October 1, 2017

Love isthe spirit of this program. The music spans many genres but has unifying themesof justice, love, learning and hope. The messages come from podcasts, sermonsand readings from Unitarian-Universalist and other allied sources inliberal religion. The title of this program comes from the words of abeloved Unitarian-Universalist hymn, “Spirit of Life,” including, “Sing in my heart all the stirrings of compassion”and “Move in the hand,giving life the shape of justice.”

Braver Wiser

Between Wonder and Fear

By Elizabeth Harding

Second Unitarian Church of Chicago

Sermon

Gotta Get Up To Get Down

By Rev. Marisol Caballero

Unitarian-Universalist Association

Prayer for Hurricane Recovery

By Anna Bethea

Unitarian-Universalist Association

The quickness of nature to tear up roads, strip trees, and collapse buildings
Doesn’t compare to the long process of survival and recovery.
Splayed electric lines, floodwaters, and landslides mark devastation,
Yet will never match the lives, dreams, and memories of precious things swept away.

Amidst the dirt and muck, families get up another day to search for clean water and food
While struggling to stay cool and communicate with loved ones,
There is time for tears and emotional release.
While watching, waiting, adjusting, surviving,
There is time for embrace, reunions, prayers.

A return to normal is hard to even imagine – months and years away.
Trauma is a time for us to center the sacred:
The core of who we are, shielded from any storm or disaster.
As we seek resources for immediate needs,
May we also tend to our own and our communities’ needs to restore hope, love, and the seeds of new life.

Natural Silence

Morning in the Australian Bush

By Andrew Skeoch & Sarah Koschak of Listening Earth

World Religions

Today in Islam is Ashura, a holiday that means more for Shiathan it does for Sunni Muslims.  For the Shias,it is the climax of a mourning period for one of Muhammad’s grandsons, Husaynibn Ali, whose death in 680 CE fueled the Shia religious movement.  For the Sunnis, it marks the day that theybelieve God parted the Red Sea to save Moses’ followers from the Pharaoh in thestory known to Christians, Muslims and Jews.

Tomorrow is the birthday, in present-day Gujarat, India in1869, of Mahatma Ghandi.  A lawyer bytraining, he employed non-violent civil disobedience to lead India in 1947 toindependence, inspiring freedom movements around the world.  A Hindu committed to religious pluralism, heundertook several fasts unto death to stop religious violence.  He was killed by a Hindu nationalist.  His birthday is the International Day ofNonviolence.

Wednesday in China and Vietnam is the Moon Festival, alsocalled the Mid-Autumn Festival.  Withorigins in Shang Dynasty China, in moon worship and in Taoist and Buddhist beliefs,the festival celebrates gathering, thanksgiving and prayer.  Traditions include lantern processions,round-shaped moon cakes, cassia wines and match-making.

Wednesday many Tewa-speaking people will celebrate the deerdance.  Tewa refers to a group of co-lingualtribes in New Mexico.  Their deer danceincludes colorful costumes and music in which each song is a prayer and each acta ritual of social obligation.

Wednesday in Santeria is the feast day of Orunmila, the godof wisdom, knowledge and divination.  Thefaithful believe that he was present at creation and is the only god who seesthe future.  His feast day traditions includeofferings of palm oil and honey.

Wednesday many Western churches will celebrate the feast ofSt. Francis of Assisi.  One of the mostrevered Christian saints, Francis is the patron of animals, Italy and nature.  He venerated poverty and believed that naturewas the mirror of God.  His feast day isthe same as that of Italy’s other patron saint, Catherine of Siena, who workedto establish peace between warring cities. She believed herself united with Jesus in a mystical union.

Wednesday many Buddhists will observe a memorial for Bodhidharma,a fifth or sixth century monk credited with transmitting Buddhism to China.  He’s also regarded as the creator of kungfu.  Although little is known of his lifeand many legends surround his biography, works attributed to him include animportant text called Two Entrances and Four Practices, which details howsentient beings are to realize their true Buddha nature.

Wednesdayin Judaism begins Sukkot, an eight-day holiday known in English as Feast ofTabernacles.  The holiday is seen as bothan end-of-harvest in-gathering ceremony and a commemoration of the Exodus, acentral story of the Jewish faith, in which God delivers the Israelites fromslavery.  Holiday traditions vary greatlyby sectarian observance but might include dining or dwelling in a temporaryhut, waving of tree branches and reciting of prayers, all of which relate insome way to the themes of harvest and deliverance.

Sermon

Smashing the Patriarchy

By Rev. Angela Henderson

First Unitarian-Universalist Church of Houston

Conclusion

Seven Principles of Unitarian-Universalism

All readings and audio segments on this program are used by permission.

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  • 9:02am You and Your Heart by Jack Johnson on To the Sea (Jack Johnson), 2010
  • 9:09am Once You Go Up by Nungwi on Once You Go Up – Single (Source), 2015
  • 9:13am Pain (feat. Snoop Dogg) by De La Soul on and the Anonymous Nobody… (AOI LLC), 2016
  • 9:46am Finally by LeRoy White on 1st Annual New Thought Song Writers Tribute (Radio Cake Records), 2005
  • 9:49am Living In the Promiseland by Willie Nelson on 16 Biggest Hits: Willie Nelson (Sony Music Entertainment), 1986
  • 9:58am Perfect World by Indigo Girls on All That We Let In (Sony Music Entertainment), 2003
  • 10:07am Mahatma Gandhi Speaks About His Beliefs, God and Equality Among All Indians (In English) by Mahatma Gandhi on Gandhi: Speeches, Bhajans & Inspirations from the Mahatma of India (NAV Records), 2014
  • 10:13am One Life To Live Unless the Hindus Are Right by Gary Vincent on One Life To Live Unless the Hindus Are Right (Gary Vincent)
  • 10:48am Anything Is Possible by Jen Hannah on emPower Posi Award Nominees 2011 (Jen Hannah)
  • 10:51am Novocaine Heart by Kandace Springs on Soul Eyes (Blue Note Records), 2016
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