February 23, 2020

• Rev. Lara Hoke
• leap year
• Time for All Ages

This video starts with a Time for All Ages featuring a piece created by Rev. Erika Hewitt (I do my own take on it here). Then comes my short sermon “Leap (Year) of Faith”.

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February 9, 2020

• Eric Semple
• Rev. Lara Hoke
• Sara Cope
• Tatum Joy Hammer
• abundance
• stewardship

On February 9, 2020, FCU had our Stewardship Sunday. What a great day! Unfortunately you won’t get to hear the great music or taste the awesome chili from the Chili Cook-Off after the service… But here are three of the amazing testimonials from members (Eric Semple, Sara Cope, and Tatum Joy Hammer) of FCU and my brief reflection.

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February 2, 2020

• Rev. Dr. Michelle Walsh
• climate crisis
• racism
• social justice
• white supremacy culture

Rev. Dr. Michelle Walsh was the guest preacher at First Church Unitarian in Littleton, Massachusetts on February 2, 2020. Her sermon was “The Times, They Are A-Changin'”. Rev. Dr. Walsh, LICSW, is a Unitarian Universalist community minister and shares a private justice consulting and spiritual coaching practice known as Tuckerman Creative Ministries for Justice and Healing with her husband, Rev. Dr. Clyde Grubbs. She also has worked as a scholar activist for many years in urban contexts, teaches as a lecturer at Boston University, and is the author of Violent Trauma, Culture and Power: An Interdisciplinary Exploration in Lived Religion as well as chapters in other volumes.

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January 26, 2020

• Rev. Lara Hoke
• aging

What does it mean to “age gracefully”, and is it any different from “aging with grace”? I preached on some spiritual aspects of aging.

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January 19, 2020

• Kris Ersland
• Rev. Lara Hoke
• civil rights
• John Lewis
• Martin Luther King

On January 19, 2020 we celebrated Martin Luther King Sunday. In this video, you will see Kris Ersland present the “Social Justice Moment”, sharing a video featuring civil rights leader John Lewis (and thanking FCU member Caroline Marvin along with FCU). There is also an unveiling of a portrait of a young John Lewis from the Civil Rights Movement, which now hangs in our Vestry. Finally, I share my short sermon, “Good Trouble”, with a titled inspired by the words of Lewis.

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January 12, 2020

• Rev. Lara Hoke
• A Universe from Nothing
• cosmos
• theology
• universe

Nothing from nothing leaves nothing… Or so they say. How did the universe come into existence from nothing — or did it? And does it matter (no pun intended)? Lawrence Krauss’s book “A Universe from Nothing” was considered, along with other sources. At the end you will find bonus postlude music, “Nothing from Nothing” by Billy Preston, performed by our Music Director Molly Lozeau.

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January 5, 2020

• Rev. Lara Hoke
• Charlotte's Web
• death
• new life
• remembrance

“Remembrance Sunday” is an annual FCU tradition when we light Candles of Love and Memory to recall irreplaceable family and friends who died in the past year. We also light Candles of Hope and Joy to celebrate children dear to us who were born in the past year. This video shows the end of the service, where I share an excerpt from “Charlotte’s Web” by E. B. White and a brief sermon, “Web of Life”.

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December 22, 2019

• Cindy Malley
• Rev. Lara Hoke
• Arabic Infancy Gospel
• Gospel of James
• Apocrypha
• Christmas
• Jesus
• nativity

On Sunday, December 22, 2019, my short sermon was “An Apocryphal Christmas”. This video starts with two excerpts from “apocryphal” nativity stories, the first from the Arabic Infancy Gospel (at 0:00, read by Deacon Cindy Malley), and the second from the Gospel of James (at 3:52). The short sermon begins at 9:38.

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December 8, 2019

• Rev. Lara Hoke
• fix
• repair

In our culture, it’s common to hear the words, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” In this sermon, I talked about what it means to “fix” things, at a deeper level.

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December 1, 2019

• Rev. Dr. Clyde Grubbs
• American Indian
• Native American
• Pilgrims
• race
• racism
• thanksgiving

The guest preacher at First Church Unitarian in Littleton, Massachusetts on December 1, 2019 was the Rev. Dr. Clyde Grubbs. Rev. Dr. Grubbs’s sermon was “Tisquanta’s Gift”. Description: “According to written sources, an American Indian came among the settlers in the Plymouth Plantation soon after arrival and taught them essential knowledge that was key to their survival. Who was this mystery man whom the English speaking Pilgrims called Squanto?” The Rev. Dr. Clyde Grubbs is a Unitarian Universalist minister who served congregations in Indiana, Quebec, Massachusetts, Texas, Florida, and California. He is presently serving as Minister at Large of the Tuckerman Creative Ministries for Justice and Healing. Clyde honors his Native American heritage (Texas Cherokee) which informs his spiritual understanding and practice, and his anti-racist and anti-oppressive commitment. He has worked for peace, justice, and equality since he was in the Unitarian Universalist youth movement, Liberal Religious Youth.

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