Sometimes we may compromise who we are so that we feel we fit in, so that we are accepted. In reality, the only true belonging is to belong to oneself, to be fully accepting of oneself. Brené Brown writes that self-acceptance can be four things: dangerous, breath-taking, sought after and feared. Can we navigate the…
There is tangible power in feeling valued, heard, accepted. There is a power in having a space where you and your gifts are valued and treasured, where you are accepted for all the pieces of you. While much is broken, much can be healed through the power of acceptance, and a true understanding of belonging.…
In many ways we live in a broken world, a world of binaries that create “inside” and “outside” groups, groups that are weighted with destructive power. What does it mean when who you are, at your core, is rejected? What does it mean not to belong? And what can we do to initiate change?
From where does the unexpected come? Some speculate that novelty is divine, that unanticipated beauty is derived from the sacred. Rev. Dawn Fortune writes that divinity is “irrational, unexpected, and beautiful.” The future is full of holy unknowns, found in what we do not or cannot expect.By Reverend Jane Smith at Channing Memorial Church, Unitarian…
Just as inevitable as dawn after nightfall and the rhythm of the tides, the times of grief and pain will ultimately pass. Cycles are inherent to nature, although so often the flowers of spring seem unattainable after the frost of winter. Join us today as we honor, and come to expect, the cycles of life.