UCC Cast

Find power in the simple surrender to the divine Creator, and see the beauty in everything. In today's podcast, Rev. John Dorhauer reflects on how his favorite hymn helps keep him inspired along his journey of faith.

We all have moments when our fears threaten to overcome us. In this week's podcast, Into the Mystic, the Rev. John Dorhauer reflects on how God’s gift of shalom can help us conquer all our fears.

Today's podcast is a meditation on the word "Go." In it, John Dorhauer speaks of "the church on the move"—the church in mission—recalling Jesus' words: "God has given me all authority in heaven and on the earth: therefore, Go!."

Martin Luther King once said 'Our lives begin to end when we become silent about the things that matter.' In this week's podcast 'Into the Mystic' the Rev. John Dorhauer urges all of us to look inside ourselves and find the courage to speak up in the face of injustice, to find our voice about things that matter.

In a world bombarded with sound, the Rev. John Dorhauer is resolving to create more space for intentional silence. In this week's podcast, Into the Mystic, he reflects on why it's something all followers of the Still Speaking God should attempt.

We all have moments when love and beauty connect to capture our attention. In this week's podcast, Into the Mystic, the Rev John Dorhauer reflects on how God moments like this can be triggered by something simple, like a song.

With the hope of the New Year, what will you resolve to do? Are you open to your new? Listen in to this week's podcast, 'Into the Mystic,' to hear the Rev. John Dorhauer's promise for 2016, a trust in the ever abiding presence of God's redeeming and transformative love.

In this blessed Holiday season, as you celebrate the gift of God’s love made manifest in the one called Jesus; as you gather with your own loved ones, exchanging gifts and feasting together at table; as you witness once again the lengthening of the days as the light returns – remember what Jesus said was the greatest commandment of all: Love your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength; and love your neighbor as yourself.

Advent, week three.

On the liturgical calendar, this is Gaudete Sunday – or, “Rejoice!” Sunday. It is a clear reminder that we are called to assume a posture of joy and gratitude before our Creator.

In his letter to the Philipians, Paul writes “Rejoice in the Lord always. I say it again, rejoice.”

It’s easy to write to others and tell them to be happy in all circumstances when you are writing from the comfort of your luxury hotel suite while sipping good wine in front of a warm fire. Paul, though, wrote that from a prison cell.

I’ve never had to sit in a prison cell. But I’ve been stuck in a hospital room not knowing if a loved one would live or die. I’ve lived through times of depression and despair. I’ve know the deep pain of watching family and friend live through utter pain, sorrow, and emptiness. I’ve trauma and tragedy.

There are things I have learned I will do and won’t do through those times; things I can do and can’t do. I won’t ever look for the easy way out. I won’t attach blame to God as the cause, orchestrator, or manipulator of the horrors and sorrows that visited me. I won’t listen to those whose discomfort in the midst of my own pain compels them to offer false hope or promise quick resolutions.

But I will find a pathway to way to rejoice. I have learned the power of, and value in, finding simple joys in the midst of life’s greatest sorrows.

My daughter spent a month in a coma. Her first intentional movement was the flick of a wrist. Her mother and I, who had spent almost every hour of that month by her side, put one of those ugly troll dolls in her hand. She hated those things, and we knew it. From out of whatever fog she had been living in, she saw that – flicked her wrist, knocked it to the floor, and through her breathing tube grinned. Sorrow and joy all mixed together in that moment – and many others like it. The power of a life in partnership with the sacred, mystical presence of our creator makes such moments possible. We find cause for rejoicing in moments of profound challenge.

Fellow traveler, in the season of Advent, may the tragedy and trauma we all witness not remove from us the possibility of rejoicing. May there be moments of unutterable joy that catch us by surprise on our journeys into the mystic.

In this world with so much conflict, what will it take for us to cultivate an orientation towards peace? During this second week of Advent, as John Dorhauer reflects in this week’s podcast, if there is to be peace on Earth, it may just need to begin with each and every one of us.