 And you are not tied to the music paper. What piece of paper do you think that's the director of any of your actors? I don't know. Yeah. I don't think so. I suppose. Do you think it's okay? I, uh... I don't think it's okay. I don't think it's okay. I don't think it's okay. I think it's okay. I don't think it's okay. I don't think... I don't think so. Oh, okay. Good morning. I'm in the audience. Welcome to the First Unitarian Society of Madison. This is a community where curious seekers gather 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 Dorrit Bergen, and on behalf of the congregation, I would like to extend a special welcome to visitors. We are a welcoming congregation, so whoever you are and wherever you are on your life's journey, we celebrate your presence among us. This would be a great time to silence cell phones as we join together in a few moments of silence for contemplation, meditation, and prayer as we become fully present with ourselves and with one another. The summer sun is shining over golden land and sea and the flowers in the hedgerow plex the summer's summer's desolate grasses green again sunshine, water dancing in sex play and street and meadow. Each new morning, we are invited to engage the possibilities of the day. What ideals, visions, and purpose will guide us. What will gather us to tell and understand stories? What will we envision? What will spark the soulful fires that warm our spirits, energize our being, illuminate the meaning of our days? This brings us together for worship. As Dorrit Bergen sparks our chalice, I invite us to join in our chalice-sliding words printed in the Order of Service. As together, we say, we come together to renew our faith in the holiness, goodness, and beauty of life, to reaffirm the way of the open mind and the full heart, to rekindle the flame of memory and hope, to reclaim the vision of an earth more fair with all her people won. Before you turn to each other to greet each other, I invite you, if you are relatively new, if this is your first or second time with us, would you raise your hand? I invite people to look around. Do you notice who has raised their hands and take just a moment as we greet each other to say hello? On this morning, when we light candles of joy and sorrow, I remind us that if we have arrived in this space with a sorrow so heavy that we need the help of this community to carry it, or if we came here with a joy that is so great that we need to share it with one another, all this and more is welcome in this space. And this is our time to share with one another. The sharing of joys and sorrows is a time when we come in a spirit of acceptance and support to share with one another some of the special events or circumstances in our lives that have affected either our own life or the life of someone we love. In the next few minutes, I invite those who wish to share to step in front of the auditorium. And we will have, and smiley, one of our lay ministers offer a candle and hold the microphone. You are invited to briefly share with us your name and what that candle represents for you. You may also come forward and wordlessly light a candle and return to your seat. And if you are unable to come forward to light a candle, if you will raise your hand, we will bring you the microphone so that you can then have a candle lighted on your behalf. I now open the floor for the sharing of our joys and sorrows. This is the joy that my friend Brian, who suddenly, urgently needed open heart surgery two weeks ago, is home and recovering. It's both a joy and a sorrow. The sorrow is that my dad needs to have major surgery on Thursday, so my heart's going to be with him all this week. And the joy is that he's actually asked me to come and help him afterwards. I'm Josh. My sorrow is that last Friday during a cross country practice, a West-Heist cross country practice of which I'm on the team, the assistant coach Jim McCoy dropped almost inexplicably. He was taken to the hospital. We got news recently that he had passed away of a heart attack. He'd been on the team for longer than I can remember. My brother, my sister, everyone's had him. And it's a shame to lose a life at that young. I'd like to express a concern, and I hope you'll put in some positive energy and send it to Chicago for my very dear friend, Gary and Sylvia's adult daughter, Allison, who's been struggling with various versions of cancer for the last two years. And after having a leg amputated and recovering real well from that, she's really getting around on it. They declared her cancer-free in about March, I think it was, this year. And now it's returned. And they're just really downhearted. So Gary and Sylvia and Allison and Jim would appreciate your energy. And I hope that there'll be some positive end to this sometime soon. But it's not looking real good, so thanks for your support. Thursday, Shirley and I celebrated our 65th wedding anniversary. No. Ha, ha, ha. We were married in the Frank Lloyd Wright Church. Max Gaver made an official, and somehow we're still together. My name's Chuck Soprinsky, and my wife and I have a joy. Our son, Craig, who lives in Nashville, recently told us he's engaged to a wonderful young woman. Their millennials, who knows, will actually get around to getting married. But it's great news that they've committed their lives together. Congratulations. I'm Annabelle, and this is Laura, and we are getting it. And I'm getting adopted September 24. Good morning. Stephen is my name. And not the top year of 65 years. My mom and dad, 69, they celebrated their wedding anniversary, as kids took them out for breakfast. And the next morning, mom had a stroke, and went into a coma, and died. Maisie Angela Colby. I've been thinking about coming up here and speaking for months now. It's a sorrow and a joy. A year ago today, I moved from Michigan by myself to start grad school. And my spouse was with somebody else. So it's been a very hard year. And this week is very hard for me. But I just want to thank all of you for giving me a light at the end of the tunnel each week. And even though I don't know you, I know I could go up to any of you, and somebody would give me a hug or talk to me. And you really helped me make it through a year. So thank you for that. My name is Eileen, and my husband, Peter, and I are visiting from Pagosa Springs, Colorado, which is a very small town in the southwest corner of the state. And we belong to a UU fellowship there for over 20 years. But it's very small. 35 members, maybe 14 or 15 people show up, struggle to get a kids RE program going. I mean, everything's miniature size. And I've even wondered over those 24 years, am I really a UU? Because most people go there because that's the place to go if you're not Christian. But I come here, and I hear the music, and I listen to Joyce and Concerns. And I realize, oh my gosh, this is my home. I am a UU. So thank you for being here. My name is Claire. My joy this morning is this absolutely beautiful day and the absolutely beautiful music. Thank you. And my sorrow is for the burning of the Amazon. And could you light two more candles? We light a candle to remember and honor, celebrate the life of Roger Chapman. He died actually on July 5th earlier in the summer. But this Saturday here in the landmark across the way, August 31st at 10, we will have our own celebration and honoring of his life. Per his request, he had both a memorial at the friend's meeting house on July 14th, and then this one this Saturday. Roger was a longtime member of the congregation and very active in the community. And we hold his memory in our minds and hearts. And we light one last candle for all the joys and sorrows that are too tender to share that live in the fullness of our hearts. For just a few moments in some deep, life-giving breaths, may we hold all of those candles in our minds and hearts and think about how we might respond in compassion and love for all that is our life. May we be grateful and have a sense of the holy. Amen and blessed be. I invite us to rise in all the ways that we do as we join together in 100. I've got peace like a river. I invite our children to make their way to summer fun as we sing together. We will sing all six verses. The third verse will be unaccompanied. Yes, that got your attention. I've got peace like a river. I've got peace like a river. I've got peace like a river in my soul. I've got peace like a river. I've got peace like a river. I've got peace like a river in my soul. I've got joy like a fountain. I've got joy like a fountain. I've got joy like a fountain in my soul. I've got joy like a fountain, I've got joy like a fountain, I've got joy like a fountain in my soul. Ocean, I've got love like, I've got love, ocean in my soul. Ocean, I've got an ocean, I've got love like an ocean in my soul. I've got pain like in my, I've got tears like the rain. I've got tears like the raindrops, I've got tears like, I've got tears like the raindrops in my soul. I've got tears like the raindrops, I've got tears like the raindrops in my soul. I've got strength like a mountain, I've got strength like a mountain. for a reflection today two readings, the first taken from the poet Jess Reynolds, entitled Where the Heart Was. I wrote Home on my grocery list yesterday, Below Eggs and Milk and Orange Juice, as if I could find it as easily as butter, White Capital Letters on a Hanging Sign, Dairy, aisle 12. I've had homes in too many places to count, a red chair, a beach in winter, a too big sweatshirt that smelled like someone I loved, the coffee beans that make aisle eight smell like the kitchen in the blue house I grew up in, rough and rich and full. Is there a home that doesn't smell like coffee, like sea brine, like someone you love? Here ends the first reading. And the second one is taken from a brief passage from Zorba the Greek written by Nikos Kazensakis. Everything in this world has a hidden meaning. Men, animals, trees, stars, they are all hieroglyphics. When you see them, you do not understand them. You think they are really men, animals, trees, stars. It is only later you understand. Here ends our readings. Thank you, Eric. I really can't believe the Hutzpah. It must have taken for me to think that I could be a hospice chaplain starting the second year that I was in theological school. Perhaps it was only because I was young and foolish enough to think I had something to say at the time that I would dare do something like that, go into people's lives at important moments. But in truth my heart was absolutely in the right place and usually one way or another we made our way. But some of my initial visits were really rough. I mean I actually am incredibly socially awkward without practicing for years being a minister. You would not have wanted me to be in coffee hour with you for the first ten years of my ministry. Much less at your bedside as you are dying. So early on I met with Kate and Amy, a mother and a daughter. Kate was in her 60s and her daughter was caring for her in the final stages of cancer. And I was sitting at the table and there was kind of an awkward silence. I wasn't sure what to say and so I just said well so what is really important to you now? And I just sat there and they just sat there with crickets in the room for several minutes and I thought oh man that was a stupid question. I mean what of course what else would be important and they still were quiet and they just looked at each other and finally Kate got up and took her IV pole and wheeled away and I thought great now she is leaving the table. I've run her off I was so foolish. But a few minutes later she came back and she had something in her hand and she sat down and placed a ball on the table. And I thought oh great there's football softball football fanatics they are softball fanatics and I was afraid that the rest of the conversation would be something where my eyes would glaze over. But Amy looked at her with a particular sense of intensity and said that isn't the ball is it? And her mom looked back and said yes it is the ball. They were quiet for a moment and just looked at each other and there was a change in the feel in the room. And finally Amy turned to me and said so when I was in second grade and in a time when my mom who had been recently divorced was working long long hours probably money was very tight. I came home one day and rushed up to my room and just began to cry on my bed. And when my mom got home she came upstairs it was unusual for me not to be downstairs waiting to say hello and she walked into my room and sat down beside me for a while and just let me cry. And after a while she asked me what had happened and I said that that day in gym we had played softball for the first time and that I had never really played any kind of sport growing up. My dad when he lived with us never ever took me out to do anything like throw a football or learn how to catch or how to bat and that entire day in gym over and over again I made such a public fool of myself. I would go to try to catch the ball and look in horror as it flew my way and just sort of hit the ground like it would knock me out or I would try to throw it to someone to put someone out and it would go about four feet and hit the ground in front of me. And eventually more and more people began to laugh at me and it was so bad that I told the teacher in my next class that I was feeling sick to my stomach and they sent me to the clinic until the end of school. And my mom just held me for a few moments and let me cry. And then she said meet me in the backyard in five minutes. And she came out to the backyard and she had in her hand a ball this ball and I didn't even know that we owned a softball or baseball and she stood across from me and said okay now just take like four steps away from me and hold out your hand and she just tossed the ball over into my hand and I said mom I can play baseball that well at least that is not a big deal and she said okay well take a step back and now throw it to me and then take another step back and I will throw it to you. And slowly step by step backwards we moved further and further apart until eventually we were as far apart as the backyard would allow and it was only for the first time from that distance that I saw things differently. I saw that my mom was still dressed in the exact same clothes that she had been wearing all day at the bank all she had done is gone somewhere to change her shoes and I knew how tired she must be but there she was across the way and she was not a great ball player either. But the look on her face beamed nothing but love and on that last throw as she prepared to send that ball across the yard I realized it didn't really matter how good I was at baseball or any other sport or anything in my life that my mother was out there out of a deep sense of connection and she recognized my worth whatever happened when that ball left her hand and on that last throw from her I realized that that ball was carried through the air by nothing but love itself and whatever happened that love would always be the most important thing and so that baseball Amy said became something that I kept on my dresser all the way through the rest of school and into high school and even took it with me off to college and I just realized I had no idea at the end of college what happened and her mom smiled and said well when you left after college and you left it in your room it became my touchstone and whenever I felt like I wasn't sure about what really mattered in my life I took it out of the drawer and I had been taking it out of the drawer a lot in the last few days and for a moment I just sat and watched these two women look at each other and felt honored to be part of something so powerful and meaningful stories like that are important to me they remind me a lot about what is really essential in life and I believe that such stories are touchstones they are events or things or people are stories that tell us what really matters reminds us connects us with meaningful things we need them as individuals things that help us know especially when we're overwhelmed who we really are and we need them just as much as communities when we are thinking about what we are about and in a difficult world what we are called to do and so I want us to think about some touchstones in some way perhaps your own touchstones will come to mind the people or the objects or the stories that remind you more deeply who you are but also whether you are new or a longtime Unitarian Universalist just a couple of important things that remind us of who we are it's especially important I think that we have touchstones as a community because Unitarian Universalism formed out of two theological ideas not out of a particular singular book of wisdom or one person's story but an idea two ideas at the time that were actually heresies and heresy in its root basically just means when someone chooses in their life and so over and over again our forebears have made powerful choices often risking their lives in order to stand up for what they believed was absolutely essential and so I share these touchstones with you and a story because it is so important in a place where we are very open towards what towards what we may believe it is especially important what we choose to believe and that we choose it carefully and that with that freedom comes great responsibility for what we do with what we believe one touchstone actually is found in the powerful conviction that deep within ourselves and in each other there is a sacred potential to our lives and finding that core and bringing it to fruition is the essence of every spiritual journey but for us it has really been especially important for the 19th century Unitarian William L. O. Channing he summed that sense of what was most essential and how we live it as our character and that our character more than anything else the way that we formulate carefully what we believe is most important and from that belief how we act every day in our lives that is what it means to be a full human being and a faithful person in the world whatever religion or lack of religion you believe in and so we inherit this deep need for us over and over again to practice reminding ourselves what is most essential and then from our unit our universalist side of the tradition that believed in a god that was so loving that that God would not send any of God's creation to some eternal damnation but rather gave us the gift of our lives and in that gift gave us great unerring immutable perfect loving acceptance of who we are and that we do what we do in the world not out of fear but out of deep love and gratitude that sense that it matters deeply what you believe and how those beliefs change how you live your life and that the essence of what might call you into that deeper sense of truth and purpose is always steeped in a sense of gratitude and love not fear or hatred or division those touchstones have held our forebears through many difficult days and hold us still Viola Luyotso in 1965 had been attending first Unitarian Universalist Church in Detroit for a year and she found there both a faith that matched her ideals but also gave her an opportunity to be of service Luyotso was one of the millions of other Americans that had seen what was happening on the television in the south and she was horrified at what was happening to African Americans as they were trying to live their lives and after she heard about the death of the Reverend James Reeb a Unitarian Universalist who had been attacked on the streets by a group of white men on March 9th and had died two days later she found herself thinking very deeply about what her life was about and so she talked to her husband and said you know I want my children to grow up in a different world than we grew up in and when I watch what's happening on the news I believe that this is everybody's fight that we are all called to do whatever we can to try to change this injustice I want to do it for my girls I want to do it for those people I see on TV I want to do it because it is the right thing to do and after a deep breath her husband said well what would that look like and a couple of days later she kissed her daughters goodbye and got in a car and drove hundreds of miles to Selma to be part of that march and when she was part of that march she felt deeply alive and connected not only with the people around her but this for the first time this amazing sense of love that transcended the interpersonal and became something larger and she knew that she was doing the most important work that she could do in that moment and so when she had the opportunity to help out in other ways to help people get to various places and talk about voters rights and to sign people up to vote she was happy to do so and it was in the midst of doing that work one evening on March 26th when she was driving along a country road with Robert Moten also in the car with her an african-american that a car of Klansman one of whom was an FBI informant spotted them and began to chase them through the countryside they chased them a matter of as a matter of fact for 20 miles and the informant said that as they pulled up beside her in the car with the windows down that at the top of her lungs she was singing we shall overcome and halfway between Selma and Montgomery one of the men pulled out a gun and shot Lujozo dead and the car flew off the road killing Robert as well King attended Lujozo's funeral and comforted her family but not everyone agreed that she was a hero when her daughter Sally Lujozo Prado went back to school and at the time she was only six years old she remembered that she was really scared because there had been people that had drawn horrible graffiti on their door and one night a group of Klansman had beat on their door and demanded that they open up but her older sister had helped her shine her saddle shoes and she got into her car into the car with her dad and as they began to drive towards school there were people on the side of the road adults who were screaming at her and throwing rocks at the car and a six-year-old had no idea what that could be about but that too changed her sense Sally's sense of what she was called to do in her life touchstones remind us of very powerful things not easy things they remind us that we are called to do what is right not what is easy they remind us that sometimes when we are doing things that are most loving and compassionate or when we are met with the most fear and hatred we are reminded that choosing what we are to do sometimes will mean risking and sometimes even losing our life and so it is important that we come here week after week and we remind ourselves of what it is that we are about more deeply and that we support each other and love each other and remind each other what really matters it is important that every week we use a symbol like the chalice to remind us of another touchstone the importance of the light of freedom and of wisdom and the warmth of compassion in our lives knowing that it was only in world war two when we were looking for a symbol that helped people know that we were taking part in getting people out of Nazi Germany before they were imprisoned or killed and we chose from an artist Hans Deutsch who also was a refugee his design to represent our work there to bring light to places that needed it to bring warmth to people who were afraid to bring wisdom when hatred was holding sway it is important and essential that we light this chalice every week to remind ourselves of who we are and from that to take something like what the closing hymn talks about in the fire of commitment what is your fire in your belly in your life now who are what matters most to you what stories tell you most who you are now and to call you into something bigger in this time of change in this congregation what might help us know more meaningfully more clearly more powerfully who we are and who we are called to be over and over again in our closing hymn we will sing when we live with deep insurance of the flame that burns within then our promise finds fulfillment and our future can begin what touchstone will lead you forward well what touchstone will call us into a new day may we be about that journey in the coming weeks amen and blessed be every week we are called to think about the choices that we make in our lives and the gifts that we are given as we prepare to give and receive our offering may we do that thoughtfully what are the resources that you have to offer to the world this is just one place that you are called to do what you can to make the world a better place may such a spirit of generosity and compassion inspire us as the offering is given and received thank you for your contributions to today's offering we appreciate the many gifts of those who helped our service this morning our ushers were Pam McMullen bisnitchki and john mcgevna the welcome table is being staffed by karen rose gredler hospitality is being provided by blaze tomson and nancy tomson our lay minister was ansmiley john powell is our tour guide if you would like a tour after the service today please meet him up here in front of the ramp and now i would like to call up our social justice coordinator tim cordon i am filled with so much gratitude every and part of the reason i like to come up here is just because i can look at all of you and really feel the the home that i found here and it's growing each week as i get to know more more of you i've been here for a couple of years but i'm just so so so grateful thank you i want to thank you also uh huh if you could rise in body and or spirit if you were part of last week's uh service sunday please uh raise your hand or rise up um that was an experience that um was just amazing we had people cleaning the loge the little cracks where dirt's been there since frank was here we had windows being cleaned every seat in this house was clean the cushions were vacuumed sewers made 30 new seat cushions so there's no excuse now to have a sore butt by these long services i mean it went on and on the basement got cleaned hundreds and hundreds of pounds of old eight track cassette tape players and things got hauled out of here not really but um it was an amazing experience and the food haulers fed over 150 people when we told them they're probably 70 or 80 of us it was just really beautiful and thank you reverend dug your sermon now just couldn't have been a better segue for this time in history um we need to unite with love and for our children this is the the time now to stop global warming to not we're not going to stop it we all know we're not going to stop it it's going to go on for centuries but if we could slow it down a great deal and maybe make it a livable planet for our children that would be a good thing um so the global climate strike we've f us and our social justice ministry teams have been taking a big role in this we we've organized four simultaneous interfaith gatherings that will happen on the day of the strike there's a little display out there you can stop by there's a petition that the youth have drafted to governor evers asking him to declare a climate emergency and they're gonna strike they're walking out of school and they're asking all of us take a vacation day walk out of work whatever don't go to work take a longer lunch hour or strike from your work station if you have to for 11 minutes but do whatever you can on september 20th to make it a turning point in our planet and my dear friend and sister claire box bought 100 had these made this is her idea she never likes to take credit for things a hundred of these and from the four interfaith gatherings that are going on at grace Episcopal Bethel Lutheran st john's Lutheran and first united Methodist simultaneously on the morning of the strike these signs will be held by other communities of faith and we're going to go join the youth in a parade and this is our time to do that so leading up to this beautiful strike f us is showing the film at our first friday films friday september 6th this changes everything Naomi Klein's based on Naomi Klein's book this changes everything capitalism versus the climate there's a free meal at six excuse me at 545 a free community meal but we appreciate it if you can bring stuff to help that happen and um and then we'll follow that with the movie showing there will be a kid film at the same time this coming tuesday speaking of home this coming tuesday my good friend paul shekter and i and and and bob lasseter other f us folks who are interested in exploring the possibility of creating community that is justice driven that is intentionally inclusive how do we break down the racial divide if we're not willing to live with people that look differently than us right that's justice driven racially equal fully welcoming and radically hospitable and which is going for a zero carbon footprint we want to create a community a living community that can do that so on tuesday night this coming tuesday there'll be a potluck here at six followed by a program where we begin as a community to explore that possibility of creating that kind of community and i hope you'll join us and lastly there's a little flyer out there on the table about the climate strike that has all kinds of events coming up in the weeks ahead that build momentum for this september 20th climate strike and on the other side are is an itinerary of the events that are happening on that day that day is the beginning of a week of action the youth are going to be occupying the capital and trying to hold it they're opening up what's called the people's emergency climate i'm sorry the people's climate emergency office our congregant chris taylor secured a room for us there and the youth are going to be occupying that all week long having student strikes all week long so stop by the capital the week of september 20th through the 27th and be part of making this a turning point in human history i love you all thank you thank you tim it is important for us to get the word out and to think about how we can make a difference when it's so essential will we rise in all the ways that we do as we join together in singing our closing hymn number 1028 the fire of commitment hands and hearts and spirits into face and free from fear when the commitment set our mind and soul a place when our hunger and our passion need to call us on our way of flame that burns within then our promise fights fulfillment and our future can begin from the stories of our living brings us on from still to witness to the life of liberty it sets our mind and soul a place when our heart to call us on our assurance of the birds within then our promise finds fulfillment and our future can begin from the dream of youthful vision comes us new prophetic voice which demands a deeper justice built by our courageous choice when the fire of commitment sets our mind and soul a place when our hunger and our passion need to call us on our way assurance of the flame that burns within then our promise finds fulfillment and our future can begin as we prepare to leave this place may we find discover reconnect with our own touchstones may they call us to our real selves our deepest selves maybe we remember stories like the story of the chalice and how people coming together can change the world we extinguish the light of this chalice but not the light of that wisdom not the fire of our commitment to being part of that change not the deep warmth of compassion and love these will remain in your life and mine until we gather in this place again may we take our seats one more time and receive one more gift of music together in worship