this defines us as […]

Myth

​​​​MythA modern definition of myth comes from Joseph Campbell:  “Myth refers to an intricate set of interlocking stories, rituals, rites, and customs that inform and give the pivotal sense of meaning and direction to a person, family, community, or culture.”  From this perspective, all of us are living collections of myths, consciously or unconsciously modeling […]

Change

​​​Change​“Whatever IS will be WAS.”  Thich Nhat Hanh wrote: “If you suffer, it is not because things are impermanent. It is because you believe things are permanent. When a flower dies, you don’t suffer much, because you understand that flowers are impermanent. But you cannot accept the impermanence of your beloved one, and you suffer […]

Creativity

​​CreativityCreate:  verb 1. To cause to exist; bring into being. 2. To give rise to; produce 3. To produce through artistic or imaginative effort Our Whole Souul Living theme for the month of April is Creativity.  Human beings create art but also community, love, hope, justice, war, violence, more….  We create when we work, cook, speak, clean, sing, make […]

Common Ground

​Common GroundCommon Ground is our Whole Souul Living Theme for March.  In a world that insistently divides and fragments the human community, a central proposition of our faith is that, There is a Unity that makes us One. Rev. Victoria Safford’s wrote; We are alone yet intricately bound, inextricably connected to soil and stream and forest, […]

Evil

​Evil​This month we are considering Evil as our Whole Souul Living Theme. Obviously, we are not celebrating evil, but in the spirit of religious community, seeking healing and greater wholeness through a deeper understanding. Evil, so far as we know is not embodied in any kind of being called Satan, and certainly not, at least […]