Tag Archives: Resilience

More Than Enough

Posted on October 30, 2022 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

Reading: The Church Where Everything Goes Wrong by Elea Kemler Sermon: More than Enough Like a lot of teenagers, my daughter really does not love getting up in the morning. Instead she loves her cozy bed, and the sweet dark of … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons | Tagged Abundance, Change, Church, Community, Covenant, Emerson, Enough, Faith, God, Grace, Love, pandemic, Post-pandemic, Recovery, Resilience, Sermon, Sermons, Theology, Transcendentalism, Transcendentalists, Trauma | Leave a comment

Bearing Witness

Posted on October 23, 2022 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

This week, one of my parents’ friends experienced a tragedy. Their daughter – who was my age, died suddenly, from a hidden medical issue they failed to uncover in time. My parents live far away from me, as do their … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons | Tagged Bearing Witness, Change, Community, Compassion, ethics, Faithfulness, Global Justice, International, Justice, Network, Pain, Partnership, Resilience, Sermon, Sermons, Stories, Suffering, UUSC, Witnessing, World | Leave a comment

Birth the Alien, Set the Bird Free

Posted on September 27, 2021 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

A message for the 10:00 Foothills community, preached in the park on September 26th and October 3rd, 2021, the first and second Sundays in person after 18 months all online Reading: Bluebird by Charles Bukowski Sermon We were two days … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons | Tagged Change, Coping, COVID, Healing, Learning, Pain, pandemic, Resilience, Sermon, Sermons, Survival, Transformation | 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

How We Survive

Posted on May 31, 2020 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

I set up a new home office this week, setting up a more permanent space for this new time. In my re-arranging, I came across an old journal, and some old photos – all marking my life more than twenty … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons | Tagged collective liberation, Community, Homily, Justice, Liberation, pandemic, Resilience, Sermon, Sermons, Survival, thrive, Universalism | 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

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

The Light of Morning – Easter Sermon 2016

Posted on March 28, 2016 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

Here is the audio podcast of this sermon. Poetry: Maya Angelou’s On the Pulse of Morning (from the line “Lift Up Your Faces, you have a piercing need…”) Reading: Luke 24 from the Message Bible Imagine it with me, this … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons, Theology | Tagged Beginnings, Christianity, Creativity, Death, Easter, Grief, Jesus, Joy, Life, Loss, Resilience, Resurrection, Theology, Transformation, Women | 1 Comment

Jersey Shore Meet YRUU – Jagged Rocks Post #2

Posted on January 6, 2014 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

I’m excited that between now and June, our youth group will be spending a couple sessions a month on the theme of Unitarian Universalism’s 5 Jagged Rocks. These core theological propositions ground me, challenge me, and hold me in my … Continue reading →

Posted in Blog Reflections, Theology, Youth Ministry | Tagged Beloved Community, Brave, Jagged Rocks, James Luther Adams, Resilience, Theology, Youth Ministry | Leave a comment