We are each immersed in worldviews shaped and molded and understood by the culture we have been raised in, or the various cultures we have experienced in our lifetime. We may understand suffering and joy, all life events, and their consequences, through the lens of our upbringing and our formative years. This can lead to a single narrative, a way of feeling stuck. I invite us this morning to examine two worldviews, two religions, two ways of living, that we may be unfamiliar with: Taoism, and Buddhism. In doing so, I offer an invitation for each of us to awaken. To awaken to the true wonder of our lives – ways to engage with ourselves and the world around us. Ways to cultivate strength.

The Easter story offers a powerful metaphor. Each year, we are reminded that hope, love, and life persevere and triumph over hate, violence and death. The resurrection of Jesus offers us a tale of spiritual transformation that can help shape us. Furthermore, resurrection can be understood as a form of awakening, of finding warmth and love in surprising places. This Sunday we explore what happens when hope, love, transformation, and awakening overlap.

We may find ourselves immersed in routine or lost in superficial goals as we pass life by in a state of hibernation. This Sunday, we seek to distinguish between those surface needs and desires and those of the heart, as we awaken to find true meaning in our lives. We strive to create purpose in each of our days, knowing both that who we are at our core is beautiful, and that there is always room to grow ever stronger and wiser.

When facing deep hardships in life, faith offers courage and provides us with reasons to persevere. However, at such dark times, our faith may seem to falter. I invite us to see this as a strength. Without periodic questioning, our faith would be insincere. This Sunday, we explore how faith and meaning intersect in powerful ways, countering experiences of despair.

In this church, we gather together to renew our faith, our hope, and our strength to sustain ourselves and all of those around us. Through our spiritual practices, we tend to ourselves so that we can offer love and hope to the world around us. Even when the world is on fire, there are things we can do, however small. This Sunday, we offer a practice of gratitude for our church that offers us sustenance as we begin a month of honoring the sacred commitment of stewardship.