The SUUF Podcast

Coming Out to a Packed House

June 11, 2023

Joseph Bednarik

June is PRIDE month, with pink triangles and rainbow flags showing visible support for the LGBTQ+ community. This morning we share the multi-layered story of one young person's coming out within a packed UU sanctuary.

Nature’s Gift to Us & Our Gift to Nature

May 21, 2023

Rev. Bruce Bode

“Flower Communion Sunday” – This Sunday’s service – “In the springing of the year” (Robert Frost) – will center around a flower communion ritual. This is a ritual introduced 100 years ago – June 4, 1923 – by the Rev. Norbert Capek to the Unitarian congregation he served in Prague of the then-Czechoslovak Republic. Some years later, the simple service that Capek created found its way to Unitarian congregations in the United States, where many Unitarian Universalist currently observe some version of it.

Mama Said There’d Be Days Like This

May 14, 2023

Rev. Vincent Lachina

Whether our memories of our mothers are incredibly wonderful or a mixture of challenging and surviving, each of us has learned life lessons from them. Mothers are perhaps one of the most influential sources of change for their children. In retrospect, Mother's day seems a very appropriate time to think about the lessons each of us have learned from our own mother, a grandmother, or even someone else's mother. Here are 6 reflections of what I believe my own mother taught me that have determined who I am and how I live my life.

Suffering

May 7, 2023

Jonathan Prescott

We hear the word ’suffering’ but what does it really mean? Please join Jonathan Prescott as he explores six ways you may be suffering and six ways to restore your peace and joy.

The Sacred Book of Nature

April 30, 2023

Imam Jamal Rahman

Teachings from the sacred manuscript of Nature. Jamal will glean spiritual insights from Nature; Sufi masters explain that nature is the holiest of sacred  books.

Postcards from Your Spiritual Journey

April 9, 2023

Speaker: Joseph Bednarik

Recently a person nearing 90 said eight words that are teeming with reflection and adventure: "I want to write down my spiritual journey." This Easter Sunday we reflect on our unique spiritual journeys and imagine what it would be like to write postcards to loved ones, trying to describe what we're experiencing along The Way.

Salmon Habitat Restoration

March 26, 2023

Lucy DeCrace

Lucy DeCrace, Outreach Manager for Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group, will speak to us this Sunday. Since 1999 she has been engaging community volunteers and students in salmon habitat restoration in the Skagit and Samish watersheds.

E pluribus unum: Is that true today?

March 12, 2023

Rev. Vincent Lachina

Way back in 1776, John Adams and others decided that the phrase “E pluribus unum” would become the motto for the new country called America. Translated, it means “Out of many, one.” There was, at that time, not a large mixture of ethnicity, religious, or even political groups of people. That is certainly not the case in 2023. How does something so old apply to Skagit Unitarian Universalist Fellowship now? What are the differences today that make us skeptical that the many varieties of Americans are definitely not one? Let’s address a few: race, religion, ethnicity, and language to name a few. Can we find an answer for what it takes to make one congregation out of that many differences?

Our common ties through time, culture, and spirituality

March 5, 2023

Jay Bowen

Our speaker this Sunday is Jay Bowen. He is a poet, steel sculptor, glass blower, fine-gold jeweler, and fine-art oil painter. Jay was born and raised in the Skagit Valley in a traditional Upper Skagit family. He attended Western Washington University, the Institute of American Indian Arts, and Rhode Island School of design. For those of you who have strolled along the Riverwalk, you have seen the steel sculpture he created of a totem pole that graces the river. Jay refers to himself as an artist in the expressionist tradition.

Wise Caregiving

February 26, 2023

Jonathan Prescott

Our world’s contemplative traditions arose to help people make sense of life’s challenges. Jonathan Prescott founded Wise Caregiving to help caregivers, patients, and seekers use this contemplative wisdom to become more effective, joyful, and sustainable.

Contemplative care leads with the heart and responds with expertise. It is rooted in an intention to serve, a commitment to explore the human condition, a willingness to be with suffering, and a desire to understand the nature of life and death. It is expressed in the most ordinary ways: kind speech, gentle care, patient listening, and with the skills unique to each caregiver’s history and life. There is no checklist of contemplative skills. Each act arises to meet the need at hand, even if that takes the caregiver outside their comfort zone.

Wise Caregiving offers workshops, retreats, and presentations to help professional and private caregivers thrive in today’s challenging environment.