Unity of Farmers Branch (Formerly The Church Of One Love)

Kali is the Hindu Goddess of destruction; she is also the Mother of freedom and creativity.  She exemplifies the truth that in order to claim what is new and good in our lives, it is necessary to release the old, the worn, the outdated.  This week is our annual Burning Bowl ceremony, where we acknowledge and put down on paper that which we are ready to let go of, then literally set fire to it!!  G...

As we light the 4th candle of advent in advance of Christmas eve, we concentrate our attention on love in all its guises—human and Divine.  What, really, is love? How do we recognize it, receive it, give it?   Is it truly –as the song says, “all you need?”  We’ll explore the ways love heals us and makes us whole.

“Joy, The Sacred Dance of Life” is a poem attributed to the great mystic Hafiz. These paraphrased lines of his poem speak to the necessity to live in Joy. “I sometimes forget that I was created for joy My mind is too busy My heart is too heavy …Untangle my feet from all that ensnares Free my soul That we might Dance” Who among us has not experienced the act of dancing so perfectly, and without tho...

On this, the 2nd Sunday in Advent we light a candle for Peace. But what do we mean by peace?  The absence of noise or disharmony, challenge or frustration?  If we wait for the events of the world to line up perfectly so that we can have peace, we will wait a long time, or we will dwell in delusion. Peace, when it comes, only ever comes from within.  So how do we cultivate peace in a troubled world...

The 1st Sunday in Advent we traditionally light a candle for hope or faith: the only advent virtue for which 2 different terms are used.  Why?  What is hope?  Is it the same thing as faith? How are they different, and how do we hold them in a helpful, healthy way?   To hope for specific changes in circumstances over which we have no control can be a hopeless proposition, but can we have faith in o...

This Sunday before Thanksgiving Day we will share our gratitude with one another, as we reflect on all we have to be thankful for, even (or especially)  in this troubled world. Then join us for a special Thanksgiving potluck after services!

Does life have ultimate meaning? Do we discover meaning or invent it?  Is there really a “reason for everything”? Or is it our life’s work to make meaning of the often chaotic circumstances of our lives?  Why do we need meaning?  Does it matter? 

In his book “Peace is Every Step”  Buddhist monk Thich Nat Han says,  "There is no way to happiness—happiness is the way."  Does this make sense to you?  Is being happy a worthy goal?  Do you feel guilty pursing happiness when there is so much suffering in the world?  Or could our being happy actually serve? In this service I will bring forward many wise quotes on happiness, so we can reflect on t...

When we don’t feel good inside, often our first instinct is to try to change what’s happening on the outside. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work. We can never solve the problems we feel within ourselves by manipulating external effects.  When we try to, it makes us upside down.  Things get worse instead of better as we repeat the same old patterns that don’t work, but more desperately each time around...

The first of November is traditionally a day to celebrate those who have gone before.  This day we will celebrate our ancestors and explore the ideas and practices behind All Saints Day, All Souls Day and Day of the Dead.  What can be learned by celebrating the lives of those who have gone before?  How could it be helpful to make friends with Death?  To celebrate the dead?   Could a conscious conn...

My beloved spiritual mentor Rev Chris Chenowith used to say, “to worry is to pray for what you DON’T want.”  Carl Jung said "What you resist not only persists, but will grow in size."  We are at cross purposes when we dwell on the pain—on what is going “wrong” in our lives.  Yet, when we’re in pain it seems to demand our focus. Can we make a space where pain exists but does not control us? I belie...

Pet Blessing Sunday!  You are invited to bring your well-behaved socialized pet to the service to be blessed at this light-hearted service where we celebrate the role of animals in our lives—namely the ability to give simple, unconditional love. How can we practice this in our lives, and what other lessons can we learn from our furry (or not so furry) friends?  

It seems the intensity of world events political, ecological, economic, might be the greatest many of us have felt in our lifetime.  We experience this as loss: we are losing our security in how things used to be (or how we perceived them), our trust in what we hoped for. As a result we are anxious, fearful, angry at the state of our country and the world. This is a loss that we need to honor in t...

When we want to take right action in the world, we must first become truly aware of what is going on—to understand what the problem or challenge really is.  When we become aware of discomfort, we tend to jump to take whatever action we think will most quickly relieve our immediate suffering.  Too often that action leads us to ever more suffering down the road.  Effective action is always only poss...

On this,  International Day of Peace—we celebrate the founding ideals of the United Nations: to promote peace, end conflict, and foster global cooperation to build a peaceful and sustainable world.  These are global ideas, but work on the personal level as well.  In fact, peace will only ever happen globally when it first happens person to person as we communicate with others in non-accusatory, no...

Stillness is a secret superpower that—when practiced-- brings us closer to who we really are.  In stillness we commune with God, instinctively feel our oneness with nature and with all beings, and come to know ourselves more deeply.   So why is it so hard to get and stay still?  It is so easy to become overwhelmed by distractions, anxieties, activities, to-do lists, that we seldom experience the g...

Throughout history humankind has believed in Truth, only to find out that it was, after all, not really True.  Is it possible that we really do not know anything for a fact?  What and where is our guiding star, or is there such a thing? We seem to have been on an evolutionary journey to discover what God is, only to see it slide away from us more often than not. Let us take a look at where we have...

Is that a suit of armor? Can you take it off?  As humans we hurt and then we try to protect ourselves from it ever happening again.  Unfortunately, we cannot build walls (or wear suits) that close our hearts only to what is painful.  A closed heart is a closed heart.  So how do we navigate a world where to keep an open heart feels too painful, but to close it and live in the mind would make us col...

What is with this “praise and worship” that traditional churches do? Does the thought of "praising" offend?  What even is “praise?” or  “worship?”  Does praising something make us somehow lower than the object of our praise?  Does God “need” it?  Or do humans have a need to express praise? What in your life today might be calling for awe, wonder, gratitude, NOTICE?

Are you paying attention to your messages?  Checking your Earth-mail? Checking in with yourself?  Being open to the many messages and all the different guises messengers take puts us in communication with the angels—literally!  

Do we make “soul contracts” with each other?  Is there truly a reason we meet the “random” people we do, have the particular experiences of life, make the synchronous connections we make?  Do they (or can they)  all lead to our soul’s growth?  Are they part of a larger plan?  Are we in on it?   Let’s explore these questions and take look at life as if it were a school whose curriculum we might hel...

Just as the future can only be met from the place of the present moment, the past too, can be met right here right now in the present--has value in helping us to understand how it shaped and may still affect us in our present.  Let’s learn to look, learn, then forgive and let go. A wise person once said, “There’s nothing wrong with looking at the past—as long as you don’t stare!”

In a time when so many feel overwhelmed or unseen, encouragement is more than a kind word—it’s a powerful ministry. This message explores how Spirit calls us to build each other up, how simple acts of encouragement can transform lives, and how each of us can be a light in someone’s darkest hour. Drawing on biblical examples, personal stories, and practical insights, this uplifting talk reminds us...