The confluence of the holy month of Ramadan in Islam, the Jewish holiday of Passover and the Christian Holy Week offers us opportunities to imagine religious community as a radical, revolutionary, alternative culture, and to ask ourselves what it’s worth to us to make it last. This morning’s service will kick off our annual pledging canvass.

If you’ve ever opened up to someone and shared what felt like too much, then regretted it afterward, you’ve experienced what vulnerability researcher Dr. Brené Brown calls the “vulnerability hangover.” What can the experience of being seen in this way teach us about resilience–and about what’s not worth cringing over?

The Jewish holiday of Purim celebrates the biblical story of Esther, a Jewish queen who used both her power and her vulnerability to fight for her people in a time of persecution. This story calls us into our own power to be seen as our authentic selves, and to turn oppressive power upside down. In honor of the day, all are invited to wear an outfit–or costume–that reflects your nature, and we’ll be offering chances to get your photo taken on site! 

We will be meeting with founder Al-amin Muhammad to learn more about this important local organization. This service will “share the plate” with  We Rise Above the Streets and we will be doing an all-congregation service project February 25th at 10am.

Rebecca Parker, a UU minister and theologian, writes that a person’s gifts “can be used to bless or curse the world.” In times of abundance and ease, it can be easy to choose to bless the world. But when a broken and painful world feels beyond our efforts to affect or repair, how do we find the strength to keep blessing the world by turning to love, and what does that work require of us?