{"id":137996,"date":"2023-08-02T09:00:32","date_gmt":"2023-08-02T15:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/austinuu.org\/wp2013\/?p=137996"},"modified":"2023-08-28T07:06:15","modified_gmt":"2023-08-28T13:06:15","slug":"blessings-for-the-next-chapter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/austinuu.org\/wp2013\/blessings-for-the-next-chapter\/","title":{"rendered":"Blessings for the next chapter"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_1605\"><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-137996-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"http:\/\/www.austinuuav.org\/audio\/2023-07-31_Blessings_for_the_next_chapter.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/www.austinuuav.org\/audio\/2023-07-31_Blessings_for_the_next_chapter.mp3\">http:\/\/www.austinuuav.org\/audio\/2023-07-31_Blessings_for_the_next_chapter.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_links_mp3\" style=\"margin-bottom: 1px !important;\">Podcast: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.austinuuav.org\/audio\/2023-07-31_Blessings_for_the_next_chapter.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_pinw\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Play in new window\" onclick=\"return powerpress_pinw('https:\/\/austinuu.org\/wp2013\/?powerpress_pinw=137996-podcast');\" rel=\"nofollow\">Play in new window<\/a> | <a href=\"http:\/\/www.austinuuav.org\/audio\/2023-07-31_Blessings_for_the_next_chapter.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_d\" title=\"Download\" rel=\"nofollow\" download=\"2023-07-31_Blessings_for_the_next_chapter.mp3\">Download<\/a><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">Listen to the sermon by clicking the play button above.<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">Rev. Erin Walter<br \/>July 30, 2023<br \/>First UU Church of Austin<br \/>4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756<br \/>www.austinuu.org<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">In her last service as our interim Minister for Joy and Justice, Rev. Erin Walter will reflect on the congregation&#8217;s learning and spiritual growth in the past year, and offer blessings for the church&#8217;s future. Rev. Jonalu Johnstone will also join the service by video.<\/p>\n<hr align=\"center\" noshade=\"noshade\" size=\"4\" width=\"300\" \/>\n<p align=\"left\"><b>Chalice Lighting<\/b><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p align=\"left\">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.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p align=\"left\"><b>Call to Worship<\/b><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p align=\"left\">WE ARRIVE TOGETHER HERE<br \/>By Andrew Pakula<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">We arrive together here <br \/>Travellers on life&#8217;s journey <br \/>Seekers of meaning, of love, of healing, of justice, of truth <br \/>The journey is long, and joy and woe accompany us at every step <br \/>None is born that does not die <br \/>None feels pleasure that does not also feel pain. <br \/>The tear has not yet dried on the cheek but the lips curve sweetly in a smile<br \/>Numerous are our origins, our paths, and our destinations <br \/>And yet, happily, our ways have joined together here today <br \/>Spirit of life. Source of love. <br \/>May our joining be a blessing <br \/>May it bring comfort to those who are in pain <br \/>May it bring hope to those who despair <br \/>May it bring peace to those who tremble in fear <br \/>May it bring wisdom and guidance for our journeys <br \/>And though this joining may be for just a moment in time <br \/>The moment is all we can ever be certain of <br \/>May we embrace this and every instant of our lives.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p align=\"left\"><b>Affirming Our Mission <\/b><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p align=\"left\">Together we nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice to build the Beloved Community.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p align=\"left\"><b>Sermon<\/b><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">Text of this sermon is not yet available.<\/p>\n<hr align=\"center\" noshade=\"noshade\" size=\"4\" width=\"300\" \/>\n<p align=\"center\"><a href=\"http:\/\/austinuu.org\/wp2013\/category\/sermons\/indexes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><b>SERMON INDEX<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">Most sermons during the past 23 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.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><a href=\"http:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/podcast\/first-unitarian-universalist\/id372427776\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><b>PODCASTS<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Listen to the sermon by clicking the play button above. Rev. Erin WalterJuly 30, 2023First UU Church of Austin4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756www.austinuu.org In her last service as our interim Minister for Joy and Justice, Rev. Erin Walter will reflect on the congregation&#8217;s learning and spiritual growth in the past year, and offer blessings&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[19,170,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-137996","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio-available","category-erin-walter","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/austinuu.org\/wp2013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137996","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/austinuu.org\/wp2013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/austinuu.org\/wp2013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/austinuu.org\/wp2013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/austinuu.org\/wp2013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137996"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/austinuu.org\/wp2013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137996\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":137997,"href":"https:\/\/austinuu.org\/wp2013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137996\/revisions\/137997"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/austinuu.org\/wp2013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137996"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/austinuu.org\/wp2013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137996"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/austinuu.org\/wp2013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137996"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}