UU Grass Valley On the Go!

The word courage, from the word for “heart,” entered the English language meaning, broadly, all that what one is holding in one’s mind, thoughts, or feelings. Whew. These days, that’s a lot. Within 100 years, “courage” had come to mean bravery or valor. Here, approaching an election day and given all that’s stirring in the world, we start where we are, and together look for the courage that serves in this moment.

Rev. Kevin Tarsa, with Carol Nimick, Worship Associate

Buddhist insight teaches that trying to run away from our fears, or otherwise trying to avoid them, only increases our suffering and others’ suffering. Plus, it strengthens our fears! Drawing on the wisdom of Thich Nhat Hanh and Pema Chödrön, we’ll at least consider the possibility (Gulp!) of befriending what frightens us.

Rev. Kevin Tarsa with Randy McKean, Worship Associate

Evolving Unitarian Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote that “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” Or as Riley Cavanaugh put it, “People are complicated. And messy. Seems too convenient that we’d all fit inside some multiple-choice question.” On this National Coming Out Day, we celebrate the human journey to be who we are.

Rev. Kevin Tarsa, with Marlene Bottenfield and Rod Tayler, Worship Associates

What would it mean, and what would it take, to look ahead with true openness? 

Rev. Kevin with Viv Tipton, Worship Associate, and the UUCM Choir 

Trying to explain Unitarian Universalism is enough of a challenge to warrant a class on writing your own UU Elevator Speech. More important than being able to describe to others what this tradition and community are about, is having our own sense of what we are. What we are now. 

Rev. Kevin with Lindsay Dunckel, Worship Associate 

We start our theme of “beginnings” by tracing some of the roots of this Unitarian Universalist tradition that many of us claim as “home” and looking for the DNA we recognize within us. Knowing where we came from can help us know who we are and where we are going.  

Rev. Kevin with Randy McKean, Worship Associate 

Picking up on Deepa Iyer’s insights into human ecosystems, as well as our ongoing exploration of what Beloved Community requires, we celebrate the ways that having many different perspectives and roles among us, deepening our connections, and nurturing our relationships not only feed and grow our spirits, but also help us reach our common, values-centered goals. Goodness knows, the world needs all of it! 

Rev. Kevin Tarsa with Carol Nimick and Sarah Joy Blum, Worship Associates

Rooted in faith in the inherent worth and dignity of every person, Unitarian Universalists have long affirmed explicitly the right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large. However, as Molly Ivans put it, “Democracy requires . . . a large tolerance for confusion and a secret relish for dissent.” Sigh. This Sunday we celebrate not only our aspiration but also our promise to give everyone a voice.

Rev. Kevin with Gail Johnson Vaughan, Worship Associate

You want to feel celebratory about this year’s 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding, a founding nurtured by the ideas, values and writings of our religious ancestors, but it can be difficult to scrape up enthusiasm when the nation’s shortcomings are apparent and when so much that we value is in such deep jeopardy. You are invited to this birthday party both to celebrate and to be real.  

Rev. Kevin with Gail Johnson Vaughan, Worship Associate 

“The place where we meet to seek the highest is holy ground.” – Felix Adler.  

It’s tempting to people both outside and inside Unitarian Universalism to characterize our faith tradition “as every kind of psycho-social-political venture except a religious one,” wrote Tom Owen-Towle, who contends, instead, that healthy congregations are “primarily sites for seeking and spreading the holy.”  Here in new space, with our varied beliefs and perspectives, and with room to grow both inwardly and outwardly, how might we together grow a Beloved Community and realize that we occupy holy ground.