All Souls Church Unitarian Podcast

Rev. Dr. Rebecca Parker; February 25, 2018 Many voices speak to us as we chart our life’s path and consider our vocational calling. Whose call upon us matters most? Our parents? God? Our inner self? Or??? In the midst of many demands, how do we choose the “call” that we will answer? And what difference…

Rev. Rob Hardies, February 18, 2018 Mid-life crises: they’re not just for the middle-aged anymore. The poet David Whyte says they can occur “anytime that the tide of life seems to have left us stranded on the beach.” Reconnecting with our vocation and purpose in life can get us moving again.

http://all-souls.org/sites/default/files/02.11.2018%20The%20Gift%20of%20Vocation_0.mp3   Rev. Dr. Joanne Braxton, February 11, 2018 How do we sustain our gifts of vocation and calling through seasons of moral ambiguity? How might wonder and awe help us as we seek to move toward transformative cultures of care and justice?

http://all-souls.org/sites/default/files/02.04.2018%20When%20the%20Beloved%20Community%20Lets%20Us%20Down_0.mp3   Rev. Dr. Robert M. Hardies, February 4, 2018 A poignant line from a favorite hymn goes: “Disappointment pierced me through, still I kept on loving you.” What do we do when we feel let down by the people and the communities that we love? How can disappointment and failure be a doorway to…

http://all-souls.org/sites/default/files/01.21.2018%20The%20World%20Needs%20Our%20Presence%20%20and%20Our%20Absence.mp3   Rev. Dr. Robert M. Hardies, January 21, 2018 “In order to understand the world,” wrote Camus, “one has to turn away from it on occasion.” More than anything else, we must be fully present to both the beauty and brokenness of the world, if we are to help redeem it. But to be…

http://all-souls.org/sites/default/files/01.07.2018%20Awake%20My%20Soul_0.mp3   Rev. Dr. Robert M. Hardies, January 7, 2018   To be awake is to be present to the fullness of our lives; ours joys and sorrows, perils and possibilities. This Sunday we take stock of our lives and our world, and ask how to begin the New Year with heart, soul, and strength,…

http://all-souls.org/sites/default/files/12.31.2017%20Kwanzaa.mp3 Rev. Dr. Joanne Braxton, December 31, 2017   We gather together to celebrate Kwanzaa. As a spiritual and religious community, we will give thanks and invite blessings as we move to into a New Year.

http://all-souls.org/sites/default/files/12.11.2017%20Something%20Inside%20So%20Strong.mp3   Rev. Dr. Robert M. Hardies, December 11, 2017

http://all-souls.org/sites/default/files/12-03-22017%20And%20Grace%20My%20Fears%20Relieved_0.mp3   Rev. Dr. Robert M. Hardies, December 3, 2017 The popular hymn “Amazing Grace” includes the line, “Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved.” How does grace give us the courage to face our fears?

http://all-souls.org/sites/default/files/11.26.2017%20The%20Year%20the%20Buddha%20Came%20for%20Thanksgiving_0.mp3   Rev. Dr. Robert M. Hardies, November 26, 2017 How can we cultivate gratitude and mindfulness during the busy holiday season, and throughout the year?

http://all-souls.org/sites/default/files/11.19.2017%20From%20Religiously%20Liberal%20to%20Religiously%20Liberating_0.mp3   Rev. Rob Keith, November 19, 2017 As people committed to love and justice in today’s world, it’s fair to say that we have “counter cultural” aspirations. And yet we’re still products of the larger culture, so it’s easy to accidentally reinforce the status quo rather than challenging it. What would it look like…

http://www.all-souls.org/sites/default/files/11.05.2017%20Point%20Us%20Back%20to%20Life.mp3   Rev. Dr. Robert M. Hardies, November 5, 2017   On All Souls Sunday we remember those in our community who have died over the last twelve months and consider what death means for us, the living. How can our contemplation of death point us back to life? When death comes, what consolation and…

http://www.all-souls.org/sites/default/files/10.29.2017%20Find%20a%20Stillness_0.mp3   Rev. Dr. Robert M. Hardies, October 29, 2017   I once heard Cornel West observe that while our smartphones keep getting smarter, we’re not getting any wiser. “Smart is for phones,” he said, “let the people be wise.” This morning we explore how our “high-tech, low-touch” society impacts our spirits, as well as…

http://www.all-souls.org/sites/default/files/10.23.2017%20White%20Supremacy%20Meets%20the%20Spirit%20of%20Resilience_0.mp3   Rev. Dr. Rebecca Parker, October 22, 2017 The strength to hold on and the flexibility to let go—resilience is born from both. In countering the toxins of white supremacy, how do we deepen our spiritual wisdom to know what is most needed at any given time? How do we create a resilient faith…

http://www.all-souls.org/sites/default/files/10.15.2017%20The%20Shared%20World.mp3   Rev. Dr. Robert M. Hardies, October 15, 2017 Income inequality has reached Gilded Age proportions. Nations build walls along borders and declare some human beings “illegal.” Aid to the poor and vulnerable is on the chopping block while corporate America awaits another tax cut. Big money, foreign hackers, and vote suppressors undermine our…

http://www.all-souls.org/sites/default/files/10.08.2017%20There%20Is%20a%20Balm%20in%20Gilead_0.mp3   Rev. Dr. Joanne Braxton, October 8, 2017 What if the Balm in Gilead is to be discovered from within as a source of resilience? Our individual experiences may leave us wounded, but in community they may also give us the tools that we need to help others who have suffered similar wounds.

http://www.all-souls.org/sites/default/files/10.02.2017%20Begin%20Again%20in%20Love%20Forgiveness%20and%20Resilience_2.mp3   Rev. Dr. Robert M. Hardies, October 2, 2017 Every year on the Sunday closest to Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, we explore themes of forgiveness and reconciliation and end our service with the words of our Litany of Atonement: “We forgive ourselves. We forgive each other. We begin again in love.”…

http://all-souls.org/sites/default/files/9.24.2017%20Beyond%20the%20Moment%20and%20the%20Movement.mp3   Rev. Dr. Robert M. Hardies, September 24, 2017 “Not a moment but a movement,” has become a popular slogan in progressive circles, a reminder that our social justice work must go beyond mere resistance to the immediate political crisis, and strive to build a lasting movement for justice and equality. As people of…

http://all-souls.org/sites/default/files/09.17.2017%20Unexpected%20Guest.pm3__0.mp3   Rev. Dr. Susan Newman Moore – September 17, 2017 Many of our life events are not planned with a timeline, goals, and objectives. Often the most valuable lessons come to us like unexpected guest, and we learn what it really means to say “Welcome!

http://all-souls.org/sites/default/files/09.10.2017%20The%20Courage%20of%20Beloved%20Community_0.mp3   UUA President Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray, September 10, 2017 In times such as these, community becomes essential. Beloved community nurtures our dreams, our humanity, our capacity for compassion, and yes, our collective courage. Join Rev. Hardies, UUA President Susan F. Gray, and our Festival Choir for a celebratory, intergenerational Homecoming Sunday focused on racial…

http://all-souls.org/sites/default/files/09.04.2017%20We%20Believe%20in%20Education.mp3   Rev. Dr. Rebecca M. Parker, September 3, 2017 The value of education has become a controversial topic in our nation. Our Unitarian forbears, however, pioneered a transformative spiritual understanding of education that can illuminate what is at stake now. In honor of the beginning of a new school year, in appreciation of teachers…

http://all-souls.org/sites/default/files/08.27.2017%20A%20Train%20Through%20Trumps%20America.mp3   Rev. Dr. Robert M. Hardies, August 27, 2017 On the day after the violence in Charlottesville, a gay dad and his multiracial son board a train for a trip across Trump’s America, in part because the son loves trains … in part because the father wants to reclaim America for his family. What…

http://all-souls.org/sites/default/files/08.20.2017%20Faithful%20Questions%20in%20Difficult%20Times.mps_.mp3   Rev. Dr. Robert M. Hardies, August 20, 2017 Rev. Hardies returns to the All Souls pulpit this Sunday for our annual “Questions of Faith” service, when he responds to your questions about faith, spirituality, and current events. We are living through times in which many of the values and people we cherish are threatened,…

http://all-souls.org/sites/default/files/08-13-2017%20A%20New%20Day%20revised.mp3   Rev. Dr. Susan Newman Moore, August 13, 2017   No matter who you are, where you live, what you do in life – each morning you awaken, you’re given another opportunity to chart your life’s course.

http://all-souls.org/sites/default/files/07.23.2017%20Between%20the%20Straits.mp3   Rabbi Alana Suskin, July 23, 2017   For Jews, this summer includes three weeks of mourning leading up the saddest day in our calendar, the 9th of the month of Av. This was the day Jerusalem fell and the temple was destroyed. That moment of our history turns out to be, in many…

http://all-souls.org/sites/default/files/07.16.2017%20Dr.%20Dennis%20W.%20Wiley.pm3_.mp3 Rev. Dr. Dennis Wiley, July 16, 2017

http://all-souls.org/sites/default/files/07.09.2017%20Sex%20in%20Church.mp3   Rev. Rob Keithan, July 9, 2017   While many of us reject a negative, fear-based view of sexuality and reproductive health, the topic overall is still incredibly loaded and rarely gets talked about openly. What’s stopping us from having a healthier relationship with sexuality and reproductive health, and what do we do about…

http://all-souls.org/sites/default/files/07.02.2017%20Black%20and%20BLUU_0.mp3   Rev. Dr. Susan Newman Moore, July 2, 2017   Frederick Douglass was an outspoken and eloquent critic of the institution of slavery. On July 5, 1852, he delivered a speech before a large audience of New York abolitionists: “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” He attended Unitarian churches. While visiting…

http://all-souls.org/sites/default/files/6.25.2017%20Strength%20to%20Love.mp3   Rev. Dr. Rebecca Parker, June 25, 2017 Sometimes love asks more of us that we feel we can do. Sometimes love seems powerless in the face of overwhelming difficulties. From the challenges in our personal circumstances, family life or workplaces to the global struggles to resist great evils such as war, racism, and…

http://all-souls.org/sites/default/files/06.18.2017%20Still%20I%20Kept%20On%20Loving%20You.mp3   Rev. Dr. Robert M. Hardies, June 18, 2017 One of my favorite lines from my favorite All Souls hymns goes: “Disappointment pierced me through, still I kept on loving you.” For love to endure, it must be willing to change and adapt. How can we learn to love in ways that are supple,…

http://all-souls.org/sites/default/files/6.11.2017%20Henry%20David%20Confronts%20The%20Donald.mp3   Rev. Dr. Robert M. Hardies, June 11, 2017 Henry David Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience”—his ode to the prophetic power of conscience—inspired both Gandhi and Dr. King. Thoreau’s life and writings offer many lessons on the persistence and courage that love requires in difficult times. As we mark Thoreau’s 200th birthday, we may discover that…

http://all-souls.org/sites/default/files/5.28.2017%20What%20Ive%20Learned%20from%20the%20Dark%20Service.mp3   Reverend Dr. Robert M. Hardies, May 28, 2017 In her poem “What I’ve Learned from the Dark” Julia Fehrenbacher writes, “It seems we must be stripped/of the skin/of all we think beautiful/before we open to the kind of beauty/that can’t go away.” Sometimes our struggles with loss and sorrow help us discover the…

http://all-souls.org/sites/default/files/5.21.2017%20A%20Clearing%20Season.mp3   Rev. Dr. Susan Newman Moore, May 21, 2017 Have you ever felt like you’re losing your way? Things just don’t feel right. You can’t pinpoint it, but it’s something going on in your life. Something is missing. Something is different. Something slipping away. Life is sending you a message – listen.

http://all-souls.org/sites/default/files/5.14.2017%20%20Lets%20Call%20Her%20Name.mp3   Rev. Dr. Robert M. Hardies, May 14, 2017

http://all-souls.org/sites/default/files/04.30.2017%20Social%20and%20Environmental%20Justice.%20Faith%20Belief%20Hope%20and%20Beyond.pm3_.mp3 Johnnie Aseron, April 30, 2017 Guest preacher, Johnnie Aseron, executive director for the Inter-National Initiative for Transformative Collaboration and former coordinator of wellness and inter-faith events at Oceti Sakowin camp on the Standing Rock Reservation, will talk about experiences and insights through an Oceti Sakowin Camp lens.

http://all-souls.org/sites/default/files/04.16.2017%20Expecting%20the%20Dawn.mp3   Rev. Dr. Robert M. Hardies, April 16, 2017 Though weeping endures for the night, joy will come in the morning. Therefore we must live, said Thoreau, with “an infinite expectation of the dawn.” Please join us for two glorious Easter services at 9:30 and 11:15 am, followed by an Easter egg hunt for…

http://all-souls.org/sites/default/files/04.09.2017%20Wade%20In%20the%20Water_0.mp3   Rev. Dr. Robert M. Hardies, April 9, 2017 Passover celebrates the story of how the Hebrew people mustered courage and took risks to liberate themselves from a tyrant called Pharaoh. How does this ancient story speak to our present moment?  

http://all-souls.org/sites/default/files/04.02.2017%20Staying%20Unglued.mp3   Rev. Rob Keithan, April 2, 2017 Sometimes events in our lives—or in our world—are so challenging that we’re plunged into discomfort and uncertainty. How can we take advantage of this opportunity to evolve into something new, rather than just reforming into old patterns?

http://all-souls.org/sites/default/files/03.26.2017%20Co.Resist.mp3   Rev. Dr. Rebecca Parker, March 26, 2017 “The world is too broken to be healed by one pair of hands,” Rev. Rob Hardies has said. To “see, savor, and save” the world we must join hands with others. Aiming to “co-exist” in a religiously pluralistic world is a good goal, but more is…

http://all-souls.org/sites/default/files/3.19.2017%20Heal%20the%20World_2.mp3   Rev. Dr. Robert M. Hardies, March 19, 2017 The activist Angela Davis once said something that seems to speak to our present moment: “I’m no longer accepting things I cannot change. I’m changing things I cannot accept.” How can our attention and love for the world fuel our efforts to save it? Last of a…

http://all-souls.org/sites/default/files/03.12.2017%20Savoring%20Joy.%20Honoring%20the%20Heart%27s%20Desire.pm3_.mp3   Rev. Dr. Rebecca Parker, March 12, 2017 We are bombarded with desire-stimulating advertising, but what truly satisfies the deepest desires of our hearts?  The feminist essayist Susan Griffin writes, “For this is the meaning of desire, that wanting leads us to the sacred.”  Spiritual traditions that honor eros, affirm desire, and invite us…

http://all-souls.org/sites/default/files/03.05.2017%20Seeing%20Is%20Believing.mp3 Rev. Dr. Robert M. Hardies, March 5, 2017 More than a set of beliefs, religion is a way of seeing the world. Many traditions teach that attention to the world is the first step toward loving and saving it. How can we remain fully alert and attentive to both the beauty and brokenness of…

http://all-souls.org/sites/default/files/02.19.2017%20A%20Balm%20in%20Gilead_0.mp3 Rev. Dr. Robert M. Hardies, February 19, 2017 How can we treat one another with tenderness in a time of vitriol and scorn?

http://all-souls.org/sites/default/files/02.12.2017%20The%20Difference%20Between%20Night%20and%20Day.mp3 Rev. Dr. Robert M. Hardies, February 12, 2017 Compassion is an essential ingredient in the Beloved Community. In these dark times, our ability to summon compassion could mean the difference between a long, dark night and the dawning of a new day.

http://all-souls.org/sites/default/files/02.05.2017%20How%20Do%20We%20Rest%20with%20Our%20Broken%20Hearts.mp3 Rev. Dr. Joanne M. Braxton, February 5, 2017 Friends, we are called to compassion and empathy in dangerous times. How do we sustain the gifts of the spirit: joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control in the face of insult and injury? How is it possible to see and resist systemic evil…

http://all-souls.org/sites/default/files/01-29-2017%20Bully%20Pulpit.mp3 Rev. Dr. Robert M. Hardies, January 29, 2017 Rev. Hardies returns to the pulpit his weekend for the second sermon in a two-part series called “Truth and Love in the Age of Trump.” This week we focus on love and solidarity. Rochelle Rice and her trio will offer music that inspires and delights.

http://all-souls.org/sites/default/files/01-22-2017%201115%20I%27ve%20Got%20a%20Story%20to%20Tell.mp3 Dr. Melissa Harris-Perry, January 22, 2017 – 11:15 a.m. On the weekend of the Women’s March on Washington—and on the first Sunday of a new administration—we are delighted to welcome to All Souls professor, author, Unitarian, and former MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry, one of our nation’s pre-eminent African American public intellectuals. Dr. Harris-Perry will…

http://all-souls.org/sites/default/files/01-22-2017%20930%20I%27ve%20a%20Story%20to%20Tell.mp3 Dr. Melissa Harris-Perry, January 22, 2017 – 9:30 a.m. On the weekend of the Women’s March on Washington—and on the first Sunday of a new administration—we are delighted to welcome to All Souls professor, author, Unitarian, and former MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry, one of our nation’s pre-eminent African American public intellectuals. Dr. Harris-Perry will…

http://all-souls.org/sites/default/files/01.08.2017%20Truth%20and%20Love%20in%20the%20Age%20of%20Trump%20Part%20I.mp3 Rev. Dr. Robert M. Hardies, January 8, 2017 The Oxford Dictionary named “post-truth” its 2016 Word of the Year. How can we be faithful to the truth when so many have cast it aside?

http://all-souls.org/sites/default/files/01.01.2017%20Let%20Freedom%20Come.mp3 Rev. Dr. Rebecca Parker, January 1, 2017 Lift ev’ry voice and sing, Till earth and heaven ring, Ring with the harmonies of liberty! On the night of December 31, 1862, weary but hopeful people gathered in churches across the land to watch and pray for the long-awaited announcement of freedom. On January 1, 1863,…

http://all-souls.org/sites/default/files/12.18.2016%20Within%20Our%20Darkest%20Night_0.mp3 Rev. Dr. Robert M. Hardies, December 18, 2016 Our vespers hymn goes “Within our darkest night, you kindle the fire that never dies away.” As we celebrate the solstice and prepare our hearts for Christmas, we seek light in the darkness.