All is Not Lost© Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church November 17, 2024 “Everything is still on fire,”, wrote my colleague, Julian Soto. “I am sorry that everything is still on fire…” they continued. “Once hate catches, the winds of “not my problem” blow and...

Trust that You Are Held © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church November 10, 2024 Like many of you, I have spent large amounts of time this week feeling struck speechless. I’ve experienced almost a sense of suspended animation, a certain stuckness: that I’m not...

Thinking Too Much and Listening Too Little © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church October 13, 2024 How many of you got to see the Northern Lights the other night? I found it as thrilling as it was back in May when I got to see them for the very first time in my...

Pilgrims in a Pilgrim Church Gloucester Unitarian Universalist Church Reverend Janet Parsons September 29, 2024 Part One: Lonely Voyages Into the Unknown I love to picture the scene in my mind’s eye: a traveler from England whose ship had gone aground, walking along a...

A Time for Balance, A Time for Gratitude © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church September 22, 2024 I’ve been noticing an interesting trend all along the shoreline here on Cape Ann in the past couple of years: perhaps you have as well. On many of our rocky...

It is Love That Sets Us Free © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church September 15, 2024 Back in 2014, some cities in Ohio, including Columbus, Dayton, and Springfield, decided to join a network of communities, a task force, that formed under the name Welcoming...

The Blessing and Grace of Water © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church September 8, 2024 There are so many ways to talk about water, to think about water. We often consider water as a wellspring, as a source; a still pool that grounds us. But water can also be...

Choose Joy © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church August 25, 2024 I spent the early part of the summer feeling badly stuck, pinned on the horns of a serious dilemma. You see, I admire our president, President Joe Biden, and hold deep respect for the work that...

For Those Who Live at the Shoreline © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church June 2, 2024 It was such a joy to be present at the flag-raising at City Hall this past Friday to kick off the month of June as Pride Month. It was the largest crowd at this event I’ve...

For All You Who Let Yourselves Feel © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church April 28 2024     We’ve been talking a lot the past couple of weeks about the interconnectedness of everything here on Earth, from unseen life underground to all the plants and animals...

Mother Earth, Mother Trees © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church April 21, 2024     It could be said that Suzanne Simard’s lifelong fascination with forests began one day when she was six and her grandfather’s dog ended up trapped in the outhouse.   Suzanne’s...