 Good morning, and welcome to the first Unitarian Society of Madison. Mike, 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 Leslie Ross, and on behalf of the congregation, I would like to extend a special welcome to our many visitors this morning. We are a welcoming congregation, so whoever you are, and wherever you are on your life's journey, we celebrate your presence among us. Today is our coming-of-age worship service, and we are privileged to hear from a really impressive group of youth who have spent the last eight months in our coming-of-age program. As many of you know, coming-of-age is the final class in our children's religious education program, and it is our right of passage marking the transition from child to adolescent. The coming-of-age program offers experiences that help our youth to better understand who they are, who they hope to be, what beliefs ground and guide them on their way. Their time has been richly spent with classroom experiences, time with their elders, and self-reflection. This I believe is an international program that engages people in writing and sharing essays that describe the core values that guide their daily lives. Our coming-of-age teams have heard and discussed many of these essays during the past eight months. They then set themselves down to writing their own essays, which they will bravely share with you today. Their words, as well as their musical contributions to today's service, are sure to inspire hope and awe. And now let's welcome our coming-of-age team of teens, facilitators, and elders. I must live in my own way, refusing all that binds. I must know my own mind among all other minds. I must do my own deeds, and in whatever lands I will know my own hands among all other hands. Please rise and body your spirit and join in the affirmation as we light our chalice. We burn ourselves to ashes and rise like a phoenix from the smoldering fire. We paint a pretty picture and step into the frame as we look back on the past. We discover a diamond in the dust, like a needle in a haystack. Everything we touch turns to rust. And we rise to the sky in a ball of flames like the phoenix we are. Please be seated. Once was a herd of elephants, elephants young, elephants old, elephants tall and short, pink and purple and blue, games and jokes were always his idea. If an elephant was laughing, the cause was usually Elmer. Elmer himself wasn't happy. Who happened, he thought? No wonder they laugh at me. One morning, just as the others were waking up, Elmer slipped away. As he walked through the jungle, Elmer met other animals. Good morning, Elmer, they said. After a long walk, Elmer found what he was looking for, a large bush covered with elephant covered berries. Elmer caught hold of the bush and shook it until the berries fell on the ground. Then Elmer laid down and rolled over on the berries, this way and that. He picked up bunches of berries and rubbed himself all over until he was covered with berry juice. When he had finished, there wasn't a sign of any yellow or orange or red or pink or purple or blue or green or black or white. Elmer looked like any other elephant. On his way back through the jungle, Elmer passed the other animals. Good morning, elephant, they said. When Elmer rejoined the herd, none of the other elephants noticed him. As he stood there, Elmer felt that something was wrong. But what? He looked around, same old jungle, same old blue sky, same old rain cloud, same old elephants. The other elephants were standing absolutely still, silent and serious. Elmer had never seen them so serious before. It had made him want to laugh. Finally, he could bear it no longer. He lifted his trunk and at the top of his voice shouted, Boo! The other elephants jumped in surprise. Elmer was helpless with laughter. Then the other elephants began to laugh. Too bad Elmer isn't here to share the fun, they said, laughing harder and harder. Then, the rain cloud burst, and when the rain fell on Elmer, his patchwork started to show again. Oh, Elmer gasped an old elephant as Elmer was washed back to normal. You've played some good jokes, but this has been the biggest laugh of all. What would we do without you? We must celebrate this day every year, said another, the day of Elmer's best joke. All of us elephants will decorate ourselves in his honor, said the third, and Elmer will decorate himself elephant-colored. And one day each year, the elephants color themselves yellow, or orange, or red, or pink, or purple, or blue, or green, or black, or white, and have a parade. If you happen to see an elephant in the Elmer's Day Parade, who is ordinary elephant color, you will know it must be Elmer. Thank you for listening and you guys may now leave for your classes. I was walking alone, minding my business. Went out of an orange-colored sky, flash, bang, alakazam. Wonderful you came by. I was humming a tune, drinking in sunshine. Went out of that orange-colored view, flash, bang, alakazam. I gotta look at you. One look and I yell, Timber, watch out for flying glass. Because the ceiling fell in and the bottom fell out. I went into a spin and I started to shout, I've been hit. This is it. This is it. I was walking alone, minding my business. When love came and hit me in the eye, flash, bang, alakazam. Out of an orange-colored purple striped, pretty green polka dot sky. Flash, bang, alakazam and goodbye. In the power of questions, I chose this to be my coming-of-age statement because anyone who knows me knows I have a passion for debate and inquiring about interesting topics. And it all stemmed from a night I remembered when I was seven on the fourth of July. I remember being awestruck by the fireworks exploding into myriad colors, lancing across the night sky. I walked up to one of the fireworks coordinators and asked them, totally at random, mind you, what makes fireworks go boom? And to my surprise and glee, he answered, I admit I remember very little of what he told me that night, but I remember being awestruck by his explanation from a man who seemed to me part magician and part god, telling me how he sets the stars alight. And while my thrill of the magic faded, a fire far stronger supplanted it, the fire of questioning. From that day on, whether it was a barista at Starbucks with a fancy espresso machine or a researcher I meant through my Science Olympiad program, I never stopped questioning. And for much of my life, that's how it was. But leading to later in my life, with my eventual struggle with depression and anxiety, I had a thought waft into my brain one day after a particularly nasty episode. If everyone can have their own view of the world, if there are no definite answers, what's the point of asking questions at all? After all, what could you be but wrong? This deterred me from faith and religious exploration for a while until eventually I came to an answer. Not one I knew was correct, mind you, but one I had to accept, nonetheless. That there is no right answer. Even back then, I had a firm belief that logic would be my unerring guide in life, my North Star. So when I began asking questions that didn't necessarily have a right answer, I found myself unaccompanied in this great unknown. And this is where the seven-year-old me far outsmarted my 13-year-old self. He saw science and magic go hand in hand, believing anything he didn't quite understand to be a mystery he hadn't solved yet. He never believed, even for a second, that just because he didn't learn the answer didn't mean he shouldn't keep asking the question. So yes, I believe in the power of questions, and in little boys with dangerous amounts of pyromania. I neither deny nor believe in the existence of a deity or an afterlife. There is no evidence of their existence, but I believe that the absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence. What I do believe is that our existence is temporary, and that one day the human race will cease to exist. Everything we have built will crumble and return to the dust from which it was made. Our great cities will wash away into the oceans, and eventually there will be no trace of human existence left in the universe. We are not here for a reason. Nothing happens for a reason. We are here by random chance, and have no predetermined fate on this earth. Our lives are what we make of them. Since death is certain and what comes after is uncertain, it's important to live life to the fullest. Time is our most precious resource, so spend it with people you love, in places you love, doing the things you love. In the end, it's important to find what makes you happy and pursue it. Set goals for yourself. We are not in control of who we are. We are simply products of our environment, but we are in control of our happiness, and most importantly, treat others, people, animals, the earth with kindness and respect. Because we are all in the same boat, and that boat is slowly sinking. I believe in choice, that our life isn't a road laid out in front of us to walk on. It's not a book of our life story written by another person. We as a human race are individual thinkers, able to work independently and ablaze our own path. I believe we have the power to choose our destiny, to change it with the choices we make, and the people we meet. Like the old saying goes, you can pick your friends, you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friend's nose. That is a choice that would lose you a friend. Not all choices are good, and we all have choices in our lives we regret. Let's take a moment to just reflect upon choices, taking them in and thinking about them. Now instead of locking these choices away forever, keep them close to you, learn from them. Use your failure as a teacher to help you improve for the better. I don't believe that there is such thing as a bad person or a good person, only that there are good choices and bad choices that affect us as such. Lastly, I believe in second chances and that everyone deserves one. The choices we make can be from bad influence and should be thought of as such. In closing, I'd like to share this quote from Unitarian Universalist Minister, Reverend Franco Holmes. Life does not call us merely to do over and over again what we have already done, nor does it call us to act out as puppets, parts already assigned to us. No. In the midst of a situation which it is self ever changing, we are free to bring into realization new relationships and understanding of good will and new acts of courage. I believe in empathy. I believe that shared experiences can bring people together. Recently, I went through a back injury that has changed how I think about things. I am a ballerina. I have been dancing since I was three, so ballet is a big part of who I am. As you can probably guess, ballet requires a lot of back mobility, and it's pretty much impossible to dance when you don't have that. After I fell, as the weeks turned into months, I experienced both physical and mental challenges. My life had somehow gone from everyday routines to struggling to get out of bed in the mornings and having extremely restricted movement. The things I had to do were what hurt the most. Sitting in a chair for a seven hour school day was incredibly painful, and carrying a backpack was even more so. Along with that, everything I wanted to do was what I couldn't. It hurt to walk, to stretch, and to dance. I struggled a lot emotionally, having to sit through ballet classes, watching my peers improve while I was stuck. It felt like I was trapped in an infinite state of being while everyone else's lives continued. Over the course of my recovery, I was constantly surprised by the amount of sympathy I was given. I am forever grateful for the people in my life who have kept me positive these last few months. But even with that, I continued to struggle. It felt like even though I had so much support, I would never get better. Even as I physically improved, my emotional state was going the other way. The only thing that provided me with some reassurance that I would get better was the people I became closer to. At the Sports Rehabilitation Center I was attending, there wasn't really anyone in my age group and everyone seemed to know each other. For the most part, people ignored my presence. However, there was always someone who would approach me and ask me about my injury and how I was doing before explaining their own experience. Even though it was never the same person twice, it allowed me to recognize that alone as I felt, I wasn't. Being able to have a conversation with a complete stranger who you would never think you have anything in common with and have an understanding for what that person is experiencing made my life a thousand times easier. The people I met helped me push through at school and at home. But at dance, I could never keep myself positive like I did during the rest of my day. Watching the people you are closest to improve when you can't is quite likely one of the hardest things I've experienced. My injury has taught me a lot about myself and made me very grateful for everything I have. I have a close friend at dance who fell this past November and injured her knee. This took her out of our winter performance and I felt sympathetic. When I fell, nearly a month later, just days before the show, I began to understand what she had experienced. I hadn't really realized how similar of an experience we were sharing. Being able to talk about what I was feeling and to be understood by someone was a big step in my mental recovery. Watching her grow healthy and return to dance provided me with hope I needed to keep going. Our ability to understand each other has helped me grow. But my journey was far from over. My ballet teacher always tells us to be brave. She says the worst thing that can happen is you fall. And when you fall, you get back up again. I have heard those same words thousands of times and they have become a mantra of mine. Those were the words that pushed me for so long, but once I fell, they gained new meaning. Falling lasts for a split second. And I had always thought that getting up would take the same. What I didn't realize until very recently was that getting back up can be a lot harder than it sounds. It's not a one-second fix. It can take months to come back from a fall. I can't even imagine how much harder my life would be and would have been without having people who understood what I was experiencing. Even though I'm still getting back up again, I'm mentally stronger than I have ever been. My injury has been far from easy, but it allowed me to recognize the importance of empathy. Empathy can pull people through even the toughest of times. This, I believe. I believe that all humans want the same thing. No matter where they live, what race they are, or beliefs they have, everybody wants joy, love, and safety. However, this can be hard to appreciate when people split themselves into groups of us and them. I believe that in order to recognize similarities among people, it is important to understand their different perspectives. Spending time with people of other races, from different countries, and even my own family has broadened my view of the world. These experiences made me realize that my ideas are only some of many others that exist, and I could learn so much more from those of others. For example, my mom's service in the Peace Corps in Thailand about 20 years ago gave us an opportunity recently to visit our friends who live there in a small agricultural town. My sister and I got to experience a way of life that we had never been exposed to before. Some of it wasn't glamorous, like sleeping with mosquito nets around our beds, and no air conditioning, but other parts were very intriguing, like knocking down coconuts and cooking bread and pizza in an outdoor oven. The trip made me appreciate parts of my own life, but introduced me to the amazing parts of theirs, too. It also formed a lifetime connections with the family that we visited. Next month, their two kids are coming to stay with us for three weeks, and hopefully we can give them a similar experience that they gave us. I think these connections with different people are important, and some more examples of them came from my time at camp. Last summer, I went to a multicultural camp in Illinois called Kupagani, where I interacted with a wider variety of people than I usually do at home. I made friends with people from other races and cultures who taught me so much about their lives that I never would have learned at school or in my community. We had in-depth cabin discussions about racial bias, cultural appropriation, et cetera. I had always thought that I was an educated person on these topics, but hearing my friends' firsthand experiences with them made me realize that there was so much I had yet to learn. Unlike these friends of mine from camp, some of my extended family members have ideas that I disagree with. They have very different political and religious views than I do, and we seem to have very little in common. Although this often leads to awkward and uncomfortable conversations over dinner, when it's all said and done, I love them anyway. I may not be able to understand exactly why they believe what they do, but at least I can accept it and know that it doesn't make them any less worthy of respect. Overall, I believe in having an open mind. I believe in diversity. I believe that it is our experiences with different people that shape our beliefs, not just what one person or a book tells us. From my experiences in Thailand, at camp, and spending time with my family, I've expanded what I view as my community. When I think of people from all different places and backgrounds is similar to me, I feel like I can relate more to them. Interacting with these people has made me a more curious, welcoming, and open-minded person. Taking steps to understand different perspectives is what makes us grow as people, this I believe. I believe life is random. I think that no matter what happens to us in our lives, it is not left up to fate but chance. Part of the reason I believe this is that because it's more comforting for me to think that anything could change in my life, good or bad, instead of having my entire life planned out from the beginning to the end. Another reason I believe this is if someone's life is planned out from the beginning and their life's plan is to have something awful happen to them, I don't see a good reason for that happening. I think if there was something controlling our fate that would be kinder to us instead of punishing us. Another example of why I believe life is random is when I was in summer camp around three or four years ago. I was having a great time with my friends. It was a two-week camp. One day, I went out to the woods with my friends and a counselor for an activity. The counselor decided to climb a tree leaning on another tree. And the next thing I knew, it fell on my leg. I don't think that the tree falling on my leg was part of my fate or some higher deity trying to tell me something. I think it was pure chance. And although I didn't personally learn anything from this experience, I know many, I know many people that have learned things from experiences like this, this I believe. Some faiths teach our lives are predetermined and completely beyond our control. Other faiths believe in destiny but allow some variation based on the behavior of the individual. I believe in self-determination through the power of choices. Each and every one of us, whether or not we are even aware of them, has made hundreds or thousands of choices already today. I believe each of these choices has the power to change your life and your future. And once a choice has been made, we have to live with the consequences. In the abundant strife of our world today, it can be hard to see how interconnected we are with the people around us. Our tiniest decision can have permanent immeasurable consequence for good or ill not only for ourselves but for our families, friends and people we've never met or even knew existed. Our choices and decisions guide our lives and build our futures. Whether or not we are even where we've made a decision, every choice we make today has the potential to affect our lives tomorrow. On the evening of December 10th, 2016, a series of seemingly inconsequential decisions changed my life forever. While in Minneapolis with my family, my mom, sister and I chose to take a trip in a snowstorm to go Christmas shopping. On our way back to the interstate, we saw a small toy store that was still open. Being just prior to Christmas, I was looking for fun gifts for my brother and friends. The store was great and we found gifts and had fun exploring the store for almost an hour before they closed. After that, we stopped at a gas station for drinks and to watch a Christmas-seemed SNL skit. My mom insisted we had to watch now that my sister and I were old enough to understand it. On our way back to the hotel, the interstate was empty, but we were driving slowly because of the weather. We made it back to our exit and across a very icy bridge and we're making our way slowly through an intersection as we turned onto the road leading to our hotel, which was only about 100 yards away. Although we'd made seemingly good decisions that night, our choices led directly to us being in that intersection when a man came barreling through on an unclouded and icy Minnesota road. His car hit ours going 60 miles per hour exactly where I was sitting. And according to the fireman, had we been in a vehicle without all the special safety features our car had, I and possibly my sister would have been killed. We had no way of knowing that these seemingly minor choices we were making that night would have such an outsized impact on the rest of our lives and lead to such physical and emotional pain. And every day since the accident, I've wondered what would have been different had we done anything just the tiniest bit differently. Where would we be? There has been much good with the bad, but I have still learned those lessons some other way. I've decided it's impossible to know. Making the best choice I can at any given time is my way of approaching the future. Choices are important and this has made me aware of my own power in determining my destiny. Life is full of opportunity and possibility. I can defy any odds and face any obstacles. I want to live my life with critical choice, thought and happiness. Every choice you make has the potential to attain sheer life. Some choices that seem small could be the most important choices in our lives and affect everything in our future. The choices we make guide our lives and help us shape us into the people we choose to be setbacks or stepping stones. It's all your choice. I believe in beautiful days. Now you may be wondering what I think a beautiful day is. I believe all days are beautiful. It just depends on how we look at them. I enjoy rainy days. They are my favorite part of spring. Some people may not like rainy days because they think they can't go outside or their sports game is canceled. I love rainy days because they are such beautiful days. Everything seems quieter. Rainy days are amazing days for reading. I absolutely love reading. Rainy days make you appreciate the sunny days even more. Sunny days are known as the perfect days. No days are perfect. Sunny days are wonderful. They automatically put you in a good mood. Everything is brighter and everyone is outside. You don't have a care in the world. To me, sunny days mean I should go outside and have fun. In the summer, sunny days are extremely hot and cold for a dip in the lake. My favorite part about sunny days is that everyone loves them and they promote being outside. I love rainy days. I love sunny days. I love all days because I believe any day can be a good day. I believe that you can find the good in anything. I choose to make all of my days good days. I choose happiness, this I believe. I had a friend who was depressed. He told me that he was really depressed, so I made the decision to tell his parents who didn't know at the time, and I got my friend a therapist. He is now living a very happy life and is not depressed. He later told me that if I had not told his parents, he would have killed himself. I then truly realized that I made a decision that meant life or death. Because of this experience, I believe that there is a little bit of God in all of us, but I also believe that with God, there is a devil. I believe that when you allow God to be seen, you are on the good side of a spectrum, and when you allow the devil to show, you're on the bad side of a spectrum. Everyone in this world has the ability and power to choose what side of the spectrum they're on, and the power to influence someone's life, whether it be a small influence or a big influence like life or death. Everyone in this world has God and the devil inside of them. We choose who is shown and who is hidden. I do not believe in a God that punishes bad people, those people that let the devil show, and I do not believe in a God that brings good fortune to good people, those people who let the God show. When I was younger, I did not have any sort of belief in God. It was never thought in my mind. But as I get older and go through different experiences, my belief regarding God has changed. My experience with the depressed and suicidal friend has really impacted my life, but there is another experience that I've gone through that has helped shape my belief in God regarding how God does not give good fortune to good people and punishments to bad people. I have a brother who was a good person and who I'm very close to. He was in college and doing pretty well, to say the least. He and his girlfriend decided to have a child, skip ahead nine months and the child was born. But sadly, my brother's child died shortly after birth. This means that I have a dead niece. This threw my brother into a phase that I've never seen before. He dropped out of college and found a job and started focusing on supporting him and his girlfriend to go to college. My family went to a funeral to say goodbye, and that was the first time I saw my brother since the death of his child. I had never seen him so sad and distraught until then. This experience helped shape my belief in God. This situation showed me that there is no God that gives good fortune to good people and punishments to bad people. There is no way that my brother deserved to receive this situation in his life. A lot of people would instantly go to believe that bad things just happen, which is a very easy way to cope with something like this. I don't know why bad things happen, and I'm not gonna get into that. My experience with a depressed and suicidal friend showed me that we all have God inside of us. This God gives us the ability and power to influence somebody's life, no matter how small or big the influence is. My dead niece showed me that there is no God that gives good fortune to good people and there is no God that punishes bad people. There is just a God inside of all of us, but there is also a devil. Whatever one you allow to be shown is what helps influence other people's lives. You choose whether you want to be a good influence or a bad influence, this I believe. I believe in the importance of learning to deal with challenges. Challenges are one of the most important aspects of life, and we encounter them at every turn we take. Sometimes we try to avoid them by taking the easy way out, whether it be lying to someone, quitting an activity, or simply taking an easier class in school. Tackling challenges, however, makes you grow as a person. They teach you valuable life lessons, and they prepare you for what's to come in life ahead. I've been thinking about several challenges, and I've recently confronted in how I have learned from them. One of the challenges I recently confronted is one I gave myself. I had never rowed before, but one year I joined the Camp Randall Rowing Club, and now every day for two hours, I go out on the lake with my teammates and row as hard as I can. In our club's recent fundraiser, I received generous pledges from my friends and family for our ergathon, a marathon of rowing on the stationary erg machine. I rode steadily with one of my teammates for three hours, far more than I had ever done before. So often it seemed impossible, but still we pushed on. And in the end, I learned a valuable lesson that we don't always give ourselves enough credit and we can often do more than we think we can. A smaller challenge I have every year is the camp I go to over the summer with my cousin Max. Even though the camp is a lot of fun, it's hard to be friends with eight new people every summer and live with them for four weeks, as well as go on long wilderness trips with them. But I feel good about doing these things because camp teaches me valuable life lessons, valuable life lessons such as important social skills and physical skills. I believe these make me into a better person. Unlike all challenges, it teaches me something about myself. One of the recent interesting challenges has been preparing for this, I believe, statement. Finding a way to keep yourself occupied for six hours on a very cold day and alone in the woods isn't the easiest thing in the world. I tried to think about my life and what I would write for the I believe statement. The first three hours were rather boring and eventually, but eventually I had an amazing experience. After I decided there was no point in sitting in one spot on the ground and half freezing to death, I decided to stand up and look over at the small pond close to my location. Little yellow birds were hopping all around and they hardly noticed me since I had been silent and still for so long. Some came so close that I could have reached out and touched them. So it was in such a special moment that I felt more deeply about how we shared this world with other life. Not only did I learn that I am able to survive cold weather with only a raincoat in what I think was a plastic bag, but mostly importantly, I also learned that I am able to live with my thoughts and without my phone. And that being quiet for an end alone for hours can make you understand yourself and your surroundings better. I believe that hardships we face in life will be easier if we have learned how to deal with them from previous challenges. Even simple challenges such as trying to do well at school will help us be more confident and able to handle the hard stuff in life. But of course, we are helped by the loving support of our friends and family. My parents have done a wonderful job in giving me the opportunities I need to succeed in life when it gets hard. I am forever grateful even though I may not say it all the time. So I want to say thank you so very much to my friends and family for helping me not only deal with challenges, but also help me find the joys in life these past 15 years. I now invite you into the giving and receiving of today's offering, which goes towards supporting the Coming of Age program. In my life, there has been one defining factor that has shaped who I am. One factor that in perfect harmony has brought together all other things that I believe in this world. Friendship, compassion, emotion, empathy at all costs, love, patience, tolerance, and honesty on a completely human level. I believe in music. I believe in the amazing power that it has to connect people at various levels and to break down the barriers that stand between them. It acts as not only a creative spark for different aspects of life, but it is a way to unite people no matter what nation, race, or religion they belong to. I believe in its universal language. I believe in music because when people are not always honest, music is. And as for myself, it is the writing prompt that my brain needs to comprehend life in all of its complexity. In our lives, it can be difficult to say to other people how we feel, but with music, we can find the words that are missing and the messages that we are trying to express. We all can find these words, messages, lyric sayings, and teachings, but either writing songs or just simply listening to different songs on the radio. I know that whenever I have trouble finding the words that I want to say to people, I play. I express how I feel about different things in life pouring every ounce of me into those notes. When I'm playing, the world can disappear for a bit, and it becomes only me and the music that I've chosen. I think that's what drew me to music in the first place. I think a combination of being surrounded by it at a very young age and then physical feeling that you get when listening and playing music is what made me fall in love with it. That's why I've kept playing piano and why I never want to stop. For a kid who had the biggest imagination and still kinda does, getting to actually play music and not just hear it was incredible. There's no greater feeling than when you're playing and people are listening and you're making them feel things. To make people feel things and to give them at least a sliver about the person is forming in front of them, that is my greatest goal as a musician. I think that you can learn a lot more about a person through watching them perform, listen, or respond to music than you can simply talking to them. I think that each person's own individual distinct musical palette can tell you a lot more about them than words can, and I think that that is why we tend to get so nervous and tense when moments of showcasing our own music to others comes to fruition. We are afraid of that vulnerability. Well, they know I'm scared, hopeful, frustrated, desperate, and love. I think that we forgot somewhere down the line in human evolution how much of an essential human need it is to find somewhere to be vulnerable. At some point in time, we learn to be afraid of our emotions and hide from them, paralyzed by their complexities, leaving us completely isolated. But when that isolation becomes almost cumbersome in a way and begins to taste like nourishment for that we wish it to not, we have to be able to push through and find that silver lining, and I believe that that silver lining can be found in music. Not only does music act as a vessel for that which is hard to communicate, but it is also the binding ingredient of our world. Music is everywhere and it relates everything to everything else. Music is in all of our histories starting from the beginning. It is in our sciences and mathematics. Without music we wouldn't have anything. Life would be boring, dull, monotonous. Now all of this wonder that I speak about music I say it from personal experience too. One of my closest friends confided in me once the feelings they have towards a specific musical artist. How much their music helped them in a time of great need. Each song they sang and lyric they wrote seemed as if it were directed at them. And during dark days that passed over it was a beacon of light and a call for hope. It changed their perspectives on a lot in life and made them a better person in the process. I've always found the nights to be much rich more richly colored than the day. That is a quote from Vincent Van Gogh and I think that it is exactly true for myself. The time that I have most treasured in my life has been that when I'm simply staring at the ceiling above me in the darkness of my room as sleep approaches. The song and the melodies that play in those moments determines the track of all of my thoughts. Will it be introspective, worrisome, calming, worldly focused or consoling? It is moments like this when I learn the most about myself. Staring up into the darkness so focused I can almost see the stars and the moon. Music has opened entire worlds for me, changed my views and has led me to the best people I may ever know. Music and art give me a portal to showcase to whomever I choose exactly how I feel. It has caused me to think about a numerous amount of things that I am positive I would have otherwise stayed blinded to. Music is powerful and music is my power. This I believe. I believe in yellow. You only live once. After that you're dead and gone forever. After my life my conscience will no longer exist and there will be nothing. Many people say this is pessimistic or sad. I don't think it is. I think it's just inconceivable for the human mind to grasp the idea of not existing. It will be exactly like it was before birth, nothing at all. And I'm okay with that. Whatever life I have here on earth is enough for me. I just think I should do as much as I can with it. I should live my life to the fullest. I spoke of this idea with my dad once, of the idea of there being one life and nothing after that. He asked me if that means that there's no point in being a good person. He asked why be a good person if there's no God or consequence? Why does anything matter? And I think those are very good questions. Why does the world matter? The truth is it doesn't. It just matters to me because my mind tells me it does. And this is true for everyone. And as far as being a good person, we do that because humans are naturally compassionate and empathetic. I'm no different. I care about others, and that is my purpose for being a good person. The way I see it, we are all in the same boat. We are all alive now, and we're all going to be dead and gone forever someday. We all want to live the best lives we can. We don't, because we don't get another chance. Even without afterlife or higher power, I still feel motivation to be a good person. I want my life and career to be dedicated to something bigger than myself. I want to contribute to the world and make it a better place. Just because of my non-belief and skepticism and higher power after life or spirituality doesn't make me not have a conscience or morality. Actually, it's the opposite. I believe that life is short and that I should live my life to the fullest and help others live the best possible lives as well. Fears can be hard to deal with. Everyone has some type of fear, even if they don't like to admit it. A lot of fear is irrational, but most people recognize that, but even though they know a fear is not rational, they still have trouble overcoming it. I believe that facing fear becomes an opportunity for growth and that all of us have to face fear sometime in our life. For instance, when I was younger, I did a climbing camp with one of my friends at Boulder's. It was at that camp that I realized I loved to climb. After the camp, I joined the climbing team at Boulder's and it was really fun. But when it came time for my first competition, I got really nervous. I didn't wanna go because I was stressed about the competition, but I realized that I wanted to go and I needed to go in order to face my fears. And then it turned out I had a really fun time. The competition was super laid back and it was a really fun environment. I even got second. And I realized that sometimes love can help you face your fears. I love climbing and that's what prompted me to go to the competition even when I was scared. I'm still on that climbing team and do competitions and I love it. Sometimes fears can be more complex than people think. In sixth grade, I was on a really competitive gymnastics team. I loved gymnastics when I was younger, but as I grew up, I realized I didn't like it anymore. I always wanted to fake sick to mispractice and I always dreaded going. I knew that I should just quit, but I was scared. It was hard for me to understand quitting because I had devoted so many years of my life to gymnastics. I'd never even dreamed of stopping. I realized that I was scared of letting go of my dream. Fear of letting go of a dream can be a hard dream to understand, can be a hard fear to understand and that can make it difficult to face. Even though I knew that I didn't enjoy gymnastics anymore and it was a waste of time and money, it was difficult to quit and give up on my dream. But I did end up stopping and now looking back, I know it was the right choice. I also believe that there are important limits to facing your fears and that you need to have in order to take care of yourself. Sometimes it's hard to know how to use fear as a guide to help you know where these limits are. If you know that you're not able to face your fear and you can accept that, there's no shame in that. There's not shame in having fears and you shouldn't feel bad for putting your mental health above facing your fears. Fear is important. It's a good thing to be scared if you see something or do something dangerous because that can help you make a better decision for your safety. There are times when it would be beneficial to try and face your fears and sometimes when it's important to know your limits with fear. Fear is complicated, hard to understand and everyone has different ways of facing fear. Sometimes fears can be faced and overcome and sometimes they can't. I believe that one of the most important parts of this is to know when to push past your fears and when to accept that your fears are a part of you and know that you can't always change that. Learning to know the difference is difficult and nobody's able to do it well every time and the point is to keep trying and be kind to yourself. Love slurpees. And sometimes a slurpee is the only thing that can turn a really bad day good. I will be eternally grateful for my friends who in my times of need never failed to loan me all of $1.17 to buy one. They are good, the drink and my friends. I believe that all people are good. I believe that people always do what they think is right even if you don't. Humans don't just do things. One acts out of love or hate or curiosity or just to test boundaries. And regardless of the reason whether you think that person is misguided or flat out wrong, they're always acting because what they think, what they're doing will make the world a better place. At age seven, I thought my parents must be the meanest people in the world. Who else would make their kids do Singapore math in the summer before I got to hang out with my friends? I was sure they just wanted to make my life miserable and all they thought about was themselves. Now, at my wise old age of 14, I realized that maybe my mom didn't make me sit in the sunroom screaming about having to do six more problems because she wanted to. Most likely, she had better things to do. I realized my dad, after coming home from work, didn't sit at the dining room table and explain problems to me because he thought it was relaxing. It was anything but relaxing. They did it because it would help me. And it did help me and I can thank them for the grade I have in math class now. Had I seen this perspective a couple years ago, the July Wednesday morning scene in the living room might have looked a little more bearable. At the heart of my parents, they are good. If I didn't see that the time and I didn't, they were acting and always do act because it will make my life better. I believe that my parents are good. In the news recently, things have looked pretty horrific. We've seen the government make little progress and gun control and offer solutions that don't really solve the problem. Thousands of Madison kids marched the Capitol in protest of this and I believe they were doing the right thing. However, some of the words I heard and the signs I saw, I felt weren't quite as effective as they could be. Every year in English, we're taught the same thing. Two body paragraphs and a counter argument where we examine the other side. Ignoring the other side's view makes us just as bad as whoever we're fighting against. Whether they're objectively right or wrong, I believe that if you step into their shoes, you'll see that their actions have a purpose. A purpose that they're confident will make a difference for the better. Looking past people's faults is hard. It may seem naive. I do not believe this should justify their actions or prevent you from standing up for what you think is right. I believe that seeing the worth of all people puts you in a situation to see where they're coming from and you can use this to help you make more effective change. This I believe because it helps me keep faith in this crazy world we live in. If you look past the headlines, you see parents pushing their kids into school and you see thousands of high school students leaving class to stand up for what they think is right and not just a skip class. And you see friends giving another $1 to buy a Slurpee at 7-Eleven and you see a world of small, simple individuals who in their own way make the world good. I believe all people are good. I believe that regardless of the act, if you look into the core of someone's actions, they're doing their best. I believe that you should always stand up for what you think is right, but when you do, see where the other person is coming from. I believe that all people are good. Please rise in body or spirit and join in our next Tim, number 108. What a joy it is to be celebrating another coming of age ceremony and the culmination of another coming of age year. This is truly a moment to stop and give thanks for our youth, for the gift of their insights and their wisdom, and to recognize that their classroom learning at First Unitarian Society may be over, but their journey of lifelong learning on their own has just begun. Throughout this year, our youth have begun in earnest to study themselves, examining their beliefs and values, ideals, and aspirations. With their belief statements, our youth have given us just a glimpse of where this process has led them, and we would pause for a moment to thank those who have walked with them on this journey. We will begin with those who served as the adult facilitators and who have given these youth direction, insight, wisdom, and guidance. They have brought patience, good humor, much love, and compassion. So if you will stand as your names are read, Mark Bailey, Rudy Moore, Olivia Moat, and Creel Zering. We also pause to give thanks to our coming of age elders. Each youth is matched with an elder from the congregation who is carefully chosen to embody the thoughtfulness, kindness, and commitment we hope to encourage in our youth. Throughout this year, our elders were steadfast, taking this challenge cheerfully and joyfully, and we owe them many thanks. If you will stand as your names are read. Susan Carson, Bill Crawley, Matthew Doyle Olson, Allison McDaniel, John McEvna, Emily Cusick Putnam, and Eric Venendahl. And now if our youth will come to the front. And so now to all of you who have gathered with us this morning, we ask that you remember your important role in the spiritual and the moral development of the youth you see before you. Where they journey from here is not altogether up to them. It is also up to all of us. We must remember that deepening their experience of our faith tradition, Unitarian Universalism, is not just the responsibility of their advisors or their parents alone. And helping these youth to blossom as loving and conscientious human beings, well that is a responsibility that all of us share. And now that they have completed their coming of age year, that responsibility becomes more relevant and even more immediate. For these young men and women, you can serve both as an example and an inspiration of how people live out in everyday life their spiritual values. And through you, they can observe Unitarian Universalist faith in action. And there can be no greater or more effective teaching than your good example. And so now we ask, will you continue to encourage the spiritual growth of these youth that you see before you? Will you value their insights, their emerging convictions? Will you recognize their gifts and their talents that they bring to our community and the enthusiasm and the hope which they bring to our world? And if so, please say we will. And now to our youth. We recognize today the work you have done during this past year and we are grateful for all the gifts and talents that you have brought to us. Will you continue this journey you have begun? To grow as an individual, expressing your beliefs, growing in faith and continuing to question and explore. If so, please say we will. And at this time, we would invite all the parents of our coming of age youth to please stand. You all get a little recognition as well this morning. And you beyond everyone else have been witnesses to the unfolding and the maturing of your child from their day of birth until this very moment. And in the beginning of our coming of age year, we asked that you give your permission for your child to be involved in this process to come of age. We ask you now, will you continue to open your hearts in order to receive your child into your family for all that they have become in the past year? Do you promise now to continue your journey together with respect, patience, guidance, and love? And if so, please say we will. You may be seated. At the dedication of a child, we give to each a rosebud, fragrant symbol of beauty, promise, and love. The rose we give then has no thorns, symbolizing the better world we would like to give to our children. We hope that these children whom we have dedicated will learn to recognize the beauty and the goodness which exist in our world and that they will grow in wisdom and compassion adding their own beauty. Today, we give to each of these young people a rose in full bloom, symbolizing the beauty and the gifts they already give to our world and the natural beauty that is found in each one of them. Yet this time, the thorns are still intact. When you were a child, we could do our best to shield you from the harshness and cruelty of the world. But now, as youth, we can no longer protect you from all that you encounter, both the beauty and the cruelty. But no matter where you may go and how far you may travel, you will always be with us in spirit and we will always be sending blessings your way. So accept these roses, knowing that there are harsh realities in our world, but there is much beauty as well. May you choose to see the beauty. And now, as we do when you are young children, we ask that you be granted clarity of thought, integrity of speech, and a compassionate heart. May the blessings of an understanding heart, strength, integrity of purpose, love received and given, be yours today and remain with you as you go forward into ever-fuller life. If you will join me in congratulating our youth. And if you will rise now in body or spirit for our closing hymn, number 1064. Before me, sing the sky my saviour song. Determination. We believe in friendship. We believe in comedy. We believe in teal coffee mugs and the wisdom of elders. We believe in family. We believe in...