The SUUF Podcast

March 27, 2022

Heidi Roy

Skagit Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Services is a source of information and healing; a strong voice for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault in the Skagit community since 1979. It operates with the following philosophies:

1. Violence by one person against another is not acceptable, anywhere, any time.
2. Each person has the right to expect physical, emotional and sexual safety.

Today we welcome Heidi Roy, Executive Director, to share this philosophy and their goals of empowerment, strength and healing to victims and survivors.

March 20, 2022

Rev. Bruce Bode

In Nature, death is not a factor of special importance; it’s simply part of the turning wheel of Being as it rolls onward through time. But to us in our human world, death is a factor of huge significance. Taking my cue from neuro-anatomist Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor’s book My Stroke of Insight, this sermon will explore our encounter with death from both the “right-brain” (“ego-consciousness”) and the “left-brain” (“cosmic consciousness”) perspectives.

March 13, 2022

Rev. Joanna Gabriel

As we move into the increased light that comes with Daylight Savings time and approaching Spring, Rev Joanna Gabriel explores the power of our perceptions, how they ‘light’ our moment-to-moment experience of life and how important this awareness is as we navigate our times.

March 6, 2022

Nancy Brown, Susan Butler

You will be amazed at what a few people can accomplish! Come today to hear all about a grass-roots program in our own back yard. Suzanne Butler, one of our speakers, writes: "Our work started with taking snacks at night to the 4 month Winter Shelter at the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Mount Vernon several years ago. Nancy Brown recruited me and I recruited friends and neighbors to bake, donate money, donate purchased food and other items as needed. During Covid until now, we have been distributing upwards of 70 lunch bags a week to neighbors without homes in the area. When we have the means to get them out to more people, there have been times when 110 Food Bags have gone out weekly."

February 27, 2022

OPOP Committee

Today we get an update on OPOP, a program under the umbrella of Chris Hoke’s Underground Ministries. One Parish One Prisoner offers pre-release relationships to prisoners, and continues once they rejoin their community upon release. The intent is not only to help ex-offenders navigate the needs and expectations of the outside world but also to avoid the pitfalls that too often result in re-incarceration. We have a hard-working and resourceful OPOP team right here at SUUF! Come and hear what they have learned and done during the past year. 

February 20, 2022

Rev. Vincent Lachina

In a world that often floats "fake news" and lies, how do we define "Truth," and how do we know it when we see it?

February 6, 2022

Jonathan Prescott

Jonathan returns with an early Valentine for all of us this week. It's all about that elusive 4-letter word: love. In his words: "Love" is a word that describes many things. Let's explore the kind of love that deeply connects us.

January 30, 2022

Rev. Barbara Gilday

Life is not like a multiple choice test where our choices are so simple. It is often much more complex, as even an elementary school child knows. We as adults have learned the painful lesson that there are times one has no choice but to choose to live with seemingly unreconcilable differences. Let’s look at some examples and some possible coping mechanisms. Perhaps you’d like to share a situation where you had to come to terms with cohabiting differences.

January 23, 2022

Kat Rose

Kat Rose has an unusual occupation and passion: she sculpts chalices for UU churches, members, and religious and secular services. Kat, a long-time UU and artist from San Juan Island, and friend of Linda Kuller, creates lovely and loving artistic designs. Please check out her website - flamingchalice.com - for a sneak peek at her craft. She will share how the 'flaming chalice' became the symbol of hope and freedom for our religion, then will tell us about her unusual career path.

January 9, 2022

Rev. Vincent Lachina

Many of us begin a new year with a list of promises or proposals of things we hope to accomplish in the days ahead. Truthfully, many of us don’t get very far into the new year before we abandon those hopes. Let’s focus on some positive resolutions that we can commit to and even accomplish in the next twelve months. Keeping in mind the advice we have all heard often in our lives, “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.,” we’ll create a new path of Positive Resolutions.