To Lead with Love © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church January 7, 2024     We speak often about love. Love is, perhaps, the greatest force we know, perhaps the greatest mystery, ‘the only magic’ it was called in our reading earlier. So we think about it,...

The Risk of Birth Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church Christmas Eve, 2023   In 1973, the poet Madeleine L’Engle wrote these words:   “This is no time for a child to be born, With the earth betrayed by war & hate And a comet slashing the sky to warn That...

Saying “Yes” to Mystery © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church December 3, 2023   The other day the Washington Post reported that a lobsterman in Maine had pulled up a two-colored lobster. The lobsterman, named Jacob Knowles, was fascinated by his discovery and...

Completing the Gift © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church November 19, 2023   The poet Mary Oliver gave us this poem, called The Gift:   Be still, my soul, and steadfast.Earth and heaven both are still watchingthough time is draining from the clockand your...

The Generosity of Attention © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church November 12, 2023     One of my fondest memories of relief trips to the Gulf Coast was the day in Pearlington, Mississippi, when we had two lunches. Both of which involved fried catfish.   We...

Relinquishing Privilege © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church November 5, 2023   I wasn’t sure that Darren Walker still had a job. After I finished reading his opinion piece in the New York Times, portions of which Pat just read, I looked him up on line to see...

The Thinning of the Veil © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church October 29, 2023   In the fifth Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry and his friends find themselves dueling with wizards from the dark side, called the Death Eaters....

Midnight Rumblings on Mahogany © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church October 15, 2023     Unitarian and Universalist historians have always been a little bit squeamish about discussing the phenomenon of Spiritualism that swept the country in the 19th century....

A Little Beyond: Transcendentalism © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church October 1, 2023   The movement called Transcendentalism, began to emerge in the 1830’s, during a time of intellectual ferment, in a new nation full of new ideas, founded in revolution. It...

At-one-ment © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church September 24, 2023   You have to really admire the Ziz; the giant mythical bird in the story I told a few minutes ago. He had a good heart and a good soul; he meant well and didn’t want to hurt anyone. And yet,...

Offering Belonging © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church September 17, 2023     A bit of a kerfuffle erupted at the Unitarian Universalist Association this past week. In its effort to welcome everyone into a new church year, the Communications staff at the UUA...

Where Waters Meet and Merge © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester Unitarian Universalist Church September 10, 2023   This past June, visiting Pittsburgh for the first time, I found myself drawn to the spot where the Allegheny and the Monongahela Rivers meet to form the...