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[Music] i was born by the river in a little tent on just like that river i've been running ever since it's been a long long time [Music] it's been too [Music] it's been a long long time [Music] [Applause] somebody keep telling me don't [Music] oh [Music] i say brother help me please [Music] long time coming the words of our chalice lighting were written by robin f gray by the light of this chalice we prepare for the future we prepare ourselves for the times of triumph and the times of trial that may come we prepare ourselves to be present for one another with loving hearts even in the most difficult of times we prepare ourselves to make the connections that will lift us out of isolation and prepare the path of justice and equality it is good for us to be together this morning to celebrate our shared unitarian universalist faith it is good for us to remember that we are not alone that our faith extends beyond the walls of our respective sanctuaries to the many uu congregations around us and all around our nation and the world we are not alone at this moment of turning from darkness to light from hatred to love from disease to health we are not alone as we awaken again to injustice around us and as we say with one voice that every person everywhere of whatever race or creed or condition or stage of life or sexual orientation or gender everyone has inherent worth and dignity and each of us is love this moment is full of hope and of possibility let us recommit ourselves to seeking justice equity and compassion and to healing our beloved mother earth from the many injuries we've caused and allowed others to cause let us seize this moment of possibility to yet again continue this sacred work in our separate congregations in this larger community and in our world come let us worship together we are going heaven knows where we are going but we know within and we will get there heaven knows how we will get there but we know we will [Music] we are going [Music] and we will get there heaven knows how we will get there but we know we will it will be hard we know and the road will be muddy and rough but we'll get there heaven knows how we will get there but we know we will [Music] but we know within and we will get there heaven knows how we will get there but we know we will it will be hard we know and the road will be muddy and rough but we'll get there heaven knows how we will get there but we know we will [Music] [Music] you one by catherine otoshi blue was a quiet color he enjoyed looking up at the sky floating on the waves and on days when he felt daring splashing in rain puddles every once in a while he wished he could be more sunny like yellow or bright like green or regal like purple or exciting like orange or but overall he liked being blue except when he was with red red was a hot head he liked to pick on blue red is hot blue is not then blue would feel bad about being blue sometimes yellow comforted blue blue is very nice color she'd say but yellow never said it in front of red he never stopped picking on blue green purple and orange thought blue was nice too but they never stopped red either every time red said something mean and no one spoke up he got bigger and bigger and bigger soon red grew so big that everyone was afraid of him no one dared stop him red picked on all the colors then everyone felt a little blue until the day one came he had a different shade and shape with straight lines and bold corners he was funny and he made the colors laugh red saw this and got very hot stop laughing he told yellow stop laughing he told green stop laughing he told purple and orange and they did red rolled up to one stop laughing he told one but one stood up straight like an arrow and said no red was mad but one wouldn't budge so red rolled away one turned to the other colors and said if someone picks on me i stand up and say no then yellow felt brave and said me too green said me three then purple became four and orange became five blue saw the colors change and he wanted to count red grew hot he felt left out he grew hotter and hotter and hotter red raced over to blue and said what he always did red is hot blue is not but this time blue stood up tall and became six red can be super hot blue said but blue can be super cool red blew a fuse and tried to roll over blue but everyone took a stand and said no seeing them stand tall made red feel very very small then red turned even redder and rolled away then blue called out red can be hot and blue can be cool red stopped in his tracks red can count two said one red rocked and rolled and turned into seven everyone counts they shouted then red laughed and joined the fun sometimes it only takes one i invite us now to join one another and enter together into a time of prayer spirit of life who draws us together in a web of holy relationships make your presence known with us and in us and among us remind us that we are not alone in history ignite us with the courage of the living tradition remind us that we are not alone in entering the future anchor us with patience and perseverance remind us that we are not alone in our times of grief and pain comfort us with your spirit manifest in human hands and voices remind us that we are not alone in joy and wonder inspire us to honor and extend the beauty we find in the world divine music of the universe let our hearts beat in diverse and harmonious rhythms cooperating with an everlasting dance of love may we move with the rhythms of peace may we move with the rhythms of compassion may we move with the rhythms of justice source of stars and planets and water and land open our hearts to all of our neighbors open our souls to a renewal of faith open our hands to join together in the work ahead so be it blessed be and amen good morning i'm reverend hank purse my pronouns are he him and his and i'm the minister of the unitarian universalist church of reading good morning i'm katie mcquaid lucas and i'm the ministerial intern at the church in reading and my pronouns are she and hers today we are reading the great realization by tom foolery tell me the one about the virus again then i'll go to bed but my boy you're growing weary sleepy thoughts about your head that one's my favorite please i promise just once more okay snuggle down my boy but i know you all too well the story starts before then in a world i once would dwell it was a world of waste and wonder of poverty and plenty back before we understood why hindsight's 2020 you see the people came up with companies to trade across all lands but they swelled and got much bigger than we ever could have planned we always had our wants but now it got so quick you could have anything you dreamed of in a day in with a click we noticed families had stopped talking that's not to say they never spoke but the meaning must have melted and the work-life balance broke the children's eyes grew square square and every toddler had a phone they filtered out the imperfections but amidst the noise they felt alone and every day the skies grew thicker they couldn't see the stars they flew in planes to find them well down below we filled our cars we drove around all day in circles we'd forgotten how to run we swapped the grass for tarmac shrunk the parks till there were none we filled the sea with plastic because our waste was never capped until each day when you went fishing you'd pull them out already wrapped and while we drank and smoked and gambled our leaders taught us why it's best to not upset the lobbies more convenient to die but then in 2020 a new virus came our way the governments reacted and told us all to hide away but while we all were hidden amidst the fear and all the while people dusted off their instincts they remembered how to smile they started clapping to say thank you and calling up their mums and while the car keys gathered dust he looks forward to their runs and with the skies less full of voyagers the earth began to breathe and the beaches bore new wildlife that scuttled off into the seas some people started dancing some were singing some were baking we'd grown so used to bad news but some good news was in the making and so when we found the cure and were allowed to go outside we all preferred the world we found to the one we left behind old habits became extinct and they made way for the new and every simple act of kindness was now given its due but why did it take us so long to bring the people back together well sometimes you've got to get sick my boy before you start feeling better now lie down and dream of tomorrow and all the things that we can do and who knows if you dream hard enough maybe some of them will come true we now call it the great realization and yes since there since then there have been many and that's the story of how it started and why hindsight is 2020. [Music] good morning my name is bob mckechnie and i serve the first parish in cohasset it is a spiritual practice of mines in seminary days to write a reflection most days about something that is rolling around in my head and often it requires being given a voice waking up one morning with this collaborative service in mind and thoughts about covert vaccinations distribution of vaccines rising infection and death rates and the many at-risk health care providers that fill the daily airwaves began to think about what our role might be as individuals and churches in the coming year much has happened in this country in the last four years to make this the worst time for us as a nation to be faced with a pandemic attacks on science cuts to public health services the rise of nationalism leading to isolationism have all played a role in making this pandemic far more deadly than it had to be it is natural to feel that we can't do much about it our spirit can easily be diminished by fear arrested by hopelessness overpowered by the very systems of our culture that we helped to create the fact that we create the systems that are supposed to move us forward is the very point of my message today we have to as a society pick ourselves up by staying informed and acting on that information through our legislators one specific element that can be addressed now is the support for increased scientific investment we have experience in this area having had to advocate for climate science in the past decades and now even as we keep up the climate science fight we must advocate for all advances in medicine health care for all and all biological studies that will bring about a safer and healthier global environment quality public health care is essential our public health care system is ill-equipped to handle this pandemic icu beds in short supply lack of basic equipment for care providers a reliable distribution system are all areas that need our legislators attention and the public funds to finance them and we are a wealthy nation caught up in our own crisis we have failed in our leadership to be responsible partners in what is a global crisis work must be done through the united nations and world bank to improve the response to crises of every type so that immediate recovery efforts thorough medical care and global disease research is available to every nation's people on earth let us aspire to make this happen we create the systems that move us forward so may it be [Music] make us all right me with me [Music] me [Music] we are [Music] we are [Music] [Music] we [Music] good morning my name is reverend sarah persson and i serve the first unitarian universalist society of middleborough a church that puts love at the heart of everything that we do together my reflection this morning is called back to normal no thanks even with a new administration and a hopefully reinvigorated vaccine rollout nothing is going to change drastically in our circumstances for months and if we try to be careful we'll be living virtually remote learning remote relationships at a safe distance wearing masks protected frustrated and having to protect ourselves from others even as we're trying to protect others from us you know we might even be tempted to say that 2021 is just going to be a continuation of 2020. we'll be marking time we might say until enough of us get vaccinated and everything returns to normal well between you and me i profoundly hope not now don't get me wrong i want us to do our best to take all the measures we can to restore people to health to comfort into productivity but normal was never and is not good enough for us any more this pandemic brought all of our inequities into stark relief maybe we can do something about that while we're barking time and thinking fondly of the way things used to be now i want to take a moment now to turn a particular aphorism on its head george santayana is quoted to have said those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it but recent times have revealed to me that those who feel compelled to remember the past are doomed to repeat it because historically normal has always held very few incentives for us to do right by each other as a nation we have been treating our land and our fellow human beings as consumable or disposable commodities and i want to look at how normal has affected pandemic life including the vaccine distribution we've got a vaccine problem both in supply and demand right now according to the experts we haven't stockpiled quite as much as we thought that we had but production is rolling right along and we will be in better shape soon but at one end of the spectrum the privileged are still figuratively and literally cutting in line to receive their shots and at the other end the disadvantage don't want to be in line they don't trust the experts and they have no reason to believe that the powers that be or suddenly have their best interests at heart but nevertheless i do want to highlight something i want to remind you of the decision that our leaders and our experts made about whom should be vaccinated first because it says a lot about what our future could possibly be it wasn't based on the fittest or the most productive or the most powerful or even the biggest bribes the cdc's and our state's recommendations were based on three goals the first one is to decrease death and serious disease as much as possible the second one was to preserve the functioning of our society and the third one and the most important in my opinion was to reduce the extra burden that covid19 puts on people already facing disparities as a result priority was given to those most at risk by age health or exposure i know you're thinking that's what's on paper and that's what you see on screen but let's just take a moment to be inspired because this says a lot about where we might be going from here on in consider what this country might be like if we extended these priorities this perspective after the pandemic what if all our elders all of our essential and front-line workers all who are living with ill health all who are struggling to escape poverty were valued and treated with respect unitarian universalists hold dear to our first principle the inherent worth and dignity of every individual and we hold hard to our seventh principle that we are all interconnected since the beginning of our history we have been clinging to economic and social norms that depend on making others miserable so what can we do to make sure that we don't return to normal how are we going to be able to act on our principles we have an opportunity here an opportunity to lift up a truth that compassion justice and progress are not impossible together let's make it so thank you it is the role of the minister at times to ask each of you to give outrageous sums of money to support your congregation i'm here today in our sanctuary here in reading i'm sure it looks a lot like your sanctuary does right now too a little dusty cobwebby but a place that is filled with love of centuries of people coming here sharing their lives with one another dedicating children expressing their love to each other saying goodbye to those who have meant so much to them this sanctuary like yours will soon enough be filled so we want to make sure that we fill it right now with a spirit of generosity that each congregation who is represented here today is filled with beautiful people who have loved this faith and these buildings and each other by supporting it and so i'm asking you again today to continue to support your church each church will have a different website to go to you know how to give money to your church if you don't go to your own church's website and they will happily happily take your outrageous sums of funds the offering will now be given and generously received amen hi i am is a song from my good friend sarah dan jones i think it's really good we need some of this inspiration right now when i breathe [Music] when i breathe out [Music] up when i breathe [Applause] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] good morning my name is reverend dave egan i serve as minister here at first parish unitarian universalist in midfield well i don't know about all of you at home but these days i'm feeling a bit uneasy i mean there's just so much happening in our world and in our lives it's all just unsettling disruptive you know sometimes it leaves me feeling downright scared i mean here we are almost a year into the worst pandemic of our lifetimes over four hundred thousand people dead so we isolate we mask up and we worry all happen if our mom gets sick when will our kids finally be able to go to school safely and see their friends what will happen if our spouse gets laid off i mean what if i wake up with that dry cough and that loss of smell sure those of us who can zoom into work those of us who can stay safely at home while maintaining a regular paycheck we also feel those nagging pains of guilt because we know that so many others are not so fortunate those who continue to take the bus to work to stock our shelves to prepare our meals to nurse our sick to clean our floors to fill those countless boxes on amazon that we're so thankful you know during this time we've also seen black and brown people disproportionately harmed by kovid due to a variety of long-standing racist policies and for those of us who hold privileged identities as i do been forced to examine how we benefit from this racist american caste system for those who look like me are given power privilege and possibilities at birth just because of who we are while so many others are not during this year we have seen a growing movement toward tribalism and hatred toward the other we're told to pick a team what side are you on red or blue npr or fox news mask or not to mask faith or science trump or biden blue lives or black lives patriot or traitor right or wrong pick a team told to pick a team told to fight like hell because that other side is wrong they're evil and they're stupid and during all of this upheaval all of this upheaval in our society in our congregations and in our lives that one place that one place that we might find some comfort and come together to start to make sense of all of this that place has changed too our houses of worship have been dramatically transformed over the past year you know once our meeting houses were places where we would sing together we'd pray together we'd hug and we'd cry together but now now we must settle for this two-dimensional screen perhaps a nice facsimile to the real thing but it isn't the same is it so yes this morning we wonder what will our society look like after covid once that curve is flattened once we've all been vaccinated once it's finally safe to be around one another again what will church look like what will justice look like what will love look like well friends i i certainly don't know my sense is that things will not be going back to how they once were this is a period of great uncertainty and turmoil which also means it's an opportunity for enormous growth and change for while we yearn for that glorious day when we can join together for in-person sunday worship perhaps we may continue to hold those long boring committee meetings online well we can't wait to sing together in our church choir and giggle when bob again continues to sing off-key we may also love that occasional virtual choir experience overlaid with a photo montage much like the one we saw earlier this morning and while we long for those boisterous bear hugs and tender conversations during our shared coffee hour we may also enjoy the ease of checking in with one another online and giggling every time anne continues to speak for a long time while on mute and while we look forward to that day when we can safely march arm and arm demonstrating together in tightly packed groups on the steps of the capitol during this time we've learned new and innovative ways to organize online and advocate for a world well where all are honored we're all our welcomes into the beloved community so my friends perhaps when we come out come out of this coveted chasm on the other side we will have learned to have better love one another for we know just how much it hurts to be apart so may it be amen [Music] we are building a new way we are building a new way we are building a new way feeling stronger every day we are building a new way we are working to be free we are to be free we are working to be free hate and greed and jealousy we are working to be free [Music] we can feed [Music] [Music] we can't feed our every need start with love that [Music] is [Music] we are building a new way feeling stronger every day we are building a new way [Music] is our cry he said freedom is our cry without these this world will die [Music] [Applause] is i peace [Music] we are building a new way we a new way we are building a new way feeling stronger every day we are building a new way [Music] please join with me in these words as a unison extinguishing of our chalice let's say together we extinguish this flame but not the light of truth the warmth of community or the fire of commitment these we carry in our hearts until we are together again blessed be friends we are living in transformative times there is a power at work that can inspire or overwhelm us there is a power at work we can boldly harness or evade in fear let's embrace that power with love and courage and hope love can be found when we look back and understand how we got through the dark times with the loving hands the comforting shoulders and the kind words of others courage can be found when we look around and realize we are not on this path alone hope can be found when we look ahead knowing we possess the lessons of the past as tools to guide us may all of you have more than enough love and courage and hope that you need to continue on this journey called life may all of you share your love courage and hope with fellow travelers as you forge the path ahead our worship has ended our service to a world that needs the love and light of unitarian universalism continues on go with love and go in peace [Music] [Music] me [Music] me [Music] the [Music] [Applause] darkness [Music] of [Music] let your please [Music]