Each month we feature a spiritual theme (see below) which we weave into Sunday worship, Religious Exploration and many of our small groups and gatherings. Each month’s theme is also highlighted in the aesthetic elements of the sanctuary. We send out the theme resources found here (eadings, spiritual exercises, and reflection questions) in an monthly worship email so you can explore the theme on your own or with your family members and friends. These theme resources come from the Soul Matters Sharing Circle,  a UU theme-based program with more than 140 UU subscribers.

Social Justice Monthly Plate Partners

Each month we introduce our Plate Partner , an organization whose work and mission are connected with our UU social justice mission and values. Rev. Sara and the Social Justice Council often explore additional opportunities through collaborative programming (ex: book discussion, arts opportunity, issue forum, workshop etc). For more information about the plate partners below, please visit our plate partner webpage.

November 2024 Spiritual Theme:

Living Love Through The Practice of Repair

When the cracks come, who doesn’t desire – even demand – to restore what once was? Nothing is more human. We all long to reverse the damage. We all hold tight to the Humpty Dumpty hope that everything can be put back together again.

But, as our faith teaches us, transition and change dictate the flow of life. The current of time is just too strong for us to swim back.

And so the repair offered us is not that of returning our lives to their original state but working with what remains to make something new. The shards are not pieces of a puzzle waiting to be put perfectly back together, but building blocks waiting to be molded into a yet to be imagined form.

All of which means that there is freedom in the breaking. The cracks, if we can widen our view, become conduits for creativity. That’s not to minimize the pain involved. And it’s certainly not a way of justifying tragedy as “part of God’s plan.” Rather, it’s a call for us to perceive the broken pieces of our lives as more than just a pile of ruined rubble. “Look closer!” whispers the wisdom within. “That ash, if worked with, can give birth to a Phoenix.”

So, what piles of rubble in your life need revisited? What longings for what was do you need to let go of, so a new story can begin?

As difficult as it is to absorb, it seems we were made to be broken, broken open to be exact. Remember what the Canadian sage said, “Cracks are how the light gets in.”

Plate Partner: BUUF Refugee & Immigrant Ministry

The Refugee & Immigrant Ministry teams mission is to support and advocate for refugee and immigrant issues in our community (and beyond) through connection with our local community partners and national UU partners and to create awareness and opportunities for engagement among BUUF members about immigration, refugee and asylum seeker support. We do this by building accountable relationships with immigrant & refugee agencies & support groups, supporting what they request, without usurping leadership.