Tag Archives: Life

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

Recognition / Seen – Easter 2023

Posted on April 9, 2023 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

Reading: Luke 24:12-32 Sermon My best friend from high school reached out to me last week. We’ve stayed in touch loosely over the years over Facebook, but not in any consistent way. She was in our home town for the … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons | Tagged Affirmation, Anagnorisis, Belonging, Black, Christianity, Closet, Compassion, Democracy, Diversity, Easter, Friends, Grief, Growing, Growth, Gun Violence, identity, Inclusion, Inclusivity, Jesus, Life, Love, Neighbors, Perepetia, Race, Racism, Recognition, Resurrection, Revolutionary Love, Sermon, Sermons, Sikh, TDOV, trans, Trans Joy, Transformation, transgender, Unitarian, Unitarian Universalism, Unitarianism, Universalism, Universalist, Valerie Kaur, Visibility, Visible, Whiteness | Leave a comment

Earth Seeds – an Earth Day homily for 2022

Posted on April 24, 2022 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

Reading by Paul Hawkens from his book Re-Generation Homily: Earth Seeds Sermon: Earth Seeds – Gretchen This week I was talking to a colleague about his church and how things are going, and he hesitated “So much has changed, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons | Tagged adrienne maree brown, Build, Choice, Climate, Climate Crisis, Climate Justice, Creativity, Earth, Earth Day, Emergence, Generativity, Homily, LGBTQ, Life, Marge Piercy, Queer, Queerness, Regeneration, Response, Sermon, Sermons, viktor frankl, Vision | Leave a comment

Life Saving Life

Posted on March 27, 2022 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

Reading: Instructions on Not Giving Up by Ada Limon More than the fuchsia funnels breaking out of the crabapple tree, more than the neighbor’s almost obscene display of cherry limbs shoving their cotton candy-colored blossoms to the slate sky of … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons | Tagged Effort, Faith, Life, Mystery, Partnership, Rebirth, Resurrection, Seeds, Sermon, Sermons, Spring, Surrender | Leave a comment

A meditation on Marie Howe’s What the Living Do

Posted on October 31, 2021 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

What the Living Do by Marie Howe Johnny, the kitchen sink has been clogged for days, some utensil probably fell down there. And the Drano won’t work but smells dangerous, and the crusty dishes have piled up waiting for the … Continue reading →

Posted in Meditations, Theology | Tagged Absence, All Souls, Cycle of Life, Dead, Death, Dying, Grief, Life, Living, Loss, Love, Loving, Meditation, Memory, Mortality, Presence, Sorrow | Leave a comment

Back to Life – Easter 2020

Posted on April 12, 2020 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

Text: Mary Oliver’s Messenger Mark’s Gospel Chapter 16 Homily Last night as I kissed my daughter’s forehead, she felt hot. In normal times I’d just think: “Teenager. Day in the sun, no big deal.” But this is not a normal time. So … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons | Tagged Change, Courage, Death, Easter, Hope, Jesus, Joy, Life, Rebirth, Resilience, Resurrection, Transformation | Leave a comment

Thirst

Posted on August 23, 2019 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

Start with the thirst the deep well you have been forgetting, ancient and ready to be soaked without shame the well your grandmothers dug for you the reservoir carved and cared for by the people your ancestors betrayed your thirst … Continue reading →

Posted in Poetry | Tagged Ancestors, Bodies, Body, Desire, Interdependent Web, Life, nature, Poetry, Thirst, Water | Leave a comment

Poetry, a Sabbatical Story

Posted on August 9, 2019 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

“Perhaps the earth can teach us as when everything seems dead and later proves to be alive.” -Pablo Neruda I’ve always loved writing – especially poetry – which I started experimenting with in middle school when all things feel like … Continue reading →

Posted in Blog Reflections | Tagged Grace, Life, meaning, Pace, Poetry, Reality, Rest, Sabbath, Sabbatical, Story, Time, Writing | 1 Comment

My Children Try to Teach Me to Love Unfinished Things

Posted on July 24, 2019 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

for example, markers with lids half-on, coloring books set out with pages like butterflies, half-beautiful; my hands covered in raw meat, dripping and dangerous – or dirt, with the torch lilly barely out of the pot, ready to be surrounded … Continue reading →

Posted in Poetry | Tagged children, Inertia, Life, Pace of Life, Parenthood, Parenting, Poetry, Time, Time Management | Leave a comment

Re-Creation and Reconciliation – Easter Sermon 2017

Posted on April 17, 2017 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

Reading – from Louise Erdrich’s The Painted Desert Sermon – Re-Creation and Reconciliation – Easter Sunday 2017 Perhaps it is predictable that my favorite part of the Jesus story is the moment that many orthodox preachers would call his … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons | Tagged Christianity, Easter, Grief, Grieving, Healing, Jesus, Life, Reconciliation, Sermon, Sermons, Stories, Truth | Leave a comment