All sermons are pdf documents.

• August 22, 2010: “Tiptoeing into God Talk” with Sharon Wylie, Seminarian from Starr King School for the Ministry. Sometimes it seems that Unitarian Universalists are able to talk about anything and everything but God. We have so many varying beliefs, it can feel safer not to share our ideas about God with each other (including the idea that there is no God). But we are not people to avoid a challenge either! Let’s reflect on some ways we might talk about God together.
  
  
• August 1, 2010: “Dancing at Lughnasadh” with Sharon Wylie, Seminarian from Starr King School for the Ministry. Lughnasadh is an ancient Celtic celebration of the beginning of the harvest season. Summer is at its height, but the days already grow shorter, and preparations for winter begin. This is a time for celebration and reflection, a time to give thanks for what is being harvested while realizing there is still much work to be done to prepare for winter.
  
  
• August 1, 2010: In “Dancing at Lughnasadh” service. Self Reflection: Dwindling Toward the Precious by Joan Nelson.
  
  
• July 25, 2010: “Wrestling with Privilege” with Sharon Wylie, Seminarian from Starr King School for the Ministry. Understanding race and class privilege is an important part of resisting oppressive systems in our culture, but it’s also important spiritual work. Come consider how understanding privilege and marginalization enhances your own healing and wholeness.

• July 18, 2010: “Putting Down Roots” with Sharon Wylie, Seminarian from Starr King School for the Ministry. Being in community sounds good but isn’t easy. Being in church community can be especially challenging because we have high hopes and expectations of what our
  shared church life should be like. Let’s reflect on the challenges and rewards of putting
  down roots together.

• July 11, 2010: “In Praise of the Goddess” with Sharon Wylie, Seminarian from Starr King School for the Ministry. Neo-pagan traditions recognize the cycles of the moon as visible expressions of how the Goddess works in our lives. Let’s honor tonight’s new moon with reflections on the visibility and invisibility of the Divine Feminine.
  

• July 4, 2010: “Faith of the Free” with Sharon Wylie, Seminarian from Starr King School for the Ministry. The history of Unitarian Universalism is full of stubborn, opinionated people who died fighting for the right to practice freedom of religion. This Independence Day, let’s savor our own freedom to believe as we choose and remember our forebears who helped make this freedom possible.
  

• June 27, 2010: "Can We Defend Our Civilization's Universal Values in Today's Global Environment?" with Lay Speaker Nani Ranken. Our commitment to freedom of conscience may place us in a dilemma when other cultures' strongly held values conflict with our own. Are we forced to adopt a relativist position, or can we find a way to stand our ground?

• June 20, 2010: “Lazy Days of Summer” with Joan Nelson. Most UUs—even the well-organized among us—have trouble finding and managing those touted mythical “lazy” days of summer.  This participatory  service will help us give UU meaning to the art of laziness.
  

• May 30, 2010:  "In the Eye of the Beholder" with the Rev. Lisa Wiggins, Guest Minister.
  Beauty is an illusive concept, fraught with a wide diversity of understanding and appreciation.  However, it is a common spiritual yearning throughout human culture.  We will explore the search for the aesthetic in our daily lives and its value of being a window to the interconnected universe. 
  

• May 23, 2010: “Raise the Roof Beams! with the Rev. Chip Wright.
  There is a power in coming and working together that no other human activity can manifest.  It can transform acts of social justice into effective social change.
  

• May 16, 2010: “To Believe or Not” with the Rev. Chip Wright.
   On their behalf we will explore belief which is a powerful and fascinating human trait, holding a prominent role in both religion and the spiritual journey.
  

• May 9, 2010: “Mother’s Day: A New View”with the Rev. Chip Wright.
  Come discover some things I bet you never knew about Mother's Day!
  
  

• May 2, 2010: “10,000 Years of Light” with Starr King student Joel Gilbertson-White.

  Multiple concurrent crises have been resident in this world since long before any of us were born. While most acts of nature are beyond our control, the vast majority of the crises that exist today can be traced to human causes. As Unitarian Universalists, we have other dreams that we want to bring into being. Let’s explore a vision of what is possible in an intentional world which celebrates universal peace and security, and consider what may be required to realize a vision like this.

• April 25, 2010: “The Earth Forever Turning” with the Rev. Chip Wright.
  2010 is the 40th anniversary of Earth Day—a day that has become a symbol of a growing awareness in our culture about the importance of understanding larger relationships and responsibilities. It is also a good day to honor our new standing as one of a number of UUA Green Sanctuary Congregations!
  
  
• April 11, 2010: "Got Pain When You're in an Other Guy's Shoes?" Joan Nelson, Pulpit Guest.
  Brain science suggests that the human animal isn't so aggressive and war-like
  after all. Indeed, that we are naturally empathic! But empathy hurts. What do you
  do when you feel someone else's pain? (Warning: This sermon promotes the
  practice of a forbidden pleasure.)
  
  
• March 28, 2010: “When Will We Ever Learn?” by the Rev. Chip Wright. Even though it seems that any comprehensive reform of the health care services in our nation will not be here anytime soon, while the Supreme Court gives corporations unlimited free license to buy elections, there is hope!

• March 21, 2010 “Here Comes the Sun” by the Rev. Chip Wright. It is the spring equinox, a time for celebration!
  

• March 14, 2010: "A Buddhist minister looks at end of life experience" by the
  Rev. Denah Joseph. Rev. Denah Joseph, chaplain at the UCSF palliative care unit, will reflect on her work caring for the very ill and dying. She will focus on what her work can teach us about living, including issues of hope, dignity, suffering, surrender, mystery and meaning. Rev. Joseph is an ordained Buddhist minister in the Theravada tradition.
  

• February 28, 2010: “Purim, or How Not to Take Things So Seriously!” by the Rev. Chip Wright. When we can laugh at ourselves, the weightiness of a troubled world can be transformed and lifted if just for awhile.
  

• February 21, 2010: “The Unitary Universal Pull to Evolve” by Lay Speaker Joan Nelson.Responding to the pull to evolve isn’t easy in today’s hectic materialistic world. Yet, it’s absolutely essential in today’s deeply-disturbed world. This service will help us to recognize and respond to the Unitary/Universal impulse to live at a higher and deeper level.
  

• February 14, 2010: “Will the Real St. Valentine Please Stand Up?” by the Rev. Chip Wright. (Lots of things I bet you never knew about this Hallmark holiday, and how it came to be.)
  

• Febuary 7, 2010: “Evolution at the Core” by the Rev. Chip Wright. There has been an ongoing discussion in our denomination about just what is the core of Unitarian Universalist theosophy.  Today some thoughts on one of my favorite subjects.
  

• January 31, 2010: "Groundhog Day" by the Rev. Chip Wright.
  So neglected and yet so unique.
  

• January 24, 2010: "The Well in your Heart: A Much-needed Perspective." Homily by Joan Nelson: Mucking with Mother Nature Most UUs are looking for ways to tap the well of compassion and justice deep in our hearts.
  

• January 17, 2010: “The Content of their Character” by the Rev. Chip Wright. On this Martin Luther King Jr. weekend a look at the message, and the messengers.
  

• January 10, 2010: “The Bear, Brook and the Bird” by the Rev. Chip Wright. The winter is here, a time for stories of change and hope. 
  

• January 3, 2010: "Every Day A New Day" by Sharon Wylie (YRUU youth advisor).The new year brings hopes for a fresh start to our lives, but many of us forget our hopes as the year moves on. What would happen if we lived each day like new year's day?

• December 27, 2009: “Opening to the Unitary Universal Spirit” by Joan Nelson. As our strong-but-fragile planet cycles toward the light of a new year, we ground ourselves
  more deeply in the heart of existence.

• December 20th, 2009: “Christmas” by the Rev. Chip Wright
  The historical tale of the Christian tradition is a fascinating journey with many
  interconnected threads all weaving into what we call Christmas.

• December 13, 2009: “Hanukkah” by the Rev. Chip Wright.
  Like Christmas, Hanukkah has a long and intertwined history. There is more to know than
  you think about this often neglected piece of ‘our’ Unitarian Universalist history .

• December 6, 2009: “Health Care as a Civil Right” by the Rev. Chip Wright. As we trudge through the political process around health care reform we should not lose
  sight of the bottom line: Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness take good health!

• November 8, 2009: “Turn the World Around ” by the Rev. Chip Wright.
  It is up to us. We can make a difference, if we can believe it is possible!
  

• October 25, 2009:  “Spiritual Intelligence:  What is it?  How do we get it?” by
  Joan Nelson, Lay speaker. The world is changing in ways that push us beyond our individual and collective IQs (Intelligence Quotients) and EQs (Emotional Quotients). Guided by the “spiritual intelligence” of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, and others, we can find a SQ (Spiritual Quotient) to evolve beyond the existential challenges that confront us all!
  

• October 18, 2009: “A Dream of World Community” by the Rev. Chip Wright There is a chance for us to actually succeed in growing a world community. What might that look like and what role can the United Nations play in that long and difficult task?
  

• September 27, 2009: “Yom Kippur ” by the Rev. Chip Wright. Tonight at sunset we will enter Yom Kippur, the closing of the High Holy Days and the Day of Atonement. This time is set aside to heal and then to open to new life. Let us celebrate together this gift of tomorrow, and bid goodbye to the grasp and tears of yesterday.
  

• September 20, 2009 “Rosh Hashanah” by the Rev. Chip Wright.
  Today marks the start of year 5770 of the Jewish calendar. It is the beginning of the Days of
  Awe or the High Holy Days. We will take a journey into this ritual time from a tradition that
  we Unitarian Universalists declare as one of our religious sources.
  

• September 13, 2009: “In Gathering” by the Rev. Chip Wright. In bringing the waters and symbols of our summer months to share on this first Sunday of the church year, we gather in celebration of our good fortunes. With a newly called minister and a pregnant future, we, the friends and members of UUCM, assemble to welcome a new time and new life to the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Marin. We will use the water and rocks to enhance our journey as we join together with old friends and our new minister in a ritual of welcome to this liberal religious home.