Fierce Love – Revolutionary Love

Listen to the sermon by clicking the play button above.

Rev. Chris Jimmerson
May 4, 2025
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

Unitarian Universalism recently centered our faith in love. But this is not an abstract, overly sentimental love that allows us to linger in a liminal space, feeling it only from the sidelines. It is a love that calls us to action – to engage in our world, grounded in a self-love that empowers us to boldly create and demand even more love and justice. It is a fierce love that has the power to bring about the revolution our world so desperately needs.


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

SEE NO STRANGER:
A MEMOIR AND MANIFESTO OF REVOLUTIONARY LOVE
by Valerie Kaur

In our tears and agony, we hold our children close and confront the truth: The future is dark.

But my faith dares me to ask: What if this darkness is not the darkness of the tomb, but the darkness of the womb?

What if our America is not dead but a country still waiting to be born? What if the story of America is one long labor?

What if all the mothers who came before us, who survived genocide and occupation, slavery and Jim Crow, racism and xenophobia and Islamophobia, political oppression and sexual assault, are standing behind us now, whispering in our ear: You are brave? What if this is our Great Contraction before we birth a new future?

Remember the wisdom of the midwife: “Breathe,” she says. Then: “Push.”

Let us make an oath to fight for the soul of America – “The land that never has been yet – and yet must be” (Langston Hughes) – with Revolutionary Love and relentless optimism.

Affirming Our Mission

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

Reading

FIERCE LOVE, A BOLD PATH TO FEROCIOUS COURAGE
AND RULE-BREAKING KINDNESS THAT CAN HEAL THE WORLD
by Rev Dr Jacqui Lewis

I invite you to believe assiduously in how lovable we each are, and in the love between us and among us because, actually, believing is seeing. Believing is seeing our connection; we are one.

This is the kind of fierce love to which we are called. This kind of love is not a feeling or sentiment; it’s radical transformative action that takes risks to seek the common good. It sees our neighbor better than they see themselves. It makes sacrifices, it creates a way out of no-way. It’s the Black folk religion I grew up with – for all of the people. It’s the fiercest love of all. This fierce love is not for the faint, the indolent, or the idle! We can’t just feel love, we must give love, we must do love, we must be love ourselves. Our calling is to see something, and, seeing it, to call it out and do everything we know is good and just and vital to heal our souls and the world.

Sermon

NOTE: This is an edited ai generated transcript.
Please forgive any omissions or errors.

I wasn’t supposed to be preaching this morning. As many of you know, the plan was that a candidate to become our other called co-lead minister would preach today. We didn’t find a suitable candidate during our search, and so here we are. You get me.

Three days after returning from a two-month sabbatical. Anyone ever notice how things don’t always go as planned? That’s okay. We have now instead brought in Reverend Carie Holly-Hurt to be our assistant minister. Anyone ever notice how sometimes things go better than planned?

I’ve been thinking a lot about how long this church has been in somewhat of a liminal space, a time during which there has been much transition and change and uncertainty. If you’re new to the church, here is a little bit of that recent liminal church history.

Back in 2018, after a successful capital campaign, we ended up tearing up large portions of our church building to complete some renovations and an expansion. And while the result of that is Wonderful and beautiful, it did put us in a somewhat liminal space for a while, literally. And of course, not long at all after that, in 2020, we were forced to close our beautiful, newly renovated church for almost two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

And after we were finally able to return to the building in early 2022, our much-beloved lead minister at the time, Reverend Meg Barnhouse, was forced to announce her retirement because of health issues. And so we entered into yet another liminal space, an interim transitional ministry period and a search to call a new lead minister.

I appear before you this morning still grateful to be the one who received that call in late 2023, but not done with living in a liminal, uncertain space. In 2024, the church continued interim ministry after deciding upon a second search, the one I mentioned earlier to consider the possibility of calling a second co-lead minister. Oh, and in the midst of that there was this thingy called an election, which has resulted in a time of great anxiety and uncertainty in our nation, which brings this back to this morning and my not-according-to-plan appearance in this pulpit.

I want you all to know how much it thrills my spirit, nourishes my soul, that this religious community through all of that liminal space, all of that uncertainty, has kept the church and that mission we say together every Sunday alive.

As a result of that election that I just mentioned, though, we find ourselves in a different and almost infinitely more dangerous world where the very core of our faith, the love and sense of interconnectedness that is the essence of our humanity is being threatened like never before. And so, though not entirely according to plan, I also appear before you this morning to offer what IS, I believe the calling of our Unitarian Universalist faith, the calling of this church like never before.

Being in a liminal space by necessity requires a certain amount of internal focus and reassessment And we have done that work admirably, as I said, all the while, also keeping our faith alive in the world.

Now, though, now forces that would desecrate love and interconnectedness have seized power. So we must leave behind that liminal space, even in this time of such uncertainty, we must answer a clear and certain clarion call from the very core of our religious faith.

Love. Yes, really, it is that simple. And that complicated. Because this is not not a sentimental sit on the sidelines feeling all gushy kind of a love. No, it is a fierce love that calls us to first love ourselves and then to turn our attention beyond ourselves and confront actions that subvert love and justice anywhere that we find them. It is a fierce love that calls us to create a love revolution in our world.

Here is how Valerie Kaur, as Margaret said, founder of the Revolutionary Love Project, the source of an adult religious education series the church will be offering. Here is how she describes this kind of love.

 

Love has been so abused in our culture. Love has been mistaken as a sentimental emotion, a feeling that comes and goes, ebbs and flows, but love is more than a rush of feeling. Think of your deepest relationships. Love is what you do for one another, how you care for each other. I define love as sweet labor, fierce, demanding, imperfect, life-giving, a choice we make again and again. And if love is labor, then love contains all of our emotions. Joy is the gift of love. Grief is the price of love. Anger is the force that we harness to protect that which we love.

 

When we choose to love like that beyond what evolution requires, When we love beyond our inner sphere, then love becomes revolutionary. I define revolutionary love as the choice to enter into labor for others, for our opponents, and for ourselves.

Revolutionary love begins with the choice to look upon the face of anyone and say, “You are a part of me I do not yet know.” When we do that we expand our circle of care so that we leave no one behind.

 

The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said that God is love and in order for us to bring that divine love that revolutionary love into our world, we must first recognize the divine within ourselves. We must love ourselves up against the many, many messages we get in our world that can lead us to question our own worth.

Listen. Please listen. You, each and every one of you, you are worthy. You are deserving of love just as you are.

So, practice self-love.

• Stop several times a day to think to yourself just how worthy of love you really are.
• Put a reminder in your calendar.
• Surround yourself with folks who support you and recognize your worth.
• Find what brings you joy and engage in it often.

 

Now self-love can, and soon will be, a whole other sermon. For now, though, know that self-love is where answering the call to fierce love starts and make self-love a verb, an ongoing spiritual practice.

So next, I think we can answer the call of love, foster it in our world through consciously engaging in small acts of kindness and compassion on a daily basis. My maternal grandparents kept romantic love alive in their relationship throughout the 60 years they were married by doing just this. In fact, the only time I ever saw them argue was over who got to do the next loving thing for the other. My grandfather brought my grandmother coffee in bed every day over all of those years. My current beau and I text each other what are sometimes called sweet nothings throughout the day. We text good morning each day and night night every night.

The thing is, sweet nothings are not at all nothing. They help keep love alive as our story earlier showed us those words matter. And we can offer such loving words and actions to all of the loved ones in our lives, maybe even to our fellow churchgoers.

And out in our daily world we can offer this loving kindness to all those we encounter. We can engage with co-workers, the cashier at the grocery store, restaurant workers, complete strangers. Too often we go about our world completely ignoring and barely acknowledging one another. Maybe if we put our phones down and actually talk to folks as we move through our world, we will create more love in that world.

Once again, sometimes it really is that simple.

Now, here is where it can get more complicated. Fierce love calls us to confront those who have strayed from the path of love, who would use their power to commit grave injustices, thwart love, divide us into those they say are worthy of love, and those who they believe are not.

I don’t have to tell you all the war against basic human dignity and rights. People’s very autonomy over their own minds and bodies being waged in our state legislature right now. Fierce love calls us to confront such anti-love legislative proposals and say no. No in the name of love, as so many of you have already been doing. And far, far too many actions of the Trump administration in their first hundred days defile the very idea of love. And once again, fierce love is calling us, each of us, our Unitarian Universalist religion, this church to confront these actions, to cry “No” in the name of love, to say “These things you will not do in our name.” Fierce love calls us to speak the truth, even when it is hard.

The removal of people, often without any access to even basic legal rights and processes, to place them into a prison in El Salvador, which is nothing short of a concentration camp, is such a violation of divine love that we cannot, we cannot allow this to be done in the name of our country and thereby condone the existence of a concentration camp anywhere in our world.

The forced deportation of a citizen, a four-year-old child with stage 4 cancer without even the medications necessary to sustain their life violates the very idea of love. Fierce love calls us to cry out “No, No, No.”

The administration is aggressively dismantling any and all efforts toward diversity, equity and inclusion as if those are dirty words rather than love and justice in action. Even further, they are systematically attempting to remove the history and accomplishments of BIPOC folks, LGBTQ folks, women, and so many others, they deem less desirable from websites, textbooks, the very historical records of this country. This is an attempt at erasure. It casts certain people as less than. It is domination and abuse and domination and abuse are not love.

The administration recently destroyed a Center for Disease Control program that shared education and data regarding HIV disease that has helped so many, Advanced our knowledge about the disease saved lives. They destroyed that program because they thought it was too truthful about HIV disease and LGBTQ folks, HIV disease, and people of color.

My spouse of 33 years, Wayne, who died last year, was on an advisory group that helped the CDC create that program many years ago. So it feels like they have erased him. And thereby, a part of me.

Our services go out over television and the internet so folks that I love closely may well see this sermon at some point. To those whom I love, who may still support a government that does these things, fierce love calls me to say, “I love you, and I will not be abused. I will not be made less than – I will not be erased.”

Truth-telling, even with or maybe especially with those we love most closely is no longer optional because this is no longer just politics. This is authoritarianism. This is subjugation, xenophobic cruelty, a sacrilege against what makes us human.

What is happening desecrates love and is therefore a blasphemy toward God. It is the very opposite of the divine love toward which Jesus Christ and all of the great religious leaders of our world have called us.

Recently, I have been blessed by romantic love coming into my life again. His name is Woodrow, and I know that he wants our love to support me. Be the impetus and the spiritual practicing ground through which I strive to become the fullest, most creative, best, and purest self and soul I can possibly hope to become. And I know he knows I want the exact same for him. This is the essence of love. This is the essence of the God love we are called to bring into our world and to actively offer to all of humanity and creation.

Sometimes it really is this simple.

We are called as a church to bring into our world divine love, love that only wishes for all of us to thrive, and we are called to confront any forces that would subvert that love. I am so proud of the work for love and justice so many of you are already doing at the state and national levels. I encourage everyone to join in with this religious community to do justice in our world. I’ve posted some information on how you can join in at www.austinuu.org Of course, feel free to talk with me after the service also.

So my beloveds, a fierce love is calling us. The time is here. The time is now. It is our time as a religious community to answer that call, like never before to show up more mightily than ever before, to allow ourselves to be swept into an ocean of love that is the creative source of our universe, to wade in those holy waters, to cry out, even to those who have wandered so far away from love. Come, join us, dive right in, the water’s fine. This water is divine.

Extinguishing the Chalice

We extinguish this flame, but not the light of truth, the warmth of community, or the fire of commitment. These we hold in our hearts until we are together again.

Benediction

by Rev. Dr. Jackie Lewis

You want to know what fierce love is? Fierce love is ferocious courage and rule-breaking kindness that can heal the world. Fierce love understands that we are inextricably connected one to the other. Whatever affects you affects me. I’m responsible to make sure that we fix that together. Fierce love will go across the line, all the way to the edge of what’s comfortable, to make sure that we improve the lives of everyone, together.

Here’s what fierce love looks like. It’s buying a ticket and going to the border to stand up for immigrants. It’s marching down Fifth Avenue on Pride Sunday, even if you’re straight. It’s standing up for Black Lives Matter, that are what your ethnicity is. That’s what it looks like.

All the world’s major religions have some teaching about love your neighbor as yourself. Do unto others as you want done unto you. But you can’t love the other unless you love yourself. You’ve got to start with loving yourself. Start there. That’s the beginning of the love and we need to heal the world.

Can you imagine a life where we all show fierce love? I can. When a child is hungry, my stomach growls. If an Asian auntie is being abused on the street, it’s not like she’s kind of like my grandmother, she is my grandmother, so I must stand up against that injustice. When someone is being treated unjustly, my job is to bring justice to the fore. That’s what it looks like. That’s what it feels like. That’s the kind of love that is fierce enough, courageous enough, audacious enough to heal us and the world.

Go with fierce love. Go in peace.


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Climate Hope and the Joy of Earth

Listen to the sermon by clicking the play button above.

Rev. Erin Walter
April 27, 2025
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

We continue the celebration of Earth Day and April’s worship theme (joy) by exploring the role of hope and pleasure in movements for climate justice. Join Rev. Erin Walter in a service that shares some of the latest strategies for Climate Justice and invites us to bask in the beauty of the earth and the possibilities of a thriving planet.


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

Even a wounded world is feeding us. Even a wounded world holds us. Giving us moments of wonder and joy. I choose joy over despair. Not because I have my head in the sand, but because joy is what the earth gives me daily. and I must return the gift.

– Robin Wall Kimmerer

Affirming Our Mission

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

Reading

from NATURE AND THE SERIOUS WORK OF JOY
by Maria Popova

It is time for a different formal defense of nature. We should offer up not just the notion of being sensible and responsible about it, which is sustainable development, nor the notion of its mammoth utilitarian and financial value, which is ecosystem services. But a third way, something entirely different, we should offer up what it means to our spirits, the love of it. We should offer up its joy.

Sermon

NOTE: This is an edited ai generated transcript.
Please forgive any omissions or errors.

Since my own band can’t be with me today. I’m gonna invite you all to be in Parker Woodland today. So what I’m gonna invite you to do as we start the sermon about climate hope and justice is to make a heartbeat with me. It’s just two beats.

The spell that we’re casting.
Demands a reckoning, a reckoning.
All this greed needs a sacrifice.
Now or never
Leave it all behind
Building spaceships
Wasting time
I don’t think we’re getting out alive.

This greed needs a sacrifice
All this hate claims your soul in kind,
marching armies
selling you their lives,
looking down from up on high
I don’t think we’re getting out alive.

Thank you. That’s a piece of a song I wrote called “The Reckoning” and some of you remember the Reverend Jonalu Johnstone who was my co-minister in 2022 and 2023 and when she first came to see my rock band do that song in full electric at the Parlor, a pizza place over here. She came up to me afterwards and she said, “I don’t think we’re getting out alive, yikes!”

The song is a lamentation, which is a spiritual practice. And there’s a part in the song that says, “Is this the last sunset we’ll ever see? How will we know it’s enough? How will we know it’s enough? And that’s the question that’s on my heart all the time when it comes to climate justice and the earth.

This greed, this hate that’s claiming our souls and that’s numbing us to the needs of our planet and the needs of each other, I absolutely wrote that song with Elon Musk in mind a couple years ago where that line about building spaceships and wasting time. I don’t want to get out of this planet alive. I want this planet to thrive.

So I know that I’m known for what I like to call a hope orientation and when I started serving here I requested the title of Minister for Joy and Justice. So not everybody is expecting a song like The Reckoning which is really heavy also in its full rock form.

But there is so much to lament and the practice of lamentation where we name what is wrong and we are honest and we lift it up to the all or to our community and then we declare a trust that something someone will answer our prayer is a very important sacred practice. And there are unitarian Universalists like the Reverend Derek Jackson who lead lamentation practices.

I believe your new Incoming Minister Reverend Carey Holly Hurt also has a workshop and a service around lamentation and I’m excited to check that out sometime, but it’s a very important practice and I was surprised and elated when I was researching this service to find that there is actually a movement for more joy in climate justice work, and in fact that researchers and scholars are insisting that climate justice and happiness can be intertwined.

So that’s some of what I want to give you glimpses of today, because I dearly need hope and I know you do too when it comes to this climate work because if you were at the Capitol with me during the Hands-Off picnic You heard me say there is a bill in our Texas legislature from Senator Hughes that would have the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality testing at water treatment plants for chemicals in urine associated with abortion, birth control, and health care for trans people.

That’s our environmental commission. Everything is connected. It’s connected to our bodily autonomy. It’s connected to LGBTQ rights, to women’s rights. So we need everybody to be paying attention to what’s going on in climate justice. That’s just one example. And We need joy to do it because otherwise we’re not going to make it through, otherwise it’s going to be too hard. Thankfully, there were a lot of really good options around how this work can bring us joy.

UU National did a climate justice revival in the last year and they asked these questions. How can our climate work be less isolated and more connected, less anxious and more nourishing, less limited and more visionary? But first, what are we talking about when we’re talking about climate justice? That term in particular? This is a definition for you from that UU climate revival.

They say climate change has the same root causes as health disparities, poverty, criminalization, and most of our society’s problems. Extractive systems like the fossil fuels industry take from the earth, destroy our communities with pollution, disproportionately harm marginalized communities, and increase the inequities that drive racism, sexism, classism, and more. So to shift from an extractive age to a new era means we must reject the broader systems of harm in capitalism and white supremacy to realize a future where all communities thrive. This rejection of systems that take, destroy, and harm necessitates a shift toward connection, nourishment, and communities of care.

That is what we’re trying to do here in our church. And so before I go any further, I want to thank those of you in this congregation who’ve been doing the hard and often thankless work of environmental and climate justice over decades. If you identify as one of those people who has been doing this work for a long time, would you raise your hand and let us see you? Thank you. (audience applauding) Thank you.

It is serious work. And the research is showing us that if we want to see more hands go up next year in the week of Earth Day, for example, one way we might have more folks is through more humor. One of the great sources of human joy.

So an article in Fixed Solutions Online, the headline says “Laughter is the ultimate unifier – can it work for climate action.” And this quote is tough but you’re gonna know you’re gonna understand. It says:

Researcher Sarah Yao says, “Environmentalists have long received criticism for being preachy or taking ourselves,”
(and I will put myself in this)
“ourselves, too seriously, in some cases becoming the butt of a joke, Al Gore being a perfect example. And when a joke has a butt,” Sarah Yao says, “It can actually act as a social wedge, further consolidating in-group and out-group.”

and what we want is for everyone to be in the group Climate Justice.

 

So here’s a joke for you this week being Earthday and on Friday was April 25th.
In the movie Miss Congeniality, Does anybody know that one? there’s a scene that’s now a favorite online meme where William Shatner’s Miss United States pageant emcee asked contestant Miss Rhode Island in an interview,
“Describe your perfect date.”
Do you know what she says? “April 25th.”
She says, “That’s a tough one. I’d have to say April 25th because it’s not too hot and it’s not too cold, all you need is a light jacket.”

So when I saw that meme this week, it, of course, got me thinking immediately, I laughed, and then I started to think, “Will we ever have April weather again in Texas with climate change and it’s gut-wrenching?”

So, we need to engage more people and get more people to change their beliefs about climate justice and climate change is what the researchers tell us. And Sarah Yao, the science researcher at University of Utah says, “Humor may make people receptive to information they disagree with.”

So there are several climate justice and science comedians out there that I am going to recommend to you, this researching the sermon was so fun. There’s someone called Kasha Patel, formerly a NASA, with NASA’s Earth Observatory now running science-themed comedy shows in DC. You can find those online to share with your friends. As Patel says, “Comedy can transcend different educational levels and backgrounds, which is so important. And we can use that for science.” Then we have Raleigh Williams, a comedian, does comedy and education on a YouTube show called Climate Town, and Brooklyn eco-rapper, Hilla Perry, who dresses up as the Earth for her act.

So those are some options for you, but we’re not all comedians, so what else can we do? There’s a project called Happy Climate that’s on a mission to show all of us small steps we can take to reduce our carbon footprint. And I’ll just tell you I was one of those people. Just last week I was telling my guitar player, “This is really about corporations, this is really about what you know governments and corporations can do – like what can what can we do?” And so I stand corrected because what the research for this very sermon taught me was that what we do personally does very much matter in addition to the systemic changes that we need to make.

We’ve got a little video that I’m just gonna give you just a snippet of and then we’ll talk about it. We’ve got a researcher named Jay-Z not the musician and her colleague Elizabeth Dunn who are studying the intersections of climate justice and happiness. Here’s a taste.

So my name is Liz Dunn, and I do research on how we can increase happiness. Hello, my name is Diane Zhao, I’m a JZ, and I do research on how to reduce carbon emissions. And recently, we’ve been bringing these two seemingly disparate areas of research together to try to identify what we call sweet spots. That is, behavioral changes that would both increase individuals’ happiness and decrease their carbon emissions. Now, as behavioral scientists, we can tell you that changing behavior is hard, so we are not here to flight-shame anybody or to try to compete for the very lowest carbon footprint. Instead, we’d really encourage you to take kind of a playful, curious mindset and just sort of brainstorm the ways that you might be able to change your own life in order to increase your happiness and decrease your carbon footprint.

An important premise here is that our actions matter. They matter not only because they show our commitment to sustainability, but also they signal to other people that we care. Our actions can instigate a ripple effect for collective actions to tackle a grand challenge like climate change. Now having said this, I should say that individual change should complement, not substitute, broader institutional structural change. So we do recognize the need for climate funding policies and infrastructure. In this session, we will focus on individual behaviors in a sweet spot between carbon reduction and happiness promotion. We’re going to take you on a whirlwind tour of the science of sweet spots. And we’re going to hit on four key areas, driving, flying, eating, and shopping.

Okay. I wanted to show you the whole video, but here’s what I’m gonna do. I’m going to put it in the newsletter, and I’m gonna tell you a little bit about, I’m gonna give you a little summary, but I was so impressed by the program that they’ve put together that the Texas UU Justice Ministry is gonna look at offering it to all of our congregations.

I’ll tell you some of the things that I learned. They shared, of course, this won’t surprise you, that biking and carpooling to work increased happiness if you can do it.

  • Carpooling, because you get that social reinforcement in addition to reducing your carbon footprint. And that could be true not just for work. That could be true for coming to church. Is there someone you haven’t seen in church lately? And maybe they’re having a hard time getting there, but you could offer to carpool with them to church, then you have the benefit of helping someone connect with their community of care and reducing a carbon footprint. The same for if you’re going out socializing, if you’re going to a concert, something like that.
  • When it came to food, I didn’t know necessarily that cheese had as much of a carbon footprint as beef and lamb. I know, whoa, the vegans are excited for me to tell you this. If you can go without beef, lamb, and cheese at lunchtime or, you know, choose what is workable for you, that reduction will help.
  • When it comes to fashion, the two folks that you saw in that little video, they committed together as friends to only shopping for clothes twice a year. Which makes sense, right? It’s seasonal, you know, maybe you’re shopping based on the weather needs. And they said that the carbon, I’ve been looking forward to telling you this all day, the carbon impact of shoes, jeans, and jackets is the worst. The carbon impact of underwear is the least. So they said you don’t need to worry about skimping on underwear. love my job.

So that’s some information for you. There’ll be a lot more, a lot more in the videos, but it also made me think of my mom whose motto is “no special trips.” So if you are going to get something, think about where else can I go? Or do I really need this thing today? Can I wait and go with several other things, no special trips. They also talk about if you’re gonna go on a work trip and you really need to go, think about could I see people I love on that trip to get some social emotional needs met because the grief and the anxiety of the climate crisis is real and we need to nourish ourselves so that we can stay in all of the justice work and all of the care that we’re doing just to survive and thrive in this world. So that’s another thing to think about. 

 

There’s a lot in there and I’m really looking forward to talking with the team at the Justice Ministry about bringing this happy climate workshop to UUs in Texas. There’s also a carbon calculator and one of the things that they said is people criticize carbon calculators for shifting too much emphasis away from systemic changes. And you know with the Justice Ministry, we’re real big on systemic changes and that is huge. But Jay-Z says, “There’s no evidence that if I do more as a person, I’ll become less active civically.” In fact, the research suggests that the opposite is true.”

So if you’re making these commitments in your daily life and in your community you’ll be even more, your word will also mean more when you go to testify and you can speak from personal experience about what it means to find joy in making these changes in your life and holding our leaders to account as well.

Should we take a breath? Thank you, Air. Sometimes we just need to do that. Another piece of claiming our own actions is that it affirms our agency. It is very easy to feel like there’s nothing we can do, and it’s simply not true. And we can do more when we do it together.

So psychiatrist Allison Wong says the climate crisis is real and labeling it, that was that lamentation, and figuring out how to manage your experience without letting it overwhelm you is so important. So one of my asks for you today as people of faith living on this planet Earth is to find ways to not let it overwhelm you. We cannot do everything and we can do some things. Ask each other about the things you’re doing and celebrate the things you’re doing. Say thank you to those folks that you know have been in it a long time and ask them what’s one thing I can do to support the systemic work you’re doing and what’s one thing we could do together that’s a personal thing we can be doing. That’s part of our UU faith of interconnectedness and of believing that we can be the change.

Another thing that’s going on is that as temperatures rise, we’re seeing more conflict. Temperature increase is correlated with a 10.8 % increase in conflict and a 16.2 % increase in violent crime. So I’m also asking you to think about how we advocate for things that can reduce that, how we not let those increasing stressors also make us a more policed state and a more fascist state.

We need more health care, we need more mental health care, and if you’re not sure about how to be advocating for that, I see David Overton from your social justice team. Would you like to wave? There is a social justice team right here that And he is sending out meaningful actions on the daily almost right now. So if you’re not getting those, please get on that list.

What one of the researchers, Susan Clayton from the College of Wooster says, “I try to make meaning from the process, not just thinking about the outcomes of the work that I’m doing.” And as the pandemic, so aptly demonstrated, behavior patterns can change rapidly. Do you remember, we changed our, we didn’t want to, but we changed our behavior rapidly and the earth came alive. Even a little bit of that would be so welcome right now. And it is reason to have hope. We can turn things around. And one of the best ways to decrease anxiety about the earth is to engage in empowering actions.

All right, the last thing I want to leave you with, a little bit from Monia Arellis, from the Hitchcock Center for the Environment. She names, first of all, what all of us in UU Ministry name a lot, which is that, and rightfully so, that Black womanist theologians and writers have been naming that Joy is an act of resistance that we need imagination in climate justice, and author Adrienne Marie Brown in particular, her books, including Pleasure Activism, are fantastic guides. If this idea that we can find joy in climate justice or activism is new, then I commend Adrienne Marie Brown to you. Monia says, “I find joy in dreaming what a future world could look like. No homelessness or poverty, an abundance of food available to anyone who needs it. A government where every person has a voice.”

This imagining is another part of climate hope. And Adrienne Marie Brown is quoted in the same piece saying, “I believe all organizing is science fiction, that we are shaping the future we long for and have not yet experienced.”

And so Rehla’s went out with six-year-olds at that Hitchcock Center and they found a fallen tree. Now I want you to imagine your six-year-old self if you can, and bring a childlike wonder to this fallen tree that we’re gonna imagine together. She says, “We started climbing across the tree’s fallen trunk, and I asked the kids why trees are so important.” The students had amazing answers. They were fun to climb on. They were beautiful. They made forests they gave shade We talked about the carbon cycle. How humans breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon and trees do the reverse.

The students all began puffing out exaggerated breaths Can you do that with me some exaggerated puffy breath? “We’re feeding the trees,” one of them exclaimed joyfully. Sometimes climate hope is complicated and sometimes it’s as simple as that. Appreciating your own breath and the beautiful ways you and a tree can care for each other.

In that spirit friends as we go forth today I ask you to keep an eye out for those earthly joy moments. Share them with each other and remember that your actions matter and our actions are amplified together and we can We can do our part for this place. We call home.

Extinguishing the Chalice

We extinguish this flame, but not the light of truth, the warmth of community, or the fire of commitment. These we hold in our hearts until we are together again.

Benediction

This joy that I have
The world didn’t give it to me.
Oh, no,
This joy that I have,
The world didn’t give it to me.
Don’t you know that
this joy that I have
The world didn’t give it to me
Oh I said the world didn’t give it
The world can’t take it away

This joy that I have
The world didn’t give it to me
Oh no,
This joy that I have,
the world didn’t give it to me.
Don’t you know,
This joy that I have?
The world didn’t give it to me.
Oh, I said the world didn’t give it,
The world can’t take it away.
The world didn’t give it,
The world can’t take it away.

Amen.
Go in peace.


SERMON INDEX

Most sermons during the past 25 years are available online through this website. Click on the index link above 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.

PODCASTS

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

2025 Easter Service

Listen to the sermon by clicking the play button above.

Rev. Michelle LaGrave
April 20, 2025
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

Join us as we celebrate Easter. The service includes joyful music, a child dedication, and Rev. Michelle LaGrave’s retelling of the Easter Story.


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

LOVE BRINGS US BACK TO LIFE
by Peggy Clark

Easter is a holiday of miracles. It is life from death, joy from sorrow, celebration from mourning. Easter reminds us that all is never lost, that the story continues as long as we are here to tell it. So gather up your worries. We are going to bury them beneath the ground and watch them transform into flowers of hope. Pushing through the earth, reminding us on Easter morning that love brings us back to life. Calls us from sadness, from grief, from anxiety, into a world renewed and alive and filled with joy once again.

Affirming Our Mission

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

Reading

CHILDREN WILL WIDEN THE CIRCLE OF OUR BEING IN WAYS THAT ARE LIMITLESS
Gary Kowalski

Every baby that’s born connects us to our history, our parents, our grandparents, and unknown forebears who brought new life to the world in each successive generation. Each baby that’s born links us to the future, to a world yet to come that belongs to our descendants and that we hold in trust for our posterity whom we will never know. Each child connects us to nature, to the innocence an exuberance of a world always hatching newborns, kittens, and pups, and lambs, and babes. Each child reminds us of the kinship we share with people and of other lands who love their young as purely and tenderly as we do. Each child connects us to the universe, to the holy mysteries of birth and death, and becoming from which we all emerge. Children widen the circle of our being in ways that are limitless.

Sermon

NOTE: This is an edited ai generated transcript.
Please forgive any omissions or errors.

“Oh, I can see clearly now the rain is gone.”

A long time ago, I lost someone very dear to me, my brother, Mark. He died in a rather sudden and shocking kind of way. There were, and there still are, a lot of questions about how and why he died, even though he was in a medical setting. I was at first in shock, of course. I didn’t know what to do with all of the questions, all of the unknowing, all of the loss, all of the grief. I was only 20 years old.

“I can see all obstacles in my way.”

I got through that first summer and the following months, my senior year in college, though I’m not quite sure how. The pain of the loss was intense. My 21st birthday, my college graduation, were celebrated without much joy. They were more like ritual markings than actual celebrations.

“Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind.”

The grief was like a dark cloud that followed me everywhere. The following year I knew that I needed a break from academics, a chance to get out of my head. I loved history, had been a double major in history and anthropology, was interested in working in a museum, and found the perfect opportunity. An internship on a 19th century living history farm museum in central Maine. I figured the physical labor would do me and my body good. So I packed up my bags and headed off to Maine.

I lived right on the farm, milked the cow, cooked on the wood stove, made homemade butter, homemade everything, planted the gardens, taught in the one-room schoolhouse, fed the chickens, collected their eggs, led the animals from barn to pasture and back again, helped birth the piglets and a calf, rode horseback, learned how to live interdependently with the land and the animals and my fellow humans became a vegetarian, slowly started to heal.

Then one day, when I was driving my car somewhere, I turned on the radio and a song came on.

“It’s gonna be a bright, bright, sun-shiny day.”

And I noticed how the music made me feel happy, happier than I had felt since before my brother died.

“I think I can make it now, the pain is gone.”

The pain of my grief had transformed from a dark stormy cloud into a shadow, still present but out of my immediate sight.

“All of the bad feelings have disappeared.”

I didn’t just enjoy the music, I reveled in it. I wanted to sing along and dance joy had returned to my life and with it hope

“Here is the rainbow I’ve been praying for.
It’s gonna be a bright, bright sunshiney day.”

I’m telling you this story because it reminds me of the holiday we are celebrating today. Who knows what holiday it is today? It’s Easter. Easter is the story that I want to tell you today. Do you already know the story how Easter came to be? One of the ways we celebrate holidays is by retelling the story of the holiday Sometimes it’s new for some people. Sometimes people have heard it 50 times already. But we keep retelling the story and bringing people in, welcoming them into the story. Sometimes the story goes the same way. Sometimes we tell it in a little bit different of a way.

So here goes. This is my true story. There once was a man named Jesus. He was Jewish, and he had grown up learning stories from the Hebrew scriptures. As an adult, he became a teacher, and he traveled all around the countryside and in the cities, preaching and teaching the old stories, but sometimes in new ways. He taught people to love your neighbor as yourself, to treat other people as well as you would treat yourself. He taught that people’s lives were more important than religious rules. That you, adults anyway, should stop and help someone who is injured and bleeding on the side of the road, even if religious rules tell you that person is unclean or distasteful in some way. And he taught that children were important.

The more that Jesus traveled and taught, the more followers he gathered. This was in the days long before social media, So, gathering followers was a lot of work. He and his students had to travel from village to village, town-to-town, temple-to-temple, and mostly by foot. It was a lot of work. Even so, crowds gathered to meet him everywhere he went. You could say he went viral.

And there were a lot of officials and very high offices who did not like that one bit. Jesus knew that his ministry, his teaching, was becoming dangerous even though he was only teaching good things. So, one evening he gathered his students who were called apostles together for one last supper and one last lesson to say goodbye. He knew that he would be killed soon.

“I can see all obstacles in my way.”

And he was right. The next day, he was sentenced to death in a horrific way. He was a victim of what you might call the unfair court procedures and excessive sentencing of the criminal injustice system of his day. He was dead by nightfall. Friday, the Sabbath. His followers, His parents, his family, his mother were devastated with grief. They didn’t understand how or why this could happen.

“Gone are the dark clouds that had me fly.”

Dark clouds of grief followed them over the Sabbath and throughout the next night, then on Sunday morning some of the women went to the tomb where they had left his body to prepare it for final burial, only to find it empty. His body was gone and they didn’t know where it went. They, the women and his family and his students, began to see him and hear him in various places they gathered, as if he were still alive.

This is a common experience people have, many people have, in the very first few days and weeks after someone dies. You might think you see someone out of the corner of your eye, or sitting in a favorite place, or think you hear them in the next room or in a crowd. I know this has happened to me and I’ve heard many stories of others experiencing the same.

Eventually the people who loved him realized that they could make it now, that the pain was disappearing or at least easing with time. They came to understand that even though Jesus was no longer with them and they could no longer see or hear him, they could still remember him. And they could still tell the stories that he had told and keep his memory alive in new ways. And they began to have hope.

“Here is the rainbow I’ve been praying for.”

Now here we are, almost 2,000 years later, still telling the stories that Jesus told, still remembering Jesus, still celebrating with joy this holiday that we now call Easter. Still insisting, still insisting that even if some people take Jesus’ words and teachings and twist them so far as to be unrecognizable, no one can take our memories or our joy or our understanding of what his life meant away.

We are gonna celebrate his life and his ministry and his teachings today. Are you ready?

“It’s gonna be a bright, bright, sunshiney day.”

All righty everybody now let’s join in together. Dance, sing, wave your arms.

Extinguishing the Chalice

We extinguish this flame, but not the light of truth, the warmth of community, or the fire of commitment. These we hold in our hearts until we are together again.

Benediction

Go in peace with love in your hearts, kindness on your lips and compassion at your fingertips. Blessing all others as you yourselves are now blessed. Amen and blessed be.


SERMON INDEX

Most sermons during the past 25 years are available online through this website. Click on the index link above 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.

PODCASTS

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

Ode to Joy (and how to save room for it)

Listen to the sermon by clicking the play button above.

Rev. Erin Walter
April 13, 2025
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

Who has time or energy for joy these days? Scholars, activists, artists, and theologians offer us paths to seek that spark of life, even in seasons of struggle. Rev. Erin Walter explores this month’s spiritual theme – joy – and how it can enliven our daily lives.


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.

Intonation: T A Tailor called Sorrow (Brent Baldwin)

Call to Worship

JOY IS HARD
Rev. Joe Cherry

Joy is hard.
Joy requires us to feel safe enough,
to be safe enough,
to open to vulnerability.
To feel joy, you must be brave.

Joy walks into a room after the space has been cleared.
Cleared of shame,
Cleared of doubt,
Cleared of self-recrimination.
Joy is hard.

Joy is hard
and joy is worth the hard work of preparation.
Preparing oneself and setting down all the defenses
all the shoulds and could’ves,
all the should not haves and might haves.

Joy is worth the work.
You are worth the work.
You can start small:
the simple pleasure of your favorite tea,
the grand freedom of a full belly laugh.
Invite joy to be your companion.

Affirming Our Mission

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

Prelude: Te Deum, pt. 1 (Arvo Part)

Reading

INVITATION
Mary Oliver

Oh do you have time
to linger
for just a little while
out of your busy
and very important day

for the goldfinches
that have gathered
in a field of thistles
for a musical battle,
to see who can sing
the highest note,
or the lowest,
or the most expressive of mirth,
or the most tender

Their strong, blunt beaks
drink the air
as they strive
melodiously
not for your sake
and not for mine
and not for the sake of winning
but for sheer delight and gratitude-

believe us, they say,
it is a serious thing
just to be alive
on this fresh morning
in the broken world.

I beg of you,
do not walk by
without pausing
to attend to this
rather ridiculous performance.

It could mean something.
It could mean everything.
It could be what Rilke meant,
when he wrote:
You must change your life.

Anthem: Te Deum, pts. 2, 3, 4 (Arvo Part)

Sermon

NOTE: This is an edited ai generated transcript.
Please forgive any omissions or errors.

An excerpt from Ross Gay’s The Book of Delights.

It astonishes me sometimes, Know often how every person I get to know Everyone regardless of everything by which I mean everything Lives with some profound personal sorrow – Brother addicted – mother murdered – dad died in surgery – rejected by their family – Cancer came back – evicted – fetus not okay, – everyone, regardless, always, of everything. Not to mention the existential sorrow we all might be afflicted with, which is that we, and what we love, will soon be annihilated. Which sounds more dramatic than it might. Let me just say dead. Is sorrow the true wild, and if it is, and if we join them, your wild, to mine, what’s that? For joining, too, is a kind of annihilation. What If we joined our sorrows, I’m saying, I’m saying, “What if that is joy?”

I heard somebody out there go, “Ooh.” And that is what I said. That is heavy. Joining is annihilation, and that is joy. I thought to myself, “Okay, Ross gay and the little book of delights.” Woo! I had to squint at it a little bit, but here’s what I think he means by joining as annihilation. 

 

When you join with another, you must let go of the myth of bootstraps or that we can live this life well alone, we join ourselves in community, in love, in making music, in being friends or family for the chance at greater joy than we can ever have in isolation. I feel that in church, in Zumba, in my band, in justice activism, none of which is easy, but all of which brings me the greatest joy. So like many spiritual traditions, for joy, for collective liberation, we are being asked to let go of some of the self and individualism.

I don’t use Facebook as much as I used to for obvious political reasons, but you’re there a lot of you and I love the community that I’ve built with people so I like to ask when I do go there for your input on a subject. And I asked what’s bringing you joy right now and what’s holding you back from joy.

First, just in case I get struck by lightning in the next 60 seconds, I want to tell you my favorite answer first. My seminary classmate and colleague, the Reverend Misha Sanders said, “Middle-aged flirting. It’s hilarious. Our all-night phone conversations go on until, like, 9 PM.” I feel that deeply, Misha. Thank you.

And then we got all the music answers. And I don’t think that’s just because I’m friends with a lot of musicians. I think music is a Universal language of joy for folks. I’ll give you our board president Gretchen Riehl who wrote “Singing always brings me joy and worry holds me back. One of the reasons I like singing in the choir is that I simply cannot think about anything but the music during rehearsals and performances My focus is solely on the music and harmonizing with my friends.” Amen. Amen.

This feels like a good time to tell you that I read in the Friday email that Brent Baldwin is welcoming you to come up and talk to him or email him about getting involved with the adult choir, the youth choir, all the musical programs of the church. So if you would like more joy in your life, you have been invited.

I have some science to go with that. A 2010 depression study from the University of Oaxaca said, “Feeling blah, try some Bach.” The implication of this new, at the time, depression research out of Oaxaca found that folks who did a study between talk therapy, which I am not disparaging, also really helpful, and music therapy. The folks who did the music therapy had 2 .5 times the positive results in addressing their depression and their mental health challenges. Interestingly, this was classical music. Imagine if you chose the genre, but it was classical music and even though not all of the participants were classical music fans at the outset, by the end of the study, many of them were asking where they could find good classical music. Pretty cool.

So I invite you in this moment, just maybe 30 seconds of quiet to think about what is a piece of music that you could turn to when you’re having a hard day? I mean that one song, I was having a good day, but then it took my day way up there. And when I’m having not such a great day, that one song better when I’m dancing goes so far for me. So I’m going to be silent for a second and let you think about might there be a piece of music or art that does that for you and I want you to take it from your brain and put it in your pocket.

Later on when we’re out in a coffee or feel free to take that song out of your pocket and tell somebody about it There were other answers that you gave that we’ve heard before. Reminders to resist the urge to reinvent the wheel and to lean into the spiritual practices and joys that are timeless for a good reason. Nature, animals, babies, good food, community building, honoring our ancestors. Sometimes you combine them.

Michelle Baines, who may be here today, said that her mom’s garden brings her joy. She planted it when she was caring for her, and even though it’s been five years since her mother passed, the growing of the garden, the blooming and especially the flowers this time of year bring her joy and she says each a love note in honor of my mom.

We also have some ancient wisdom that when I was looking back on one of my first services with you in interim ministry back in 2022, I felt it was time to share, again, in this Passover season, this time of contemplation and reverence as Holy Week leads toward Easter’s spirit of miracles. We talked about an excerpt of the Poverty and Justice Bible, which is the one that I’ve come to use in my role as the Executive Director of the Texas UU Justice Ministry. And we talked about in Exodus when the Israelites are on a long, hard journey from slavery to the Promised Land. They’re in the wilderness.

And in this piece, chapter 16, verse 20 through 24, we find out that after the Israelites had walked safely through on dry ground in the desert, Miriam, the sister of Aaron, who was a prophet, took her tambourine and led the other women out to play their tambourines and to dance, then she sang to them. And we talked about the chapter ahead for this church. Some of you are new, but if you would imagine going back with me into a time of great transition and uncertainty, and it was 2022. So COVID was also really fresh in our experience.

There were a lot of unknowns and so the joyful audacity of this sacred text to remind us that when you are going into the wilderness Things are unknown. You don’t know where food or water would even be coming from. Your female prophet brings a tambourine and invites everyone to sing and dance. That joy, that never dancing alone, is an important part of the journey. And Miriam does not wait. She does not wait to get to the other side of that 40 -year journey. She’s prepared with that tambourine and she trusts that the Holy or the community will provide water, food, sustenance, enough to have room in that pack for the tambourine. Please keep that with you.

I know Reverend Carrie is going to bring all kinds of tambourines to this ministry. I’ve been so grateful for the tambourines that Reverend Michelle Le Grave and Reverend Chris Jimmerson and the staff and everyone have brought over these years of transition. And I have one more service with you later this month, so this is not my goodbye.

So in the interest of time, I’m not going to give you all the things. But I do in this service where we’re kicking off a month of joy focus want to leave you with this that I told you in 2022. I said, as your interim minister, I get to ask you to be patient and bring a spirit of abundance and ask myself to do that too. I get to invite you to make room for joy and don’t hoard it till the end. We will ask hard questions and try to be patient, especially when a sense of urgency bubbles up that might not be so truly urgent.

Today I celebrate that you all have done that. I talked to the other ministers, I talked to the staff, we talked about what has it been like, and you all have done that. It’s amazing. I asked you to be curious and patient and willing to try new things, and you did, and we have.

So I’ll leave with you today before we sing ourselves to the end of the service and into coffee hour with the top five things I hope we remember about joy for this year. And I said, I’m telling you so I can remind myself. And now here they are.

  • One, save room for joy and do it on purpose.
  • Number two, don’t wait until everything is complete or perfect to dance.
  • Invite others in. That was number three.
  • Number four, be open to new ways of joy, never shaming others for theirs.
  • And number five, and we have been doing this, joy accompanies us on the journey toward justice.

Thank you for the ways that you have been living joy all this time, not just this month, but we’re gonna celebrate it and amplify it together.

Extinguishing the Chalice

We extinguish this flame, but not the light of truth, the warmth of community, or the fire of commitment. These we hold in our hearts until we are together again.

Benediction

Where you are feeling joy. May you share it. May you invite others in.

Where joy feels impossible may you open your heart even the tiniest bit to bear witness to the joy of another.

May we live our lives like this is the one we’ve got because we’re not sure but we know, we know we have today and it is hours to live fully, joyfully and in beloved community.

Amen, Ashe, blessed be and may we go in peace.

Postlude: Te Deum, pt. 5 (Arvo Part)


SERMON INDEX

Most sermons during the past 25 years are available online through this website. Click on the index link above 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.

PODCASTS

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

2025 Youth Service

Listen to the sermon by clicking the play button above.

First UU’s Youth Group
April 6, 2025
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

ATTRACTION – The high school youth group will challenge us to consider the theme of attraction beyond the binary. Rejecting heteronormative expectations for relationships, whether you’re queer or not, is part of growing up UU.


Chalice Lighting

We light this chalice to celebrate Unitarian Universalism. We are the church of open minds, we are the church of helping hands, we are the church of loving hearts, we are the church of listening ears, and together we work for friendship and peace.

Call to Worship

A BLESSING FOR QUEER YOUTH OF FAITH
Cathy Rion Starr

Bless you, for who you are, right now, right here.

Bless you in your queerness, your gender fabulousness, your questioning, wondering, exploring, declaring. Bless you in the words you create and evolve and claim for yourself. May you relish your divinity as you dismantle binaries and create beautiful worlds of infinite possibilities. May those of us who are not queer respect you, learn from you, and show up for you as you need.

Bless you in your youth, your brilliance, your ideas, your curiosity, your incredible leadership right now (let alone what is to come). May you be fortified in the face of adultism and may you inhabit the fullness of your being. May those of us who are not youth respect you, learn from you, and show up for you as you need.

Bless you in your faith, your precious connection with the sacred, tradition, community, belief and action that guides your life and holds you through the storms and celebrations of life. May your faith sustain you when your faith tradition honors you and when it harms you. May those who hold faiths that judge you come to know how very sacred and perfect you are. May those of us from all sorts of faith traditions respect you, learn from you, and show up for you as you need.

May all of us – queer and straight, trans and cis, young – younger – old and elder, faithful and faith-allergic – bless you as your full, beautiful, queer, young, sacred self.

Bless you as YOU. Know that you are enough right now, right here; and you are ever evolving, growing, deepening as your imperfectly perfect self. May we bless all queer youth of faith, all queer youth, all queer and trans and questioning people, all youth on our collective journey towards liberation. May you be blessed with the glitter of joy, dances of liberation, bricks of safety, and the nourishment of radical love.

Affirming Our Mission

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

Reading

HUMANS’ CORE FUNCTION IS LOVE
from Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds
By Adrienne Maree Brown

When we are engaged in acts of love, we humans are at our best and most resilient. The love in romance that makes us want to be better people, the love of children that makes us change our whole lives to meet their needs, the love of family that makes us drop everything to take care of them, the love of community that makes us work tirelessly with broken hearts.

Perhaps humans’ core function is love. Love leads us to observe in a much deeper way than any other emotion ….

If love were the central practice of a new generation of organizers and spiritual leaders, it would have a massive impact … If the goal was to increase the love, rather than winning or dominating a constant opponent, I think we could actually imagine liberation from constant oppression. We would suddenly be seeing everything we do, everyone we meet, not through the tactical eyes of war, but through eyes of love.

We would see that there’s no such thing as a blank canvas, an empty land or a new idea – but everywhere there is complex, ancient, fertile ground full of potential ….

We would understand that the strength of our movement is in the strength of our relationships, which could only be measured by their depth. Scaling up would mean going deeper, being more vulnerable and more empathetic ….

Homily

NOTE: This is an edited ai generated transcript.
Please forgive any omissions or errors.

Hi, my name is Phoenix. I’m 16 years old. The last time I was up here, we talked to you about mental health. Thankfully, today I will be talking about a lighter subject. Our youth group is very diverse. We have gays and bisexuals and our resident straight boy. So we wanted to talk about our experiences with romantic attraction. This is mine.

In sixth grade, my friend introduced me to the concept of pansexuality — attraction to all genders. I wasn’t sheltered from queerness. My mother had been open about her bisexuality my entire life and my best friend has lesbian moms. Despite this, my small brain had a hard time understanding that not everything was binary when it came to me.

I had a simple understanding of myself. I was smart, creative, kind, and a leader. As I got older, it got harder to keep this binary view of myself. I had one crush as a child and it was on a boy so I assumed I was straight. Then I was taught about the concept of pansexuality. I could like men and women at the same time and I didn’t have to pick one or the other. I realized that maybe not everything had to be yes, no, or all-of-the-above. Maybe I was more complex than that.

Seventh grade was quarantine. School was online. I never left the house and I spent most of my time isolated. So my relationship with that friend wasn’t my priority. All I wanted was to live and learn. But on the first day of 8th grade, the same friend who introduced me to the concept of queer people asked, “What’s your sexuality?” And again, I had an epiphany. I hadn’t had a crush on a boy since 4th grade. So maybe I didn’t like them. I answered, “Lesbian.” I had been struggling for months to explain my lack of attraction to men, but they gave me the last push I needed to understand that I just didn’t like men.

Even though it took me two years to realize I was gay after learning I could be, that was easy compared to realizing I’m aromantic and asexual, no or limited sexual and romantic attraction. I realized I was gay because of my attraction to fictional people. Princess Shuri from Black Panther was my lesbian awakening. But after I hadn’t had a crush on a real person for years, I researched and learned about a lack of sexual or romantic attraction to people.

In order to restate a probably overused metaphor; I never crave cake, but I would eat it if it was offered. I have dated people, but I didn’t have a crush on them. I hope to get married. I want to be close to someone, but I don’t get romantic feelings that often. I see relationships as a friendship plus, closer and more intimate, but not that much different.

I was able to understand that I wasn’t wrong for not getting crushes. I just didn’t work that way, and that was fine. It may not have been the norm, but it was still natural to not be attracted to people, get to all by making babies. Some of us have to go fight the lions for food.

Being a person with so many obscure labels, I’ve had to get good at explaining the definitions and how they interact. If I don’t get attracted to people, how am I gay? I understand where these questions come from, but it would be nice if more people could understand that I have thought about this. Sexuality is a human concept, so it works how I say it. It works so because I say so.

These words are just tools to describe my experience to other people easily. They change the exact definition for everyone. Why does it work like that? Like math, it just does. Some people may not understand being queer, so they are scared of queer people. If that’s you, I applaud you for making it this far. I understand it’s hard when you don’t understand something.

Not everyone experiences things as I do. People assume straight as the default for a reason. But just because something is different from the norm doesn’t mean they’re wrong for it. Gayness has been documented in over 1,500 animal species like lions, penguins, sheep, elephant, and our close cousin, the chimpanzee. Humans aren’t unique for that.

Over the years, my understanding of my sexuality changed from straight — to pan — to gay. I don’t get crushes, but I do like romantic relationships. Even after that, you may not understand why I’m gay or how I’m attracted to people, and I’m not asking you to. All I want is for people to accept who I am and move-on with their lives.

Thank you for listening. I hope my story has helped you understand yourself or someone else better.

Extinguishing the Chalice

We extinguish this flame, but not the light of truth, the warmth of community, or the fire of commitment. These we hold in our hearts until we are together again.

Benediction

The blessing of truth be upon us, the power of love directs us and sustains us, and may the peace of this community preserve our going out and our going out and our coming in, from this time forth, until we meet again.


SERMON INDEX

Most sermons during the past 25 years are available online through this website. Click on the index link above 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.

PODCASTS

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

Joy, Hope and Visibility

Listen to the sermon by clicking the play button above.

Rev. Erin Walter
March 30, 2025
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

On the eve of Trans Day of Visibility, Rev. Erin Walter and Bis Thornton bring wisdom and beauty from diverse trans leaders, within and beyond Unitarian Universalism, as well as reflections and learnings from the recent All In For Equality Day and Texas UU Justice Ministry day at the Capitol.


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 INFINITE DIVINITY
by Rev. Jami Yandle

The chalice is lit
And in the flames the memory of
Our trans and non-binary ancestors
Do a dance of freedom and liberation
Reminding us that
We are whole and holy
We are loved beyond all measure
And in our refusal to accept anything less
May we know we are rooted
In the infinite divinity
Not relegated to the outskirts
Of the web of all existence
But enshrined at its core
Enfleshed with stardust and fairy dust
An intentional creation of space where our many Gods live

Affirming Our Mission

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

NOTE: This is an edited ai generated transcript.
Please forgive any omissions or errors.

Video

Hi, my name is E. Ciszek. I am a member of First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin. I’m also a professor and a scholar.

In spring 2025, the United States remains deeply polarized with ideological conflicts shaping public discourse and policy. The second Trump administration known for its aggressive stance on social issues has exacerbated these divisions, targeting the rights and lives of trans individuals. Mainstream and alternative media outlets amplify anti-trans narratives, framing them as central to America’s cultural and moral battles. Globally similar trends are unfolding as nations grapple with their own political and cultural upheavals. the hardline rhetoric of the Trump administration has emboldened conservative movements worldwide, leading to policies that marginalize trans populations. For parents of trans youth, this means confronting an onslaught of restrictive laws and hostile media narratives that undermine their ability to support their children in an increasingly adversarial public arena.

As we know, parents serve as the first and most consistent support system for children. When a child expresses a gender identity that’s different from their assigned sex at birth, parents become crucial decision makers and advocates. They have to balance their own emotions and uncertainties while ensuring their child receives care and acceptance and protection. This journey often reshapes their relationships, sometimes leading to estrangement from relatives or faith communities unwilling to accept their child’s identity.

Educational advocacy becomes a constant battle as parents work to secure their child’s rights to recognition, their access to appropriate facilities and protection from discrimination. Yet, shifting policies of political rhetoric create confusion, allowing schools to justify inaction or exclusion. Trans Students are often denied access to bathrooms, locker rooms, sports teams, not always due to explicit bans, but because administrators fear backlash or misinterpret evolving legal guidance. As a result, parents find themselves in ungoing struggles with school officials, filing complaints and sometimes pursuing legal action, all while trying to shield their children from the emotional tool of being treated as political controversies rather than students.

Medical decision-making, though highly visible, it’s just one aspect of this fight. Parents must navigate a shrinking landscape of gender-affirming care as clinics close under legal and political pressures. Many are forced to seek care across state lines or rely on underground networks. Beyond advocating for their children’s right to life-saving treatments, they also have to contend with the alarming reality that healthcare providers themselves are under constant threat, harassed, and even forced to shut down.

The current political climate places an extraordinary pressure on these parents, pressures that are magnified for non-white families. Some states have attempted to classify gender-affirming care as child abuse, exposing families to child protective services investigations or even the threat of family separation. For black, brown, and indigenous families who are already disproportionately surveilled and criminalized by the child welfare system, these risks are amplified by a long history of racialization and racialized state violence. graphic displacement is a reality for some as families might relocate to states with stronger protections, creating medical refugees who leave behind careers, extended families, community ties in order to access care.

Yet not all families have equal access to mobility. Those most affected by intersecting racial and economic injustice often face the fewest viable options for safe relocation. The idea that families can just move to safer states or countries to protect their trans children presumes access to wealth documentation and freedom of movement. This acknowledgement demands a recognition that some individuals are fixed in place by racial capitalism settler colonialism or migration status. And so when thinking about these families and these children, we need to think also about the liberatory infrastructures where people are, not just where they might flee to through the creation of networks of solidarity, of care collectives, and local resistance that accounts for immobility as a structural condition, not as a personal failure.

Meanwhile, parents who speak publicly risk harassment and political attacks with their private medical decisions subjected to public scrutiny and debate. This surveillance is especially acute for families of non-white trans youth whose bodies are frequently rendered hyper-visible by the media as symbols of social crisis, of deviance or moral decline.

Parents choosing to stay out of the limelight, particularly black, brown and indigenous families, not because they lack care or engagement but because visibility intensifies the dangers of violence and exploitation. When anti-trans rhetoric intensifies, these families are among the first to feel its consequences. Their navigation of healthcare, education, and social systems exposes the systemic gaps and barriers that affect other marginalized groups as well.

As Reina Gossett, a queer transgender artist asserts, visibility is a trap, it creates an illusion of inclusion while intensifying vulnerability for those already marginalized. She speaks to the dangers of hyper-visibility for racialized trans people, dismantling the notion that visibility, for example, media attention or legal recognition automatically equals safety, is dismantled especially in volatile climates where black and brown trans bodies are surveilled, criminalized or politicized. Gossett really encapsulates why silence may be chosen over speech. When public attention increases surveillance and vulnerability, silence becomes a refusal to be consumed, to be co-opted or criminalized.

In a climate where schools and governments and media monitor trans kids and their families, silence can resist being co-opted, criminalized or sensationalized. Choosing not to testify, choosing not to post online, choosing not to speak publicly about a child’s identity or medical care isn’t passivity. It’s a strategy. It’s about refusing to feed systems that refuse, that reduce their lives to political battlegrounds. Silence becomes a form of care shielding trans youth from state media or public scrutiny. It’s also an act of refusal of the demand to always explain to justify or expose trans existence to satisfy cis normative curiosity or political debate.

By withholding information, parents can be carving out safer spaces for joy, transition or growth away from hostile visibility. Silence helps preserve dignity when the public sphere reduces trans-lives to spectacles. Silence is a counter surveillance tactic controlling what’s shared and with whom on whose terms for surviving in a landscape of hostile visibility. It’s not a retreat but a protective pause, a boundry around trans-joy transition and growth. Strategic silence can be a powerful tool of world-making, one that resists force visibility, embraces care and cultivates alternative ways of being and belonging in the face of trans antagonistic systems. It says we don’t owe you our child’s story. We’re busy building a better world for our child. And this is strategic invisibility as boundry-setting. It resists the assumption that transness must be made legible or palatable to audiences in order to be protected or valid.

Reading

ASKING FOR HELP
by Quinn Gormley

“It is revolutionary for any trans person to choose to be seen and visible in a world that tells us we should not exist.”

-Laverne Cox

I locked myself out of my car recently. I called a garage and they sent a technician. Apparently, he tried to call me on the way over and I missed it. He left a voicemail, which meant he heard my message: “Hello, you’ve reached Quinn at the Maine Transgender Network.”

My trans status isn’t a secret. Being public about it is part of my job. But being public and being out to random men on the side of a quiet, rural road are very different things.

He arrived and we wrestled back into my Subaru. After handing over my insurance card, he got quiet for a minute. Nervously he asked, “You do the rainbow thing?”

It took me a second to put the pieces together. I froze for a moment. This question doesn’t usually end well. Tentatively I answered, “Yeah, I do the rainbow thing … Is that a problem?”

He shook his head and took a deep breath. And then he started to talk.

His kid came out a few nights ago and wants to transition. He’s very worried. He watches the news. He knows how trans kids get treated. i do too. I was a trans kid. I released the breath I’d been holding. This was a conversation I know how to have.

We talked for a while about how cruel the world is, about how his kid might very well get hurt. Lots do. He’s afraid to let them transition. But then we talked about how we can’t control the world. His kid is different and might get hurt either way. “So why not let them control what happiness they can? You can teach them how to handle the rest.” We talked about how happy kids are safer kids, because happy kids have adults they can ask for help.

A hug, a trading of numbers, and a few tissues later and he was on his way to the store to buy his son a clip-on tie and those Spider-Man shoes he didn’t give him for his birthday.

Sometimes the story does end well.

Video

ALL IN FOR EQUALITY DAY
By Joelle Espeut

My name is Joelle Espeut. My pronouns are she/her, also high girl, icy girl, city girl, material girl, and I am privileged to hail all the way from Houston, Texas.

And I just wanted to say I am a woman of many things. I am a community advocate. I am an around-the-way girl. I’m a fashionista. I’m an unapologetic black trans woman. Just a name a few. We are in Uncertainty Dark Con. Yes, yes, it’s real tricky right now. But that is not what I’m here to talk about. I’m here to speak about joy, hope and possibility-models.

Joy because even in the face of adversity and darkness and despair, we absolutely deserve to experience joy.

The hope that we lean into is the hope when we envision and imagine and think expansively about what our world can look like because we absolutely will prevail.

And possibility-models, because I, a black trans woman, will continue to stand and be a possibility-model for what can happen when you stand unapologetically and authentically in your trans-ness and in your identity.

And so because of that, and because of who we are, I want everyone here to lean into joy, hope, and possibility-models because that is where we will find liberation. Not just for trans people, but liberation for all.

Thank you.

Extinguishing the Chalice

We extinguish this flame, but not the light of truth, the warmth of community, or the fire of commitment. These we hold in our hearts until we are together again.

Benediction

The challenges that we face, the work that we face, will be like eating an elephant. But I tell people that the way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. One bite at a time and we will win. So to recap, it will get better, stand together, unite, take care of yourself, take care of your community. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. When I say we’ve always been here, you say hell yeah, we’ve always been here, hell yeah, We’ve always been here! We’ve always been here!

– Anna Nguyen


SERMON INDEX

Most sermons during the past 25 years are available online through this website. Click on the index link above 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.

PODCASTS

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

Holy Ground

Listen to the sermon by clicking the play button above.

Rev. Michelle LaGrave
March 23, 2025
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

Join us for a restful service full of stories and music about finding Holy Ground. Rev. Michelle LaGrave weaves together a tapestry of stories accompanied by the atmospheric/symphonic stylings of music guests Thor & Friends. Take some time for rest and reflection in the midst of an increasingly chaotic world.


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

by Macrina Wiederkehr (adapted)

My bare feet walk the earth reverently for everything keeps crying.
Take off your shoes.
The ground you stand on is holy.
The ground of your being is holy.

When the wind sings through the pines like a breath of God, awakening you to the sacred present, take off your shoes.

When the sun rises, coloring your world with dawn, put on your garment of adoration, take off your shoes.

When the red maple drops its last leaf of summer, wearing its burning bush robes no longer, read between its barren bushes and take off your shoes.

When a new person comes into your life like a mystery about to unfold, and you find yourself marveling over the frailty and splendor of every human being, take off your shoes.

When, during the wee hours of the night, You drive slowly into the new day and the morning’s fog, like angel wings, hovers mysteriously above you, take off your shoes.

Take off your shoes of distraction.
Take off your shoes of ignorance and blindness.
Take off your shoes of hurry and worry.
Take off anything that prevents you from being a child of wonder.
Take off your shoes.

The ground you stand or sit or walk or roll-on is holy.

Affirming Our Mission

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

NOTE: This is an edited ai generated transcript.
Please forgive any omissions or errors.

Story for all ages

“MOSES”

So, I’m going to tell you a story today that is really, really old. People have been telling this story for more than 2 ,000 years, and eventually it got written down in both the Jewish Bible, also known as the Hebrew Scriptures, or the Torah, and the Christian Bible in what is called the Old Testament. It’s a story about someone called Moses.

So Moses was living with his wife and his father-in-law in an area near Mount Horab, and he was taking care of his father-in-law’s sheep. His father-in-law was the priest of Midian, and he was taking care of the sheep, which means that he was sort of following them around and making sure that nothing bad happened to the sheep. He was acting as a shepherd. So he was wandering around in the wilderness with his father-in-law’s sheep, and Then, for whatever reason, he decided to take a little detour and head up on Mount Horab with all the sheep, and that was a mountain that was known as the mountain of God.

And while he was walking on the mountain, all of a sudden he saw a bush that looked like it was on fire. But, Even though it looked like it was on fire, the bush wasn’t burning up. All the leaves were still green. Pretty weird, huh? So Moses said to himself, “I must turn aside and go over and look at this bush that is burning but not burning up.” And you know what he saw when he looked at the bush? It wasn’t really on fire. There was an angel in the bush, and it wasn’t one of those angels that we think of today with a white gown and white wings and a golden halo. It was an angel that looked like it was on fire. It was so bright, it was hard to look at the angel.

And then, as if that weren’t enough, all of a sudden, Moses heard the voice of God. And God said, “Moses, Moses.” And Moses said, “Here I am.” And then God said, “Come no closer. Remove the sandals from your feet because the place you are standing on is holy ground.” So Moses took off his sandals.

And God said, “I am God, the God of your father, the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and he had to tell him which God he was because back then they believed that different people had different gods so he had to identify himself and Moses got afraid and hid his face because back then people thought that if you looked at God you might die. So God was, so Moses was really afraid. God is talking to him. This bush is not really on fire. He’s hiding his face. He’s got his sandals off.

So, God then said, “I have seen the misery of my people who are slaves in Egypt, and I am going to send you, Moses, to free them from slavery.”

And Moses said, “What if they don’t believe me? “What if they don’t Think that I’m really coming from you. I don’t I don’t even know who you are, What do I tell them? What is your name? and God said “I am who I am.” which it sounds a little interesting in English. In Hebrew what they wrote down is the four letters, the four consonants of God’s name, which are Yodhe, Vavhe, and which looks kind of like, sounds kind of like YVHV in English.

But you know what, they didn’t write down the vowels. So nobody really knows how to say it anyway. So now we just call God “God”.

But he said, “I am who I am. Tell them, tell those people, my people down in Egypt who are in slavery, I am has sent me to you.” This is my name forever and my title for all generations.

The reason this is important today is Two things. We’re talking about holy ground through the whole rest of the service. But also, do you remember a couple of weeks ago we had a child dedication. And, in a couple of weeks, Easter and Passover are coming up. And so we’re going to have the baby parade that we always have on Easter. But before that, we’re going to have another child dedication for, I don’t know, at least three more kids. I’m not sure how many yet.

Do you remember what we did at the beginning of the child dedication, those of you who are here? before we made the promises to the children, before we told them that we would look out for them and take care of them and help them learn and grow. The first thing we did, We said the child’s name. We asked the parents what is the name of your child and they gave us the child’s full name.

So naming is very important. When Moses learned the name of God, God told him he was standing on holy ground. And when we learn your names, when you are dedicated and then we make promises to you, we are also on holy ground. It’s a really special and sacred moment in the time of your life and we’re gonna promise to take care of you all the way until you’re grown up and then you’re gonna help take care of the kids who come next.

Story

BY Stephen Huyle

A damp chill pervades the air as Amita wends her way down the dark street to the river. For warmth, she pulls her sari about her head and adjusts her light wool shawl more tightly around her shoulders. Then she reaches down with both hands to pull her two young children along with her. They stumble sleepily as she guides them through the narrow passageways. Just above the river, she stops quickly to buy a small lamp made of a curled dry leaf. In its center, a dob of clarified butter holds a wick.

The three sidle through the huddled bodies of unidentifiable figures and down the ancient stone steps that run as far as they can see along the river’s edge. Steps grooved through centuries of use, and then the black expanse of the river fills their gaze and they slip off their sandals and walk down the last steps into the icy cold water.

The children are reluctant, their teeth chattering, their mother is determined, intent on fulfilling this ritual which begins each day of her life. They wash their bodies and their clothes with soap. All the while the sky has been lightening.

Across the river, the promise of sunrise turns the water from deep purple to rich blues tinged with orange, the shivering three steps again into the water, which now seems warm compared to the biting air. Amita is immersed to her knees, Minu and Bablu to their waists. Together they sing prayers to the goddess Ganga, who is also the river.

They visualize her magnificence, her nurturing presence as the purifier and mother of all existence. With a match, Minu lights the small leaf lamp and gently floats it out before them. At that moment, the sun’s first rays peek above the sandy horizon. And they begin singing to the sun god Sarya, the source of all energy, the great provider.

Story

“EMILY”

There once was a cow named Emily, a very frightened cow, who found herself in a slaughterhouse. She was next in line when all of a sudden, the lunch whistle blew and the workers took a break.

Well, Emily saw her chance and made her own break for it, leaping in a very uncow-like manner, right over a five foot high fence and heading for the woods. When she got to the woods, she ran with a herd of deer, all the while eluding capture by both Slaughterhouse workers and the local police.

Meanwhile, and unbeknownst to Emily, Emily’s escape made headlines. People everywhere heard Emily’s story and fell in love with the cow who had rescued herself from imminent death. In the midst of all this hubbub, a group of people came together to try to rescue Emily and after some negotiation, she was purchased for a dollar. Later, when Emily’s saviors pulled up to the edge of the woods with their truck and after having wandered in the wilderness for 40 days. Emily was ready for her ordeal to end. Encouraged with some buckets of grain, Emily walked up the ramp and was brought to her new home on the grounds of the Peace Abbey in a town called Sherborn in Massachusetts.

Emily lived for several more years and was credited by many as a teacher of love and compassion and a source of inspiration for change and growth. When Emily eventually died, she was buried on the grounds of the Peace Abbey, not far from a statue of Gandhi. Her grave is now marked by a bronze life-sized statue and clippings from her hair and a sacred thread from her ear have been released in the Ganges River. People still make pilgrimages to visit her grave.

Story

“FERRY BEACH”

It is summer, and I am spending the week at Ferry Beach, one of our UU camp and conference centers located on the coast of Maine. I awake to a beautiful, bright, sunny, and warm day and head to the beach as soon as I am dressed. I cross the boardwalk, slip out of my flip-flops, and quickly head down to the water’s edge.

There I stand with my feet buried in the sand and the waves lapping at my legs. This is my favorite place to meditate and pray, while standing and gazing out over the vast expanse of the ocean.

This morning, though, the sun is exceptionally bright and since it is early, low on the water. The sun and the sun’s reflection on the water are so bright that I cannot see the ocean before me. When I try, my eyes hurt and water and I am forced to lower my head so that I see only my toes and the water surrounding me. In this posture I remain for a long time, recognizing the humility inherent in the pose, sensing its foreignness to both myself and my culture.

And I wonder, here I am, standing before the sun and the ocean, feeling the immense power of both, forced into an attitude of deference and humility, which I cannot choose to overcome, sure of turning and walking way. And I wonder, is this how Moses would have felt barefoot and face hidden standing before God? And I wonder, is this how Amida feels every morning of her life as she stands in the sacred waters of the river, bending to light and release her lamp. And I feel connected to those who have gone before me and will come after me, to those who also experience awe and wonder and humility. Eventually I turn and slowly climb up the beach, replace my sandals, wash my feet, and return to my daily study of routine and learning.

I return to the beach often. For me, these visits are a reenactment of my own sacred creation story. As I take off my shoes and move lightly and quickly down to the water’s edge, I return to the primordial waters, to the murky origins of myself and my species. As I play and swim, I remember my origins, back when my kind were still fish in the sea.

When I finally emerge from the water and climb back up the beach, I wonder, at this struggle it always is to leave the water behind. And I imagine how difficult those first evolutionary transitions, those first climbs up onto the beach must have been. And I feel awe at those first changes from fish to amphibian. I think, then, that I understand the dolphin, a mammal who once on land chose to return to the sea. I understand for I too feel these urges, for I too feel the call of the deep, and I know. I know the power of this holy ground.

Message

In all of these stories, there is a common experience of standing or walking on holy ground. For Moses it is at Mount Horrib, for Amida in the River Ganges, for Emily and later her pilgrims on the grounds of the Peace Abby, for myself at the ocean’s edge.

At various times and in various ways we all visit holy ground. In doing so, some of us take off our shoes. Some of us come face-to-face with God. Some of us commune with the cosmos. Some of us come face-to-face with our own salvation.

I imagine there are many, many other stories about holy ground which I could tell. People of many faiths walk labyrinths, pagans cast circles, Hindus draw sacred diagrams called kolams near the entryways of their homes. Surgeons place special covers over their shoes before entering operating rooms. Walking, standing, rolling, or simply being on holy ground is a common human experience, one that many of us share.

When we visit holy ground, we experience awe and wonder. We ponder the great mysteries of life. We feel the force of evolution. We sense the power which emerges from our collective humanity, the power of change and growth, of inspiration and creativity and of love. We need not embark on a pilgrimage to far off lands to visit Holy Ground. Holy Ground is available to us at all times and in all places.

Holy Ground is here in this sanctuary; out there in the art gallery; around the corner at Howson Hall where we visit with each other after the service; down that hallway there where the children meet for classes and staff work to fulfill the mission of this congregation; out on the playgrounds and in the youth room; in your homes, and in so many, many places.

It is we who must set an intention to understand the ground we happen upon is holy. It is we who must pay attention. An experience of the sacred of the Holy is available to us at any time, anywhere. When I received my call to ministry, I was not at a pilgrimage to a sacred site or standing at the ocean’s edge. I was sitting at my dining room table reading a magazine. Moving to an Understanding of the ground we find ourselves upon as sacred or holy grounds can feel risky. And it’s not a journey to be undertaken lightly.

When we visit holy grounds, we confront the nature of life and death. We gain insight. We become self-aware. We come face-to-face with those parts of ourselves and others we had not previously known. We realize our human nature. We may even come to know God.

Where is your holy ground? Where do you take off your shoes? When do you bow your head?

As Unitarian Universalists, it is our religious duty to follow the paths each of us finds sacred to ourselves. These paths are incredibly diverse, take many forms and lead in many directions. They are all holy. As together we navigate the triumphs and tribulations of this great mystery we call human life. We are blessed to be able to join together in this community of faith, which honors such divergent understandings of the human, of the divine, of the holy. May we be so blessed evermore.

Amen and blessed be.

Extinguishing the Chalice

We extinguish this flame, but not the light of truth, the warmth of community, or the fire of commitment. These we hold in our hearts until we are together again.

Benediction

Open your eyes, your ears, your hearts, your minds, your spirits. The ground you sit, stand, walk, roll, dance, crawl upon is holy. As you remember, as you leave this place, remember you are blessed. The holy, the sacred, is available to you at all times and in all places. Go forth, blessing all others as you yourselves are now blessed. Amen and blessed be.


SERMON INDEX

Most sermons during the past 25 years are available online through this website. Click on the index link above 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.

PODCASTS

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

Rest

Listen to the sermon by clicking the play button above.

Rev. Michelle LaGrave
March 16, 2025
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

Rest has long been a spiritual practice or even a religious mandate of many people. Yet, life can feel so busy that we imagine there is no time to rest. How might we come to a better sense of balance in our lives that honors the need to rest?


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

YOU ARE NEVER ALONE
by Sharon Wylie

It is okay to be tired of change
It is okay to be tired of everything different
Okay to feel weary of resiliency and wholeness and learning and growth
And okay to yearn simply for rest
It’s okay to be grouchy and unsatisfied
And all the ordinary human ways of being that we are
Let this morning be a reminder that you are loved
Let our time together soothe what is restless in you
May you be comforted in knowing that whatever you are
feeling today and other days
You are not alone. You are never alone.

Come, let us worship together.

Affirming Our Mission

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

Reading

REST IS RESISTANCE: A MANIFESTO (Excerpted)
by Tricia Hersey

Tricia Hersey, also known as The Nap Bishop, is the founder of The Nap Ministry. Hersey makes a historical connection between slavery and contemporary grind culture and views rest as one form of reparations for Black people. She holds a Master of Divinity degree as well as a bachelor’s degree in Public Health.

Everything we know about rest has been tainted by the brainwashing from a white supremacist, capitalist system. As a culture, we don’t know how to rest, and our understanding of rest has been influenced by the toxicity of grind culture. We believe rest is a luxury, privilege, and an extra treat we can give to ourselves after suffering from exhaustion and sleep deprivation. Rest isn’t a luxury, but an absolute necessity if we’re going to survive and thrive. Rest isn’t an afterthought, but a basic part of being human. Rest is a divine right. Rest is a human right. We come into the world prepared to love, care, and rest. The systems kill us slowly via capitalism and white supremacy. Rest must interrupt. Like hope, rest is disruptive, it allows space for us to envision new possibilities. We must reimagine rest within a capitalist system.

Sermon

NOTE: This is an edited ai generated transcript.
Please forgive any omissions or errors.

The Torah, the Tanakh, the Hebrew Scriptures, the Christian Bible, whatever it is you call these most ancient of the Jewish and Christian texts, they all begin, as most stories do, bear a sheet and The first story that is told about the creation of the world of our world and How after six days of work? God rested on the seventh God rested. God who some theologians later came to describe as omnipotent, got tired and had to rest.

So I ask if God, Godself, can get tired and need to rest, who are we not to? Who are we to say that we don’t need to rest, that there’s too much to be done that we can rest later. After X, Y, and Z things have been done, of course. Who are we to tie our self -worth, our sense of value, into how much and how quickly we get things done?

Notice the words I’ve used here, self-worth, and value. These are also monetary terms, which is no accident. Our Western Judeo and Christian history of laboring for people other than ourselves or our own communities is long and fraught and goes back to ancient times. When God gave Moses the Ten Commandments, God took some extra time to specify exactly what God meant by saying, “On the seventh day, you should rest.” Not just you should rest, but your sons and your daughters, your male and your female slaves, your livestock and alien residents in your community. Everyone must refrain from work. Everyone must rest. No exceptions.

We know why, right? Because people are people, even ancient times, and because we know that somebody was going to try to get away with resting themselves while requiring other people to work.

In more recent history, our track record is no better and likely worse. With the rise of capitalism as it moves through its various stages, much of this nation’s wealth was created by people who were oppressed in many ways, especially blacks who were enslaved, but also indigenous people who were enslaved, white indentured servants, and white people who did not own property and could not vote, which included all women and all children for centuries.

The dominant culture of our nation has valued production, the more, the better, the faster, in terms of creating wealth. And it has done so for centuries, regardless of the cost, the cost, or the toll, the toll, more monetary terms. It has taken on human bodies and human souls. The more wealth, the better. The faster we acquire the wealth, the better.

And this has spilled over into our other aspects of our lives as well. Not just the creation of wealth, but also the arts. Think of ballet, the ballerinas with bleeding feet for our entertainment. Sports, think of any of them, but especially football, even our learning. The more difficult, the better, the higher numerical grade, the better, the faster we move ahead, the better, and our academia. The more journal articles and books published, the better, the more the better. It is all over the place.

So what do we do about all of this?

  • The first thing is to acknowledge that this idea, this value, the more the better, is one aspect of the dominant culture in our country.
  • Next thing is to acknowledge that this aspect, the more the better, is a problem. It exists and it’s a problem.
  • And finally, the work is to dismantle this aspect of our culture. Stop putting such a high value on the more the better.

After all, look at where it’s gotten us. to right here, exactly where we are with billionaires running our country, some of them not even elected.

 

And for those of you who haven’t picked up on it yet or aren’t familiar with the work of Tima Okun and others, I am talking about dismantling one of the toxins of white supremacy culture. I know that phrase white supremacy culture is really hard. It’s really challenging and difficult. So I talk about dominant culture instead a lot. But it’s the same thing. To do this, it is helpful to look to the leadership of those who have been most adversely impacted by this culture, by toxins like the more, the better, the faster, the better. Enter Trisha Hersey, author of the reading you shared with us earlier today from her book, This is resistance, a manifesto.

Slowing down our grind culture, turning away from the focus on production, dismantling the constant push of the more, the better. It’s not only good for our bodies and our souls, it is also an act of resistance. A bill of reparations owed, an act of allyship, and a deeply theological imperative.

One of the places we have begun this work is right here in our church, because the more the better has been true here, right? We count the number of programs the church offers. we count the number of people who show up to a program at the church. We count the number of minutes there are in a sermon or a worship service. And we make judgments on those. The sermon’s probably the only one which the longer the better might not hold true. (audience laughing) The exception to prove the rule. And by the way, this morning will be shorter than my usual so that you have a little more time to rest on your Sunday.

I know. I know how much there is to be done in all of our lives and in this country and in this world and from so many, many perspectives, I know how easy it is to feel a sense of overwhelm. I feel it, too. I struggle with finding enough rest, too. Sometimes that’s why we preach these sermons, is because we need to preach to ourselves. This is one of those cases.

We all feel the overwhelm, and we should know that we aren’t the first to feel this way. When the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. felt the weight of the struggle for change and justice, and its attendant exhaustion, and the fear for his own life that he lived under. He turned to a particular hymn, his favorite, “Precious Lord, Take My Hands,” which we will sing together shortly.

And as you go forth a little bit later today, after eating some pie, I encourage you to continue to explore. We began with our kids earlier today, the many, many ways of resting. Sleep, yeah. Sure, get plenty of that, but not just sleep. Find other ways to rest, too. And as you do, remember that in your resting and in your insistence upon rest, you are doing the work of the resistance. You are not taking a break from doing the work of the resistance; by resting, you are resisting.

May it be so. Amen and Blessed be.

Extinguishing the Chalice

We extinguish this flame, but not the light of truth, the warmth of community, or the fire of commitment. These we hold in our hearts until we are together again.

Benediction

by Tricia Hersey

You are worthy of rest. We don’t have to earn rest. Rest is not a luxury, a privilege, or a bonus we must wait for once we are burned out … Rest is not a privilege because our bodies are still our own, no matter what the current systems teach us. The more we think of rest as a luxury, the more we buy into the systematic lies of grind culture. Our bodies and Spirits do not belong to capitalism, no matter how it is theorized and presented. Our divinity secures this, and it is our right to claim this boldly

Whether you are a resistor, or an ally, or a little bit of both, … Go, boldly claiming your divine right to rest and in doing so, bless all others as you yourselves are blessed.

Amen and Blessed Be.


SERMON INDEX

Most sermons during the past 25 years are available online through this website. Click on the index link above 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.

PODCASTS

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

Building Communities of Trust

Listen to the sermon by clicking the play button above.

Rev. Michelle LaGrave
March 9 2025
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

Trust is an important component of beloved community. How are communities of trust built? kept? restored? What does it look like when a community leads with trust in each other and the greater community?


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 LONGING FOR SOMETHING MORE
by Gretchen Haley

Every little thing that breaks your heart
is welcome here
We’ll make a space for it
Give it its due time
and praise
for the wanting it represents
the longing for something more,
some healing hope that remains
not
yet

We promise no magic
no making it all better
But offer only this circle of trust
This human community
that remembers
Though imperfectly
that sings and prays
though sometimes
awkwardly

This gathering that loves,
though not yet enough
We’re still practicing
After all,
still learning,
still in need of help
and partners
Still becoming
able
to receive
all this beauty
and all these gifts
we each bring

Come, let us worship together.

Affirming Our Mission

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

First Reading

LIFT OUR VOICES #120
by Erica Hewitt

I don’t have anything to say.

Well, I do, but it might not be interesting to anyone.

I have secrets inside of me and struggles, and I don’t know if I’m ready to share them.

I want to hear what you have to say.

I want to speak of the deepest things together.

I want to hear what you dream about, what you hope for.

I want to know how you have come to arrive at this resting point along your journey.

What if I speak and you don’t understand me?

I will listen and listen again until my hearing becomes understanding.

What if I can’t find the words to share the world inside of me?

I believe that wise words will emerge from you.

How can I trust you to hold my life’s stories? You, who I may not even know.

By knowing that as I receive part of your story, I will give you part of mine.

How will this work? What will happen? What awaits us?

We can find out anything by beginning.

Let us begin to listen and trust and to deeply know one another.

May it be so.

Second Reading

by adrienne maree brown

trust the people who move towards you and already feel like home.
trust the people to let you rest.
trust the people to do everything better than you could have imagined.
trust the people and they become trustworthy.
trust that the people are doing their work to trust themselves.
trust that each breach of trust can deepen trust or clarify boundaries.
trust the people who revel in pleasure after hard work.
trust the people who let children teach, remind us how to emote,
be still, and laugh.
trust the people who see and hold your heart.
trust the people who listen to the whales.
trust the people and you will become trustworthy.
trust the people and show them your love.
trust the people.

Sermon

NOTE: This is an edited ai generated transcript.
Please forgive any omissions or errors.

This morning I Will begin with an assertion Followed by many many questions Which in turn are sprinkled with a few stories and Almost no answers Our topic today is trust, specifically building communities of trust. And it is one that is particularly tender during this time, I think. And we are going to sort of preach this sermon together. So are you ready for something a little different, a little more participatory? We’ve got things for the introverts and for the extroverts today.

My assertion is this. Trust is an essential component of beloved community. If trust is not present, beloved community is not possible. Beloved community or communities are communities of trust, trust like beloved community must be built, created, and when broken restored. The higher the level of trust, the closer we come to true beloved community.

So I’ll repeat my assertion because this is the foundation of what we are going to do together this morning and it was kind of a lot packed into a few sentences. Trust is an essential component of beloved community. If trust is not present, beloved community is not possible. Beloved community, or communities, while we’re working on the greater community, are communities of trust. And trust, like beloved community, must be built, created, and when broken, restored. The higher the level of trust, the closer we come to true beloved community.

So my first questions, these are for the introverts because I’ll say them a couple of times and then I’ll pause for a few moments of quiet reflection. We have ideas about what beloved community might mean that come from the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and it has been many decades since we lost Dr. King and so ideas about beloved community have evolved since then.

So what does beloved community mean to you? And what is the role of trust in building Beloved Community? What does Beloved Community mean to you? Now, today. And what is the role of trust?

Next questions. How do we build trust? How do we create it? This is the participatory part where we get some ideas flowing. Reverend Aaron will call on a few people, let’s say maybe three, to share their ideas and then repeat what they’ve said into the microphone so we can all hear both in this room and online.

For those of you who are online, you can type your thoughts into the chat if that’s available to you and your method and begin a parallel discussion to ours here in the sanctuary. So here are the questions again. How do we build trust? In other words, where trust is already present, how do we increase or build our level of trust with each other? And how do we create trust? In other words, when we meet people for the first time or they are new to us, how do we begin the process of trusting each other? How do we build? How do we create trust? Some ideas.

So I think you can create trust with new people by using the platinum rule to treat others the way they want to be treated. And if people see that you treat them the way that they like to be treated, they might trust you more. Awesome.

Okay, Nick said that with new people in particular, but with anyone, right, we can create trust with the platinum rule. And if you haven’t heard of the platinum rule, that’s treat others the way they would like to be treated, right? So that requires us to invite them to tell us and to notice how they’d like to be treated. Thank you, Nick.

LP, who has an amazing bow, said that one way that we can build communal trust is through shared cooking and that sacred process of breaking bread together. Thank you.

Inconveniencing yourself for others so that people know when they really do need to ask that you’ve demonstrated that they won’t be a burden and you’re willing to do things. So did I kind of get that close? Awesome, thank you.

Russell said, “To really sincerely be open when you meet someone to demonstrate that sincerity and openness in your listening.” And I felt that in your responsiveness as well, a quality of presence and openness. Thank you all, thank you.

Thank you. Those are some wonderful ideas to get started.

  • So yes, we can allow ourselves to be known. We can share our stories, we can open ourselves to those more vulnerable places inside that go even deeper, help us move even deeper into relationship.
  • We can listen deeply without judging, without interrupting, without spending our time while listening, actually planning to say what we’re going to, how we’re going to respond.
  • We can hold confidences when they are shared with us.
  • We can act with integrity, which is one of our UU values.

And I think we can see, without my saying too much about it, why if my assertion about trust is true, our chalice circles and wellspring groups, which for those of you who are new, are small group ministries where people share deeply about monthly themes like trust, which is this month’s theme, are so important. They’re not just important for our spiritual growth, but also for building trust and building the health of our community.

 

So, I have a story. Long ago, just before I headed out to seminary, I was a preschool teacher. And one day I was presented with an opportunity to get to know one of the teachers better. I shared with her, confidentially, that I had felt called to ministry and would be going to seminary in the fall. Not long after that conversation, I got called to the office and asked about my future plans. The other teacher had betrayed my trust and shared with the director that I would be leaving.

An uncomfortable conversation ensued and I shared my plans with the director in a way and with a timing that I had not chosen. I was hurt and what I thought of as a newly developing friendship was damaged. I later came to understand that she was operating out of what she thought of as the best interests of the students and the school. She did not want me to wait too long to share my news and risk my position going unfilled. Of course, I would have preferred she come to me with her concern and share that and encourage me to share my news instead of doing it for me.

But I need to honor within myself that she did have good intentions. And what she did not know was that I was considering two options, one that would have required me to move away and live on campus and leave my position as a teacher and the other which was nearby and would have allowed me to take classes in the evening and maintain my job teaching during the day for the next few years. I had not shared my plans with the director because I had not yet decided which path I would take to becoming a minister. And then I felt rushed in making that decision because the director then wanted to know.

At the time, I did not have the skills to address this break in relationship with the other teacher. If I had I would have asked her to share with me why she made the decision she did and listen to what she had to say and then I would have shared my perspective including my feelings of hurt and betrayal and also the missing information she did not have and then to ask if there was a way we could restore our relationship.

So I’m not naive. I think few of us are. We know that every time we choose to trust, we are choosing risk. There is always the possibility that confidences will be broken, that our trust will be betrayed. Trust is broken in ways little and big all the time. We are imperfect humans. The key is to trust each other enough to work to restore trust, to do the work of repair, and to know that sometimes this doesn’t happen, that the work of repair doesn’t happen, that people can and do decline our overtures to restore relationship. And still we must find a way to be at peace with their decision, a decision which is outside of our control. And yet still all remain in beloved community together.

We also want to acknowledge that sometimes in certain very extreme circumstances we really need to shift how we understand trust for our own spiritual and mental health. There are, after all, people who are sociopaths and psychopaths out there in this world. Yes, I’m using the lay terms here.

In these circumstances, when someone is incapable of being trustworthy in the way we usually think of trustworthiness, we can still trust them to be who they actually are. I learned this from speaking with someone recently about the challenge of finding hope within our current political climate. She shared with me that she trusts a particular leader to mess up so badly at some point that he will actually wind up creating an opening for change. She trusts him to be who he actually is instead of who she wishes he would be, and she does it in a way that creates hope. She trusts him to mess up, to create the opening, and therein lies the hope.

By the way, since this is a sermon after all, faith is actually trust, plus an element of the transcendent. Whether that is God or some universal force bigger than ourselves. So it would also be appropriate if you’d like to think of all of this in the terms of the word faith.

So returning to relationships here in this congregation, in this community, with people being people, with people being imperfect, with people being prone to messing up unintentionally or otherwise. Can we trust that when trust is broken, as it will be, that we have a covenant and a team and processes that can help us find a way through to restoring relationships?

Can we trust that when we do the work of restoration, Sometimes we don’t do it as well or as smoothly as we’d like, and yet there still is integrity to engaging that process. Can we trust that this congregation or whatever other setting you may find yourself in is healthy enough to allow for places of discomfort, such as when apologies or olive branches are not immediately accepted. Can we trust this congregation, this community, to still hold and love us all, to know and accept that we all belong even in our imperfection.

There’s a lot to think about and I don’t have all of the answers. I am looking to all of you to help with finding the answers within. Especially since I will be leaving soon and this will remain your community, but not mine. I will say that I do believe you can do this, that I have faith in all of you.

One last story, and then a final challenge. I once worked at a church as an interim. You know that I’ve moved from church to church to church traveling around the country doing this interim work specialized work. And as usual I began with a startup workshop where a consultant from the UUA’s regional office came in and worked with all of us about roles and responsibility and making sure we had clarity about who had the authority and expectation to do what between the minister and the board and the congregation and the RE teacher. So in this case, the consultant asked the assembled group, the congregation, if it was okay for the ministers to speak up on their have. This was meant to be a provocative question that would open a great deal of discussion. Instead, the response was, “Yeah, of course. We trust our ministers to speak up for us.” The consultant was a bit flabbergasted because most of our congregations do not allow for this.

And this is where the challenge comes in. First UU is one of those congregations that prohibits its ministers from speaking up in public on their behalf. Ministers are free only to speak for themselves. It’s a little bit of splitting hairs when you’re out there in public to say I speak only for myself, but I am the minister of this congregation. People don’t really hear it that way anyway. This has been how it has been in most UU congregations. But I wonder, I wonder if it’s time for a change. We are living in a world and in a nation which is rapidly changing. We are living in a time of rising fascism.

The prohibition of ministers speaking up on behalf of their congregations may have served its purpose and its time, and there may have been reasons for it, good, valid reasons. But is it still helpful now? Does this time call for something different? For a new way of being in the world? What would it be like to trust your ministers to speak up with the full weight of the congregation behind them? Out there in the public square while we are fighting authoritarianism and fascism.

What would it be like to trust your ministers to be able to speak up immediately about the wrongs they see in the world and in this nation without having to go through a many months long process of congregational discernment and resolution making. What would it be like to trust your ministers to be able to judge for themselves when a particular issue is too sensitive to speak out about immediately and to trust that the ministers will take you through that process of congregational discernment when necessary. What would it be like to be able to trust on this level?

There are stories in this congregation and in all of our congregations about ministers being human, that’s a rumor, from making relatively minor mistakes to doing serious harm to outright misconduct. What would it look like for a congregation, for this congregation, to fully heal from the past, to accept that mistakes were made, that problems arose, and then to trust that a new way can be made.

This, by the way, especially for those of you visiting with us today, applies just as well to our families and our workplaces as it does our congregation. What would you as a congregation or some other group of people be able to do in this world if your leaders were well and fully trusted? What would you be able to do in this world if you well and fully trusted each other?

I don’t have all the answers for you. Just a few ideas and a lot of questions. What I do know, though, is that whatever you would be able to do with this level of trust would be nothing short of absolutely transformative, just like it says right up there in your mission. Transform lives. And I have faith that this community can find a way.

Amen and blessed be.

Extinguishing the Chalice

We extinguish this flame, but not the light of truth, the warmth of community, or the fire of commitment. These we hold in our hearts until we are together again.

Benediction

May we remember that trust, like love, grows in small moments:
In promises kept and confidences held,
In boundaries respected and amends made,
In showing up again and again.
May we be brave enough to risk trust,
Patient enough to build it slowly,
And gentle with ourselves and others when it breaks.
Amen.

by the Rev. Angeline C. Jackson

SERMON INDEX

Most sermons during the past 25 years are available online through this website. Click on the index link above 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.

PODCASTS

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

Joy is Resistance

Listen to the sermon by clicking the play button above.

Rev. Kiya Heartwood
March 2, 2025
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

In these challenging times, Joy is one of our super powers. Learning to stay in the struggle with rest, community, and joy. That’s how we win.


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

Joy doesn’t betray but sustains activism. And when you face a politics that aspires to make you fearful, alienated, and isolated, joy is a final act of insurrection.

– Rebecca Solnit

Affirming Our Mission

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

Reading

God of Shadows, our fear of the unknown keeps us from moving at all. Help us not to know. Protect our minds when anxious thoughts about the future refuse to leave us alone.

Deepen our breath. Bring us into communities who can be trusted when they tell us we are safe. Comfort us when our minds become frenzied trying to determine what we cannot possibly know.

When questions of what is to come or who will stay with us haunt us, make us kind with our own self-talk, tender to our bodies, loving with all we do have control over. When no amount of courage can diminish fear’s power over us, remind us that we too have power as we rise to meet it, provide a way to peace, we will not fear the dark. Ase.

– Cole Arthur Riley

Sermon

NOTE: This is an edited ai generated transcript.
Please forgive any omissions or errors.

This sermon is called, “Joy is Resistance.” The phrase “Joy is the act of resistance” comes from a poem by Black Poet Toi Delacorte. It is a joy in resistance mantra that bears repeating.

Let me hear you say it. “Joy is Resistance!”

You got the you got the gist of this. Okay. What do I mean by joy, now I mean joy is everything about us that helps us thrive. Our laughter, our food, our favorite bad TV, watching bad TV or dancing cat memes, podcasts that spice up our lives, our outrageous outfits, board games, line dancing, hand-drumming, cool tattoos, playing Sufi music while we vacuum, singing loud or living louder.

Why? Joy is resistance.

Yes. We celebrate our choice in families, our beautiful friends, our fierce happiness in the face of insurmountable odds and crushing oppression. We go swimming or hiking and drink coffee or bubble tea, let the dog take you for a walk or nap with our cats. We go sunbathe in our rip Scooby-Doo t-shirt with our pet turtle.

We take our time. We just be. Joy is a priority. It makes the whole world better. Those of us who have been activists most of our lives, those of us who come from marginal groups, a lot of us here you know what

I’m talking about you’ve got to build for distance. Change takes time – fighting takes time – and we can’t burn out we’ve got to stay alive the entirety of everything for everyone the whole world gets better.

Let me hear you say it – Joy is resistance. We don’t just survive – we Revel, Revel in our dreams, our sexualities, revel in changing our minds, learning new things, and reviving old things, fixin’ things.

Yeah, we innovate, we recreate, we do do-overs, find a way out of no-way, find a way out of no-way, that’s what we do. We’ve done it our whole lives, they’ve done it for more than 2000 years. That’s how we make change. That’s how we make the world a fit place to live for our kids.

That’s how we do it. Let’s do it find a way out of no-way. We are those people. We explore our gender expressions – our communities – our shared power structures. We are fierce and kind. We are here for everyone all of us. Nobody is left out. Nobody is expendable.

So we study our ancestors. They were scrappy, they were stubborn, they were resilient, they were underestimated. We stand in a long line of beautiful brave humans and we all matter.

We all matter. Let me say it one more time in a presbyterian kind of way. We all matter. Every single one of us. So we can learn to ask for help. We can learn to ask for help. Sometimes we need help. And help when and if we are asked. You get me? Okay. Don’t quit. Rest.

Because joy is resistance. Can I get a witness?

It is a gloom and doom, mega depression, cocktail nightly, with dire predictions at every turn. But friends, let me speak the gospel of change to you.

The future is unwritten. The future is unwritten. “The future is unwritten.” That comes from “The Clash”, by the way, Joe Strimmer (1952 – 2002).

Though those of you who are theists may think there is a master plan and that God’s got it, but at best I subscribe to a more universalist approach in that we are wonderfully made. Yeah, and we can change the stuff we want to change. There’s a lot of stuff I want to change, how about you?

We are resilient, persistent, and focused. We come from a long line of activist, stubborn, civil rights warriors, suffragettes who believed a woman could be president even before women could vote.

We are too blessed. We come from strong and sturdy stubborn people who knew they could make a world they wanted who believed The future is unwritten. If you don’t know any other clash lyrics. This is a good one.

Let’s take a moment and call our ancestors. Who do we need to emulate right now? John Lewis, Alice Paul, Medgar Evers, Shirley Jackson Lee. Pete Seeger. Molly Ivins, Woody Guthrie, “This land is your land and my land” and it’s its own land and the ones who were here before us and those who will be after.

Friends we stand on holy ground in a world that needs us to be ourselves. Call out their names. Who are you calling? Who are you calling? Call them out. Call them out. (Names called out from the audience.) Theodore Parker.

Amen my people.

We need to get a grip. Our one sacred planet needs us now. We must stand up for justice now.

The future is unwritten. The future is unwritten. That means we can write it. We can write it. We can R-I-G-H-T it.

Jewish philosopher Martin Buber, who wrote a book in 1920 called “I Thou.” He contrasted the relationship we have with everything in our capitalistic society as an “I it” relationship. Is it kind of user relationship? That’s kind of what we have right now. We think about how to market to people and we don’t treat them as three-dimensional beings with hearts and minds. We think of them as people who can do our laundry. That kind of thing. That’s what I’m talking about.

Ourselves and what we use relating to the planet other people and everything as if it was all put here for exploitation. In my opinion that is how we have gotten in this mess we are currently in.

We have used ourselves into the climate crisis and the clock is ticking down. Damage has been done but we are still here. We are resilient and creative and the future is unwritten.

It is time to adopt a new philosophy, an “I thou” philosophy, approach to each other, to other beings, four-legged, winged, green, the entire holy sacred gift that being alive brings.

The future is unwritten.

Now is our time. We are here. We have each other. Risk some stubborn optimism friends, tenacity, Grit, hard work, joy, rest, lives built for the distance.

I want us to try and get past our despair because we’re in the middle of it. And it’s awful. It is awful. And I am not doing that kind of, you know, focusing or thing where everything is just fine, because it’s not. But that doesn’t mean that we aren’t built for this time. We are.

And we have enough friendship, and we have enough talent, and we have enough energy, and we can handle this. I don’t care how old you are. I don’t care what’s going on with you, it’s time.

Martha P. Johnson, she threw that brick. We’re going to put the T back in LGBT, right the hell now. You hear me?

So remember the joyous resistance – Don’t quit – Rest – Have fun, parties, dance, and cake. Cake – Tacos. Keep it going keep it going – Ice cream. What’s your favorite? Nice. Nice. Alright.

We know how to do this. We’re built for this. We’ve had plenty of people representing for us and now it’s our turn.

Alright. We’re reaching our goals. We’re gonna diplomacy, organizing, leadership, we’re going to get arrested when we need to. Y’all get me out of jail. I’m very claustrophobic.

We’re going to speak up and we’re going to love and we’re going to love and we’re going to love because the future is unwritten.

The future is unwritten and joy is resistance.

Amen.

Extinguishing the Chalice

We extinguish this flame, but not the light of truth, the warmth of community, or the fire of commitment. These we hold in our hearts until we are together again.

Benediction

Remember the way of the wind
And breathe and blow
Remember the way of the fire
Sparkle, Glitter and glow
Remember the way of the water
And ebb and flow
Remember the way of the earth
And grow.


SERMON INDEX

Most sermons during the past 25 years are available online through this website. Click on the index link above 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.

PODCASTS

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

Justice for All and All for Justice

Listen to the sermon by clicking the play button above.

Rev. Michelle LaGrave
February 23, 2025
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

Rev. Michelle will reflect on this month’s theme of inclusivity and what this means for our mission of doing justice. So often we think about doing justice so that all will be included. But what might it look like to include all in doing justice?


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

WE GATHER TOGETHER

We arrive
as individuals as couples
as families
as neighbors
as friends

We got here by walking by biking
by riding
by driving
by connecting

We bring with us
our joys and our sorrows
our laughter and our tears
our worries and our fears
our questions and our beliefs
our ethics and our values

A ceramic mug of coffee sits on a table
next to an open laptop,
showing many people in Zoom cells.
Some of us
arrived early this morning
or joined us ten minutes ago
or encountered obstacles on their way
or will arrive just in time for the sermon
or will sign online later this week or even next month

We
are sitting in pews
leaning on walkers or canes
stretching in the aisles
settling in wheelchairs
and relaxing in recliners

We, members, friends, and visitors alike,
come from many paths
and join together as one congregation,
to lift up our highest ideals.

We have gathered.
Now, let us worship.

Affirming Our Mission

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

First Reading

Micah 6: 6-8

Micah asks on behalf of the people: “With what shall I come before the Lord and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?

Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”

Micah answers on behalf of God: He has told you, O mortal, what is good, and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God?

Second Reading

History, despite its wrenching pain,
Cannot be unlived, but if faced
With Courage, need not be lived again.

Lift up your eyes upon,
The day breaking for you.
Give birth again,
to the dream.

– Maya Angelou

Sermon

NOTE: This is an edited ai generated transcript.
Please forgive any omissions or errors.

Micah was a prophet who lived in ancient Israel during the 8th century BCE. His hometown was a small village called Morsheth, not too far from Jerusalem, and he lives in a time of rapid change. Much like we are today.

Commerce was expanding, Trade was increasingly moving away from a barter system and toward a monetary system. Fraudulent weights and measures had become common. Land was being accumulated in large quantities by the hands of wealthy landowners and at the expense of small farmers. And the gap between rich and poor was increasing greatly and rapidly. The powerful dictated what they desired. Judges and other officials are taking bribes, people are lying, and the families, families are falling apart due to lack of trust in each other.

Does any of this sound familiar?

Micah lived during a time of rising power, wealth, and corruption. And so he went out into the marketplace and prophesied. During ancient times, people brought other people to court for breach of covenant and were heard by a judge. In Micah, as elsewhere in the Hebrew Scriptures, God brought the people of ancient Israel to court and indicted them for breach of covenant with the mountains, the hills, and the earth for witnesses, similar to the ways in which human courts worked. In God’s case they were out of covenant, out of right relationship with God. Of what were the people guilty of? Injustice. Injustice in the land was flourishing.

And so the people cried out as we still tend to do during a crisis, atheist or not, and ask, “What does God want from me? What do you want from me, world, universe? What do you want from us? How much would you take from us? Everything we have and more?” And Micah reminded the people that God has already told them what is good, What is required of them? And that is to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with their God.

Micah’s story is an age-old story and one we are in many ways reliving today, though now the threat of our own government comes from within and not from the Assyrian Empire. And Micah’s answer to the people is still a good one, a good lesson for us today. We are to do justice, love, kindness, and walk humbly, which in, you know, 3,000 years ago language meant remain in covenant, walk humbly, remain in covenant with the holy.

So today I’d like to talk just a little bit about why it is we do justice as Unitarian Universalists. At least enough to establish that doing justice is well within our living tradition. Micah is only one of many examples from the Hebrew scriptures, which are sacred to both Judaism and Christianity, of justice-seeking as a requirement of being in right relationship with the divine. Jesus’s ministry as well was a liberatory one and his teachings are foundational to Unitarianism and Universalism which both emerged out of Christianity.

Over time, our theological underpinnings have expanded as more and more people have joined us from more and more faith traditions and backgrounds, and as we have continued to grow in our spiritual and theological understandings. Today, justice is one of Unitarian Universalism’s shared values. We have covenanted with each other, congregation to congregation, to work to be diverse, multicultural, beloved communities where all thrive, to dismantle racism and all forms of systemic oppression, and to support the use of inclusive democratic processes within our congregations, our association, and society at large. That’s right in our bylaws, in our Unitarian Universalist Associations bylaws.

Finally, let us not forget that doing justice is right up there on our wall in this congregation’s mission statement. Together we nourish souls, transform lives and do justice to build the beloved community. So having established that we are indeed a justice-seeking, justice-building, justice-creating, justice-making people, let’s who it is that does or does not do all of this justice-making and how it gets done.

At times, I’m a little sad to say this, it seems that within Unitarian Universalism, and I imagine elsewhere, the loudest voices for justice are all about marches and protests and visiting legislators at the Capitol and sit-ins and die-ins and civil disobedience that results in arrest.

Do you know what all these have in common? Anyone want to guess? They require people to either be able-bodied or to put their disabled bodies on the line at a much higher, higher risk than is generally taken by non-disabled people. Yes, that includes even visiting legislators at the Capitol.

I tried to do this once. Earlier during my time here in Austin, I wanted to visit the Texas State Capitol. So, being physically disabled, I did my usual research into what I would need to know to visit a new place I had never been.

First, I found out that there was a special webpage called Capital Accessibility Services with all of the information that I would need. And right at the top of that page was an assurance that all capital, capital extension and capital visitor center facilities are accessible to persons with disabilities, as well as a link to an accessibility guide. Great, we’re off to a good start here.

Then, with further reading, I discovered that it was actually a considerable distance to walk from the parking garage to the building where I wanted to go and an even farther walk from that garage to the only accessible entrance to that building which was actually on the other farther side from the garage. In other words I’d have to walk all the way around the outside of the building to get inside without using any stairs or very many stairs.

Then I thought, well, I can rent a motorized scooter for the day. Most recently, I often use a rollator, but I have often used motorized scooters at large events and in large stores, though I don’t actually own one myself. No problem, I thought. There are rental places which will deliver a scooter to my destination. I don’t even have to figure out how to transport it there myself.

And then I read, motorized scooters are not allowed on the capital grounds. Okay, now that’s out too. So how am I supposed to get into the capital?

So, I kept reading. A wheelchair was the last option. To get it, I would have to walk from the parking garage to the visitor center, which was in the opposite direction of the Capitol building itself, get the wheelchair, and then wheel myself back past the parking garage and all the way around the Capitol building and to the other side to go in the accessible entrance. There was no way. I don’t have the arm strength for that. That’s why we have motorized scooters in addition to wheelchairs.

And then I realized that the only possible way I or anyone with limited leg mobility and arm strength could go to the Capitol was to be pushed in a wheelchair by someone else. My spouse Micah was unable to take me on that particular day and it was too late at night to call by that time and make arrangements with anyone else. Besides I wondered who could I ask? Who would be willing? I mean it’s a pretty big ask to call someone and ask them to spend the entire day with you pushing you around in a wheelchair. And what do people who don’t have anyone in their life who could help them do? And what about all the people who can only use a motorized scooter? There is no circumstance under which they could make a visit to the Capitol. Despite the website’s promises, this was not and is not accessibility.

I share this story, not, NOT, to get you all fired up and headed down to the capital to demand change on my or any disabled person’s behalf, but to give a glimpse into just a very little slice of only one person’s disabled life on only one evening trying to plan only one outing. There are many, many more stories out there with different or worse or better experiences than mine.

And there are many, many more of my own stories that I could share, but I chose this one because in it I was attempting to do justice while being disabled. People who are disabled need to be more than the subjects of doing justice. We need to also be full participants in justice-making.

The point I want to make today is that there are as many ways of doing justice as there are of being human. So, so many people are living in even greater than usual risk in this country today. Primarily people who are undocumented and people who are transgender and also people who are BIPOC, LGBTQ plus and disabled, as well as anyone who has a uterus and is able to get pregnant. We are living in a time of rising fascism and we are gonna need as many people as possible doing justice.

So it’s time to put away any of the old ideas about what it means to do justice the right way, or the best way, or the only way. We need lots of different kinds of justice-making, and we need justice-making and justice-doing to be as accessible as possible.

Some common justice-making actions are already pretty accessible to a lot, if not all people. Things like writing letters or making phone calls. There was a great example of a letter from one of our congregants, Denise Pierce, going around lately. In it, she called for a company, in a very positive way, to increase the accessibility of their website. She explained that she loved the company, really wanted to shop there, and why she wanted to shop there and then said that she would need them to make it more accessible for her in order for it to work.

There are lots of different ways, new or different ways that we can think about making justice-making more accessible. People can help with digital security or giving rides or digital communication or preparing food for justice organizers and events, and many, many other ways. We need to start thinking outside of the box.

Remember, we don’t have to make the entirety of any action or event fully accessible to everyone. That would be near impossible. But we can make different components of justice actions or events accessible in various ways for various needs so that more and more people are able to engage in a piece of the work. It is a duty, an imperative, doing justice in these times.

Here are just a few tips we can help make this happen just to get started.

The first thing we need to do is accept that no one can fully know what it is like to live in another person’s body or to live another person’s life. Each of us has the right to determine the level of personal risk we are willing to undertake or not in any justice-making, justice-doing we take on and no one else has the right to make judgments about whether or not someone else should have taken more or less personal risk bodily or otherwise and this goes for everyone not just disabled folks.

The second thing we need to do is to take care of our spiritual and emotional selves. We are facing tactics that are intentionally meant to overwhelm us or shut us down or cause us to freeze. We have a responsibility, a moral duty, to deal with the overwhelm so we can get unstuck and get moving in whatever ways we can and in whatever ways we do best. Take care of yourselves. Take care of each other. Give each other as much of a chance as possible to get unstuck and get unfrozen and get moving. We need as many of us to join the resistance as is possible. Every person and every action counts. No fake fights about our justice-making or anything else that might serve as a diversion from the moral, ethical, theological and spiritual imperative to do justice.

The third thing we need to do is pay attention to inclusion in any of the social justice actions or events we are planning. If someone can’t march or sit or stand or hear or see or walk or whatever else it is very well, what can they do? If someone is in a greater risk category because they are undocumented or black or queer or all of the above or some combination of the above, what might they need to better or more fully participate? We might not know, and if we don’t know, let’s make the effort to find out.

So to recap, These are my three getting-started tips.

  • Number one, we each get to assess our own level of personal risk, no second guessing by anyone else.
  • Number two, we need to take care of ourselves and each other so we can, if possible, get unstuck and live up to our responsibility to do justice.
  • And number three, pay attention to inclusion in any social justice events or actions we are planning.

By keeping love at the center, we can continue to widen the circle of concern farther and farther. And by including more and more people in the work of justice-making, we can do more justice.

 

As Maya Angelou says, “Let us give birth once again to the dream.”

May it be so. Amen and blessed be.

Extinguishing the Chalice

We extinguish this flame, but not the light of truth, the warmth of community, or the fire of commitment. These we hold in our hearts until we are together again.

Benediction

In all of the ways that our bodies and our minds work, both literal and metaphorical, I say to you, go now in peace with love in your hearts, kindness on your lips, and compassion at your fingertips. Blessing all others as you yourselves are now blessed.

Amen and blessed be.


SERMON INDEX

Most sermons during the past 25 years are available online through this website. Click on the index link above 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.

PODCASTS

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

That’s Amore

Listen to the sermon by clicking the play button above.

Rev. Chris Jimmerson
February 16, 2025
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

We have just celebrated another Valentine’s Day, so let’s explore the practices that help us create healthy, successful romantic relationships and how many of those same practices might also enhance our love for family, friends, and others – and might even lead us to Agape – selfless, unconditional, divine love.


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

Even after all this time,
the sun never says to the earth,
“You owe me.”
Look what happens with a love like that.
It lights the whole sky.

– Hafiz

Affirming Our Mission

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

Anthem

DIRAIT-0N (translated as “AS THEY SAY”)
Morten Lauridsen
The first UU Adult Choir; Brent Baldwin, Conductor; Valerie Diaz, Piano

Translation of the lyrics that captures the poetic intent:

Wildness surrounding wildness,
Tenderness touching tenderness,
It is your own core that you ceaselessly caress, …. as they say.

It is your own center that you caress,
Your own reflection gives you light.
And in this way, you show us how Narcissus is redeemed.

The words in French are from a collection of poems about roses by Rilke, a European poet who wrote in the early 1900’s. Rilke often wrote lyrical, mysterious poetry, and often wrote about roses. In this poem, on one level, Rilke is describing a rose. In this interpretation, Rilke sees a rose and its petals as “wildness surrounding wildness,” and yet “tenderness touching tenderness.”

He marvels that the wild and delicate rose petals are caressing the core, the center, of the rose.

Rilke then refers to the sad story of Narcissus, the vain youth from Greek and Roman mythology. When Narcissus saw his own reflection in the water of a river for the first time, Narcissus fell in love with his own reflection, not realizing it was himself. He was so in love with himself, that he refused to eat, and soon wasted away and died. To help remember him, the narcissus flower grew where he had been.

In some versions of the story, Narcissus’s soul descends to hell, where he is doomed to look at his reflection forever, and may never see another person. In Rilke’s poem (and in this song), the wildness, tenderness, and self-awareness of the rose is contrasted with Narcissus, and perhaps Rilke is suggesting that the rose can show us how Narcissus can be redeemed – that is, freed from his fate of eternally gazing only on himself and not being aware of the world or people around him.

On another level, Rilke could also be describing a lover – a lover who is “wildness surrounding wildness,” and “tenderness touching tenderness.” Again, on this level, perhaps Rilke is suggesting that a wild and tender lover can show us, how to be freed from our own narcissistic self-absorption.

Reading

From STILL LIFE WITH WOODPECKER
by Tim Robbins

Love is the ultimate outlaw.
It just won’t adhere to any rules.
The most any of us can do is to sign on as its accomplice.
Instead of vowing to honor and obey,
maybe we should swear to aid and abet.
That would mean that security is out of the question.
The words “make” and “stay” become inappropriate.
My love for you has no strings attached.
I love you for free.

Sermon

Happy Valentine’s a couple of days after the actual date.

Gretchen shared with us the four types of love earlier, and, of course, Valentines is all about love, particularly the type of love we call Eros or romantic love.

This was my first Valentines without my longtime romantic love, Wayne, so I’ve been thinking and reading a lot about what makes romantic relationships healthy – what makes them work – what made 33 years with Wayne work.

And, unexpectedly, to my surprise and grateful wonder, I have also had a valentine come into my life recently.

So I thought it might be fun, and, actually, soul nourishing, to think together a little bit today on what we know about how we might create and sustain healthy, mutually satisfying and beneficial eros love.

By far, the most common thread I found in the psychological research on the subject, is that the partners in a mutually life-enhancing romantic relationship establish as their shared goal for the relationship that each person in it fully thrive, fully flourish – they strive to support one another’s reaching for their greatest creative potential.

That rings true to me. I don’t think I would have ever become a minister, what I now know is my calling in life, if it it weren’t for Wayne.

That is a true gift he supported me in discovering.

And for each partner to thrive requires a sense of equity within the relationship.

Decision making is shared and communication is open and honest, even when it is hard.

Now, equality and being the same are not, well, the same.

So you might be better at cooking, and I might be better at organizing the kitchen, and that’s OK – we talk up front about who leads what, and we celebrate and learn from our differences, each of us becoming more creative and capable because of the other.

And by keeping communication open and discussing things up front, no one has to keep a ledger – equity is built into the ongoing interaction within the relationship.

Now, of course, there will still be disagreements.

What successful romantic partners do that help them navigate conflict though, is that they fight fair.

No personal attacks. No avoidance. No shutting down. No storming out of the room. No refusal to forgive.

Instead, the focus is on honest communication to identify where the true area of disagreement lies, make it explicit, and then find solutions that each of them can live with – or discover even better, more creative ways of addressing the issue than what either of them had come in with.

Here are some other ways that successful romantic partners support one another’s life-fulfillment:

• They infuse a sense of joy, fun, and playfulness into the relationship.

For example, they have fun, endearing “pet names” for one another. They approach their time together with humor. They schedule time to do things they both enjoy together – to play together. They reward each other with compliments and endearments freely and frequently.

• They recognize that each of us and each situation may be different as regards what might best support the other. So, they make this explicit. Instead of asking, “how can I help?”, one New York Times article suggests asking, “Would helping, hugging, or hearing you feel most supportive?”

The three “Hs”.

Recently, we’ve added a fourth “H” – Halo Top ice cream.

• Thriving romantic partners are creative about how they structure their life together – Marriage and family therapist Stephanie Yates-Anyabwile says that they throw out the relationship rule book.

So, for instance, if two people have very different traveling styles and habits, is it really necessary that their recreational travel be done together?

If they have very different sleeping habits, is sleeping under the same roof, just fine, even if they don’t always sleep in the same bed?

Several years after my stepdad, Ty died, my mom met Paul, who has become a wonderful and loving companion with her.

They decided not to move in together. They spend part of each week at her home and part at his, sometime even apart as their lives demand.

And they love it, and they love each other. Throw out the rule book and get creative!

• Here’s one more thing. Psychologist and relationship researcher John Gottman has found that relationships flourish when we pay attention to what he calls “emotional bids.”

Bids are “Fundamental units of emotional communication’ when we reach out to a partner with a request to connect. They can be big or small, verbal or nonverbal. We can be aware that we are making them or completely unaware.

An example of such a bid for connection might be if an avid birdwatcher, excitedly says to her husband, “Wow, I was just out watering the plants, and the most beautiful hummingbird I have ever seen flew right up to me and just hovered there staring at me!”

Now, her husband may not have much interest in birding himself, but if he recognizes this bid for connection and turns towards it by saying something like, “Really, honey, that’s amazing, what did it look like?”, he enhances their sense of connection.

However, if he turns away – “That’s great, honey, I need to finish this report for work” or turns against – “Why do you always interrupt me when I’m trying to work from home”, the connection is thwarted and the relationship may be damaged.

Successful romantic partners make these bids often, learn to recognize each others bids, and turn toward them the vast majority of the time.

And that requires us to risk vulnerability with each other.

One way Wayne used to make such a bid was to join me if I was on the couch watching TV or in bed reading and lay his head on my shoulder or upper arm.

I came to realize that this often meant he needed to talk about something that was difficult for him, so I learned to say something like, “It’s OK. Tell me.”

And he would.

And so we learn to turn toward each other. And so love goes. And so love grows.

Well, these are just a few examples I have found out there in the “literature on love”.

And it occurs to me that these practices that lead to flourishing eros love, are really spiritual practices that could also aide us in love for our friends and family, as well as that divine, pure, unselfish, and unconditional love for all called Agape love.

Supporting others in coming fully alive.

Equity.

Open communication, creative disagreement, valuing our differences. Joy, fun, and playfulness.

Hug. Hear. Help. Halo Top.

Getting creative about the ways we are in relationship. Making and turning toward bids for connection. Mutual flourishing as the goal.

All of these, it seems to me, are spiritual disciplines that can move us toward greater love in our lives AND living out our core Unitarian Universalist value – that Agape love.

Maybe Eros love is just how soulmates help each other practice Agape love.

Happy Valentines, my Beloveds!

Extinguishing the Chalice

We extinguish this flame, but not the light of truth, the warmth of community, or the fire of commitment. These we hold in our hearts until we are together again.

Benediction

Our benediction today is from words by writer and civil rights activist, James Baldwin:

The longer I live, the more deeply I learn that love-whether we call it friendship or family or romance- is the work of mirroring and magnifying each other’s light. Gentle work. Steadfast work. Life-saving work in those moments when life and shame and sorrow occlude our own light from our view but there is still a clear-eyed loving person to beam it back. In our best moments, we are that person for another.

May the congregation say, “Amen”, and “Blessed Be.” Go in peace.


SERMON INDEX

Most sermons during the past 25 years are available online through this website. Click on the index link above 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.

PODCASTS

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

Revolutionary Inclusion in the ways of Rabbi Jesus

Listen to the sermon by clicking the play button above.

Rev. Chris Jimmerson
February 9, 2025
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught inclusion so rooted in love that it would become liberatory for all. Perhaps reclaiming the collective love and liberation that is at the heart of our UU Christian heritage is how we best counter an ideology of exclusion that has arisen in our state and our country.


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 not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences.

– Audrey Lorde

Affirming Our Mission

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

Reading

A BLESSING CALLED SANCTUARY
by Jan Richardson

You hardly knew
how hungry you were to be gathered in,
to receive the welcome that invited you to enter entirely
nothing of you found foreign or strange,
nothing of your life that you were asked
to leave behind or to carry in silence or in shame.

Tentative steps became settling in,
leaning into the blessing
that enfolded you, taking your place in the circle that stunned you
with its unimagined grace.

You began to breathe again,
to move without fear, to speak with abandon
the words you carried in your bones, that echoed in your being.
You learned to sing.

But the deal with this blessing is that it will not leave you alone,
will not let you linger in safety, in stasis.

The time will come when this blessing
will ask you to leave,
not because it has tired of you,
but because it desires for you to become the sanctuary that you have found-
to speak your word into the world, to tell what you have heard
with your own ears, seen with your own eyes, known in your own heart:

Sermon

 

    • Blessed are we when we seek spiritual truths; questions more profound than answers; revelation that is continuous rather than stagnate; mystery over certitude; a sense of our vast and sacred interconnectedness, eschewing the false and shallow reassurances of privilege through the exclusion of difference; the false idol of power through division.

 

 

    • Blessed are we when we love beyond our own group – that which is familiar. For though the cost of such boundless love is greater loss, even as we mourn such greater loss, we know a love that sustains and comforts even against injustice, despair, even against death.

 

 

    • Blessed are we when we are humble; when we embrace and share our vulnerabilities. This is how we find the courage to truly know others; we live wholeheartedly; we sense our place in the great web of all existence.

 

 

  • Blessed are we when we hunger and thirst for justice, not just for ourselves and our closest kindred, but for all. For this is how we know the fullness of love and the flourishing of our own spirits. It is how we become tributaries of the divine river of love that flows through our universe and washes away the sorrow of our world.

These are the waters that carry us toward liberation for us all. 

    • Blessed are we when we show mercy with no expectation of reward or return, for this is how we seed showers of compassion and empathy for one another and for all.

 

 

    • Blessed are we when we allow that divine river of love to flow through and occupy our hearts because this is how we experience the divine within ourselves.

 

 

    • Blessed are we when we work for peace, as peace for all is the only way through which each of us will know peace.

 

 

  • Blessed are we when we risk persecution by the forces of division and exclusion, oppression and injustice, because the Beloved Community we build together is more than worth such risk.

Because we shall overcome. 

 

We must shine the light of justice out into our world and among all beings, allow the love that is God and the God that is love to find physical expression through us.

The words I just spoke are a modernization of “The Beatitudes” from the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew 5 though 7 in the New Testament of the Christian Bible.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus delivers a message of love, compassion, and selflessness. He encourages us to love our enemies, to forgive others. He urges care and justice for the poor and marginalized.

Jesus delivers a message of inclusion and a warning against exclusion and division.

The kind of exclusion and division we are witnessing in the halls of government in Washington, DC and the capitol building right here in Austin, TX.

At the federal level, we are seeing the implementation of Project 2025, a white, Christian Nationalist manifesto and plan created by the extremist right wing organization called the Heritage Foundation – a plan that aims to entirely restructure the levers and systems of our federal government to vest immense power in a cadre of ultra-wealthy, mostly white, mostly cis-gendered heterosexual males who call themselves Christians or at least stake claim to what they falsely call Christian tenets.

They are bent on exclusion – making women second class citizens once more, erasing the rights and existence of LGBTQ+ folks, particularly our trans siblings, destroying all of the rights and protections that had been put in place to try to break apart systems of white supremacy and racism embedded within governmental and societal institutions.

Make no mistake, in our current societal political context, “Make America Great Again”, means take America back to an era when BIPOC folks, LTBTQ folks, women, non-Christians, and so many more suffered even greater inequity, exclusions and oppression than now.

And even though we have yet to see true equity in America, even the gains that have been made are too much, too inclusive, too threatening to an ideology of white supremacy culture, hetero-cis-patriarchy, radical-capitalistic, caste-structured, fundamentalist Christian nationalism.

All in the name of Jesus, praise God!

I don’t need to go through the havoc they have been reeking upon our governmental systems intended to help and protect people, particularly those now targeted for exclusion – the mechanisms being put into place to concentrate wealth and power within a small plutocracy and its enablers, the only folks intended for inclusion.

You all have been watching, and I refuse to add to sense of overwhelm being intentionally created.

I know so many of you are doing what you can think of to try to stop the assault.

Here is something more I think we might do if we are to overcome though. What if we reclaim Jesus’ message of love, justice and inclusion that has so effectively been co-opted?

We embrace the true message of Christianity, out of which, after all, our own Unitarian and Universalist faiths arose – redefine its images and language for ourselves, knowing that we do not have to believe in superstition and irrationality to do so.

We have get over allergies to God and Christian language so many of us carry, often because of having been hurt by the misuse and desecration of that religion and its language in our pasts. Me included.

We have to be able to counter forces that are redefining the Beatitudes for themselves like this:

  • Blessed are we who know with certitude that God favors us.
  • Blessed is our own small circle of rich white dudes.
  • Blessed is our hubris.
  • Blessed is false righteousness at the expense of justice – that calls mercy the folly of fools.
  • Blessed are we who exclude from our hearts others who are different, even if we must use force, war, genocide and persecution to do so.

These are not the words and teachings of Jesus, and we have to be able to stand in the public square and say so. 

 

Because right now, right now, this is the ground upon which the struggle for the soul of America is being fought.

Now, I know that I am using strong language today, both to embrace the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount and to forthrightly condemn the ideology and actions of a government that defiles those teachings.

I am using strong language because the stakes are that high – the soul of America and by extension much of the rest of our world is at stake.

Now I am not saying we have to embrace a particular theology, accept a creed, or give up a perspective based in humanism, naturalism, science or other theology or philosophy.

I am simply suggesting that we need that comfort level with the language and concepts of Christianity, adapted to our own perspectives, so they we do not exclude folks who otherwise share our values and could be allies.

So that Christianity, our heritage, cannot be co-opted by an ideology that is in direct opposition to our values of love and inclusion, and, in fact the values that Jesus himself spoke.

I wonder how it might be if we were to testify at the state legislature and say something like,

“this bill will cause great harm to trans folks and those who love them, but Jesus said that we are to keep love in our hearts and show mercy to all
– Matthew 5, verses 7 and 8.”

What if we were to call our Senators and say, 

“Elon Musk was not elected by anyone and you have to stop what he is doing because he’s lying about why he is doing it.
Matthew 6: 15, “Beware of false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.”

OK, I am being a bit angry flippant now, but I do think learning to be more open to the same values we embrace being expressed through other religious perspectives can help us be more inclusive, again including in the public square where we need lots more of those allies I mentioned. 

 

We can turn our anger and rage at what Elon Musk and others are doing doing, not at any person, but at how we can respond in ways that refocus us and help us work with others toward healing, love, justice.

And we can begin right here, in our own religious community.

Are we inclusive enough that people with a wide variety of progressive religious perspectives feel welcomed here?

It starts with us. It starts here.

To express how what we do in our organizations can radiate out into our larger world, adrienne marie brown, in their book, Emergent Strategy; Shaping Change, Changing Worlds, uses fractals, patterns in nature that repeat at differing scales – think of ferns that stay much the same from tiny to large or the spiral patterns we see all the way from the prints of our fingertips to shapes of galaxies in our universe.

Brown writes,

“A fractal is a never-ending pattern. Fractals are infinitely complex patterns that are self-similar across different scales. They are created by repeating a simple process over and over in an ongoing feedback loop. How we are at the small scale is how we are at the large scale

Brown continues, 

“The patterns of the universe repeat at scale. There is a structural echo that suggests two things:
  • one, that there are shapes and patterns fundamental to our universe,
  • and two, that what we practice at a small scale can reverberate to the largest scale.”

What we do here at this church and then carry beyond these walls reverberates on the larger scale. 

 

It starts with us.

If we build a community of inclusive, love and justice, the church we create reverberates into the state, nation and world we hope to create.

The Church-For-All models for us a society for all.

May we bless the soul of America with our modern Beatitudes:

  • a sense of our vast and sacred interconnectedness,
  • a boundless love that sustains and comforts
  • the courage required for humbleness and vulnerability
  • a hunger and thirst for justice and a commitment to mercy, compassion and empathy.
  • hearts so large the divine river of love floods through them, washing away persecution, oppression, and injustice.

In the words of our poet earlier, beatitudes that become the genesis of a soul of America that says to each and everyone, “You are beloved, a precious child of God, beautiful to behold, and you are welcome and more than welcome here.” 

 

Amen.

Extinguishing the Chalice

We extinguish this flame, but not the light of truth, the warmth of community, or the fire of commitment. These we hold in our hearts until we are together again.

Benediction

MARGINAL WISDOM (adapted)
by Leslie Takahashi

They teach us to read in black and white.
Truth is this-the rest false.
You are whole-or broken.
Who you love is acceptable-or not.

Life tells its truth in many hues … embraces multiple truths,
speaks of both, and ….

We are taught to see in absolutes.
Good versus evil.
Male versus female,
Old versus young,
Gay versus straight.

Let us see the fractions, the spectrum, the margins.
Let us open our hearts to the complexity of our worlds.
Let us make our lives sanctuaries, to nurture our many identities.

The day is coming when all will know

That the rainbow world is more gorgeous than monochrome,
That a river of identities can ebb and flow over the static,
stubborn rocks in its course,

That the margins hold the center


SERMON INDEX

Most sermons during the past 25 years are available online through this website. Click on the index link above 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.

PODCASTS

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

2025 Pet Blessing

Listen to the sermon by clicking the play button above.

Rev. Chris Jimmerson
February 2, 2025
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

Join us for an all-ages service to bless the beloved animal companions in your lives. All friendly, well-behaved creatures, young, old, great and small, furry and scaly, are invited to this cherished annual tradition. In these challenging times, let us honor our animal companions, who are such a vital source of our joy and resilience.


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

DOGSOLOGY
Rev. LoraKim Joyner

From all that dwell below the skies
Let songs of hope and faith arise
Let peace, goodwill on earth be sung
Or barked or howled by every tongue!

Affirming Our Mission

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

Reading

JOB 12, 7-10

Ask the animals and they will teach you. Or the birds in the sky and they will tell you. Or speak to the Earth and it will teach you. Or let the fish in the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know the breath of the divine has done this. In whose care is the life of every creature and the breath of all humankind.

Sermon

Well, it’s been a challenging couple of weeks, hasn’t it?

How many of us are feeling a little overwhelmed by all of the meanness, incompetence, pettiness, and authoritarianism emanating from our federal government? Raise you hand if you are comfortable doing so. I think I even saw a few paws go up.

How many of us are wondering how in the world we are going to find the resilience, non-anxious presence, not to mention joy and comfort, to make it through the next few months and years?

The cats are like, “yeah, yeah, just don’t forget to feed me.” Now, look around at the beings gathered here for worship today. When we think about the community of love and support we will need to weather the hard times, sometimes we don’t remember to turn to our animal companions.

And yet, they can be such sources of love, joy and support.

I was so moved by Sol’s description of how their Kittan is “a living reminder of love, a promise that no one is ever fully lost.”

All of my current animal companions, all Basenji dogs, are named after well-known Unitarian Universalist ancestors.

Slide

Meet Louisa May Alcott and Benjamin Franklin.

Last year, after my spouse, Wayne, went on hospice care, I can tell you that Ben and Louisa somehow absolutely knew what was happening, or at least that something difficult for us was happening. And they were such a comfort to us.

They were glued to one of our sides almost constantly, except, when, you know, occasionally a squirrel needed running off or something, they are dogs after all – they read the situation and were so loving and affectionate and cuddly.

During the day when I had to be gone, they took care of Wayne for me.

In fact, near the end, when Wayne got really sick and was pretty much confined to one room, I had to put in a gate to keep them out and bring them for supervised visits because they tried to be a little too “cuddly” after he became too fragile for them to do so.

Years, prior, when it had come time to let our older dog, Virgil, go, the hospice vet that came to our house told us it was important for us to let Ben and Louisa be present as Virgil’s life ended.

She said that they would be upset and confused if Virgil just disappeared without them ever knowing why, and that they would know what had happened if they witnessed Virgil’s death. And so we did let them be there, and they did know.

Because of that, Wayne had told me that he wanted me to bring them in after he died, so they would know. And the morning that it happened, I did. And they did know.

Back when Wayne had still been mobile enough to move around the house, I had trained them so that I could say, “Where’s the Wayne?”, and they would go running off to find him and check on him for me.

A few days after Wayne died, and I was still in overwhelming grief, I suddenly found myself crying out, “Where’s Wayne?” They didn’t run off to try to find him.

Louisa came over and sat beside me, laid her head on my shoulder, and looked up at me. Ben came and laid against my leg. They knew, and they helped me through, and they wanted me to help them through.

Slide

And this is the newest member of our pack, Ralph Waldo Emerson, who I am convinced Wayne arranged for him coming into our lives, but that’s a longer story.

Ralph has come in and decided the rest of us all need more fun, joy and play in our lives, whether we like it or not!

And, you know, I joked about cats earlier, but as Sol’s story illustrated, they too are incredibly aware of our needs and will bring us comfort, even if they do it in a different way than dogs do.

So, my beloveds, as we face the challenges ahead, remember and respect our animal companions.

They can bring us such great comfort and joy, no matter their species – fur, feathers, scales, shells or otherwise!

If you for whatever reason do not have animal companions in your life, you can still enjoy them vicariously though other’s people’s pets or the millions and millions of online videos you can find.

And even our animal friends who have left us to go over the rainbow bridge are always still in our hearts.

Our Basenji Dog, Virgil, who I mentioned earlier was so regal and imperious that we called him, “Sir Virgil”.

And I plan to bring some of that Vigil attitude with me as I confront the forces of division and harm at our state capital in the days to come.

Bless the animals my Beloveds and accept the ways in which they bless us.

Extinguishing the Chalice

We extinguish this flame, but not the light of truth, the warmth of community, or the fire of commitment. These we hold in our hearts until we are together again.

Benediction

BENEDICTION FOR A PET BLESSING:
SOME WISDOM FROM OUR CAT AND DOG FRIENDS
by Rev. Chris Jimmerson

Show exuberant joy when you first see your loved ones after being apart.
Delight in simple joys.
Play a lot.
Except in the most dire of situations, retract your claws (unless it is all in good, playful fun).
Knock something off the shelf every once in a while, it’s fun
AND it can open up new possibilities.
Never try to persuade humans to be reasonable.
Purr loudly or wag your whole body when you’re happy.
Sometimes a good howl or some hissing can help a lot, just avoid biting, which can get you in lots of trouble.
Nap just for the pleasure of it.
Comfort others: accept comfort when you are able.
Love freely, but never lose yourself in doing so.

May the congregation say, Amen and Blessed Be.

Go in peace.


SERMON INDEX

Most sermons during the past 25 years are available online through this website. Click on the index link above 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.

PODCASTS

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

How to stop being a Good Person

Listen to the sermon by clicking the play button above.

Rev. Carrie Holley-Hurt
January 26, 2025
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

We are a people who value transformation but so often, we tie ourselves to the fixed state of “good.” Join Rev. Carrie as she explores transformation and how it plays into our goal of a more just, loving, and compassionate world.


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

I SIDE WITH THE PEOPLE
by Reverend Drew Patton

If they ever ask you which side are you on,
tell them plainly,
I sighed with the people.
With the precious ones, all,
the integral, the soft and the fierce,
irreplaceable, the beloved,
if only by garden trees
who were born who breathe and survive.
Say I sighed with
those who keep watch beneath
the bright screaming arc of bombs,
With those who hide in dark doorways
or who through the moonlight flee,
with those who stay and fight
and with those who keep kept up all night
by hunger and grief and terror and rage
by desperate unruly hope.
Who are good and green at the root
who are more than the worst that they’ve done,
who do their best to love
and still pass on the hurt in themselves
that they hate.
But what when takes sides against each other,
the people, against even themselves,
side with whatever is human in them,
what is fragile and feeling and flesh.
Side with the truth of our stories.
Side with the fact of our pain.
Side with defiant insistence on freedom.
Side there again and again.
Side there today and tomorrow.
Side there the rest of your life.
Side there together until we belong each one to every other.
If ever they ask you
which side are you on
say it doesn’t work like that.
Tell them you side with the people
and abide where the people are at.

Affirming Our Mission

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

Reading

THE WILD GEESE
by Mary Oliver

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.

Tell me about despair, yours,
and I will tell you mine.

Meanwhile, the world goes on.
Meanwhile, the sun
and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.

Meanwhile, the wild geese
high in the clean blue air
are heading home again.

Whoever you are,
No matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you
like the wild geese,
harsh and exciting,
over and over
announcing your place in the family of things.

Sermon

NOTE: This is an edited ai generated transcript.
Please forgive any omissions or errors.

So, during the Texas legislative session of 2021, probably in March, I found myself suited up and in an overflow room, waiting to testify against one of the many, many bills that day that we’re attacking the LGBTQIA plus community. I was perfecting my testimony, making sure it was respectful and even full of logical arguments.

And across the aisle was a large group of mostly young queer people who were sitting together and chatting. I was feeling so uncomfortable for them. I was thinking, “Y ‘all, be serious. they’re not going to take us seriously if you are not serious.” And then, theres a huge explosion of laughter from that side of the room and I turned kind of in exaperation. But, very quicky two things are revealed to me.

The first is that the person testifying at that moment was someone from a religious organization who was using God’s name to dehumanize and support a dehumanizing bill.
The second was that laughter was coming from the group because Rev. Johnston, who with great mercy and great love pulled their attention away from all that hate and onto her so she could fill them with love.

And that’s when it hit me. All this time I thought it was important for me to be “good enough,” to look presentable, to sound presentable, to play the part so that I could, what, beg for justice? But why was I trying to appeal to the egos of those in power who were causing harm when the people who needed love, attention, care, and solidarity were the people in that room having to fight for their humanity.

This was a major breaking point in my life. You see I spent so much of my life and so much of my energy trying to be good. Be a good girl, sweet, don’t bother anyone, be a good little born-again Christian, couldn’t have anyone going to hell on my watch. Be a good worker, a good student, a good friend, a good partner, a good mother, you get it. I pretzeled, and I pretzeled myself into being what I was told was good by all the powers that be.

Y ‘all, I am a recovering civ, having poured out all of my energy in an attempt to be affirmed in my goodness to those powers. And I don’t think I’m the only one. Because systems of supremacy, like white supremacy, hetero-patriarchy, for example, spends a lot of energy trying to rob us and others of our humanity. And it often does so by wielding good like a weapon.

Even those who carry the most privilege in the supremacy system, y ‘all aren’t free. And if you don’t believe me, you cis-men, tomorrow go out in a dress. I guarantee you your male privilege will drop just like that.

Privilege and freedom, Those aren’t the same. And so the system does its best to keep us, all of us, pretzeling to stay in bounds of good. And this pretzeling takes us right out of our humanity. I can only conclude that’s because true liberation starts with the liberation of self.

There is so much liberation in seeing the humanity in ourselves, to embrace who we really are, our whole messy wholeness, to allow ourselves to be colored outside of the lines of what supremacy culture allows.

When we honor the humanity in ourselves, we honor the humanity in others. It’s much harder to other someone or demonize someone when we are working to see their full humanity. We stop judging them against impossible and dehumanizing standards and start allowing grace and compassion to come into our relationships.

Being good by squeezing ourselves in the acceptable boxes of supremacy thinking is incompatible with liberation because it’s incompatible with our humanity. Being good is also a fixed position. You attain it and then you got to stay there, which means growing is out of the question. And often you have to use all your energy just to stay in defense of growth.

This past summer at General Assembly, a time when When UUs from all over the place come together to decide on the direction of our faith, we had the opportunity to vote on the business resolution titled “Embracing Transgender Non-Binary Intersex and Gender Diverse People as a Fundamental Expression of Our UU Religious Values.” Now, spoiler, it passed. Which is great news. But during that debate, Some people spoke against the resolution using what has been a widely debunked report called the CAS report – No surprise.

But my reaction to that wasn’t very generous. Very affirmed in my own goodness actually as a social justice warrior I had all sorts of thoughts and opinions about those UUs. And then I had a conversation with my wise friend and yours, Biz, who said, “They’re trying to rationally justify their disgust through something that they think holds authority, like the CAS report. Instead of just being like, whoa, I am reacting to another human being with disgust. Is that okay with me?”

Now I do not think that anyone who cited that report did so because they were trying to hurt people. Though, let me be clear – they did. No, I think they were desperately trying to protect themselves – to protect their identity as a good person. And as much as it pains me, this realization led me to see all the times that I had done the same.

When I feel uncomfortable, instead of saying, “I’m uncomfortable, let me sit with this. Does this align with my values? What’s going on?” Instead, I often interpret it as danger.

And when you interpret something as danger, it leads to a fight response. I have to defend myself or whether I have to protect my good person status and the fight response makes a lot of sense because discomfort is actually dangerous.

It’s dangerous to those ideas and thoughts we hold that are not aligned with our core self, that are not aligned with our core values are not aligned with what we are working towards, which is the beloved community.

So that fight you feel when you are uncomfortable, it’s legitimate, but it’s not helpful.

To fight our discomfort is to keep us stuck. It is to hold tight to the image we are trying to project, which keeps us cut off from growth. Therapist Iris McKellen Garrett writes,

“The more tightly we cling to our identity as a good person, the more skilled we become at rationalizing our behavior. And the less available we are to examining the ways we cause harm.

Holding tightly to your identity as good will undermine your growth because it doesn’t make room for this discomfort. And I don’t want my growth undermined. There is too much harm in this world. There is too much suffering happening right now for me to stay static. I don’t want to stop the necessary growth and transformation that is needed in order for me to do my part.

 

And as a people who are committed to the building the beloved community, I don’t want us to pretzel ourselves either. I don’t want us to cut off ourselves from humanity. I don’t want us to appeal to the powers that be begging for scraps of our humanity, for morsels of justice. They’re never going to give it, not in any real and tangible way, and certainly not in any way that leads us to the beloved community.

Now, I didn’t write this down, but let me be clear, this does not mean you’ll need to not go to the legislature this session. Show up. Show up in your full humanity for others, full humanity.

I want a bigger, more connected life for myself and for everyone. Being good requires a level of control that just doesn’t allow that. Looking back, I can see all the ways that I tried to control every situation and attempt to control how people perceive me and that’s just plain exhausting. If we want to work for equity and inclusion but we haven’t liberated ourselves from good, we can get stuck on learning the rules for the rules sake. Like learning what is racist and ableist and sexist language and moving it out of our vocabulary, but just kind of ending there.

Writers Sadie Smith says,

“I’m always happy when people use the right words around me and others. But it is nothing compared to decent wages, decent housing, health care, and human rights.”

Yes, We should try to make sure not to cause harm or further harm with our language, but it is just a part of the bigger landscape of what we are trying to do in a liberating space, which means we have to act, and to act is to risk.

 

UU ethicist Sharon Welch wrote a book called “The Feminist Ethic of Risk.” And she wrote that the work we are called to do or the work that we call ourself to do requires risk. She writes,

“What improbable task with what unpredictable results shall we undertake today in trading an ethic of control for an ethic of risk? And in living out that ethos, we can neither undo the past nor control the future, but we can learn from the past, and we can live creatively and responsibly and compassionately in the present.”

Living creatively and responsibly and compassionately are the building blocks of liberation, Are the building blocks of the beloved community in our religion provides us a foundation for that kind of risk.

 

One of the new values is transformation Which is pretty cool because First UU has been on it for a while. Exhibit A. In Article to the transformation value reads,

“We adapt to the changing world. We covenant to collectively transform growth spiritually and ethically. Openness to change is fundamental to our Unitarian Universalist heritage. Never complete and never perfect.”

To me this says that our religion encourages us in our humanity, encourage us in our growth and in our change to continuously learn so that we might do better over and over again, to discard old beliefs as we gain deeper understanding of the world and of one another, for the liberation of ourselves and for the liberation of others.

 

But what I love most is how this value acknowledges what this looks like when we show up in our full humanity. Never complete, never perfect.

I don’t know about y ‘all but that’s a pretty powerful path for me. So if we’re going to do away with good, What are we gonna do? We strive to be in our humanity To embrace this whole messiness that is being human and to do it with creativity, Responsibility and as much compassion as we can. We strive to stop pretzeling ourselves into some ideal that was written by supremacy culture to keep us small and manageable. I don’t want to be small, and I certainly do not want to be manageable to dehumanizing systems like white supremacy and patriarchy. Do you?

We also strive to see the humanity in others, and to be so tuned in to their humanity If it is under attack, even when we don’t have stakes in the game, we stand in solidarity and push back against that dehumanizing way that they are being attacked. Because we remember that we are beholden to one another and not systems.

And like Bishop Budde this week, We speak truth to those systems of power as many times as necessary. We also get good at repair. We get good at coming back when we have caused harm and asking for forgiveness.

Not to make sure that we’re okay, everybody’s Okay but it is an actual concern for the person that was harmed. And we strive to hold our values so closely while allowing for growth, allowing for the evolution of thought and opinion we need as we move throughout this life and throughout building the beloved community. And in this way we strive to be like our living tradition, constantly changing and evolving, growing through risk, through relationship, and through repair.

This is going to be imperative during this legislative session, and I think it goes without saying at least the next four years.

Lewis Fisher, a universalist theologian around a century ago wrote these words.

“Universalists are often asked to tell where they stand. The only true answer to give to this question is that we do not stand at all. We move. We do not stand still, nor do we defend any immovable position. We grow, as all living things forever must do.”

So, let’s hold on to our humanity. Let’s get normal. Normalize learning from our discomfort. Let us be good with one another. Let us be relentlessly fighting for one another. And let’s get comfortable with the never complete and never perfect part of it all. Because we are no longer begging for scraps of justice. We are demanding liberation.

 

Extinguishing the Chalice

We extinguish this flame, but not the light of truth, the warmth of community, or the fire of commitment. These we hold in our hearts until we are together again.

Benediction

As you leave the sacred time of being with one another, may you leave knowing that you are held. May you leave feeling grounded. May you leave feeling loved, Knowing that you are not alone, not today or ever. Go in peace.


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