UUSLO

Love is one of the most misused and misunderstood words in the English language. This talk will clarify the true nature of love, the two key features of love, and the ways love manifests or does not manifest in our daily lives.

To get close to our experience of things, we must first look into ourselves (it's called "into me I see") and check out what blocks us, like judgment and concepts.

Nature vs. nurture is a debate that goes on in many arenas, though it is rarely answered once and for all. Though we are born, certainly, with the capacity for loving, it is up to us what we do with that inherent capability.

...and the political is personal. It is tempting to want to step away from the messy world of politics altogether, yet it touches our personal lives in many ways. In just such a way, our personal lives inform our political action.

Our Seventh Principle keeps UUs focused on the “interconnected web of life.” Recent advances in biology are showing those connections are even more profound than we knew. A strong web of life is needed for both a healthy planet and a healthy body.

Today, we reflect on the complications, conflicts, and confusion that often circle around fatherhood in our present culture. What are healthy models of masculinity? How do we approach gender roles in parenting and simply being a person?

Beauty, the saying goes, is in the eye of the beholder. But how is it that we come to recognize beauty? What qualities does it hold?

As we remember loved ones who have died today, we can't help but wonder about the possibilities of what happens after death. Most of us join with Iris Dement's sentiment: let the mystery be. However, sometimes the mystery won't let us be.

Curiosity, it is said, can be an antidote to cynicism. Rather than resting in our certainty of the worst, how can we be curious about even the most troubling things that are happening in our lives and in our world?

Oncology chaplain and popular guest speaker Michael Eselun will share some deeply personal reflections about junior high school -- a pivotal and often painful time that leaves indelible memories for many of us. In dialogue with some of those 13-year-old perceptions, what might be discovered about inherent worth, dignity and compassion?