First Parish Bedford UU

Author  Barbara  Brown  Taylor  has  a  new book (An Altar in the World)  that  illuminates various spiritual practices (among others:  the practice  of wearing  skin,  the  practice  of  getting  lost,  the practice of  saying no,  the practice of carrying water,  the practice of  feeling pain,  etc.).  I’ll  note  what  she  says,  but  I’ll reveal what each means  in my  life and might mean in yours.

Stewardship Sunday sermon by Rev. John Gibbons.

Each of us is perfectly imperfect. So, at times, we ought to just laugh at ourselves! Also,
is it so, as Rumi says, that “This being human is a guest house”—what about outrage?

The  “Days  of  Awe”  –  the  time  between Rosh Hashanah  and  the  new  year  of Yom Kippur  –  are  an  opportunity  to  consider what we keep, what we  let go of and what we  resolve  for  the  future. We’ll  have  our version  of  “taschlich,”  the  ritual  emptying of junk from our pockets.

Opening story told by Rev. John Gibbons
Story for All Ages: told by Lisa Rubin
Spoken Meditation by Rev Sylvia Stocker
Sermon: "My Spiritual Story and Ours" ( by Rev John Gibbons)
Closing Words by Rev. John Gibbons

Opening Words from "The Social Implications of Universalism" by Clarence R. Skinner read by Emily Melcher
Story for All Ages: "John Murray and Thomas Potter" told by Lisa Rubin
Spoken Meditation by Rev Sylvia Stocker
Sermon: "Small, Isn't She?" (on the international efforts of Universalists and how global citizenship and "allophilia" (love of things that are "other") might make a difference in congregations such as our own) by Rev John Gibbons
Closing Words by Rev. John Gibbons

Opening Words: from "It Matters What We Believe" by Sophia Lyon Fahs read by Rev. John Gibbons and Emily Melcher
Reading from Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas by Elaine Pagels read by Rev Sylvia Stocker
Sermon: "Not All Who Wander Are Lost and Not All Who Wonder Are Damned" by Rev. John Gibbons
Closing Words by Rev. John Gibbons