Last week, most of us were shocked to hear the Centers for Disease Control say that vaccinated people can just stop wearing masks and, for the most part, stop being concerned about distancing. At least that is what I heard.   My initial reaction was such relief, but then I began hearing questions about that new guidance.  Even in an era when the formal vehicles for decision making are committed to truth and science…and reasonableness, we are clearly still struggling for clarity in this changing public health environment.  Though overall the trajectory of the pandemic is toward a return to whatever normal will become, the new…

Our monthly spiritual theme of emergence seems to invite attention to that which is emerging, to the new creation and the new spiritual habits that must follow. We tend to focus on the butterfly as it leaves the cocoon, on the chick as it leaves the egg. Our worship for the next two Sundays will focus on the new that is emerging in these days.  But the process of emerging destroys the cocoon and the egg.  Emergence involves both destruction and creation. It therefore must hold both the excitement of the new and regret, both joy and grief.  My own life has…

As we slowly emerge from the pandemic with vaccines becoming available for most adults throughout the country, I am thinking more about re-connecting where I have been disconnected this last year.  So much of our lives are interdependent on others and occasions around us.  I think of some of the words by Thich Nhat Hanh on inter-connection:  You are me and I am you. Isn't it obvious that we inter-are? You cultivate the flower in yourself so that I will be beautiful. I transform the garbage in myself so that you do not have to suffer. I support you-you support me. I am here to bring you peace you are…

We are all works in process and remain works in process through all of our days. The new version of ourselves is always emerging. This is true at the molecular level, as billions of cells die and are born within us each day. It is also true of our experience of ourselves. What we are becoming is always being brought forth, drawn from all that we have been and been through, transformed somehow by the constant creation that is life.  Emergence is our spiritual theme for the month of May. It is a complex and layered theme that opens many avenues for…

It is Earth Day. I awoke mindful of needing to be present to this day and all that it requires. Present to the damage our species has done and to the danger that we may well not have the good sense to change. Present also to our belated but growing understanding of the danger and the possibilities that the forced slowdown of the pandemic have made possible. Re-opening offers us a chance to make new choices.  I awoke on this Earth Day mindful that I and we are at a juncture, a time of choice. And the choice, as it always seems to be, is between cursing and blessing…

Rev. Egbert Ethelred Brown  I want to thank the members of the First Unitarian community who reached out to me, as news of the latest murder in Minnesota spread and news coverage of it surpassed even that of the Chauvin trial.  There is no surprise in that news for me, and therefore little shock. ”Open Season” on Black and Brown bodies seems never to end in the land of the free.  Part of our religious calling is to tell that truth. The religious voice needs to speak for the world that can be, as faith’s contribution to bringing that possible world into being. The Beloved Community must be built and “ours are the only hands on earth.”  This morning…

Raquel Willis, Trans Activist Last week the Governor of Arkansas, Asa Hutchinson, vetoed state bill HB1570 which denied gender affirming health care to minors, even with parental permission. The legislature promptly overrode his veto and that law is now on the books in Arkansas. The Governor, who is a Republican, described the bill as a major over-reach of the state into the private lives and medical needs of Arkansas citizens. Gender affirming health care includes not just gender-affirming surgery, but also hormone and speech therapy, and primary and psychiatric care as well. The denial of health care is simply cruel.…

"Silver Communion Set - Donated by the Ladies Sewing Circle in 1866" It was the Passover. Jesus gathered his inner circle in an upper room somewhere in Jerusalem to celebrate. He blessed the wine and the bread, told his followers to drink and eat, that liberation was there for them as it had been for the Jews held in bondage.   It was not a promise of ease. Forty years in the wilderness followed that escape from bondage across the Sea of Reeds. The Jews were spared that last plague, but not the arduous journey to freedom.  For the community gathered in that upper…

More congregants are asking when we will be able to return to in-person worship. It is far from a flood of questions, at least yet, but the number of questions has increased.  The questions are natural. For the first time in over a year, there is positive news about the pandemic. There are now three vaccines approved and being distributed. “Have you gotten your shot?” is a question I hear a lot. Check-ins at church meetings often lead with reports of vaccinations. Personally, I got my second shot last Friday.   Thankfully, though the absolute numbers remain high, the number of infections, hospitalizations and deaths have declined sharply.  And the…

Covid 19 is not the only virus infecting our culture. The murders at the Atlanta spas earlier this week reveal another face of the dysfunction and danger of the culture we are committed to dismantling.  There is so much that needs saying.  The alleged killer “gave no indicators” that the murders were racially motivated. The County Sheriff suggested that the killer was “having a bad day” and then, with a straight face reported: “We asked him that specifically and the answer was no.” Vladimir Putin also denied that Russia had influenced the 2016 election.  Asian American leaders are clear that these were hate crimes, another vector of domestic…