Join us at Woodstock Pride Fest this Sunday for a short service and glitter blessing before we walk and ride in the parade together. We can build a better, more beloved community when we are all allowed to flourish. We will meet next to the Tree of Life UU float as we line up for … Continue reading Flourishing Together with Pride
*Services this week are ONLINE ONLY Arthur C. Brooks stated in his The Atlantic Magazine article, Stop Keeping Score “Instead of checking items off a list, the Buddha suggests shining a light on yourself and others. ‘Dwell as a lamp unto yourself,’ he advised his disciple Ananda. He meant that happiness comes from the illumination … Continue reading Scoreless Listless Happiness
The beautiful hymn Wake Now My Senses, calls each of us to consider our shared ministry and the ways in which we are each called to respond to the earth and to our neighbors, with compassion and with conscience. This Sunday, Chaplain Dave will explore how this hymn expresses core values, beliefs, and commitments that may guide … Continue reading Wake Now My Senses
In the “Who’s on First?” comedy sketch from 1938, confusion unspools rapidly (with hilarious effect) and shows us: sometimes a persistent but limited curiosity can lead us down endless rabbit holes. So. How do we see possibilities rather than dead ends? What makes meaningful questions that carry us beyond our assumptions? Why does the “ordinary” … Continue reading How Curious Are We?
Relocating a community is a journey of both grief and hope. Drawing on her own years-long search for a “soul home,” Sarah Woodard explores the Tree of Life as a universal map for navigating life’s transitions. By finding the “middle way” between unconditional love and necessary boundaries, we can create a sacred container where every … Continue reading The Geography of Hope: Navigating Change through the Tree of Life
Note we are meeting at new time in new location Join us as we continue the beloved tradition of Flower Communion, begun over 100 years ago in Czechoslovakia and cherished by UU congregations around the world, celebrating the beauty of our uniqueness and diversity, interconnectedness, life, and community. Tree of Life members and friends are invited to … Continue reading Power and Beauty In Diversity: Celebrating the UU Tradition of Flower Communion
Our Unitarian Universalist faith and tradition encourages religious and spiritual exploration, a responsible search for meaning, in which we support each other’s spiritual growth within community. For the past year, 7 teens within our Tree of Life and Prairie Circle congregations have been discussing their beliefs and values together and with our religious educators. In the … Continue reading Growing Our Truth
We often talk about the importance of listening, but the “art of telling” is just as vital. How do we understand our own stories well enough to share them? It can be vulnerable—even scary—to decide what to voice and what to hold in sacred silence. We will explore these themes through Nonviolent Communication and the … Continue reading The Art of Listening, The Art of Telling
There are several places in sacred literature devoted to a list of who fathered whom. It would not be uncommon for a modern reader to simply skip over those lists and say quietly to themselves, “Who cares?” In the New Testament of the Bible, Matthew lists the earthly lineage of Jesus with a surprising twist. … Continue reading The Begats
“What will you do with your one wild and precious life?” asks the poet Mary Oliver in the final line of her poem The Summer Day. Perhaps we can also ask ourselves, what will we do with our wild and precious church community and our wild precious church life? This Sunday we will explore where our … Continue reading Our Wild and Precious Church Life
