We are very excited to offer a Blessing of the Animals officiated by Rev. Stephen Landale, a hospice chaplain from Eugene. If you plan to bring your companion animal, they need to be unaggressive and kept on a leash, or in a crate or cage, while in the building. Alternatively, you could also bring a photograph of your pet, or an image on your phone or tablet – or participate virtually with your pet, via Zoom.
Project 2025 is nothing compared with Reality 2025… and it’s only April. We’ll reflect on how to set aside our flee/fight/freeze reactions, strive for genuine understanding of our situation and those who voted for it, and work towards healthy short-term and long-term responses.
Rev. Landale will explore the precepts of satyagraha (truth-force or soul-force) and ahimsa (nonviolence) as a way of life, in all aspects of our lives.
After seeing the musical “Hamilton” in Eugene in September and listening to the Hamilton soundtrack nonstop (!) ever since, and now watching documentaries and reading books of the Revolutionary War and founding of the USA, Rev. Stephen Landale will offer reflections on what all this can mean for us today.
In our current and escalating culture wars – which are increasingly spilling over into political violence, we must learn to prioritize human connection and the respect that radical connection requires. This sermon will include stories and perspectives that can be challenging for liberals and progressives, but it’s a viewpoint stemming from a personal credo Rev. Landale once encountered, “I will let nothing stand between me and the person in front of me.”
Rev. Stephen Landale joins us to share a surprisingly humorous story from the Hebrew Scriptures, the story of the healing of Na’aman, in 2 Kings 5: 1-15 (the humor will be more evident in a modern retelling of the story). We’ll reflect on how we want healing or change to happen, and how it typically needs to happen. Rev. Landale has been a hospice chaplain for over nine years, served as a full-time UU parish minister for 11 years, and has been a guest UU preacher and consulting minister for most of the last decade.
In Unitarian Universalism, we hear much of Truth and Love. But what of Trust? What does it mean to trust? What are the spiritual gifts of trusting, and how does this relate to congregational life? Rev. Stephen Landale, returns to spin a sermon on this theme.
Rev. Stephen Landale returns to share reflections on both spiritual Daily Affirmations and existential Daily Afflictions, from his experience as a Hospice Chaplain, and as a parent.
Today is Pentecost on the Christian calendar, when Jesus’ disciples emerged from grief in a transformation that was miraculous, and yet wholly human. Grief may change us in positive, even miraculous ways. Stephen returns with a message grounded in his work as a hospice chaplain in Eugene.
Like so many other things in 2020, the unfolding election results have led many if not most of us to be on edge, giving us plenty of reasons to worry and plenty of reasons to hope. 2020 “Election Day” has become “Election Week” and could become “Election Months” with litigation. This on top of the Covid-19 pandemic worsening, and more. What are our spiritual resources at this time, as individuals, families, and communities? What are some of the sources of resilience and renewal of our country? Rev. Stephen Landale, hospice chaplain from Eugene, will lead this exploration.
