Podcast: Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto Sermons and Reflections

What Is Memory?

The Rev. Jane Dwinell’s husband, Sky Yardley, was diagnosed with “probable early stage Alzheimer’s” in 2016. Together, they contemplated the meaning of memory, what it is and how it is important. She will share her thoughts and those of her late husband that come from … read more.

Sex, Education, “Sex Education,” and Sex Education

The messages we get about sexuality have a huge impact on our well-being–not just in the bedroom but in our whole lives, which is also the name of the sexuality education program at UUCPA. Today: why sex is an … read more.

Making Friends No Matter When

You’re the new kid in town . . . Your friend moved away and now you don’t have anyone to play with . . . You go to an activity you like, hoping to meet new friends, but everyone there seems to know everyone else … read more.

We All Make History

We celebrate Black History Month with this intergenerational service lifting up the role of children and teenagers in the movements for civil rights for Asian Americans and African Americans. Their leadership was essential in winning “silver rights” and helping the United States live up to … read more.

This House

Seventy-five years ago, our spiritual family members envisioned the future and built it a home here on Charleston Road. Now it is our turn. We have shared our vision: that we are a people tending a beautiful, healthy Earth; a loving community of free thinkers … read more.

True Magic

Writer Alice Hoffman muses that they might be “the only true magic,” William Styron says they are the secret to “living several lives” (all at once!), and actor Emma Thompson says they “are like people, in the sense that they’ll turn up in your life … read more.

A Hearth at the Heart

Our annual Chalice Sunday celebration takes place today, at the cross-quarter festival of Imbolc. We’ll hear about why we light a chalice at the beginning of our gatherings. In an embrace of our Pagan roots, we’ll call the directions and seek inspiration from Brigid, the … read more.

Way of Nature, Way of the Gods*

In nature, there is holiness. There is the divine. This is the way of the gods.*

The choir sings Hymn to the Earth, a composition arranged by our own former music director Alva Henderson, in this service steeped in the Shinto wisdom Rev. Cat learned from … read more.

Going Too Far?

When accused of “extremism,” Martin Luther King, Jr., reflected from his jail cell in Birmingham and “decided that perhaps [he] would like to think of [him]self as an extremist — in the light of the spirit which made Jesus an extremist for love.” If someone … read more.

Verse 42

It’s time to get good at the pivot. We know enough to have lived through the idea that “God is change,” as it says in Octavia Butler’s great novel Parable of the Sower. But Butler has more to say about what comes next. Let’s get curious … read more.