Podcast: Chalice Sermons

Reciprocity: Spirituality and the Environment

As Earth Day approaches, we orient ourselves toward the interdependent web of all creation. As UU’s, we recycle, we compost, we drive EVs. But what if we re-conceive our relationship to the natural world and see how it takes care of us?  How might that shift our perspective on… everything?  This morning Sam Thomas, CLU professor of Religion & Environmental Studies, will explore themes of reciprocity, gift economy, and land ethics in conversation with Indigenous writers and other deep ecology voices.

Hope in Bloom – Flower Celebration

During this time of Passover and Easter, we celebrate our Unitarian Universalist tradition of the flower ceremony. As we gather to honor the beauty of nature, let us also be reminded of the seeds of hope planted with our community. Please bring a flower for this treasured ritual of connection and renewal.

What Did You Miss? with Rev. Kikanza Nuri-Robins

The Sabbath is Spirit in the form of time. Sabbath rest is allowing Spirit to rest within us and connect with God. What happens when you lean into something that is always there? What do you notice when something that’s always been there goes missing? What can you learn about yourself and your world during this season of fasting and reflection?

The Thread

Popular guest speaker and UCLA oncology chaplain, Michael Eselun will reflect and explore the idea of a single thread that may run through our entire lives – what it takes to find it, what is our relationship to it, and how it just might help us make sense of the whole journey thus far.

The Ten Commandments are STILL RELEVANT!

Although 3500 plus years old, these ten imperatives—examining God, Sabbath, family-life, adultery, killing, robbery, lying, and greed—furnish a lodestar for the moral agenda and spiritual life of 21st century progressives. The Rev. Dr. Tom Owen-Towle is grateful to be preaching again at Chalice and will have his latest book, Living with Purpose and Integrity: A Fresh Perspective on the Ten Commandments.

Finding Our Way to Belonging – the power of community to heal

“Do I Belong Here?” This is a question many of us carry—sometimes quietly, sometimes without words. This Sunday, Grenda David, invites us into a month-long celebration of Chalice as we launch our annual pledge season. Through music, personal story, and reflections on the spirit of the 1960s, the service explores belonging, courage, and the power of community to heal.

The Generous Heart

Rev. Benefiel Bijur will be exploring the theme of “The Generous Heart,” anchored in the guiding idea of a critical mind and a generous heart. This service invites us to reflect on how intellect and rational thinking can coexist with openness of heart—how we can hold both at once. Rev. Benefiel Bijur will also speak to the mutuality of generosity and interdependence, as reflected in our Time for All Ages story, “A Special Trade.” Then lead us into deeper reflection with several essential questions: Is there a conflict between critical thinking and generosity—and if so, how might we resolve it? And what does generosity truly mean when we think in terms of treasure?

Speak With Our Lives

Do you have a book that has informed your life? A long-time favorite of Rev. Maddie’s is Parker Palmer’s “Let Your Life Speak: Listening to the Voice of Vocation.” Is how we live our lives congruent with our deepest sense of self and meaning? How does our life speak to us in these times?

Ecotones

Michael Eselun, UCLA oncology chaplain and popular guest speaker, will explore those liminal spaces in which we sometimes find ourselves on life’s mysterious journey — thresholds that are neither one reality or another, and yet may open a path to our deepest truths. Possibly even the sacred.