Where do our beliefs fit in the construct of world religions? What do we each individually believe and how are we able to articulate our beliefs with one another? Join Rev. Dr. Marjorie Matty in a 10-week course that endeavors to unpack what might be our most...
Minister’s Column
Insights: “Pausing” by Rev. Dr. Marjorie Matty
This last Sunday I shared my experiences of being on sabbatical with those who gathered at First Parish. I shared how my writing required that I unpack my life, which caused me to feel a gamut of emotion and hooked me in a chain of reaction and self doubt. It was the...
Insights by Michele Barkhauer, Dir. of Religious Exploration
Empowerment is a Four-Letter Word This past week I found myself having two seemingly unrelated but poignant conversations at First Parish. The first, about the struggles our younger congregants are facing and the second, about how each one is a tiny, autonomous being...
Insights by Rev. Leslie Takahashi
Marginal Wisdom They teach us to read in black and white. Truth is this—the rest false. You are whole—or broken. Who you love is acceptable—or not. Life tells its truth in many hues. We are taught to think in either/or. To believe the teachings of Jesus—OR Buddha. To...
Insights: “The Art in Letting Go” by Michele Barkhauer
The Art in Letting Go Imagine for a moment that you have a single rope wrapped around your hand, and that you’re gripping that rope in order to hold onto what is at the other end dangling over a precipice. At the other end of the rope is a thing that was once...
Insights: “Our Sabbatical”
By the time that you read this article I will be on sabbatical and please believe me when I tell you that I will miss you and my ministry at First Parish more than I can say. A Sabbatical is a time when a settled minister steps back from the day-to-day of their parish...
Insights: “Peace”
How do we find and cultivate peace? Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor also known as the Philosopher explained that, “He who lives in harmony with himself lives in harmony with the world.” Building upon this teaching Thich Nhat Hahn shared that, “Nonviolence and...
Insights: Formation and Sabbatical
How much of who we are and have become throughout our lives has been carefully cultivated? On the other hand how much of who we are has just happened around us and to us? Life in so many ways can seem serendipitous, opportunities landing in timely or an untimely...
Insights: Powerful Beyond Measure
by Rev. Dr. Marjorie Matty We are powerful beyond measure, humankind, each one of us has a capacity for a range of personal skills. Gifts that we have spent a lifetime cultivating through times of joy, hours at work and play, as well as times where we have...