Sunday Service Leaders Resources

How Others See Us!

2006-07-24T00:08:00.000-04:00

The Mystery Worshipper: The "Mystery Worsjipper" visits places of worship and "reviews" the service. They look at a series of elements, including atmosphere, greeters, overall impression, and, my favorites "Which part of the service was like being in heaven?" and "And which part was like being in... er... the other place?"... The reviews whether of UU churches or those of other faiths, I think, are an excellent way of examining what is seeen as successful or otherwise, by the visitor.

Universalist National Memorial Church, Washington, DC, USA
First Unitarian, Orlando, Florida, USA

Service: Sunday May 18, 2003

2006-06-01T10:49:00.000-04:00

Service Leader: Anneke

Speaker: Dr. Bonnie Lee, Minister

Recorded Music: Rod

"Resilience: Rising from the Ashes"

"What makes some people succumb and others rise above overwhelming odds in life? Is resilience an ordinary or extraordinary quality? What are the deciding factors in coming out on top in the battle for life? Bonnie Lee, our minister, will share some of her thoughts on this intriguing topic and its implications for ministry."

Prelude: (Pending)

Opening Words: # 419 attributed to Kalidasa

Look to this day!

For it is Life, the very life of Life.

In its brief course lie all the verities and realities of your existence.

The bliss of growth,

The glory of action,

The splendour of beauty;

For yesterday is but a dream,

And tomorrow is but a vision;

But today, well lived, makes every yesterday,

A dream of happiness

And every tomorrow, a vision of hope.

Look well, therefore, to this day.

Announcements:

Chalice Lighting: # 455 Dag Hammarskjöld

Each morning we must hold out the chalice of our being to receive, to carry, and give back.

Hymn # 1: # 123 "Spirit of Life"

Spirit of Life, come unto me.

Sing in my heart all the stirrings of compassion

Blow in the wind, rise in the sea,

Move in the hand, giving life the shape of justice.

Roots hold me close, wings set me free.

Spirit of life, come to me, come to me.

Reading # 1: Resilience By Tim Connor, CSP

Success and failure are neutral concepts. What makes either of them positive or negative is not the event, circumstance, or situation but what you do with them along the path of life. No one I have ever met has had a life filled with nothing but failure or one success after another. Resilience is your ability to keep coming back, again and again and again. No matter how many times life throws you a curve or brings you to your knees, you try again - you try something, new, different, or old in a new way. You refuse to give in or up. Here are a few ideas to consider when you feel like quitting.

It is temporary.

You need it so you could learn a valuable lesson.

You need to be softened by life.

You need it to give your life more integrity or character.

You need it so you can be an example for others.

You need to rid yourself of some arrogance or ignorance.

You need it to grow in some area of your life.

You need it so you can learn to laugh at yourself.

You need it so you can learn to live in the present.

You need it so you can learn to take life less seriously.

Regardless of your current station in life or circumstances you CAN rise again.

All you have to do is reach inside and find courage, strength, stamina, attitudes, self-belief, self-confidence, and passion to rekindle your desire for what you believe you can do, will do, were meant to do, love to do, or want to do. Hang on to your dream, no matter how big it might seem to you. And, don't let others convince you that you can't do it, won't do it, or shouldn't do it. Be true to yourself and your destiny. You have everything you need, right now, inside of you to carry on. All you have to do is do it.

Offertory: (Pending)

Joys and Concerns: "This is the time when those who would like to share a joy or a concern, or to simply light a candle to represent some significant even may come forward.

"Meditation Music: (Pending)

Reading # 2: Anneke"

There is a story about a woman who walks down a street, trips on a stone, and falls into a hole. It is a deep hole and it takes her most of the day to climb out of the hole but she does manage to get out and continue on her way.

The next day she walks down the same street, trips on a stone, and falls into the same hole again. This time it only takes her half a day to get out.

The next day she walks down the same street, trips on a stone, and falls into the hole, and within an hour she has climbed out.

The next day she walks down the same street and trips over the stone, but catches herself before she falls into the hole.

The next day the woman walks down the same street and walks around the hole.

The next day the woman walks down the same street and comes to the stone. She bends down, picks up the stone, and throws it off the road, and goes on her way." Anon

"This guy's walkin' down the street when he falls into a hole. The walls are so steep he can't get out.

A doctor passes by, the guy shouts up "Hey, can you help me out?" The doctor writes a prescription, throws it down in the hole, and moves on.

Then a priest goes by, the guy says "Father, I'm down in this hole, can you help me?" He writes a prayer, throws it in the hole, and goes about his way.

Then a friend walks by. "Joe, it's me, can ya help me out?" The friend jumps into the hole. Our guy says "Are you stupid? Now we're both stuck down here!" His friend says "Yeah, but I've been down here before and I know the way out." From the TV show "West Wing".

Discourse: "Resilience: Rising from the Ashes" Dr. Bonnie Lee

Hymn # 2: # 131 "Love Will Guide Us"

Love will guide us, peace has tried us,

Hope inside us will lead the way

On the road from greed to giving,

Love will guide us through the hard night.

If you cannot sing like angels

If you cannot speak before thousands,

You can give from deep within you,

You can change the world, with your love.

Love will guide us, peace has tried us,

Hope inside us will lead the way

On the road from greed to giving

Love will guide us through the hard night.

Closing Words: # 701 Anneke

We receive fragments of holiness,

glimpses of eternity,

brief moments of insight.

Let us gather them up for the precious gift that they are and,

renewed by their grace,

move boldly into the unknown.

Postlude: (Pending)

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Resources:

Midi Files of hymns from "Singing the Living Tradition", the UU hymnbook:

http://www.wuu.org/music.html

Literary

2006-05-01T13:18:00.000-04:00

Capital Letters: "The Ottawa Literary Heritage Society is dedicated to the continuity and advancement of the region's impressive multicultural literary history. Our broad mandate is to promote the civic and national significance of this history, through literary commemoration, education, documentation, and communication. We invite members and volunteers to participate in Ottawa's literary community through any of the Society's initiatives...." Check out their links page, as well!

Social Action

2006-05-01T13:14:00.000-04:00

National Security Archive: "The National Security Archive was founded in 1985 by a group of journalists and scholars who had obtained documentation from the U.S. government under the Freedom of Information Act and sought a centralized repository for these materials. Over the past decade, the Archive has become the world's largest non-governmental library of declassified documents."

Zoroastrianism

2006-04-30T17:21:00.000-04:00

Traditional Zoroastrianism: Tenets of the Religion

The Sacred

2006-04-30T17:17:00.000-04:00

Man and the Sacred: Concepts of Spirituality, worldwide

Initiation: Ceremonies from various faiths

2006-04-30T17:10:00.000-04:00

Australian Aboriginal:

Oz Outback
Frog and Toad

Buddhist

The Kalachakra:A sacred initiation ceremony performed by the Dali Lama

Zoroastrian

The Zarathushtrian Assembly
Zoroastrian Rituals: Navjote/Sudre-Pooshi (Initiation) from Avesta.org

Non-Theist

2006-04-30T17:06:00.000-04:00

Naturalism.org's Spirituality Without Faith

Judaism

2006-04-30T17:02:00.000-04:00

Ritual.org: Ceremonies for Jewish Living

Interfaith Resources

2006-04-30T16:54:00.000-04:00

The Internet Sacred Text Archive: Sacred Texts, African to Zoroastrian: "This is a quiet place in cyberspace devoted to religious tolerance and scholarship"

University of Virginia's Religious Movement's Homepage and Alphabetical listing: Adidam to Zoroastrian: "In addition to creating a foundation for understanding religion, this site also seeks to promote tolerance and appreciation of all religions without preference for any particular faith tradition."

Religious Tolerance.org: Ontario Consultants onReligious Tolerance Web Site. An excellent resource for those looking for diverse viewpoints on most socila and religious issues, arguments and responses on issues such as Homosexuality, same-sex marriage, religious history and thought, and Evolution/Creationsim. Highly recommended...

Quotes

2006-04-30T16:52:00.000-04:00

Imagineering: The Design Corner: Interesting Technical Quotes

Quotable Online

World of Quotes

General Resources

2006-04-30T16:43:00.000-04:00

BeliefNet's Full Spirituality in the Workplace Topics Listing:

Meaning & Values
Workplace Issues
Balancing Life and Work

Centre For Spirituality in the Workplace

Online Meditations

2006-04-30T16:40:00.000-04:00

Interactive Meditations for relaxation and spiritual growth....

BeliefNet Online Meditations Chants and Devotionals

The Chill-Out Zone

Words

2006-04-30T16:25:00.000-04:00

Daily Zen

World Prayers: The objective of this website is to gather the great prayers written by the spiritual visionaries of our planet into an online database representing all life affirming traditions

Worship Web: Words to Open a Service