The SUUF Podcast

Art, Magic, and the Supernatural

July 7, 2024

Speaker: Peter Joys

Sometimes real things can strike us as magical. A work of art can display qualities that we can feel but not explain. Even illusionists can convince us of their power over the impossible. Even advertisements, for better or worse, employ aesthetics that move us. In this service we will play with some of the ways that the tangible world can hint at intangible dimensions, and we will discuss how our minds reverberate with intuitions and perceptions we cannot prove, in ways that are often uplifting and sometimes manipulating and sometimes both.

I See You

June 2, 2024

Rev. Barbara Gilday

What do we see when we look at a person? First impressions? Solidifying opinions / judgments / assessments? How often do we assess our own lenses? How do our relations with others match up with our first principle: “The inherent worth and dignity of every person”? Or the schema of our proposed Values.

The Good Samaritan

May 26, 2024

Mike Zink

One of his Favorite Bible Stories: The Good Samaritan Luke 10:30-37. Mike will also be telling us about Martha's Place.

Fairy Tales for the Elder Years

May 19, 2024

Rev. Bruce Bode

The majority of fairy tales – “minor scriptures” representing the distilled wisdom of a culture – deal with the issues and psychology of children and youth as they make the difficult threshold crossing into adulthood. But there are also a minority of fairy tales that deal with the developmental changes, psychological shifts, and crucial values related to both the middle and elder years. This sermon will feature two entertaining and instructive fairy tales that bring forward the issues and values of the elder years.

Peace for All Times

May 12, 2024

Michael Hurwicz, Sharon Abrey

Sharon and Michael will present a musical program on President John F. Kennedy’s Peace Speech, delivered in 1963 — and so very relevant today!

Specialize in the Impossible

May 5, 2024

Joseph Bednarik

In this bright dark world of beauty and tumult, poet Theodore Roethke said, “What we need is more people who specialize in the impossible.” Why would anyone bother with the impossible? This sermon explores the realm of impossible, and what powers we need to harness to become that specialist our world so desperately needs.

Releasing the Gender Genie from the Bottle and Other Fairy Tales

April 28, 2024

Linden Jordan, MA JD

Linden, facilitator of the PFLAG Skagit Support Group, will lead this Sunday’s Service. Linden will share his experiences of the many presentations of gender. It isn’t as simple as you’ve been led to believe. He will encourage us all to let kindness be our guide. His mantra is: there are many ways to love and many ways to be. Let it be so.

The Healing Power of Love

April 21, 2024

Karen Molenaar Terrell

Karen will be sharing readings on the topic of love, and sharing experiences of healing that have come through her understanding of the presence and power of Love.

Poetry and Humor in Islamic Spirituality

April 14, 2024

Jamal Rahman

Jamal will glean wisdom and practices from Sufi poets and fictional comic Mulla to illuminate universal teachings in the Quran. Jamal’s latest book is now available from SkyLight Paths Publishing: Sacred Laughter of the Sufis – Awakening the Soul with the Mulla’s Comic Teaching Stories and Other Islamic Wisdom.

In Quest of Living Religion, Part II

April 7, 2024

Rev. Bruce A. Bode

This is a follow-up sermon to one from a little over a year ago on March 19, 2023, a sermon that explored the current attempt in Unitarian Universalist circles to give verbal expression to their approach to religion – its purposes, principles, sources, and values. This follow-up sermon will attempt to both present and provide perspective on the final report of the Unitarian Universalist’s Article II Study Commission that will be voted on at this summer’s Unitarian Universalist General Assembly.