Podcast appearances and mentions of Robert M Hardies

Our guest minister Rob Hardies recently returned from a pilgrimage to a place that some ancient peoples believed was the end of the world. Rob will reflect on what it means for each of us to confront the end of the world as we know it, and offer lessons for how we might journey with grace and faith toward the many endings (and new beginnings!) of our lives.   The Rev. Dr. Robert M. Hardies is Lead Minister of the First Parish in Cambridge, MA, and the Unitarian Universalist Chaplain at Harvard University. Rob is an experienced preacher, teacher, counselor and activist. From 2001 to 2020, he was Senior Minister of All Souls Church, Unitarian in Washington, DC, a large, dynamic multiracial congregation. During his ministry at All Souls, Rob helped found and lead award-winning justice organizations that advocated for marriage equality and for voting rights. Before entering the ministry, Rob worked for Habitat for Humanity, and served as a human rights worker with Indigenous communities in Guatemala. A student of Emerson, Thoreau and the New England Transcendentalists, Rob often encounters the sacred in nature, and in his spare time enjoys leading walking pilgrimages along the Camino de Santiago.  

"Dare to Love Again" (August 1, 2021) Worship Service Do I dare to love again? Many of us have asked that question at one time or another. I know I have. Whether after death, disappointment or betrayal, life is always asking us to give love another chance. But do we dare? And how? Rev. Dr. Robert M. Hardies, Guest Minister; Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Sam King, Worship Associate; Reiko Oda Lane, organist; Leandra Ramm, alto; Richard Fey, tenor; Bill Ganz, pianist Joe Chapot, OOS Design & live chat moderator; Eric Shackelford, camera; Shulee Ong, camera; Lyle Barrere, sound; Amy Kelly, flowers; Alex Darr, Les James, Tom Brookshire, Zoom Coffee Hour Order of Service: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1k0CZ4hhx5PZDW-tsijtfaq_-WZFAWKMB/view?usp=sharing LIVESTREAM: https://youtu.be/wnfvbLJ9Cng

"Dare to Love Again" (August 1, 2021) Worship Service Do I dare to love again? Many of us have asked that question at one time or another. I know I have. Whether after death, disappointment or betrayal, life is always asking us to give love another chance. But do we dare? And how? Rev. Dr. Robert M. Hardies, Guest Minister; Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Sam King, Worship Associate; Reiko Oda Lane, organist; Leandra Ramm, alto; Richard Fey, tenor; Bill Ganz, pianist Joe Chapot, OOS Design & live chat moderator; Eric Shackelford, camera; Shulee Ong, camera; Lyle Barrere, sound; Amy Kelly, flowers; Alex Darr, Les James, Tom Brookshire, Zoom Coffee Hour Order of Service: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1k0CZ4hhx5PZDW-tsijtfaq_-WZFAWKMB/view?usp=sharing LIVESTREAM: https://youtu.be/wnfvbLJ9Cng

At the heart of this and every Beloved Community is love, always love. But love isn’t just a feeling, it’s a practice—a shared practice of affection and care. In congregational life, it matters how we tell the story of our love. This Sunday we’ll consider some “love stories” and what they have to teach us about the practice of love at church. Music by Rob Redei and the UUCA Choir. Rev. Rob Hardies is a preacher, teacher, and an experienced leader of retreats and pilgrimages. From 2001 to 2020, he was Senior Minister of All Souls Church, Unitarian in Washington, DC, a large, multiracial congregation. During his ministry at All Souls, Rob helped create organizations that advocated for marriage equality and for voting rights. He lives in Washington with his husband and son.

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/12.11.2017%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://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/10.15.2017%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…

As Hurricane Katrina has reminded us, inspite of our ‘melting pot’ national image, race still matters. As we strive to be an ‘evermore diverse’ congregation, how do we see and talk about the differences between us? Sunday, October 2, 2005 at 10:50am: ‘Choose to Bless the World’ — Rev. Robert M. Hardies

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/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/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/5.14.2017%20%20Lets%20Call%20Her%20Name.mp3   Rev. Dr. Robert M. Hardies, May 14, 2017

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/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/03.05.2017%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/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/01.08.2017%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/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.

http://all-souls.org/sites/default/files/12.04-2016%20A%20Journey%20Called%20Hope.mp3 Rev. Dr. Robert M. Hardies, December 4, 2016 People often ask what gives me hope. Yet hope isn’t so much a gift as it is a spiritual discipline. It is the fruit of conscious decisions and actions that we take in our lives. Hope is a journey.

http://all-souls.org/sites/default/files/11-20-2016%20The%20Welcome%20Table.mp3 Rev. Dr. Robert M. Hardies, November 20, 2017 After a polarizing presidential campaign, many of us will return home for Thanksgiving to families and communities that are still divided. How can we heal the many divisions in our nation? Who is welcome at our table?

http://all-souls.org/sites/default/files/11.13.2016%20The%20Things%20That%20Matter.mp3 Rev. Dr. Robert M. Hardies, November 13, 2016 On the Sunday after a bitter and divisive presidential election, and on the 195th birthday of All Souls Church, we return to the fundamentals and focus on the things that really matter.

http://all-souls.org/sites/default/files/11.06.2016%20Thank%20You%20The%20First%20Last%20and%20Only%20Prayer.pm3_.mp3   Rev. Dr. Robert M. Hardies, November 6, 2016 How do we cultivate gratitude as a posture for our living and our dying? We ask this question on All Souls Day as we remember and give thanks for those in our community who have died over the past year.

http://all-souls.org/sites/default/files/10.23.2016%20Service%20Life%20Abundant.mp3   Rev. Dr. Robert M. Hardies, October 23, 2016 Sometimes it feels like we’re just going through the motions, skimming life’s surface. Other times we live with a profound sense of joy and meaning. Jesus made a distinction in his ministry between mere life and “life abundant.” How can we live with and give…

http://all-souls.org/sites/default/files/10.16.201The%20People%20of%20the%20Impossible.mp3   Rev. Dr. Robert M. Hardies, October 16, 2016 To be a person of faith is to believe that what others call “impossible” is, in fact, possible. We are called to be the people who make the impossible possible. Generosity Sunday is the day we bring forth or pledges of financial support for the…

http://all-souls.org/sites/default/files/10.02.2016%20The%20God%20of%20Love%20and%20the%20Prophets%20of%20Fear.mp3   Rev. Dr. Robert M. Hardies, October 2, 2016 From its beginning Unitarian Universalism has confronted the prophets of fear and hate with a message of love. Now more than ever we are called to continue that legacy. Last in the sermon series, “Being the Beloved Community in Turbulent Times.”

http://all-souls.org/sites/default/files/09.18.2016%20Keeping%20the%20Faith%20in%20Times%20of%20Terror.mp3   Rev. Dr. Robert M. Hardies, September 18, 2016 In world filled with violence and terror, we face daily temptations to turn our back on the Beloved Community. How do we cultivate souls that allow us to resist this temptation? How do we keep the faith in times of terror? Second in the sermon…

http://all-souls.org/sites/default/files/9.11.2016%20The%20Rising.mp3   Rev. Dr. Robert M. Hardies, September 11, 2016 On the 15th anniversary of 9/11 we reflect on what we learned that difficult season about what it means to be the Beloved Community in times of terror. How can those lessons inform our current struggles to live faithfully in turbulent times? Join us on…

October 15 (9:00, 11:00, 4:30) Delivered at www.unityunitarian.org. “The Even Better News? — Rev. Robert M. Hardies, All Souls Church of Washington What is the good news of Unitarian Universalism that our world so desperately needs? Rev. Hardies, senior minister of All Souls Church in Washington, DC, will share with us his vision of that saving message, and encourage us all to help spread it by “adding our voice.? Rev. Robert M. Hardies is senior minister of All Souls Church Unitarian in Washington DC — a historic, diverse congregation in the heart of the nation’s capital. In Washington, he is also a leader in the Washington Interfaith Network, a coalition of 40 congregations building power to create social change in the city.