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Rev. Meg Barnhouse
January 5, 2020
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org
Is it possible to let go of grudges? Is it a good idea? We take things that we want to let go of from 2019 and we give them to the Burning Bowl. Then, from a second bowl, we will draw a word which can inform our intentions for the new year.
Chalice Lighting
We light the fire of Truth and ask to be clear, wise, and humble enough to admit when we don’t know. We kindle the warmth of community and ask for open heartedness and patience. We are grateful to the Spirit of Life and ask to learn the secret to loving and being loved.
Call to Worship
By Maya Angelou
My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive, and to do so with some passion, compassion, some humor, and some style.
Affirming Our Mission
Together we nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice to build the Beloved Community.
Meditation Reading
BURNING THE OLD YEAR
Naomi Shihab NyeLetters swallow themselves in seconds.
Notes friends tied to the doorknob,
transparent scarlet paper,
sizzle like moth wings,
marry the air.So much of any year is flammable,
lists of vegetables, partial poems.
Orange swirling flame of days,
so little is a stone.Where there was something and suddenly isn’t,
an absence shouts, celebrates, leaves a space.
I begin again with the smallest numbers.Quick dance, shuffle of losses and leaves,
only the things I didn’t do
crackle after the blazing dies.
Sermon Reading
By Ralph Waldo Emerson
Write it on your heart
that every day is the best day in the year.He is rich who owns the day, and no one owns the day
who allows it to be invaded with fret and anxiety.
Finish every day and be done with it.
You have done what you could.Some blunders and absurdities, no doubt crept in.
Forget them as soon as you can: tomorrow is a new day;
begin it well and serenely, with too high a spirit
to be cumbered with your old nonsense.This new day is too dear,
with its hopes and invitations,
to waste a moment on the yesterdays.
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