April’s Theme: Emergence

The April theme packet can be found here.

April Emergence Platforms:

April 1

“Becoming Wise: A Fool’s Journey Through Life” Amanda Poppei, Senior Leader. Sometimes we refer to world religions as “wisdom traditions”–but do they always reward the wise? Exploring the concepts of Beginner’s Mind in Zen Buddhism and the concept of the “holy fool,” Amanda will invite us to consider what it takes to emerge from life wiser than we began…and whether life might not be one big joke. Music from singer/songwriter LEA.

April 8

“Becoming Whole: A Humanist Response to Suffering” Amanda Poppei, Senior Leader. What happens when we experience deep pain–grief, loss, betrayal? Traditional religions might tell us there is a plan or a purpose to our pain. What does humanism have to say about how we emerge from the deepest struggles of our lives, and what, if any, meaning do we take from them? Music from the WES Chorus.

April 15

“Becoming Just: Building an Anti-Opressive Community,” Zeb Green, Clergy Intern. This Sunday we will explore what it means to be a justice building community. Justice and anti-oppression work is an ongoing process, always on the cusp, always emerging. It is work that keeps going and has no finish line. We find justice through the continuous struggle to live it.

April 22

April 29

“Becoming Aware:  Humanism and the Challenge of Race,” Anthony Pinn. Using personal narrative and attention to recent socio-political developments, Anthony Pinn explores the manner in which the current historical moment speaks to the continued troubling nature of difference in the United States. Through the lens of humanism, and the insights of key commentators on American life, such as W. E. B. Du Bois, this talk reflects on ways to think about the ethical challenge of race facing us as well as what we might anticipate as the outcome of struggle for change.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Song for Emergence:

Artist’s Statement:

“What if Life isn’t trying to get us to transform into something new or better? What if it simply wants us to emerge into the awareness that we are already enough?”
This question spoke to me. In yoga, I always loved the meditations that say you are good just the way you are. Only by acceptance of ourselves as we are can we be open to change.
“That broken thing you keep trying to put back together is keeping your life from that beautiful thing that is waiting to be built.”
“All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy, for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter into another. “ Anatole France
Leaves and flowers must die before they can be reborn, or open again.
–Donna Radner, 2017-2018 Themes Artist