September 15, 2019

• Rev. Lara Hoke
• climate crisis
• environment

I preached this sermon at First Church Unitarian in Littleton on September 15, 2019. My sermon title was inspired by the song of the same name, composed by Rabbi Shoshana Meira Friedman and Yotam Schachter. The sermon came before the September 20 youth-led Global Climate Strike, demanding that transformative action is taken to address the climate crisis. (Gratitude to Rev. Peggy Clarke and other UU ministers who created a worship resource to help with this service. And gratitude for the folks from FCU who indeed went to the Boston Climate Strike on September 20!)

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June 16, 2019

• Rev. Lara Hoke
• Flower Communion
• gardening

I preached this short sermon for our whole church (multi-generational) Flower Communion service.

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June 2, 2019

• Rev. Lara Hoke
• The Long Loneliness: The Autobiography of the Legendary Catholic Social Activist
• belonging
• loneliness
• longing

What do you long for? I preached about longing and belonging. Recommended reading: “The Long Loneliness: The Autobiography of the Legendary Catholic Social Activist” by Dorothy Day.

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May 26, 2019

• Rev. Lara Hoke
• Memorial Day
• peace

I preached this sermon in honor of Memorial Day. The title comes from the quotation by Pope Paul VI: “If you want peace, work for justice.”

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May 19, 2019

• Rev. Lara Hoke
• Unitarian Universalist Pocket Guide (6th edition)
• Unitarian Universalism

I was raised a UU, but I’d choose it for myself, too! I briefly explain some of the reasons why.

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May 12, 2019

• Rev. Lara Hoke
• "The Lanyard" (poem) by Billy Collins
• Mother's Day
• parenthood

Together we considered Mother’s Day and motherly love. I was inspired by (in addition to my own mother) the poem “The Lanyard” by Billy Collins, which was our reading. You can read the poem here. Also, check out this horrible mug!

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April 28, 2019

• Rev. Lara Hoke
• Hinduism
• panentheism
• Vedanta

Unfortunately, the video for this service did not come out in an audible form. Here is the sermon text, which is pretty close to what I actually said that day in sharing my appreciations of Hinduism! I shared some basics about the tradition in the Time for All Ages as well.

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April 21, 2019

• Rev. Lara Hoke
• Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas
• Christianity
• Easter
• Elaine Pagels
• Gospel of Thomas
• Jesus

On Easter Sunday, I preached about the non-canonical Gospel of Thomas, with help from the work of scholar Elaine Pagels, to think about what it might add to our understanding of “resurrection”.

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April 7, 2019

• Rev. Lara Hoke
• The Radical King
• Martin Luther King
• militarism
• poverty
• racism

I preached a short sermon on the forgotten Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. – the MLK who isn’t often discussed at civic events.

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March 31, 2019

• Rev. Lara Hoke
• mindfulness
• monotony

I tell a harrowing tale, and then talk about the “gift” of monotony.

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