Sunset on Saturday, April 2, marks the beginning of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, a time for fasting, prayer, and recommitment. What can that faith tradition teach us who are not Muslim? In a word, and a difficult one, "submission".
As we conclude our Stewardship month, we will celebrate this community with our beloved Flower Communion, held at the height of Arizona's blooming season. In our Flower Communion, we bring flowers and take a different flower in an act of community. If you are willing and able, feel free to bring a flower or flowers and bring it to the front of the sanctuary at the beginning of service. If you don’t have flowers, we will have plenty for you.
For many of us, our pets keep us grounded, connected, and amused. Today, we take the opportunity to bless them and thank them for the important roles they've had in our lives. For those attending in person, your well-behaved pets are welcome to come for an in-person blessing.
As we live into our new 8th Principle with our series on White Supremacy Culture, we will explore how Individualism is such a omnipresent part of our western culture. Individualism, rather than collective thinking, keeps us separate from each other, which is a key element to how racism is perpetuated.
Living through a pandemic has been a shared liminal experience; we are hoping to emerge with some clarity for our shared future and for our own lives. After so many challenges, many of us may yearn for a deeper sense of clarity and yet also feel wary of what’s ahead–we want to protect our hearts from disappointment because we have become familiar with its ache. What are the gifts of liminality? What spiritual practices can help us navigate liminality? How do we know when we are emerging–and will we be ready?
As we kick off our Stewardship thinking, we will contemplate what abundance means to us and why abundant thinking is more powerful than scarcity thinking—in our congregation, in our spirituality, and in our lives. Real life and real expenses are real, but how we think about them shapes how we see the world.
