For various reasons too personal and numerous to mention, I have been thinking a lot about my first few years attending my home congregation in Saratoga Springs NY. In 2004, I made a conscious choice to start going to church, because I was seeking community and healing. But I kept
I have been mainlining Dolly Parton content since her death was announced yesterday; not just articles about her but also clips of her performances, interviews, and of course her music. It's rare that a celebrity death stops me in my tracks and makes me cry as though they
Not long ago I encountered this thought from psychologist Dr. John Gottman, who said that relationships die in the conversations that never happened. Gottman was speaking of interpersonal relationships - and probably more narrowly romantic partnerships - but not surprisingly, I started thinking about our congregations. I led a congregation who had
I'm back! For a few weeks anyway, before another break for more doctoral work (it's gonna be one of those years). It was an incredible journey, from getting to do some doctoral work with the amazing team at the UU congregation in Ann Arbor (where I
Reminder: Hold My Chalice will be on a three-week hiatus while I engage the first part of my dissertation project, attend the AUUMM (UU musicians) conference, and spend a few days of vacation time taking in art with a dear friend. The column returns on August 12. I don&
It's no longer on my annual watch list, but sometimes nothing will scratch the silly British comedy nostalgia itch like the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail - which I watched last night. Subscribe now! Well, I watched some of it, because I got through this scene, and
I want to start by acknowledging the deep pain felt by our trans and intersex siblings after the hard Supreme Court decision about school athletics and equal access. I mourn with you. It breaks my heart that once again a decision like this has been made that is based in
One feature of the UUA's General Assembly is the Ware Lecture, a discourse offered by someone outside our faith (although there have been some insiders in the early history of the Lecture), who bring information, a perspective, a call to us. We've heard from people like
A friendly reminder that there will be no post next week to make space to attend the UUA's week of Professional/Ministry Days and General Assembly. Hold My Chalice will return on June 24th. One of my favorite services of the year is one I typically do toward
(resending with corrected text - apologies!) I've been thinking a lot lately about loyalty, kindness and the death of relationships. You know, light, airy thoughts. My thoughts started while ago as I thought about the sheer volume of stories I hear about good friends in congregations that turned into
(resending with corrected text - apologies!) I've been thinking a lot lately about loyalty, kindness and the death of relationships. You know, light, airy thoughts. My thoughts started while ago as I thought about the sheer volume of stories I hear about good friends in congregations that turned into
It's annual meeting season again, and a colleague told me Friday that she shared the post below with her congregation when it first came out, and planned to share it again that day. If you shared it before and want to share it again, you need a new