A sermon delivered by the Reverend Peter Connolly on 17 January 2021 at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Bowling Green, Kentucky. Good morning, friends. I am here this morning, during this, a most tumultuous time in our nation’s history and our shared political life, to talk with you about a spiritual discipline I’ve found useful … Continued
Same Storm, Different Boats I suppose we all mark the beginning of the pandemic that we’ve all been living through by the date that we first felt its effects in a way that altered the patterns of our lives. For me, today marks the beginning of month 3 of the pandemic. On March 16, … Continued
At a Sunday service in October, Lisa and John shared their experiences when visiting our border with Mexico. CLICK HERE FOR THEIR PRESENTATION About the Speakers: Married ten years, John and Lisa have recently retired from their respective occupations as engineer and nurse-midwife. John, upon meeting Lisa, immediately realized that he had found a partner … Continued
I expect that most of us here have come across questions during a job interview that ask us to state one of our strengths and one of our weaknesses (though this last question is often phrased these days as “an area for growth” or “challenge”). And, though answering questions about our strengths may be difficult … Continued
Today, I’m going to talk to you about celebrating our heritage as Unitarian Universalists and as the UU Church of Bowling Green, but before I do, I’m going to ask you to think outside the box a little bit. There are ways that we share a common heritage, but there are many ways that our … Continued
As most people in this room today know, the Unitarian Universalist religious tradition which we claim and which we celebrate here is a tradition that originates from two separate Christian denominations: the Unitarian and the Universalist. Both have long traditions. You can make a case that each goes back to Biblical times. The two traditions … Continued
When I was a child, I thought like a child. And I was taught by those who invested their time in teaching me, as a child with a child’s understanding. I expect that that was true for you, as well. As a result, we learned to identify two strong proclivities towards things and persons: “I … Continued
“Violence is the intentional use of physical force or power (threatened or actual) against another person, that either results in—or has a high likelihood of resulting in—injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment, or deprivation.” —World Health Organization “What do you do,” another mother asked me at a playground about twenty years ago, “when your children … Continued
In early April, 1963, just about 54 years ago, the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., announced plans for a demonstration in Birmingham, Alabama to gain civil rights for African American citizens. On April 12, he was arrested for violating an injunction issued by the state circuit court against holding that demonstration. He was placed in … Continued
It’s a long-standing tradition, of course, that when a new year begins, people make resolutions to change certain behaviors that seem to impede their growth in one way or another. I thought that it might be a nice change to instead focus on those things we claim as our core beliefs, those things that allow … Continued
I stumbled upon an interesting website this past week. It’s curated by a Presbyterian minister named David Hayward. I hesitate to share the name of the site—oh, well, I will—it’s called nakedpastor.com. No—don’t even go there! I was introduced to it through a cartoon that popped up on my Facebook page. Two men are sitting … Continued
We met here last week for our annual Day of Remembrance service. It was a time set aside for us to remember those loved ones we lost in the past year and loved ones we lost in years past. It was a time for reflection and for story telling and for allowing feelings to rise … Continued
Good morning. I love being home. This congregation raised me. I came to it in 1995, deeply wounded from my Catholic excommunication years before. Early on, I fought with a member during a movie when I thought I heard dogma and he emphatically denied it. I refused to sign the book for years, just waiting … Continued
If there is to be peace in the world, there must be peace in the nations. If there is to be peace in the nations, there must be peace in the cities. If there is to be peace in the cities, there must be peace between neighbors. If there is to be peace between neighbors, … Continued
When I was a child I was told that I asked too many questions. Often. Mostly, I was told this by my mother, as she was the most available person to ask. “Stop asking so many questions!” I expect that she said this because she (1) was busy with other things, adult things, and that … Continued
When you think about Henry David Thoreau, what do you think about, what do you know? My guess is that it goes something like this: he lived in the 19th century. He built a cabin in the woods near Walden Pond where he lived for a few years. He was a friend and protégé of … Continued
Ralph Waldo Emerson is best known to the general public as a 19th-century American writer and philosopher, essayist, poet, and transcendentalist. Unitarian Universalists know him in this way, too, but also as a Unitarian minister and an important influence on the development of our religious tradition. To read and appreciate Emerson today, you will face … Continued
Social change is slow, and it doesn’t start at the center; it starts at the edges. And we all live at the edges. At the edges of the “real world.”
What do we talk about when we talk about God? It might seem an odd question to those of us who grew up in what we call “mainstream” churches, whether by that we mean Christian churches of a liberal bent or ones with a more “fundamentalist” perspective– though the fact that that distinction exists should … Continued
