Speaker: Rev. Heather Fraser Fawcett

Moving through the Five Gates of Grief [hybrid]

Margaret Mead once said something about the United States which also holds true about Canada: “Mourning has become unfashionable in the United States. The bereaved are supposed to pull themselves together as quickly as possible and to reweave the torn fabric of life. … we do not allow … for the weeks and months during which a loss is realized – a beautiful word that suggests the transmutation of the strange into something that is one’s own.”
Margaret Mead alludes to grief as something both personal and communal.
Francis Weller, a wise elder in the field of grief work, has taught a much-needed antidote to the “memorialize and get back to work” process that Mead laments. I think she would appreciate Weller’s “FIVE (or SIX), GATES OF GRIEF transmutation process.

Spiritual Manifestations [Zoom only]

You are jolted awake from a deep sleep by the sight of a man plunging down past row after row of windows, the windows of a gleaming sky-scraper, to his death.

In our service today, we’ll be reflecting on the mystical, the uncanny, the confounding, the troublesome, sometimes frightening, sometimes joy-filled experiences that many would prefer to keep to themselves.

Ecstatic. Thanks. Giving.

Three words.  Ecstatic Thanks. Giving.  Capitalized.  What do you feel, think, suppose, when these words appear before you?  Where is the pleasure and the pain within these few words?  Where is the challenge and the hope? 
Whether face down in the mud or dancing a jig, may we dare to be lifted by the Spirit and Mystery of Life. This Thanksgiving. May there be Ecstatic Thanks Giving.

Embodiment as Play

It is summer! Time to play. Rev. Heather Fraser-Fawcett, at McGill and later at Oxford, learned about J. Moltman’s Theology of Play. She adds: That theology especially came alive for me at Oxford. At the beginning of COVID, I began what has been a continuing period of study of the the Swiss psychiatrist who founded psychoanalysis, Carl Gustav Jung, with a focus on dreamwork and embodiment.

ON ZOOM: Growing Edges

After the success in quality and quantity (40 attendees) of our first Sunday Service on Zoom, 29 March 2020, services will be held regularly on Zoom until the effective end of the coronavirus pandemic lock-down is over. Using a term from the art and science of Professional Chaplaincy, “growing edges,” Heather will reflect on some of the growing … Continue reading ON ZOOM: Growing Edges

As Scarves Part the Bars

As Unitarians and Universalists, we draw on many sources to enrich, explain, and broaden the spiritual stirrings of our heart. In this time of Thanksgiving, let’s take time to revisit the sources that ground our U.U. faith. May we celebrate in gladness! Service leader – Susan Czarnocki Musician – Kerry-Anne Kutz Hospitality – Jose van … Continue reading As Scarves Part the Bars

With a Cup of Tea

What is the most important question you are not asking yourself? In today’s sermon, Rev. Heather will consider some of the questions she’s grappled with on her quest for understanding and meaning. What have been, and what are, your deep questions? ‘It’s New Years At the corner of the village Ume blossoms’ Service Leader: Sheila … Continue reading With a Cup of Tea

Two Spiritual Masters

Two women talk one day and mention that their husbands need to get more exercise. Two spiritual masters talk one day and tell each other that their wives are after them to exercise. This reflection is about what happens next. Service leader: Susan Czarnocki Musician: Kerry-Anne Kutz Hospitality: Heather Falconer & Sari Kelen’s potluck team