I have to begin by saying that I had a lot of amazing moments yesterday in my “Great Proctors Adventure.” Proctors in Schenectady is an incredible and creatively generous arts space that brings in national tours, features music, lectures, movies, comedy, and offers space to a variety of organizations. All while being one of the […]
Category: Women
Reclaiming My Time
Note: An earlier version of this sermon was delivered in Mt Kisco, NY, on October 8, 2018. Shortly after that service, accusations of sexual harassment against Harvey Weinstein and others spawned the #metoo movement, and the sermon had to be rewritten to address the new awareness. Listen to this new version, as delivered in Nantucket […]
Big Day.
Seven years ago, I was trying to figure out what direction I was headed in, trying to hear God’s voice, trying to figure out what was actually next for me. I look back at those posts from 2010, and I see a younger me trying to let the process unfold as it should. At every […]
Matching our Insides and our Outsides
A colleague of mine – a strong, brilliant, creative woman – recently took to Facebook to note the amazing experience of putting good energy out to get good energy back. In her post, she warned those inclined to mansplain the experience not to try to convince her she was wrong, because she believed in this energetic relationship […]
How Have We Failed Them?
Ever since the shootings in Santa Barbara, California that sparked the powerful hashtag #YesAllWomen, I’ve been paying more attention to the so-called men’s rights movement; men who follow this perspective believe we are actually in a matriarchal society, that women have significant control over men, and that women should abdicate authority – particularly when it […]
Bi the Way
I have never been comfortable with the word “bisexual.” As a young queer woman in Durham, North Carolina, in the 80s and 90s, our community was very clear that we would use the acronym LGBT, but we would struggle with the T (a subject for another day), and we would not believe the B. I […]
What Am I Afraid Of: The Universe Responds
So… then there was that time I scrolled through my Facebook newsfeed and saw this: Running after “slaying a dragon,” at all costs, with no relationship to your divine or to the other human beings in the world, will never generate joy . A Hero’s Journey doesn’t suit us. It’s just not going to work. […]
What Am I Afraid Of?
I don’t understand it. I am an extrovert and love to process ideas, emotions, and experiences with people. I hold strong opinions about equality, justice, compassion, and ethics. I am willing to be in a crowd of people rallying for causes, to sign a petition, to write letters, to even blog a bit about things […]
Fallout and Pushback
The look on Kevin’s face said it all. Kevin (not his real name) and his girlfriend Joann (not her real name either) had joined me for lunch, and the discussion found its way to the shooting in California, #NotAllMen, #YesAllWomen, and the subsequent conversations that have erupted this week. Kevin, one of the most gentle and […]
Yes. All women.
A friend and I were sitting on a bench on a busy street one evening, eating ice cream, laughing and enjoying the people watching. The bench was elevated, and my friend’s sandaled foot was at chest-level to the people walking past. Suddenly, a young man – clearly drunk, clearly college-aged – grabbed at her foot […]
A Mother’s Day for All of Us
Unitarian Universalists are great spin doctors. What I mean is that Unitarian Universalists are very good at redeeming holidays and holy days. On Christmas, religious educator Sophia Lyon Fahs reminds us that “each night a child is born is a holy night.” Easter becomes not just a celebration of Christ’s resurrection, but of the resurrection […]
Inspired by Brigid
There is a moment In every undertaking There is a moment When everything is still… too still. There is a moment When nothing, nothing, NOTHING comes… When the mind is frozen. It is a scary moment It is a frustrating moment It is a moment where you doubt every part of yourself Why can’t I […]
O Pioneers? Thoughts on Women and Theology
A few weeks ago, I attended a Women at Union dinner in the home of Dean Mary Boys; during the evening, 15 smart, capable, and energetic women shared stories and raised questions about bringing the lessons we learn at Union about creating community, asking hard questions, and general ideas about liberal theology back into the […]