It seemed appropriate to use our favorite UU folksinger, Pete Seeger’s adaptation of Ecclesiastes in his song, ‘Turn, Turn, Turn.’: I always read from Ecclesiastes when I lead memorial services, and always point out something not usually addressed. But this passage ends with a question: ‘What gain has the worker from his or her toil?’ What is not usually included in funerals…

A group of chess enthusiasts checked into a hotel and were standing in the lobby discussing their recent tournament victories. After about an hour, the manager came out of the office and asked them to disperse. “But why,” they asked, as they moved off. “Because”, he said, “I can’t stand chess-nuts boasting in an open foyer.” Two young boys were walking home…

A mother tells a story of Xmas stress. Preparing for a large Christmas Eve family gathering, she had been giving orders like a drill sergeant: ‘pick up your things! Don’t get your clothes dirty! Put away those toys.’ Her four year old daughter had been underfoot, so she sent her to the next room to play with the Nativity set. As she…

Thanksgiving Divorce A man in Phoenix calls his son in New York the day before Thanksgiving and says, “I hate to ruin your day, but I have to tell you that your mother and I are divorcing; forty-five years of misery is enough. “Pop, what are you talking about?” the son screams. We can’t stand the sight of each other any longer,”…

Albert Einstein’s famous quote came to a member’s mind who saw the title listed earlier.; ‘Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted’ And I like quoting Einstein, arguably one of the most brilliant and unorthodox minds of the 20th century and few us even understand what he really did! He sometimes sounded more…

Perhaps the most agreed upon part of these upcoming holiday is that there is lots of food. Theologian Erma Bombeck once said that the most remarkable thing about her mother is that for thirty years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found. Some of us believe that about our Thanksgiving meal. There are those practical…

Reading:“ROBERT’S RULES OF RITUALS” While UU minister Robert Fulgham is best known for the best seller, Everything I know I learned in Kindergarten, his most ‘religious’ book is From Beginning to End: The Rituals of Our Lives (1995) Some of his “Propositions:” ‘Rituals are timed by beats of the heart, not ticks of the clock.Most of our major holidays are connected to…

opening song”YOU, ME, AND THE UNIVERSE” -Words and Music by A. SEVERANCE CHORUS: YOU, ME, AND THE UNIVERSEYOU, ME, AND THE WORLDSPIRIT OF LIFE,LOVE, AND HAPPINESSDWELLS IN EACH BOY AND GIRL LONG LIVE THE WEB WE CALL LIFELONG LIVE MOTHER EARTH, TOOCELEBRATE LIFE RELIGIOUSLYCELEBRATE ME AND YOU CHORUS: SING SONGS OF ALL RELIGIONSGODS AND GODDESSES ALLFIND THE MEANINGS DEEP WITHINBY HEEDING OUR…

A 19th century Protestant missionary was trying to convert a Taoist farmer in China, but was having great difficulty imparting all the rules and doctrines of Christianity, especially the part about nonbelievers God sending them to Hell. ‘If I did not know about God and sin, would I go to hell?’ the farmer asked.‘No,’ said the missionary, ‘not if you did not…

Domestic Violence Reading‘Stopping the Other War-The One Within Our Families’September 30, 2007 Domestic Homicides On average, more than three women are murdered by their husbands or boyfriends in this country every day. In 2000, 1,247 women were killed by an intimate partner. The same year, 440 men were killed by an intimate partner.16 Women are much more likely than men to be…