Speaker:- Paul Tonson
Worship Leader:- Ted Zorn

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Paul Tonson © 26 November 2023

The path ahead of us

JESUS WITHOUT CHRIST is a possible title for a book that has been germinating in my mind recently. In preparing for today with Ted, I was delighted to find that numbers of this congregation may share the questions that give rise to such a title. This discovery has confirmed our intention over three sessions to look candidly at the ways we may usefully speak of and even emulate Jesus of Nazareth.

Speaker & Worship Leader:- Kate Lewis

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Kate Lewis © 19 November 2023

I’m very aware that this is the first service since Clay died that we’re not using one of his talks. I’ve been on the calendar for months, and Ted and I decided that this would be an alright topic for today since we’re hurting and I hope that some of these words may be useful for all of us in dealing with grief.

I also feel the need to give a disclaimer because I’m an academic, and this isn’t my field. I am talking about self-compassion because becoming more compassionate towards myself and others is a path that I am on and something I’m striving for. I have become interested in the psychology behind it and have done some reading, and I’m convinced that most of us can benefit from an increased dose of self-kindness.

Viv Allen led a service centred around a reading of a Clay Nelson sermon from February 2020

Speaker & Worship Leader:-
Viv Allen

Speaker:- Rachel Mackintosh
Worship Leaders:- Ted Zorn, Kate Lewis

Our recently retired minister, Clay Nelson, died on Thursday (2 November 2023). Those of us who have known Clay are grieving.

So, we’ve changed this service to reflect on coming together in grief and the wonder of life.

Rachel MacIntosh, Clay’s wife, will present a talk that Clay wrote and presented to us a couple years back called “Welcome to Limbo. Please leave your certainties at the door.” Appropriately, it’s about how we respond to chaos, uncertainty, and the unexpected.

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Clay Nelson © 5 December 2021

Buddha told a parable: A man was travelling across a field when he encountered a tiger. He began to run, and the tiger chased after him. Coming to a precipice, he slipped and was able to catch hold of the root of a wild strawberry bush, hanging in the air. The tiger sniffed at him from above. Trembling, the man looked down only to find that another tiger was waiting to eat him. He thought the bush could sustain him for a while, until he saw two mice gnawing away the vine. A tiger above, a tiger below. The man saw a ripe strawberry near him. Grabbing the vine with one hand, he plucked the strawberry with the other, and ate it. How sweet and delicious.

Speaker:- Mary Ellen Warren
Worship Leader:- Ruby Johnson

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Opening Words:- “Determined Seed” by Laura Wallace

Chalice Lighting:- “Sacred Unknowing” By Amy Carol Webb

Reading:- “A Recipe for Resilience” by Margaret Weis

Closing Words:- are from “The Pathway to Healing” by roddy bell-shelton biggs

Speaker:- Grant Williams,
Maritime Union of New Zealand
Worship Leader:- Rachel Mackintosh

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Chalice Lighting:- “Honoring Our Labors” by Florence Caplow

Closing Words:- “We Are” by K E Cummins

Speaker & Worship Leader:- Karn Cleary

The talk:- is an address from a Flower Communion service by John Midgley, an English Unitarian minister.

Links

Opening Words:- “Flowers” a poem by Albert Laighton

Chalice Lighting:- is from a UUA service “Day of Religious Freedom – 13th January”

The talk:- is an address from a Flower Communion service by John Midgley, an English Unitarian minister.

Closing Words:- Just before he was put to death in Dachau, Dr. Capek wrote this prayer, reflecting on his own life and the state of his spirit.

Speaker:- John Maindonald
Worship Leader:- Shirin Caldwell

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John Maindonald © 8 October 2023

John Donne (1572-1631), who wrote the words that I want to ponder today, lived in England in troubled times. He was born to a staunchly Roman Catholic family at a time when it was illegal to be a practicing Catholic.