It’s Star Wars Day! Spanning many movies and shows, how does Star Wars show us how to live our Unitarian Universalists values in these times?

Drag Easter: An annual First Parish tradition! As our country attacks the rights of transgender and non-binary people, we celebrate the joy and love that they bring to our lives. We look to the story of Easter as one of hope and resurrection for all people in our midst.

Elon Musk said “The fundamental weakness of Western Civilization is Empathy.” Fundamentalist Christian Allie Beth Stuckey wrote a book about “toxic empathy.” We don’t believe empathy is bad; in fact it might be our greatest gift. Let’s explore how empathy can be a form of resistance. 

We declare that every person is inherently worthy and has the right to flourish with dignity, love, and compassion. Today we’ll explore how to live our this UU value in these times.

For most of us, the belief is that homelessness is faced by the uneducated, or those facing emotional issues. The reality is that many of the unhoused are our former neighbors, and they are no different from you or I. We will talk to you about the challenges facing the unhoused, our personal experiences, and how you can help to make a positive difference. Our service will be lead by Skye Larson and Emily Riordan, youth from the First UU Society of Newton.

Join First Parish member Suad Mammadkhanli and Rev. Otto for a service on the holiday of Nowruz, also known as the Iranian or Persian New Year and as a celebration of the spring equinox. Suad shares her experiences and celebration of this holiday from her native Azerbaijan, where traditions of pakhlava-baking, wheat-sprouting and festive jumping over the fire brought families and friends together in anticipation of Spring.

So sings Elmore James in his classic blues song. “When things go wrong with you, it hurts me too.” But we appear to be at a time when there is a decided lack of empathy and feeling another’s pain is a sign of weakness, of failure. Empathy is the missing ingredient in this lunatic scenario we’re living through. It can be empowered. It can be grown. And it will save us all.

In tumultuous times, our reptilian brains blink brightly, reminding us that all this is wrong. But joy counters that, enlivens us, and reminds us what we’re fighting for. How do we get more joy in ourselves and our communities, so we survive and thrive together?

Spoken word artist and human rights activist Rafeef Siadah’s poem “We teach life, sir” has become a call to affirm life amidst devastation. What does it look like to teach life when there is so much death? Our Community Minister Rev. Elizabeth Nguyen preaches.

Join Ashley Mulcaire for a service about the holiday Imbolc and what we can learn “in the belly” of the whale.