Unity of Farmers Branch (Formerly The Church Of One Love)

Making Meaning

Does life have ultimate meaning? Do we discover meaning or invent it?  Is there really a “reason for everything”? Or is it our life’s work to make meaning of the often chaotic circumstances of our lives?  Why do we need meaning?  Does it matter? 

Being Happy

In his book “Peace is Every Step”  Buddhist monk Thich Nat Han says,  "There is no way to happiness—happiness is the way."  Does this make sense to you?  Is being happy a worthy goal?  Do you feel guilty pursing happiness when there is so much suffering in the world?  Or could our being happy actually serve? In this service I will bring forward many wise quotes on happiness, so we can reflect on them and hold them up to our hearts and see if they fit.  What have we got to lose? Only our misery. 

Inside, Outside, Upside Down

When we don’t feel good inside, often our first instinct is to try to change what’s happening on the outside. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work. We can never solve the problems we feel within ourselves by manipulating external effects.  When we try to, it makes us upside down.  Things get worse instead of better as we repeat the same old patterns that don’t work, but more desperately each time around.  To heal, we must first identify where the true problem lies, then address it from within.

 

Day of All Souls

The first of November is traditionally a day to celebrate those who have gone before.  This day we will celebrate our ancestors and explore the ideas and practices behind All Saints Day, All Souls Day and Day of the Dead.  What can be learned by celebrating the lives of those who have gone before?  How could it be helpful to make friends with Death?  To celebrate the dead?   Could a conscious connection to them inform our lives?

Making Space

My beloved spiritual mentor Rev Chris Chenowith used to say, “to worry is to pray for what you DON’T want.”  Carl Jung said "What you resist not only persists, but will grow in size."  We are at cross purposes when we dwell on the pain—on what is going “wrong” in our lives.  Yet, when we’re in pain it seems to demand our focus. Can we make a space where pain exists but does not control us? I believe we can.

Puppy Love (And Other Shortcuts To Sanity)

Pet Blessing Sunday!  You are invited to bring your well-behaved socialized pet to the service to be blessed at this light-hearted service where we celebrate the role of animals in our lives—namely the ability to give simple, unconditional love. How can we practice this in our lives, and what other lessons can we learn from our furry (or not so furry) friends?  

Grieving The World

It seems the intensity of world events political, ecological, economic, might be the greatest many of us have felt in our lifetime.  We experience this as loss: we are losing our security in how things used to be (or how we perceived them), our trust in what we hoped for. As a result we are anxious, fearful, angry at the state of our country and the world. This is a loss that we need to honor in the same way we’d honor the loss of any loved one.  What lessons can we take from our path of personal grieving to apply to our grief for the world? 

On Your Mark, Get Set, Go!

When we want to take right action in the world, we must first become truly aware of what is going on—to understand what the problem or challenge really is.  When we become aware of discomfort, we tend to jump to take whatever action we think will most quickly relieve our immediate suffering.  Too often that action leads us to ever more suffering down the road.  Effective action is always only possible following a period of acceptance and understanding of the nature of the challenge.  Only when we have accepted reality as it is--life on life’s terms—can we then take effective action. (we call this the 3 A’s: Awareness, Acceptance, Action)

Cultivating A Culture Of Peace

On this,  International Day of Peace—we celebrate the founding ideals of the United Nations: to promote peace, end conflict, and foster global cooperation to build a peaceful and sustainable world.  These are global ideas, but work on the personal level as well.  In fact, peace will only ever happen globally when it first happens person to person as we communicate with others in non-accusatory, non-violent , kind and loving ways.  When we find the natural peace deep within us, we become living examples of peacefulness in the world.  

Be Still And Know

Stillness is a secret superpower that—when practiced-- brings us closer to who we really are.  In stillness we commune with God, instinctively feel our oneness with nature and with all beings, and come to know ourselves more deeply.   So why is it so hard to get and stay still?  It is so easy to become overwhelmed by distractions, anxieties, activities, to-do lists, that we seldom experience the gifts of true stillness.  This week, let’s explore why and how to cultivate stillness in our lives.