UCC Cast

As we enter the first week of Advent, we are reminded of the power of hope. As John Dorhauer reflects in this week's podcast, the gift of hope is one of the reasons for which religious experiences and spirituality exist. Encounters with the divine inspire within us a sense of both equilibrium in the midst of dire circumstances; and hope in times when others feel deep despair.

Nothing is more precious to us than the gift of our close relationships. Yet sometimes, relationships shatter. Separation and division sever the ties that bind us. Isaiah writes about those he calls "repairers of the breach"—people who look for ways to bridge the distances between us. What would it look like for you to commit to a way of being that sought to repair the breach?

Sometimes, a smile or a laugh is a choice we make to lighten the mood, cheer up a friend, or change our own disposition. In today’s podcast, John Dorhauer reminds us that God’s chosen disposition for us is joy, not fear.

What does the love of God inspire you to do? In his first podcast, "My Little Toil of Love," the Rev. John Dorhauer shares his favorite poem by Emily Dickinson to illustrate how, if we want to change the world, simple things matter. Lives change by those simple exchanges of God’s love.