Expanding Horizons

Gifts of Love and Duty

An address by our Minister, Rev. Rob MacPherson - recorded on Sunday, 1st December, 2019 in the Unitarian Meeting House in Adelaide.

Today, amidst the all-to-frenzied build up to Christmas, Rob seeks to discover the true nature of Christmas - of Giving and the nature of love that Kant describes as Practical Love, reflected in that giving. Much of Christmas is a "transparent fraud" - especially the (Father Christmas) fraud on children and their disillusionment on discovering it. It becomes "congenital" when they - in turn, perpetuate it through their children. Rob reflects on his own childhood and the significance of the curious and practical, Anglo-Irish gift of an orange. Listen on!

Staying with the Trouble

Today's service preceded the AGM of our Unitarian Universalist Church. Rob's address today was a very relevant and timely reflection on church governance and how - in what seems to be an emerging global tidal-wave of despotism - we will be challenged to give our fullest expression to the Fifth Principle of Unitarian Universalism: "the right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregation and in society at large." Rob briefly mentions the history of democracy and observes the "messiness" of the democratic process - compared with totalitarian, dictatorial systems. However, rather than admonishing us to "stay out of trouble", Rob urges us to "stay with the trouble" of the democratic process - thereby giving our fullest expression to our UU Fifth Principle as the best and wisest way forward in church - and global - governance and decision-making. Listen on!

A Celebratory LGBTQIA+__FeastService

A series of sound vignettes of highlights from today's Feast Service in which our Unitarian Universalist Church Community celebrates the lives and the love of - and for - our LGBTQIA+ members and their community. This includes choral contributions from QWIRE - the LGBTQIA+ Choir. Listen on!

Meditative musings on the Poetry of the Sea

Today's service - held on Sunday, 13th October, 2019 - departed from the normal format. It took the form of meditative musings on "Poetry of the Sea". - read by two of our members, Jennie Dyster and John Hall. Some of these poems may be familiar to listeners; others - less so. Listen on!

Sally of Radio Adelaide interviews Bo and Aaron Poez

Sally of Radio Adelaide interviews Bo and Aaron Poeze, two loved members of our Unitarian church and members of the "Rainbow Community" in recognition of the International Transgender Day of Remembrance (ITDoR) and Transgender Day of Visibility (ITDoV). Bo and Aaron tell how it is to be transgender and discuss some of the local transgender initiatives such as two FEAST events being undertaken as part of ITDoR and ITDoV. The FEAST program booklet is available at https://www.feast.org.au/. Our Unitarian Universalist Church service on November 17 (next week) will be led by Bo and Aaron and will feature QWIRE (an LGBTQIA+ choir).

Mortality and Immortality

This service was conducted by our Minister, The Rev. Rob MacPherson on 3rd November, 2019 at the Unitarian Church at Shady Grove, set amidst the beautiful Adelaide Hills and stringybark woodland which surrounds the old church and graveyard. Recent rain has temporarily revived and transformed it for us to enjoy before the expected onset of a fierce and potentially fiery summer.

Rob's address today is about Mortality and Immortality. He contrasts traditional - and contemporary - notions of judgement, mortality and immortality with a braver perspective inspired by Philip Larkin's poem, "Aubade" - "Death is no different whined at than withstood". We are confused about Death. The material perspective is that we want to achieve our mortality - without dying, hoping that we will somehow go on - forever in one form or another.
While we are almost as ephemeral as the May-fly, Rob reminds us of a power that works through human hands but is not made by human hands - an enduring spiritual nexus between love and death.

Listen on!

Confession, Purity and the Soul

This sermon, titled "Confession, Purity and the Soul" was given by our Minister, Rev. Rob MacPherson on Sunday, 27th October, 2019 in the Unitarian Meeting House in Adelaide.

As a former young Catholic, Rob reminisces about the nature and purposes of the Sacrament of Confession within the Roman Catholic Church. Such old habits "die hard". Before his confession, Rob would be expected to catalogue all his transgressions. And after conferring regularly and privately with a priest within the 'privacy' of a confessional, these sins would then be ritually absolved - or washed away - so that Rob would be purified - cleansed of his sins - before the Mass. Rob then explains why Confession was such an imperative for Catholics and observes the institutional power that is drawn from it. He then compares the variations to be found on the Sacrament of Confession in Catholicism and other churches with our Unitarian Universalist perspective on wrong-doing and forgiveness. Listen on!

Angst, Hope and Climate Change

A recording by Jennie Dyster - of an address she gave on Sunday, 13th October, 2019 in the Unitarian Meeting House in Adelaide. In this address, "Angst, Hope and Climate Change", Jennie defines angst as an emotion that combines the unbearable anguish of life with the hope of overcoming a seemingly impossible situation. Without hope, she observes, angst becomes just plain old anxiety and leaves us with hopelessness and inaction. In order to arrest global warming, Jennie shows how it will be necessary to generate hope and purposeful action within communities through creativity and imagination informed and guided by science.

How Work Shapes Your Spirit

An address by our Minister, Rev. Rob MacPherson - recorded on Sunday,20th October, 2019 in the Unitarian Meeting House in Adelaide. In today's address, Rob explores how work and the spiritual life have interacted historically; how human expectations about our working lives have changed in a post religious age - especially the relatively new freedom to choose the nature of our work, understanding work as spiritual practice and the even newer expectation that work is expected to be fulfilling - able to shape a person's soul and the need for patience and diligence - all the things that are good for the human soul. Rob asks: "How do you think your chosen work has shaped you? How might your work have helped or hindered your spiritual growth?" And as we begin our search for a new Minister, Rob also asks us to reflect on Ministry work, and to consider how it has shaped - or might shape - our spiritual life as a community. We need to think carefully, critically, wisely and informedly about the nature of Ministry-work - as Work - and how WE might all work together with a new Minister to Grow as a Spiritual Community.

"The Gift of Weeping"

Today's service was led by Rev. Nicholas Rundle, The Uniting Church Chaplain at the Royal Adelaide Hospital - recorded on Sunday, 6th October, 2019 in the Unitarian Meeting House in Adelaide. Nicholas's sermon was called "The Gift of Tears" which began with a reading - by Barbara Willow - of a poem: "An absolutely Ordinary Rainbow" from Les Murray's Anthology of poems - "The Weatherboard Cathedral" and a quote from Fr. Matta El Meskeen, a Coptic Orthodox Monk who led the revival of the Coptic Church in Egypt - "It is hard to speak of tears. Are not tears a sign of the limitation of speech, when in bewilderment, the tongue fails, the heart speaks and the eyes utter tears?". Nicholas contemplates the strength in expressing grief through weeping - in contrast to societal attitudes that so often see it as a weakness.