Tag Archive for: Rev. Dr. Wayne Arnason

Blessing the Future

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Blessing the Future
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by Rev. Dr. Wayne Arnason

It’s more and more clear to me that the future is hard to imagine, let alone predict. How then, do you bless the world as you pass through it? Is the world that the millennial generation will experience in the late 21st century one that even the millennials have a hard time picturing? Is there anything the older generations have learned that can be passed on to youth, or is that a fruitless hope? Don’t they just have to figure it all out for themselves?

Blessing the Future May 21 22 2016

Making It Up

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Making It Up
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by Rev. Dr. Wayne B. Arnason

The most creative thing that we are engaged with every day is the improvisation of the life we live. We all have to make this up as we go along. Often we find out what we really know when we are forced to say it. Inevitably we make mistakes, and we have to “make up” for them too – but we can’t let the risk of failure stop us from the creativity that is our birthright.

Making It Up Sermon April 9 and 10 2016

 

It Is What It Is

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It Is What It Is
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by Rev. Dr. Wayne Arnason

There’s a politician I know who uses this line a lot, especially when he’s advocating an unpopular program, like a new tax increase. Most of us would prefer to live our lives unencumbered by limitations imposed by government, money, or time. Political conservatives call that “freedom.” This week let’s explore how “liberation” is different from “freedom” when it consists of accepting the limits of things as they are.

It is What It Is March 19 and 20 2016

Our Hearts’ Desire: A Service of Congregational Response

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by Rev. Kathleen Rolenz, Rev. Dr. Wayne Arnason, and Rev. Leah Hart-Landsberg

Who are we now? What do we want to become? What is our Heart’s Desire for our Fellowship? Half way through the tenure of the Transitional Consulting Ministry, Kathleen and Wayne have some observations to share, and possibilities to offer, in a mid-year report sermon inspired by our monthly theme. Equal time will be given in this unusual hour-and-a-half service to Congregational Response, in a cafe-style setting in the Sanctuary. The children and young people attending Religious Education will be involved in their own age appropriate workshop/programming at this time-they will be called back to the Sanctuary toward the end of the event in order to contribute their ideas to the larger group. Join us on Saturday or on Sunday (one service only at 10) for a milestone service on the road to our future.

Our Hearts Desire The State of the Fellowship 220212016

The Missing Peace

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The Missing Peace
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by Rev. Dr. Wayne Arnason

On the cultural holiday when loving relationships are celebrated, single people can feel left out. Whether you are partnered or single, all of us will ultimately lose those we love the most, so it makes a difference now how we think and feel about what our most intimate loving relationships really mean in our lives. Are they the “missing piece” that completes us, or are we “missing peace” by expecting that won’t can’t be whole within ourselves?

The Missing Peace. Feb13142016.Arnason

Two Dreams

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Two Dreams
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By Rev. Dr. Wayne Arnason

When Dr. King talked about having a Dream, it was all about people being judged by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin. In the most compelling book about racism to be published during this year since the “Black Lives Matter” movement began, “Between The World And Me” Ta-Nehisi Coates talks about The Dream in a very different way, as the dream of white supremacy that surrounds and shapes our culture. Can we wake up from both dreams?

Two Dreams Jan172016 Arnason

The Joys of Compulsory Giving

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The Joys of Compulsory Giving
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by Rev. Dr. Wayne Arnason

There are many expectations we have to deal with at the holiday season, but for me the most difficult ones are the expectation to give gifts, and the expectation of those we love that gifts will be given. Isn’t the gift that is freely given the most meaningful? What does the season of compulsory giving have to teach us about our expectations regarding generosity?

Joys of CompulsoryGiving Dec132015 Arnason

Standing in Line

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Standing in Line
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by Rev. Dr. Wayne Arnason

Most of us know where we came from geneologically, but our lineage of blood is not the only lineage in which we stand. How do we understand and honor all the ways that we stand in lines, lines of ancestors, teachers, and predecessors that make us who we are.

Standing in Line November152015

Our Doctrine of Discovery

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Our Doctrine of Discovery
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by Rev. Dr. Wayne Arnason

These two words get a big response from UU’s. “Doctrine” – BAD! That’s what we don’t want! “Discovery” – GOOD! That’s what we do in our religion – right? We discover our own theology! So what happens when you put these two words together ? You get an obscure, powerful, and troubling legal concept that raises questions about “entitlement.” We’ll touch briefly on the legal concept, but mostly we’ll ask: To what are we “entitled” as human beings, as citizens? What do we have already, and what do we think we need, and what should we let go?

DoctrineofDiscovery10.2015

Walking Together

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Walking Together
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by Transitional Consulting Ministers Rev. Kathleen Rolenz and Rev. Dr. Wayne Arnason

The Old Testament Prophet Amos once asked a question that has become central to UU congregations –“Can two walk together except they be agreed?” What has made “walking together” possible, even when we don’t agree on every element of our spiritual beliefs or our fellowship’s priorities, has been the covenants we have made. Our new lead ministers will introduce themselves, and reflect on the covenant we are making with them, and with each other, in the year ahead.

Walking Together