The news is filled with the impending landfall of Hurricane Matthew on the Florida coast. Living in Oregon, it is easy to feel insulated from those troubles a continent away. It is far more difficult to avoid the danger and divisiveness of this election season. We are only 33 days, and counting, from Nov. 8. The election 8 years ago, when so many of us felt so much hope, seems worlds away. At the national level, the media spectacles we call “debates” have thrown civility to the wind. We don’t blink an eye when candidates interrupt, talk over one another,…

Our spiritual theme for October is forgiveness. It is a religious concept that invites us to learn more each time we engage with it. We think of the Biblical story of the prodigal son and the forgiveness every family I’ve known well has had to muster to sustain their love and commitment. We think of the difficulty of forgiving people who commit the most evil deeds, the truly deplorables. We think of Mother Teresa and of “turning the other cheek.” But why would we use an image of the breaking of a chain to symbolize forgiveness this season? Harold Kushner…

Two more highly publicized police shootings of black men. Shall we just begin calling them murders? Are these the unfortunate actions of a tiny, misguided minority of our police? Will anti-bias training and body cameras stop the killings? Or serve to justify them? As I write, the heavy equipment of the National Guard is pulling onto the streets of Charlotte, NC. The police chief there has decided not to make public the video of the shooting. The debris from the peaceful vigil that turned into violence last night is being swept up. It looks for all the world like they…

Mark your calendars. Next Tuesday, September 20 at 9 PM, PBS will broadcast Ken Burns’ new film, the story of Rev. Waitstill and Martha Sharp, Unitarians who travelled to Europe in early 1939 as the drum beat of war intensified and the Nazis began, in earnest, their “final solution.” The Sharps helped hundreds of Jews escape Nazi Europe, including dozens of Jewish children given into the Sharps’ care by their parents, most of whom did not survive. The story begins when Everett Baker, Vice President of the American Unitarian Association(AUA), called Waitstill Sharp, the Associate Minister at the Wellesly Hills,…

In just a few days we will begin a new church year at First Unitarian. We will also pass an anniversary. Sunday, September 11, 2016, will mark 15 years since the attacks that changed so much in our life as a nation and in our lives as individuals. We will mark the anniversary, remembering those who lost their lives that day and the many who still grieve those losses. And we also need to mark the many ways in which those attacks ushered in a period of extraordinary divisiveness, a period in which the question of who we mean when…

In recent days, immigration has taken center stage once again in our national political discussion. Will we create a “Deportation Force” to expel even more undocumented migrants than the record number sent south in the last 8 years? Will we attempt to build an impenetrable wall on our southern border? And will Mexico be coerced into paying for that sad symbol of America First? Walls have an unblemished record of failure. The Great Wall of China failed to protect the Chinese Empire from the “barbarians.” Hadrian’s wall in Britain did not insure Roman imperial rule. The Berlin wall did not…

As the summer comes to a close, we are hard at work preparing First Unitarian for the new church year. We are making some changes to help our congregation become more welcoming and accessible to more people. Our vision is to be a spiritual center in the heart of our city, a spiritual center that sets a welcoming table for all of us and for more of our neighbors. When you arrive at church this Sunday,especially if you’ve been away this summer, you will immediately notice some exterior enhancements. The improvements to our entrances, funded by money from the Auction…

Since November 8, our sanctuary, like the sanctuaries of many religious communities, has been full. Even after almost three months, even after the Inauguration, even after the snow and ice, there were 1000 adults in the sanctuary last Sunday. The classrooms of the Learning Community were filled. Our programs are well attended and well received. The ministry of First Unitarian, to nurture the individual spirit and build the Beloved Community, is clearly needed by liberal religious folks as we navigate these days. Our leadership and the liberal religious presence we offer in this community are important. Just this week we…