 Okay, so the dedication, if you would, if you feel over here so that you can get the whole and then you can just pick out two votes for them and then two on the blanket. I get a question. Okay, but I'm going to put it on this side so that I can come up. I hold still. So when you're doing the, we will never sound long. Okay, I'll get up from the chair and come over. And so, and come again, okay, so that you don't have to walk over. You can walk down. I did that on time, too. Yeah, I think it was it. Yeah, it was all true. It didn't happen, you know. It was yes. You know, greater or more. Yes. You are not used to doing it. Yes. You're right. You're still wrong. Right? We have the silence. Then we start talking about the silence. Dan will cut off the silence with the hymn. And then you just come back up to each other. It's just, my sister's wrong. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. Do you want to ... It's not really ... Right? No, it's okay. It's okay. You can also put the piano on. You can pull the piano off. And then you can use that. Yeah. It has the volume. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. This is true. Welcome to the First Unitarian Society of Madison. This is a community where curious seekers gathered to explore spiritual, ethical and social issues in an accepting and nurturing environment. Unitarian universalism supports the freedom of conscience of each individual, as together we seek to be a force for good in the world. My name is Karen Rose Gretler, and on behalf of the congregation, I would like to extend a special welcome to visitors and all of our members. We are a welcoming congregation, so whoever you are and wherever you are in your life's journey, we truly celebrate your presence among us. As we gather today, may we savor the air, as it grows warmer, hopefully, and love the greening earth once again, while we wait for the sun to grow stronger, may we warm the earth with our love and care for one another. In our gathering, may you find compassion and freedom, comfort and courage, love and hope. May we join together to glimpse possibility, new vision, and the good that is yet to be. We will now sound the gong, leading us into a time of silence, as we catch up with ourselves, slow down and breathe, and come fully into this time together. These remain standing for our invocation and the lighting of the chalice. We breathe the common wind of the earth, no matter where we live, who we love, what language we speak. We drink the common water of the earth, no matter the color of our skin, how long we live, the coverings we drape on our forms. We follow the common paths of the earth, no matter our beliefs, how far we move from home, the gold that we carry or its lack. May we live from these truths, our hearts open to the holiness around us, our hands turned always toward the common good. And if you will join together now in the words of affirmation, printed in the order of service. If ever there were a time for a candle in the darkness, this would be it. Using a spark of hope, kindle the flame of love, ignite the light of peace, and feed the flame of justice. And if you will take a moment now to turn and greet those around you. Today we continue our service with a precious moment in any congregation's life, the right of dedication. This is a time when we who are gathered here have the privilege to welcome two children into our family and religious community. Today it is our cherished assignment to welcome and pledge our care to Corinne Phoenix Farris and Odell James Farris. Today all of us gathered here are more than casual witnesses to life's gifts and nature's marvelous creations. We are all being invited to share the joy which these parents take in their children and to enter more fully into their lives. We continue with this time honored ritual because these children are our present delight. By them we are reminded of life's small joys and wisdoms. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry writes, in a house which becomes a home, one hands down and another takes up. The heritage of mind and heart, laughter and tears, musings and deeds, love like a carefully loaded ship, crosses the gulf between the generations. We come here today with our ship carefully loaded with the gifts that Corinne and Odell truly need. Ears to listen, arms to embrace, a world of experience to encourage their inquiring minds. We are blessed by their presence among us and pray that our lives will be a blessing to them. And now if our parents and children will come forward and if you all will join together in the congregational pledge which is printed on that small insert in your order of service, for the gift of childhood whose innocence, laughter and curiosity bring hope, joy and new understanding into our lives, we lift thankful hearts. We welcome Corinne and Odell into this spiritual community and extend to their parents our love and support in the joys and challenges of caregiving. As these children grow, we will share with them our insights, our values and our dreams that they may enjoy the rich benefits of our religious heritage. And now if all of our children will stand up, I see you. I know there's a lot of you out there. I see you, stand up. Thank you. So today we are officially welcoming Corinne and Odell into our first Unitarian family. They are already a part of our classes here and they are growing and playing and learning with you. So I ask you to join us in welcoming them today. Will you try to be true friends to Corinne and Odell? Will you continue to speak to them with kindness, treat them fairly and help them to feel at home here? If so, please say we will. Thank you guys, please be seated. And now to those who stand with their child before us, Alex and Cara. As caregivers, it is your privilege and obligation to provide an environment both of security and challenge in which these young souls which you bring before us today will grow. Do you commit yourselves to promote their physical, emotional and spiritual well-being? Will you respect as well as protect these children and bestow your love as a free and unmerited gift? And do you also reaffirm your commitment to support and care for each other as partners in life and in parenting? If so, please say we do. Great. Now with us today, we have some special guests. If you will stand, we have grandmother Ginny Coburn, sister-in-law Jess Coburn and cousin Kate Coburn. To all of you, I ask, do you take upon yourselves the privilege and responsibility to nurture, defend and support the inherent worth and dignity of these children? Will you encourage them to grow in freedom and spirit and always seek the truth? Finally, will you help them to grow in love for the larger human family, to love and respect the larger community of life to which we all belong? If so, please make this sacred promise by responding, we will. Thank you, please be seated. In the act of dedication, we use the symbolism of water as a sign of our common heritage. There's no suggestion here of a washing away of inherited sin. These children came into this world with the limitations natural to our species, but they surely arrived innocent. Water here stands for vitality. It is the essence of life, the foundation of being. Its use here reminds us of our common bond with all embracing, ever-sustaining nature. This is also the water of our community, the waters of the world, gathered at our annual water communion service. Its use here reminds us of the ever-sustaining and embracing love of community. Name this child, Karin Phoenix Ferris. We dedicate you in the name of truth, the promise of love and the fellowship of this society. May you be granted clarity of thought, integrity of speech, and a compassionate heart. And name this child, Odell James Ferris. We dedicate you in the name of truth, the promise of love and the fellowship of this society. May you be granted clarity of thought, integrity of speech, and a compassionate heart. As a token of their dedication, we give to Karin and Odell a rosebud, fragrant symbol of beauty, promise, and love. This rose has no thorns, symbolizing the better world we would give to our children if it were solely in our power. And while we know that the world is not altogether as lovely as these flowers, we hope that Karin and Odell will learn to recognize the beauty and goodness which does exist, that they will grow in wisdom and compassion, that they will add their own beauty to our world. Karin and Odell, as these flowers unfold in all their natural beauty, so may your lives unfold. Also, as a remembrance of their dedication, we give to each child a blanket, a gift from the members of our shawl ministry program. When you see these blankets, may you be reminded of the warmth, the support, and the love of this community for your family. Today we have dedicated these children. May we also dedicate ourselves this day as we contemplate the miracle of life, as we renew in our hearts a sense of wonder and joy. May we be stirred to a fresh awareness of the sacredness of life and the divine promise of childhood. May we pledge to build a community in which all our children grow surrounded by beauty, embraced by love and cradled in the arms of peace. May we pass on the light of compassion and courage. May that light burn brightly within us all. Blessed be and amen. And if you will join me in welcoming these children. Great job. Yeah. And now we will rise in body or spirit and join in our next hymn, number 338, as our children may leave for classes. Please be seated. Before our reading today, I just want to say what an honor and privilege it is to have Sister Simone Campbell with us this morning. Sister Simone was the where lecturer at our 2014 Unitarian Universalist General Assembly. And in that lecture, she told us to walk toward trouble. And I was sold. Then in 2016, the nuns on the bus tour kicked off right from this very room. And some of you may have gone outside with us to sign the bus. And I thought it can't get any better than this. And then a few weeks ago, we got a call that Sister Simone was going to be in Madison and would it be possible for her to be in our pulpit on Sunday morning? And I thought that I had gone to heaven. So Sister Simone, thank you. We are thrilled that you are with us today. Our reading is from the Gospel of John. But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and she saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying. One at the head, the other at the feet. They said to her, woman, why are you weeping? And she said, they have taken away my Lord and I do not know where they have laid him. When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there. But she did not know that it was Jesus. He said to her, woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for? Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him and I will take him away. Jesus said to her, Mary. And she turned and said to him, rabbi, which means teacher. Jesus said to her, do not hold on to me because I have not yet ascended to the Father, but go to my brothers and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God. Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, I have seen the Lord. And she told them all these that he had said to her. What a joy to be here in your beautiful worship space celebrating the youth. Wasn't that the dearest thing ever? And to take a moment to reflect on a scripture verse that for me is one of my favorites. It's one of my favorites, I think, because unlike, at least in my beloved tradition, it sets women in the leadership role and I personally like that a lot. But the other piece about this is that this scripture for me is about how I set up expectations. I have it all organized, I explain phenomenon, I'm in control, and then all of a sudden you turn around and bam, it's all different from what I thought. I had a narrative in my head in November of 2016, how life was going to go. Anybody share that with me? And then we turned around and bam, what happened? Well, I don't want to quit, that was seeing Jesus in the garden, but it certainly was a rude awakening for all my preconceived expectations. I also had a plan for our organization network. I've got this whole plan about how we're gonna mend the income of wealth disparity in our nation and what we can do about it and how we can make a difference and if we all just participate, we work on these seven programs, blah, blah, blah, blah. Do you ever get plans like that going? And quite frankly, looking forward this October, my nephew's getting married. Did you think what a lovely thing? Oh, not in our family. Oh, because you see my sister, his mother, is divorced and reburied and it means that Ryan, my nephew's dad is coming and my sister and her husband are coming and her husband's other kids and Ryan's other relationships had always just going to be worrisome. But then you add to this this added complexity in my family, which is that my sister's first husband had been married before and he had two daughters. So my brother, oh God help us, my brother married my sister's first husband's oldest daughter. Now, how is that for confusing? I'm so glad we're gonna have a wedding, isn't it wonderful? Please pray for us, October 13th. And that it's October 13th, I find amusing. But I have expectations and plans for how to cope. Just like Mary in the garden, what happened? I thought Jesus would be here, I thought his body would be here. Well, all these expectations get disrupted. Disrupted by the fact that if we can turn around, turn away from my organization and control, if I could be just a little bit curious and not have everything nailed down, then maybe, maybe I'll be able to see the love beyond, the opportunity beyond my plans. The fact that I'm not in control, but the amazing reality is that love flourishes in our midst. And look what Mary is told. Mary is told not, oh, just go away on retreat and savor this moment of meeting Jesus all by yourself. No, Mary is told go, go to the apostles, go to the leaders, go to other people and share what is surprising news that in the midst of grief, in the midst of heartbreak, in the midst of dying, love can flourish. I'm finding this message a little hard these days and this is why I wanted to preach on it because at a national level, I have a really difficult time finding love flourishing in this midst. I feel quite in a barren garden, quite like the Madison hillside without any green on it yet. And I understand you're really tired of this. Well, so am I. But the national story for me is also a barrenness of worry, of anxiety, of too much MSNBC. I've got to stop it, but the truth of it is that love flourishes in the midst of the anxiety. If I can let go of all my plans, all my explanations, turn around and be willing to see something new. And what we see in this oh so barren time for our nation is that it comes down not to our electeds, not to the leadership, but it comes down to the very simple truth, that those who are not expected to be leaders are ones who receive the message, that the ones who are often left out and thought of as the ones in the kitchen fixing things up are the ones who know the deeper truth, that love is alive, love is in our midst, and that it is possible to bind together even the most disheartened. And so my friends, I urge on you this morning, turn around, risk letting go of your preconceptions, your organizations, your expectations, and discover that invitation. Please, we need you, being missionaries of the love, of the unity, of the welcome, that is at the heart of all faith. Because from my perspective, it's only that love that will redeem our nation, that will heal our society, that will provide a moment of breakthrough that's deeper than any of us can do alone. So let's create community, because together, in community, we can be surprised, we can share the message, and we can go forth to be healers in our world. Thank you. And I now invite you in the giving and receiving of the morning's offering, you'll see the outreach offering is shared with Lillata's living room, and you can find out more about their good work in your order of service. We thank you for your generosity. Thank you both for the beautiful music this morning. As we appreciate your monetary gifts to this society, we also appreciate all those who gave of their time this morning. Our greeters were Claire Box and Lynn Scobey. Our ushers, Dick Goldberg, Liza Monroe, Brian Chanis, and Ann Ostrom. Our hospitality is being provided by Lucy and Bob Lasseter, and our lay minister is Lois Evenson. If you would like a tour after the service, John Powell will be here to meet you right up front. There is one opportunity to mention this morning, on April 20th and 21st, we are having a retreat at Holy Wisdom Monastery on how to face the world with hope. I will be co-facilitating that retreat, and if I am not enough to attract you to come. With Scott Prinster, our former associate minister, so if you still miss Scott a little bit and would like to spend some time with us, please read the announcement in the red floors. We'd love to have you with us. All right, sign up, it's just me. Thank you, Claire. In our community, we make time each week to share the pieces of our lives with one another. We share our sorrows and our difficulties, knowing that pain and loss come into each person's life, knowing that together we offer comfort. We also share our joys with one another, knowing too that joy comes into every life, knowing that together our voices can rise in a chorus of celebration. This week, we are holding in our hearts a new life born to win Nash and his family. Tomas Lee Nash was born on Tuesday, April 3rd. We wish their family all the best on this new and beautiful new life. The purple hyacinths up front this morning are in memory of Jean Smiley, mother-in-law and friend to Anne Smiley for 45 years. She died this past week in Wasaw at the age of 89. If we join together now in a moment of silence to hold in our hearts gratitude for all that blesses our lives, and hold in us the willingness to open ourselves anew to this beautiful and hurting world. Amen and blessed be. And if you will rise now in body or spirit are closing him in the gray hymnal number 121. Be inspired with gratitude for the wondrous gifts that are ours and filled with the resolve to share them with all who are in need. May we hold precious one another and the world which provides us with life and beauty and may a song of thanksgiving be on our lips today and always. Our time in service together here has ended and our time for service to the world begins. Blessed be, go in peace and please be seated for the postlude.