Podcast: Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto Sermons and Reflections

No-Rehearsal Christmas Pageant

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We rejoice in the everyday miracles of the season, marking the winter solstice, telling the story of Hanukah, and inviting all who wish to play a part to help make the story of Jesus’s birth come to life.

“None of the Above” . . . and Glad to Be Here

Welcoming more of our tribe into the church: those who check “None of the above” when asked their religious affiliation. Are they UUs without knowing it? How can we help them to find out? This is the Season of Light, and they make our light shine more strongly!

Who’s Knocking?

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Who is that knocking at your door? This is an intergenerational service, all about doors and what we fear is on the other side … what we hope is on the other side … what we would be surprised to find is on the other side. Come to find out today! Music: Four Shillings Short; Celtic, Folk, and World music

Cultivate Don’t Know Mind

We’re smart people living within a knowledge-based economy. So much encourages to acquire knowledge and use it well. It is counter-cultural, maybe even counter-intuitive, to not only accept our ignorance but cultivate our not-knowing. But that is what Buddhist teacher Frank Ostaseski encourages us to do. This is the fifth of the series “Five Invitations.” Music: Brocelïande; Celtic and Early Music Ensemble

Interdependence Day

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In our intergenerational Thanksgiving service, we give thanks for interdependence — an important corrective to the individualism that characterizes so much of our culture. Appropriately, we launch our annual Guest at Your Table program, supporting the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee in connecting us to people all around the world. Music: Sarah Kirton, Scandinavian violin music

Our Lifesaving Superpowers

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Daylight Savings Time ends: turn clocks back one hour.
In a world in which it is dangerous to fail to conform with gender norms, we have the power to make the difference between death and life. You can be part of UUCPA’s lifesaving mission, now, this Transgender Day of Remembrance (coming up on the 20th), and every day. Music: Veronika Agranov Dafoe, piano

Find A Place Of Rest In The Middle Of Things

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Our annual remembrance service is a good place to put Frank Ostaseski’s invitations to the test. They arose out of his experiences of working with people close to death and grieving them. What rest can we find in the middle of that most invasive experience, loss? Your mementos and photos of loved ones are welcome to our altar. Music: Jim Stevens guitar

Our Congregation And Its Ministers, 1947 – 2000

Looking at the relationships between our congregation and its ministers reveals a great deal about us Unitarian Universalists — what we think about lay leaders, what we think about ordained ministers, and what we believe the purpose of our congregation is.
This is the first in an occasional series of sermons leading up to the 75th anniversary of our congregation in 2022.

Music: Wind in the Strings, Ken and Sue Dinwiddle, harp and flute

Bring Your Whole Self

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The third in the “Five Invitations” series, this phrase of Frank Ostaseski’s invites us to take the previous one and apply it particularly to ourselves. What parts of ourselves do we want to leave out of our experiences? What might happen if we brought everything about ourselves and left none of it outside? Music: Veronika Agranov-Dafoe, piano