In the Stream of Your Life

by Posted in Audio available, Meg Barnhouse, Sermons

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Rev. Meg Barnhouse
June 27, 2021
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

So much of our experience of life is influenced by things we can’t control. Weather, illness, coworkers, friends, family. They say we can control how we respond to things, but that does not always feel true. Mostly, Buddhism teaches, we control what we do. Our actions are what we own in the end.

 

 

Chalice Lighting

This is the flame we hold in our hearts as we strive for justice for everyone. This is the light we shine upon systems of oppression until they are no more. This is the warmth that we share with one another as our struggle becomes our salvation.

Call to Worship

The prayer of my soul is a petition for persistence; not for the one good deed, or the one single thought – but deed upon deed, thought upon thought, hope upon hope, love upon love, prayer upon prayer, and work upon work until Day calling unto Day shall make a life work living.

– W.E.B. Du Bois

Affirming Our Mission

Together we nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice to build the Beloved Community.

Learn more about Beloved Community at this link. – The King Center

Meditation Reading

May all sentient beings be well and enjoy the root of happiness:
Free from suffering and the root of suffering.
May they not be separated from the joy beyond sorrow.
May they dwell in spacious equanimity
Free from craving, fear, and ignorance.

– Bodhisattva Vows (Adapted)

Sermon

Text of this sermon is not yet available.

 

 

Most sermons during the past 21 years are available online through this website. Click on the index link below to find tables of all sermons for each year listed by date (newest to oldest) with topic and speaker. Click on a topic to go to that sermon.

SERMON INDEX

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Play – Fun – Humor – Love

by Posted in Audio available, Chris Jimmerson, Sermons

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Rev. Chris Jimmerson
June 20, 2021
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

Getting through challenging times like this, working for justice, building the Beloved Community all require serious contemplation, hard work and allowing ourselves to feel the painful emotions that may come up. We must remember also that play, fun, and humor are necessary to sustain us. We must allow ourselves moments of joy. Love is our ultimate source of resilience, and one of the ways we express that love is through playfulness.

 

 

Chalice Lighting

This is the flame we hold in our hearts as we strive for justice for everyone. This is the light we shine upon systems of oppression until they are no more. This is the warmth that we share with one another as our struggle becomes our salvation.

Call to Worship

It is interesting that Hindus, when they speak of the creation of the universe do not call it the work of God, they call it the play of God, the Vishnu lila, lila meaning play. And they look upon the whole manifestation of all the universes as a play, as a sport, as a kind of dance.

– Alan Watts, Zen and the Beat Way

Affirming Our Mission

Together we nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice to build the Beloved Community.

Learn more about Beloved Community at this link. – The King Center

Meditation Reading

In rare moments of deep play, we can lay aside our sense of self, shed time’s continuum, ignore pain, and sit quietly in the absolute present, watching the world’s ordinary miracles. No mind or heart hobbles. No analyzing or explaining. No questing for logic. No promises. No goals. No relationships. No worry. One is completely open to whatever drama may unfold.

– Diane Ackerman

Sermon

Text of this sermon is not yet available.

 

 

Most sermons during the past 21 years are available online through this website. Click on the index link below to find tables of all sermons for each year listed by date (newest to oldest) with topic and speaker. Click on a topic to go to that sermon.

SERMON INDEX

Podcasts of this and other sermons are also available for free on iTunes. You can find them by clicking on the podcast link below or copying and pasting this link. https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/first-unitarian-universalist/id372427776

PODCASTS

What did you just say?

by Posted in Audio available, Meg Barnhouse, Sermons

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Rev. Meg Barnhouse
June 13, 2021
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

The third strand of the eightfold path is right speech. How do we become mindful of our speech? How do we practice telling the truth, being kind, knowing when to speak and knowing when not to speak?

 

 

Chalice Lighting

This is the flame we hold in our hearts as we strive for justice for everyone. This is the light we shine upon systems of oppression until they are no more. This is the warmth that we share with one another as our struggle becomes our salvation.

Call to Worship

“It [speaking with words that bring about harmony] consists of speaking of what is good about people, instead of what is wrong with them. For some people this is an almost impossible exercise, for they have become totally habituated to speaking critically. We all seem to have a special talent for finding critical things to say about the world, about others, and about ourselves.”

– Jean-Yves Leloup

Affirming Our Mission

Together we nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice to build the Beloved Community.

Learn more about Beloved Community at this link. – The King Center

Meditation Reading

“Always being truthful gives you a certain kind of freedom. It springs forth like a fountain splashing throughout your body until it floods your soul. To be honest and to be trustworthy are great attributes. Ah, the power, Ah, the freedom.”

– Amaka Imani Nkosazana

Sermon

Text of this sermon is not yet available.

 

 

Most sermons during the past 21 years are available online through this website. Click on the index link below to find tables of all sermons for each year listed by date (newest to oldest) with topic and speaker. Click on a topic to go to that sermon.

SERMON INDEX

Podcasts of this and other sermons are also available for free on iTunes. You can find them by clicking on the podcast link below or copying and pasting this link. https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/first-unitarian-universalist/id372427776

PODCASTS

Just a Reminder

by Posted in Audio available, Meg Barnhouse, Sermons

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Listen to the sermon by clicking the play button above.

Rev. Meg Barnhouse
June 6, 2021
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

The second in our series on the Noble Eightfold Path. In order to reach peace of mind, we understand how the mind and spirit work, and we make powerful intentions to keep impermanence in mind, to hold onto joy lightly, and to remember that everyone dies in the end. Does this turn out to be cheering or depressing, or both?

 

 

Chalice Lighting

This is the flame we hold in our hearts as we strive for justice for everyone. This is the light we shine upon systems of oppression until they are no more. This is the warmth that we share with one another as our struggle becomes our salvation.

Call to Worship

– Ralph Waldo Emerson

“A person will worship something, have no doubt about that. We may think our tribute is paid in secret in the dark recesses of our hearts, but it will come out. That which dominates our imaginations and our thoughts will determine our lives, and our character. Therefore, it behooves us to be careful what we worship, for what we are worshipping, we are becoming.”

Affirming Our Mission

Together we nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice to build the Beloved Community.

Learn more about Beloved Community at this link. – The King Center

Meditation Reading

Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder.
Help someone’s soul heal.
Walk out of your house like a shepherd.

– Rumi

Sermon

Text of this sermon is not yet available.

 

 

Most sermons during the past 21 years are available online through this website. Click on the index link below to find tables of all sermons for each year listed by date (newest to oldest) with topic and speaker. Click on a topic to go to that sermon.

SERMON INDEX

Podcasts of this and other sermons are also available for free on iTunes. You can find them by clicking on the podcast link below or copying and pasting this link. https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/first-unitarian-universalist/id372427776

PODCASTS