Unitarian Universalism knows the importance of the separation of church and state. Thomas Jefferson, who declared himself a Unitarian, articulated the original language of separation that we still draw on. The UUA has been clear in its support for that separation from its earliest days. We are founding members of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State. We understand that separation to be both a protection for government from the influence of any one religious point of view AND a protection for religious institutions from the interference of government. As a faith community, our advocacy for marriage equality…

The burst of tears surprised me on Tuesday morning. I had been on edge since hearing President Trump’s unlawful order to assassinate the Iranian top general was carried through on Iraqi soil. So many questions swirled.  If there is retaliation and escalating strikes by the U.S., what will this mean for the people of Iraq already enduring decades of U.S. created war? What will this mean for the people of Iran--the children, the families, the elders, the civilians just like us--who will undoubtedly suffer the consequences of either a U.S. military response or more economic sanctions? What of the military…

Many of you spoke or wrote to me about the prayer I offered in worship last Sunday, just days before the turning of the year. As it spoke to those who spoke to me, I hope that it may speak to others as well.      - Bill Will you pray with me now? Spirit of Life and of Love, known by many names and by no name. Spirit of what has been and of what is to come. Spirit of this moment, which holds both memory and hope. We gather as the calendar points to the ending of another year…another year…

Tis the season when the world insists that gift giving take center stage in our lives. Though many of us resist the commercialism, generosity of spirit is certainly a spiritual value. The giving of gifts can be an expression of our love.   In this season, at First Unitarian, we collect gifts and hang gift cards on the Giving Trees outside the Sanctuary and in the Buchan Atrium. Those gifts go to Central City Concern (for those living with mental illness), for youth at Outside In, houseless pet owners through Paw Team and others. Our Social Justice Action Groups and Learning Community organize this gift giving.  But,…

Cornbread was on the menu last night at my evening meeting. The host had made the cornbread the “right way,” the cast iron skillet heated in the oven first so that the batter sizzled as it was spooned in. Baked in the skillet. Served with butter. The soup and the salad were excellent but it was the cornbread that filled my spirit. Made the way my mother and grandmother made it. The definition of comfort food for me. It may not be cornbread for you, but almost everyone has foods that take them back, foods that smell and look like…

Many of you know that I have been thinking about my retirement for some time. When the congregation called me in 2010, there was honest conversation about how long my ministry might last. I was 64 then and we all knew that a 20- or 30-year ministry was not in the realm of possibility. We agreed that up to 10 years seemed reasonable. This church year is my tenth. I have decided to serve through this church year and the next, retiring in June of 2021. I will be 75 and that feels like the right time to step down.…

This Thanksgiving I find myself reflecting on the absence of perfection. You have heard me preach about the problems of perfection as a standard, the way it encourages all of us to embrace definitions of the good that are culturally determined…and leaves us all perpetually unsatisfied with our performance and, sadly, with ourselves. Preaching against perfection does not diminish, however, the truth that we are so divided, nor that so much in our body politic is in disarray. I think of our deeply flawed political process and lament the fact that it seems more and more imperfect. Perfection would mean…

In his concluding statement during the Democratic Candidates Debate last night, Senator Corey Booker pointed out Rep. John Lewis sitting in the audience and began with the famous words of gratitude from Deuteronomy: “We drink from wells we did not dig.” He began with gratitude and the recognition that his life would not have been possible without the sacrifice and the suffering of those who have “brought us thus far on the way.” As the Thanksgiving holiday approaches, my own spirit honors first those whose lives have made possible my own life, my genetic “family” of enslaved persons and slave…

Theologian and jazz great, Duke Ellington, got it right: “Come Sunday, oh, come Sunday, that’s the day.” We call it Celebration Sunday, this Sunday, when we try to transform our financial giving to support First Unitarian into a joyful expression of our gratitude for all the church means in our lives. My goal is to convince more of us to be in the sanctuary this Sunday. Because this Sunday will be different. The way we’ve done this in past years, Celebration Sunday has meant individuals (and families) bringing your pledges of financial support down front where the ministers and lead…

The first thing to say about our democracy is that it is not one. Our system of government is not a democracy. The “framers” of our system, those “founding fathers”, were deeply distrustful of democracy and what might happen if all the people had a voice in our political decision making. Unitarian Thomas Jefferson’s “all [men] are created equal” was never the embodied intention. Jefferson did not live it and none of the men who gathered in Philadelphia in 1787 believed they were creating a real democracy. They intended that all people would not participate, only the wealthy, white, male,…