Small Group Ministry: An Awe So Quiet

By revjudegeiger

#25 Small Group Ministry Session on “An Awe So Quiet” from our Hunger Communion

Written by Rev. Jude Geiger, MRE, First Unitarian, Brooklyn

Based on a Sermon by Rev. Holly Horn preached at First UU on 11/20/11 found here: http://www.fuub.org/home/clergy/sermons/?sermon_id=51

Welcome & Opening Chalice Lighting  Please read aloud — By Jacob Trapp #725

Simply to be, and to let things be as they speak wordlessly from the mystery of what they are.

Simply to say a silent yet to the hillside flowers, to the trees we walk under.

To pass from one person to another a morsel of bread, an answering yes, this is the simplest, the quietest, of sacraments.

Statement of Purpose:  To nurture our spirits and deepen our friendships.

Brief Check-In: Share your name and something you have left behind to be here.

Covenant Reflection

Reading: “Why Not a Star” by Margaret Gooding from Singing the Living Tradition

They told me that when Jesus was born a star appeared in the heavens above  the place where the young child lay. When I was very young I had no trouble believing wondrous things; I believed in the star. It was a wonderful miracle, part of a long ago story, foretelling an uncommon life. They told me a super nova appeared in the heavens in its dying burst of fire. When I was older and believed in science and reason I believed the story of the star explained. But I found I was unwilling to give up the star, fitting symbol for the birth of one whose uncommon life has been long remembered. The star explained became the star understood, for Jesus, for Buddha, for Zarathustra. Why not a star? Some bright star shines somewhere in the heavens each time a child is born. Who knows what it may foretell? Who knows what uncommon life may yet again unfold, if we but give it a chance?

Discussion Questions:  

In this holiday season how does gratitude play out in your spirit and in your lives? Does the message of gift-giving turn into consumerism? How so? How do you let yourself take a sabbath over the holidays? Are you able to or are the holidays exhausting from obligations? Where do you find the “awe so quiet” at this time of year?

Closing:   By Hosea Balou #705 from Singing the Living Tradition

If we agree in love, there is no disagreement that can do us any injury, but if we do not, no other agreement can do us any good. Let us endeavor to keep the unity of the spirit in the bonds of peace.