Tag Archives: Hope

Choosing to Love, Anyway – Christmas Eve 2023

Posted on December 25, 2023 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

Readings: Homily In Bethlehem tonight, the usual extravagant Christmas celebrations have been canceled. In place of Glorias echoing across the land, there is war and grief, all across Palestine and Israel, and in Gaza. As the Mayor of Bethelhem declared today, Christmas this … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons | Tagged Christmas, Christmas Eve, Faith, Hope, Hopelessness, Jesus, Journeys, Justice, Love, Sermon, Sermons, Vision | Leave a comment

The Hopefulness of History, written for the 125 year anniversary of the Foothills Unitarian Church

Posted on January 9, 2023 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

Like a lot of people in the last few days, I watched the drama play out in the US House with both a little shock and not a little schadenfreude. When they hit the 11th vote, I called my mom … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons | Tagged Activism, Ancestors, Covenant, Future, History, Hope, Hopefulness, Justice, Living Tradition, Parker Palmer, Past, Rebecca Parker, Rebecca Solnit, Sermon, Sermons, Time, Unitarian History, Unitarian Universalist History, Unitarianism, Universalism, Universalist History | Leave a comment

The Gift of Rebellion – Hanukkah 2022

Posted on December 21, 2022 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

First, a Reflection from Rev. Sean Neil Barron “Rebellions Are Built on Hope” Gretchen said she was preaching on Rebellion, our conversation was something like this: “The simple gift this week is rebellion.” “So, you are preaching about Star Wars.” … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons | Tagged Change, Differentiation, Faith, gender, Hanukkah, Hope, Jew, Jewish, Judaism, Parker Palmer, Rebellion, Rule-Breaking, Self-Differentiation, Sermon, Sermons, Stories, trans | Leave a comment

The Future Now

Posted on May 15, 2022 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

Reading: There is No Going Back by Wendell Berry No, no, there is no going back. Less and less you are that possibility you were. More and more you have become those lives and deaths that have belonged to … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons | Tagged Anxiety, Beauty, Diana Butler Bass, Eschatology, Future, Hope, Liminality, pandemic, Post-pandemic, Presence, Present, Realized Eschatology, Richard Rohr, Sermon, Sermons, Susan Beaumont, Vision, Visioning | Leave a comment

Must We Go To Bethlehem? Christmas 2021

Posted on December 24, 2021 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

Reading: Christmas, 1974 by May Sarton Christmas Eve Homily 2021 When May Sarton wrote her Christmas poem 47 years ago, it seemed the world was coming apart. The US president had resigned in scandal, and the country was just beginning … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons | Tagged Christmas, Christmas Eve, Darkness, Hope, Light, Love, Peace, Persistence, Sermon, Sermons, Transformation, Witness | Leave a comment

Preppers, a message for the second December in pandemic

Posted on December 5, 2021 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

Sermon: Preppers I have been thinking this week about the Jewish people, and the stories of Hanukkah. Hanukkah I have been thinking this week about the Jewish people and the stories of Hanukkah.Hanukkah falls early this year, the last night is … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons | Tagged Adaptation, Advent, Apocalypse, Apocalyptic, Christmas, Commitment, Expectation, Faith, Faithfulness, Flexibility, Grace, Hanukkah, Hebrew, Holiday, Hope, Jewish, Octavia Butler, Partnership, Plan, Planning, Prep, Preparation, Prepare, Rabbis, Transformation, Values, Waiting, Winter, Yule, Yuletide | Leave a comment

God With Us – Christmas 2020

Posted on December 24, 2020 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

It never fails that Christmas comes when I’m not quite ready. It’s a particularly problematic given my profession, but I know I’m not alone. It’s always such a shock after Thanksgiving, here comes December, and the rush of balancing it … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons | Tagged Christmas, Christmas Eve, Companion, Expectation, God, Grace, Hope, Human, Humanity, Jesus, Partner, Preparation, Presence, Sermon, Sermons | Leave a comment

Endgame – Homily after the 2020 election

Posted on November 10, 2020 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

It’s about five episodes into the new Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit when one of the characters, Harry, presses the main character, Beth: What’s your endgame? She looks at him blankly, a little irritated, and says – to win. They … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons | Tagged Courageous Love, Democracy, Election, Eschatology, Hope, Imagination, meaning, Political Process, Politics, Purpose, Race, Racism, Theological Anthropology, Theology, Trump, White Supremacy | Leave a comment

How We Eat the Stars 10.25.2020

Posted on October 25, 2020 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

Reading: Rebecca Elson’s Antidotes to Fear of Death There’s a lot about the Bible that perplexes me. But maybe the most perplexing story in the bible is the story of Moses. I don’t mean the stories he’s most known for – … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons, Theology | Tagged Bible, Change, Cosmology, Creation, Eschatology, evolution, Freewill, Help, Helplessness, Hope, Hopelessness, Human Agency, Justice, Mortality, Moses, Race, Racism, Salvation, Stars, Theology, Thomas Merton, Universe, White Privilege | Leave a comment

Roots of Resilience: We’ve been here before

Posted on May 10, 2020 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

There’s a phrase I’ve heard a lot in the past few months: we are living in an unprecedented time. And in a lot ways – it’s true. No one in our congregation was alive in 1918 for the Spanish Flu…so none … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons, Theology | Tagged Ancestors, History, Hope, Hopelessness, Margaret Wheatley, Memory, Pema Chodron, Resilience, Surrender | Leave a comment