Each year in late December, the celebration of Yule marks the winter solstice: the shortest day of the year, followed by the return of the sun.  This holiday recognizes the endless cycle of birth, life, death, and rebirth.  This Sunday, we explore the wisdom and beauty in the dark and envision the renewal that awaits us.  

This holiday season can serve as a source of anticipation and wonder, an invitation to open to joy. Joy is always present, although it is sometimes obscured or forgotten, buried beneath the surface. Yet when we find it, it serves as a medium for healing. This Sunday, we are reminded of this invitation, both to delight in the magical and awe-filled, and, perhaps even more importantly, to revel in those ordinary joys – embracing the holy ordinary.

Today we lift up a story of a flame that persisted through oppression, allowing a people of faith to persevere.  This is a story of freedom, faith, and hope, as demonstrated through a miracle.  While others sought to break the Jewish people down, their faith and their sacred prevailed. This Sunday, we explore the wisdom this story offers us in these turbulent…

Each year, the Sunday before Thanksgiving, we join together for our annual Bread Communion service. In this special tradition, you are all invited to bring a bread or grain-based dish that is meaningful to you. This Sunday, we share our stories behind this bread – perhaps our bread comes from a religious, ethnic, or cultural background. Perhaps it’s a family favorite! Each dish has a unique history all of its own. As we share our stories, we ground ourselves in the tales of our ancestors, reflecting on those generations that shaped and formed who we are today – influencing even the food that touches our lips.

Our memories leave us with stories of overcoming and failures, heroism and defeats that shape and mold who we are. Yet, memories are not set in stone but acts of creation. Science shows us that we change our memories slightly every time we engage with them. If we actively engage, we can choose what memories tell us our truth, and re-create memories to be a source of strength. This is not “how” we remember, but “what” we remember, re-framing and crafting our own history to build strength, wisdom, and kindness today.