Sunday, October 2
New Beginnings, Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year Speaker: Reverend Paul
Roshanah begins the holiest days of the Jewish sacred calendar. It is about new beginnings and breaking from the restraints that keep us from returning to our truest spiritual lives our very souls.
9/25/16 Sermon
Our First Principle,
The Inherent Worth and Dignity
Rev. Paul D. Daniel, Minister
Our seven principle are like the Legos my kids and grandchildren
play with to build rockets, robots and race cars and tall buildings.
Through trial and error,
they learned that these objects needed a firm foundation and
concentrated intent if they were not to fail and fall apart.
That is what our seven principles are;
the Legos, the DNA, the building blocks
upon which modern Unitarian Universalism is built.
Our first principle reads,
“We Affirm and Promote the Inherent Worth and Dignity of Every Person” the topic of today’s sermon, and
the beginning of a series on what Unitarian Universalists believe.
These values are fundamental if we hope to build a moral, ethical community.
The genius of Unitarian Universalism is that we have the freedom to decide for ourselves
how we understand and strive to live these values,
which are readily adaptable to the realities of our times?
We have learned to welcome a
diversity of theologies, nuances and perspectives as gifts
each of us bring to fulfill our promise and principles.
We are committed as members to honor and respect each other’s worth and dignity
regardless of our sexual orientation, political persuasion, race or theology,
regardless of the limits of our ability to do or understand.
We have affirmed as a community to
strive to live out of these principles in all our human interactions.
Our First principle centers on what it means to be human
in Thoreau words, “One world at a time”.
To have dignity and worth, the human family must have access to
justice, in Charlotte, Tulsa and across this land. We demand:
equality of opportunity,
adequate housing,
medical care,
sustenance,
freedom of thought and religion.
Respect for each other must be an act of conscious will,
and go beyond mere words into daily deeds.
Our UU history and efforts in this direction are what makes our faith great.
It is in the doing and practice that puts flesh on the bones of our religion.
Our religion first arose out of the
religious turmoil of the renaissance and reformation;
a time when people began to reject the authority of others as secondary to one own understanding and experience.
While our seven principles are of a more modern time, they are the natural outcome of our history.
Our yearning
for freedom of expression,
respect and acceptance of religious pluralism
moved early Unitarian to flee to America for the right to be different yet reverent.
While our faith arises out of the Judeo-Christian heritage,
Unitarian Universalism broke new ground by placing the primacy of
conscience and the search for truth based on personal experience
over both authority and a literal interpretation of scriptures.
Rev. Marilyn Sewell reminds us,
we “believe that all people have spiritual needs,
and we invite whoever would come asking only that people give the same respect and tolerance too other that they would want for themselves”.
Unitarian Universalism is still a work in progress.
There are times when we are still
intolerant of each other’s differences, limits and right to respectful interaction.
I encourage each of us to search our own heart to test whether that is true.
This struggle to live our values with integrity is not easy but a is part of our ongoing religious quest and challenge.
With that understanding we strive to
offer a radical hospitality to those whose life choices and perspectives differ from our own.
Our acceptance of diversity is what makes us strong and somewhat
unique s a faith and obligates us by belief to respect the worth and dignity of all.
The primacy of love and acceptance
provides the theological underpinning for our faith and this principle.
Norbert Capek, the Unitarian Czech minister and martyr to Nazi medical experiments said,
“Let us renew our resolution sincerely to be real brother and sisters
regardless of any kind of bar which estranges….
In this holy resolution may we be
strengthened, knowing that we are God’s family;
that one spirit, the spirit of love, unites us” ….
His legacy of abiding love for all people and his believe that
we must learn to love each other the way God loved us still endures.
Today, his courage challenges us to respect each other when we hold different views.
The example he set reminds us to forswear
gossip, rumor spreading, or triangulating; for they violate our first principle.
We are each called by Capek to do a moral self-inventory and decide if we are living up to his sacrifice and our proud history as UUs.
As Marilyn Sewell writes, that on the other hand of our [radical hospitality]
“allows for a foolish tolerance of individual behavior that should not be
accepted because it is destructive of the larger community.
Some churches allow unhealthy individuals to
exert extraordinary influence in the life of the church body because
members want to always appear “open”, “accepting” and loving”.
This tolerance of harmful behavior is not consistent with all our principles
for it is in violation of the law of love and healthy respect for the larger community.
Our church sits on private property,
yet anyone who comes and acts in way that harm others,
have in my opinion, lost the privilege of fellowship with us”.
Sewell concludes that, yes “these people have worth and dignity but
it does not follow that we should tolerate their or any one’s harmful behavior”.
As with any guiding principle there
are both contradictions and people who abuse our values and generous welcoming spirit.
For example, we believe in a women’s right to choose but
if every life has worth and dignity how can we support abortion?
A contradiction. If we believe in the worth and dignity of every individual
how can we not respect a woman’s right to make decisions for her own body?
or how can we support the death penalty which many Americans do? (contradiction, upon contradiction).
If we believe in the worth and dignity of all
how can we reject Islam or immigrant?
Life is full of contradictions that us
seven principles help us to navigate to an ethical place.
These are some of the moral dilemmas of our age and faith that
make us human and a work in progress.
Here our individual conscience is called into play.
We are forced to deal with issues of moral relevance.
We are called on to be Solomon.
Each of us are called to make the goal of fairness and justice
part of our spiritual lives and searching.
We are called to go deep within when
dealing with such issues or we risk
just being shallow thinkers about the application of justice and
about life and death, itself.
As someone once said, “We think because we said it, we done it”.
Not hardly.
That’s why it is a challenge to be a Unitarian Universalist.
We believe in deeds not creeds.
We are called to action that will not wait for tomorrow.
Tomorrow hundreds more in Aleppo, indeed all of Syria and Iraq will be dead.
Sometimes, without intention or thought,
the fears in the world prevents us
finding the love, we need to show one another.
When our actions are counter to our stated principles
our faith becomes empty, our words meaningless.
If that were to happen, we all will suffer and the world will mourn.
Yes, we are imperfect in the application of all our principles.
Yet, I have hope for better days, for our hearts are in the right and holy place.
We long to do the right thing,
to bring justice where there is none;
to feed the hungry,
to bring hope to those who despair,
to remember to respect the dignity of the other
even as we exercise our right to disagree and
strongly but respectfully share our opinion.
Conversation and dialogue instead of conflict is our goal
,
never devaluing another person’s humanity.
It is in all of us to be in “right relations” but
we have to be mindful and listen to the siren song of our principles.
In faith, we forgive and are forgiven for our missteps.
We are all flawed, imperfect and when we fall short of our values,
we begin again with love.
Love and respect redeems us.
We can change our world tomorrow, starting with today.
We can rededicate ourselves to this high and lofty purpose by
Respecting the worth and dignity of all UUFP member, and all of humanity.
May it be so!
Sunday, September 25, 2016
Our First Principle Rev Paul Daniel
We will honor the Inherent Worth and Dignity of all people within this community and beyond.
From the Minister’s Desk 
As the summer comes to its inevitable cooling, at least I hope, we begin a new church year in hope and optimism. This shared journey we are on is to build a faith community that enriches our spiritual lives as Unitarian Universalists and creates a sense of community beyond just the social aspects that we all so value and enjoy. As a people of faith, we face many challenges living in our society so filled with violence, hatred, terrorism, and division.
I want to address some of these issues we face but please note: the following are some of my personal opinions, not as your minister, but as a UU heading towards a half of a century of membership and devotion to justice and equity. I recognize that others have very different ideas and I support that right to express thoughts and opinions differently.
I believe our political system is in a shambles, gridlock grips Washington, partisan ideology has overcome cooperation and compromise for the sake of country, in favor of party. The Republican candidate for the presidency of the United States rhetoric is filled with mockery and disrespect for woman, people with disabilities, minorities, immigrants and Muslims. We deserve better and as a religious people, we must demand that from all politicians regardless of party. Trump’s rhetoric is counter to our UU values and principles.
Also, I believe, much of the opposition to President Obama these last 8 years in Congress and the general public is very thinly veiled racism. The legacy of slavery and treating people of color as 2/3 a person as envisioned by our founding fathers is demeaning and reaches into our souls with hatred and bigotry. The fingers of Jim Crow still reach out from the grave to do damage to the body politic.
Today, men of color are killed by police in far greater numbers than Caucasians. Our police have a very tough job and I sadly acknowledge their job has become more dangerous to life and limb. I believe, the vast majority of our law enforcement officers are honorable and desire only to serve and protect. But having said that, it is also an unfortunate reality that the violence in our communities, is too often committed by law enforcement against minorities. That fact speaks to the need for the “Black Lives Matter” movement. Unfortunately, too many Caucasians respond with, “All Lives Matter!”.
The answer is, of course, that all lives do matter, but many miss the point. Caucasians are not killed in the same proportion as people of color; more people of color are subject to mass incarceration, live in poverty and are under employed. Our political system fosters that unfairness be-cause most of those discriminated against have little real power to protect themselves and protest their mistreatment. Many states, primarily Republican-governed, seek to disenfranchise minorities for political gain. The proof of that resides in the federal injunction which recently struck down voter suppression laws in at least three states and counting, all Republican led. Our principles and values state that all people have equal rights and we support a fair and equitable demo-cratic government of and by ALL the people.
As UUs we are called to pledge our heart, soul, and some of our treasure to counter such treatment for all of our sakes. Our values and principles call us to justice and action. This is why I will be spending some of our coming Sundays together calling on us to live our faith and values more
fully. Perhaps together, just perhaps, we can move the needle of justice a little toward the finish line of real equality, justice and true compassion.
In the face of all this division and violence, I still have hope for a better society. If we walk togeth-er in each other’s shoes we might have more compassion, understanding and LOVE. Love will conquer hate if we devote our hearts and minds to the task of being human!
Yours in our Shared Faith,
Rev. Paul
678-939-4854
Sunday, September 18, 2016
The Interdependent Web… The Spirituality of Swimming With Sea Lions
Lay Leader: Mary Ryan
This past spring, Mary took a trip to Baja California and came away with a deeper appreciation of the wonders of nature. The highlights were seeing the second-largest animal on the planet and getting dived-bombed by four sea lions. Seeing these, and other amazing animals in their protected environment was probably the definition of our seventh principle.
Mary will share her memories and some pictures.
No Potluck Today Let’s all carpool to the Carousel of Flavors in Pottstown!
October 8th, 2016
The Bookclub members have chosen the book “The Third 
Reconstruction: Moral Monday’s, Fusion Politics, and the Rise of the new Justice Movement by Reverend William Barber II. We will meet at 12:00 in the Social Room with our BYOLunch and snacks to share. Below are excerpts from the cover of the book, the UU World magazine and the Kirkus Reviews:
From the book cover:
In this memoir of how Rev. Barber and allies as diverse as progressive Christians, union members, and immigration-rights activists came together to build a coalition, he offers a trenchant analysis of race-based inequality and a hopeful message for a nation grappling with persistent racial and economic injustice. Rev. Barber writes movingly—and pragmatically—about how he laid the groundwork for a state-by-state movement that unites black, white, and brown, rich and poor, employed and unemployed, gay and straight, documented and undocumented, religious and secular. Only such a diverse fusion movement, Rev. Barber argues, can heal our nation’s wounds and produce public policy that is morally defensible, constitutionally consistent, and economically sane. The Third Reconstruction is both a blueprint for movement building and an inspiring call to action from the twenty-first century’s most effective grassroots organizer.
From the UU World magazine:
In a rousing and inspiring rally Thursday night for broad-based justice that brought the standing-room-only crowd to its feet many times, the Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, UUA President Peter Morales, and others exhorted the crowd of Unitarian Universalists to say “enough!” to white supremacy, classism, homophobia, and “other kinds of violence perpetrated by fear,” as Morales said.
Barber, who said injustice, inequality, and oppression evince a “heart problem” in the nation, said it is “dangerous to mess with the heart; if the heart malfunctions, the whole body gets sick.” He called upon UUs and people of faith to “stop what you’re doing” and “keep shocking the heart.” As the audience leapt to its feet clapping and cheering, he shouted, over and again, “It’s time to shock this nation!”
A Kirkus Reviews:
“A battle-hardened pastor calls for a faith-based, grass-roots movement for social justice…It’s the religious component that makes his story particularly interesting. Fully aware of the suspicion Bible-speak arouses in modern progressive circles, the author still insists on viewing the justice struggle through a moral prism, one always backstopped by ‘a Higher Power.’…A heartfelt dose of old-time religion mixed with modern-day activism.”
We hope you’ll join us on the 8th.
Linda
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UUFP Book Club September 10, 2016
We had a great discussion on “East of Eden” by John Steinbeck. We 
then decided not to meet during July and August as we are all going in different directions during the summer. How great we have such interesting lives!!!
So we will resume meeting the first Saturday in September 3, noon at the Fellowship. That is tentative right now because it is the Labor Day weekend so that date may change if most of us have other plans.
The book we chose is another classic, “Catch 22” by Joseph Heller. “Catch 22” has been described as one of the greatest literary works of the twentieth century. Set in World War II, the novel follows the experiences of airmen based in the Mediterranean Sea as they attempt to fulfill their service requirements and so get to go home. The phrase “catch 22” entered the Eng-lish language referring to an unsolvable logic problem that Heller uses as a plot device. The writing style is described as unique, the characters multidimensional, and it is consistently highly ranked in lists of greatest English – language novels ever written.
It is on my literary bucket list and I am looking forward to reading it and to our lively discussion afterward. Please let me know if that first Saturday in September does or does not work for you.
Have a blessed summer!!!
Cyndi
Sunday, September 11, 2016
In Gathering Service Rev Paul Daniel
We will celebrate our community; rejoining each other after the summer and I will share some thoughts on our mission and vision. We will also pause to remember the events of 9/11 on its 15th anniversary.
Please remember to bring waters collected from wherever you spend your summertime: from pools to lakes and oceans or the kitchen sink.
Sunday, September 4, 2016
Grace Without God, A Search for Secular Religion
Lay Leader: Jonathan Dreazen, MD
I recently read a book titled “Grace Without God” and since I was still pondering the topic of my sermon, this seemed like a message from the divine. The author began her search after her children began asking questions like “what happens when we die?”. I am sure that many of us are here for similar reasons and on a similar search. After all, what is Unitarian Universalism all about if not a search for what to believe in. And what is religion all about? Our ancestors depended upon their small tribes for spiritual sustenance. But then, populations grew and the tribe was no longer the source of support so “formal” religions evolved with all of their rules and traditions. Along the way, humankind lost what was most essential— intimate spiritual contact. Come and join me as I discuss the author’s search and where she ended up!!
Sunday, August 28
Because We All Are Speaker: Emily Quarles-Mowrer
Oprah’s “O” magazine had a big title in their July issue: Find Your Happy. Unfortunately, there was no happy inside, but I learned a new word that may be even more valuable – ubuntu. This is a Bantu term that translates roughly as “human kindness.” Join us as we explore the term that Nelson Mandela and Bishop Desmond Tutu brought to the worlds’ notice.
8/21/16 Sermon To be a Unitarian Universalist Community
Rev. Paul D. Daniel, Minister
We come together as a religious people from different walks of life and from two distinct congregations, united by our one shared UU faith.
We at the UUFP, whole heartedly welcome our guest from the Thomas Paine Congregation from neighboring Collegeville and indeed extend a heartfelt welcome to all visitors from wherever you may come.
Ours is a free faith built on love and acceptance of all who share our values of inclusion and appreciate that we are one strong body united within the interdependent web of existence.
In this time of great national strife, fear and division within our country we call for unity of all people to the values that make America strong and our faith so viable. Within these walls and out into the world; all Black lives matter, all Blue lives matter; all lives of whatever diversity matter. In that spirit we warmly welcome you into this house of peace, love and radical inclusion.
Together our two churches have created this wonderful tradition of coming together to worship, pray and celebrate life, to create a joyous unity of spirit. We worship together to enrich our souls and offer intellectual stimulation to galvanize and give us the strength to serve the path of peace and justice. We come because our souls need feeding. Our UU churches are safe harbors for all people of faith: Hindu, Christian Muslim, Jew, humanist and agnostic to others who seek the spirit of love without the confinement of dogmas or creeds and yet also welcome those with more traditional understandings.
We are a faith that offers acceptance, and hope without pain and guilt. But, let me be equally clear; we are not a social group, a debating society, a lecture hall, not even necessarily a group of like-minded individuals. One of our earliest prophets Francis David (1510-1579) put succinctly, “we need not think alike to love alike.” So yes, Republicans, Democrats, Independents, Black and white, red and tan and yellow all entwine here to make up our own Joseph’s amazing, techno-color dream coat of diversity and unity that is our Unitarian Universalist religion.
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I believe passionately that what we are at our core a vital religious movement with good news to share. We offer hope and a place for a divided nation and our isolated selves to find comfort, we represent core values in which to believe and a haven of welcome and safety for those who agree to abide by our covenants of right relations.
We exist in the world, in the words of Rev. Marilyn Sewell, “to foster spiritual growth in our members, and out of that spiritual grounding, to help heal our hurting world”. Our message of hope, guided by our personal experiences of truth, congruent with our own hearts and minds, can bring about the blessed community we offer to those who suffer and need a religious home, a safe harbor. We offer connection to those who have none and invite them to be in a dynamic, ever evolving relationship with all others who value the web of shared existence.
We believe that all people are worthy of love and are precious in their uniqueness. We do not believe in conformity but rather in a diversity of fiercely held thoughts,
strong spiritual beliefs,
practices and experiences that we individually hold dear.
Our diversity is our strengths.
Recently, dozens of new species of aquatic life have been found in the Great Barrier Reef on Australia’s northern coast. we know that the greater the diversity found in nature the healthier our planet will be. So it is also with Unitarian Universalism. We welcome people of varying colors, sexual expression, different abilities, ages and spiritual focus. Here many different faith perspectives are all part of our unique book of wisdom. Where else can an atheists or humanists find a true home next to someone who believes in God? There is no other faith that values such diversity, freedom, spiritual growth, integrity and community in quite the way we do.
Here, we welcome you to worship with us and in so doing enrich, expand and enliven our spiritual lives. Here, we honor the inherent worth and dignity of all individuals. We exclude no one for their differences if they share our values and principles and most importantly agree to live within our covenants of right relations and abide by our religious and ethical standards. This applies too Mainline UU, Thomas Paine, UUFP and all congregations across this denomination. We believe we can learn together, pray together and work for the common good. What effects one living thing ultimately effects all of us and the planet that sustains life.
There is no other faith like Unitarian Universalism. To be sure, we are small in numbers but our message is powerful and essential. We need to share it with the wider world that desperately needs our unique message of hope and inclusion. We need to proudly proclaim it, reveal it to those who are unaware of what this wonderful faith offers. We need to be, OMG, dare I say it evangelists of the good news of Unitarian Universalism in every way possible.
Like a fine precious stone, we need to demonstrate that we have something of great value. If we continue to hide our message of faith under a bushel basket we will surely wither and die. That must not happen. The future of our shared faith is in your hands. That is why we are sharing this special “Unity Day”. it is why our denomination is engaged in a denomination wide efforts to guide individual faith communities to unite in cooperation regardless of region or institutional differences. The new regional structure will serve to enhance the common good through greater joint projects and efforts. Our churches need its members to participation in this effort if we are to make constructive changes that will enrich our members and this nation’s lives.
I want you to think about where we are among the religious movements of the world, and what we are here to do as a church. As we go about ministering to each other, there is also a world beyond these doors that calls for our attention. Former UU President Bill Sinkford, like Barrack Obama, both our first Black Presidents. President Obama said, “our objective is aimed at changing the culture [of division and hatreds]. Our goal is to help bend the world toward justice and love.” Now is the time, not tomorrow Sinkford said, “to grow our faith, to let the world know we are here, to welcome those who seek our community of peace, justice and love. Now is the time to grow stronger and more effective” in our efforts to heal the world.”
We do this best when we unite together with others UUs and across denominational lines in concerted action so that our shared voices are heard more clearly and we can have greater influence on our country than our numbers would indicate. To do less is to deny our faith and history.
Our history as a denomination proves that to be true. In the recent past we marched together in the civil right movement and help move the country towards greater racial equality. We currently demonstrate in support of the Black Lives Matter movement,
We know, Immigrant lives matter,
G/L/B/T/? lives matter.
Justice and equality for all matter.
This is an ongoing effort and will be until justice itself rolls down the hill like a mighty stream for all people,
for all peoples.
No one can be left behind.
The purpose of our faith writes Stephan Papa “is moral development rather than simply personal salvation.” We need to learn to live in the world the way it is, even as we seek to change it.” We all have our own unique truth to share, a bit of the truth but not the one and only truth with a capital “T”.
There is a story told about a religious leader who noticed one of his members was no longer attending services at the temple. He sent a messenger to inquire why. The man told the messenger that he wasn’t coming to services anymore because the clergy’s comments only caused him to have more questions. He said our Rabbi leads us out into deep waters and then leaves us there to drown. When the religious leader heard this response, the Rabbi sent the messenger back to him saying, “Tell he who stays away from the services—that the temple does not exist as a life preserver,
but rather a place to teach people how to swim.”
That’s us. That is what we try to do: encourage people to keep learning and growing, to be open to new ideas. That is why most of us came to this religious community. We often do not find traditional answers useful, so we came here where we can be authentic, free to ask the questions that will lead us to finding our own answers. It is who we are as individuals and as a people of faith.
That is why we must serve the world, in its need, as we find it. We have an obligation, a calling that must be fulfilled.
There are still too many people who don’t yet know how to swim.