Tag Archives: Interdependence

All Bodies are Sacred (Hallelujah!)

Posted on February 5, 2024 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

Hallelujah to the grace And the body and every cell of us all The Hallelujah of the body begins at birth. I have been present at two births in my life, (other than my own) neither of them my children’s. … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons | Tagged Age, Ageism, agency, Andrea Gibson, Autonomy, Beloved Community, Birth, Bodies, Bodily Autonomy, Body, body-image, body-shaming, Death, Disability, Disabled Justice, Embodied, Embodiment, Fat, Fatphobia, Holiness, Holy, Interdependence, Justice, Liberation, Life, obesity, Pluralism, Race, Racism, Reverence, Sacred, Sacredness, self-love, Sermon, Sermons, Somatic, Sonya Renee Taylor, Theological Anthropology, trans, Transphobia, Unitarian, Unitarian Universalism, Universalism | Leave a comment

Shall We Gather at the River?

Posted on September 11, 2022 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

It was an oppressively hot July morning in 1864 when Pastor Robert Lowry wrote what would become the popular hymn, Shall We Gather at the River. In those days, talk of a civil war was not a threat made on a … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons | Tagged Church, Collective, collective liberation, Community, Covenant, Gathering, Hymnody, Interdependence, Promise, Promises, Sermon, Sermons, Water Communion | Leave a comment

Me and We (in the time of COVID)

Posted on October 4, 2021 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

A sermon for Foothills Unitarian Church, on our second Sunday in the sanctuary after being only online for 18 months. Listen to this sermon and a conversation between me and Rev. Sean Neil-Barron about its themes on our Foothills podcast, … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons | Tagged Beloved Community, Collective, Covenant, Covenantal, COVID, Emerson, Fred Muir, iChurch, Individualism, Interdependence, pandemic, Sermon, Sermons, Theology, Unitarian Universalism, We | Leave a comment

Our Partners in Finishing the World

Posted on August 8, 2021 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

Text: Conversation with Rev. Nancy Bowen about the Five Jagged Rocks Homily: Our Partners in Finishing the World Last week, Rev. Nancy Bowen spoke about living in covenant with the whole world. It’s one of the first things that Nancy … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons, Theology | Tagged Covenant, Covenantal, Eschatology, Faith, Five Jagged Rocks, Heartbreak, Interdependence, Interdependent, Interdependent Web, Justice, Nancy Bowen, Partners, Partnership, Promises, Sermon, Sermons, Theology, Truth, Unitarian Universalist, Universalist, World | Leave a comment

What Love Means

Posted on February 14, 2021 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

Part 1: Tough Love When I was an intern in the women’s prison – women would come to talk with me, as their chaplain, and they’d tell me that they knew, Jesus was the solution to their problems. When they’d say … Continue reading →

Posted in Faith Formation, Justice | Tagged Bible, Bible Stories, Caring, Change, Comfort, Commitment, Courage, Courageous Love, Creativity, Faith, Friendship, Generative Interdependence, Hebrew Bible, Interdependence, Jesus, Job, Listening, Long Haul, Love, Orientation, Resilience, Sacrifice, Sharon Welch, Showing Up, Sustain, Sustained, Tough Love, Values, Vulnerability, Witness | Leave a comment

#Blessed

Posted on April 1, 2019 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

I was in my second year of seminary when I learned how to pray. It wasn’t in a class, or a field placement – technically I learned prayer in those official places. But the real lesson happened at home. One night. My children … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons | Tagged Asking for Help, Help, Interdependence, Masculinity, Need, Prayer, Sermon, Sermons, Social Media, Trust, Vulnerability | Leave a comment

Is it a Gift? A sermon on simplicity

Posted on June 12, 2016 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

Story: “The Secret of Happiness” by Paula Coehlo, from The Alchemist Sermon: “Is it a Gift?” When I started to think about music for this month with this theme of simplicity, I immediately thought of”‘Tis a Gift.” This is a song … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons, Stories for Worship, Theology | Tagged Calling, Commitments, Consumerism, Distraction, Distractions, Focus, Individuality, Interdependence, Justice, Limits, Prayer, Purpose, Saying no, Selfhood, Simple, Simplicity, Stuff, Vocation | 1 Comment

Meditation on Community

Posted on June 7, 2016 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

A meditation inspired by the story, God In Between by Sandy Eisenburg, offered at Flower Communion on June 5, 2016 Please join me in a spirit of prayer, or meditation. Take a few deep breaths, in and out. Slow down. … Continue reading →

Posted in Meditations | Tagged Community, Connection, God, Holy, Imperfections, Interdependence, Meditation, Vulnerability | Leave a comment

Connecting in Chaos – Saving Your One Life – Sermon May 31 2015

Posted on June 1, 2015 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

Reading 1: From Michael Chrichton’s, The Lost World. The Institute explored the behavior of a great variety of complex systems – corporations, neurons, enzyme cascades within a single cell, the group behavior of migratory birds….It did not take long before … Continue reading →

Posted in Covenant, Sermons | Tagged Chaos, Community, Connecting, Connections, Emotional Systems, Family Systems, Interconnectedness, Interdependence, Sermon, Sermons | Leave a comment