Sermons/Talks/Archives

Introduction

• Earlier this week, I awoke into a version of the world I had hoped to avoid living through.
  • My first thoughts were sorrow, feelings of loss, and anger.
  • A sense that my values are not shared by a majority.
    • Kindness
    • Generosity
    • Community spirit
  • Many are struggling to find comfort or a sign of hope.
• Samhain Season
  • Last month: Samhain as a time for ancestor veneration.
  • This month: Samhain as the start of the new year.
    • Looking back.
    • Looking forward.
  • The Celtic day begins at sunset. The year begins as summer ends.
  • Reflect on the significance of this season in light of the election.
  • Beginning of a dark time, yet one that calls us to look ahead.
  • The darkest days eventually give way in the cycle of renewal.
• First Steps Forward: Repair
  • Moral and ethical imperative to engage in acts of repair.
    • Personal: healing ourselves.
    • Communal: repairing relationships, communities, and the environment.

Bridging Samhain and Repair

• Personal Repair
  • This feels very much like grief.
  • Take time to grieve.
    • Don’t make major changes immediately.
    • Not the time for impulsive action.
    • Wait before making big decisions, such as moving.
  • Be kind to yourself.
    • Eat when you need to.
    • Drink plenty of water.
    • Rest, stretch, move, and breathe.
    • Try to get enough sleep.
    • Exercise.
    • Take walks outside (solvitur ambulando).
    • Journal.
    • Meditate.
    • Avoid unhealthy coping habits such as drinking or smoking.
  • Find your calm and your sense of purpose.
    • Give yourself positive reminders of who you are and what you’ve overcome.
    • Recoup your energy—you’ll need it.
  • Use technology wisely.
    • Don’t simply doom-scroll.
    • Be intentional about your news intake.
      • Set limits on time and sources.
    • Take conscious breaks from social media.
    • Seek community.
    • Create a healthier online experience.
  • Talk with others.
    • Tell friends and family how you’re feeling.
    • Reach out to people you haven’t spoken with recently.
    • Connect with those who are always there for others.
    • Keep building community.
  • Be patient.
    • Grief takes time.
    • Some days will be better than others.
  • Consider professional support.
  • Use Samhain as a time to reflect on your life and relationships.
  • Reach out to your ancestors for guidance.
    • Engage with the past to inform your present.
    • Ancestors endured difficult times.
    • Their experiences can help guide us through today’s challenges.
    • Become a student of history.
    • Take inspiration.
    • Deepen your understanding of how people struggle—and thrive.
    • Remember that we are part of a repeating cycle.
  • Rituals for honoring ancestors.
    • Lighting candles.
    • Sharing stories.
    • Looking through photographs.
    • Speaking openly to them.
    • Practicing deep listening.
    • Allowing ancestral wisdom to help us care for the living.

What Is Repair?

• Repairing a broken lawn mower.
  • Drain the fluids.
  • Bend damaged parts back into place.
  • Add a steel “bandage.”
  • It isn’t brand new, but…
    • I understand how it works better now.
    • I could repair it faster next time.
  • Can relationships be repaired in the same way?
  • Are some beyond repair?
• Kintsugi — the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold.
  • The repaired object becomes more beautiful and meaningful than before.
  • The cracks are not hidden—they become part of the story.
  • There is beauty in brokenness.
  • Trauma leaves marks, but those marks can become part of who we are rather than something to erase.
  • Can relationships be repaired this way?
  • Gold can become stronger than the original ceramic.
• The Repair Shop analogy.
  • Some people want everything restored to look brand new.
    • Sometimes that costs more than replacing it.
  • Others simply want something working again—even with the dents and scratches.
    • The wear tells the story of a life lived.
  • Relationships.
    • Nothing ever becomes “brand new” again.
    • Would we even want that?
    • Words cannot be taken back.
    • Can honesty about the damage make something stronger?
    • Reflect honestly on your relationships.
    • Ask whether what has been broken can truly be mended.
  • Discover what really matters to people.
    • Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.
    • People can’t focus on spiritual concerns when basic needs aren’t met.
    • Or perhaps something deeper is at work.
  • Sometimes letting go is also repair.
    • We cannot martyr ourselves.
    • Some relationships may simply be too unhealthy.
    • Discern who belongs in your community.

Back to Actions

• Trust yourself.
  • Listen to your instincts.
  • Take a walk.
  • Get outside.
  • Read a book.
• Don’t stop aspiring to become the person you want to be.
• Find people you trust.
  • Spend time together.
  • Don’t isolate yourself.
• Remember this situation is not your entire reality.
  • Surround yourself with beautiful music.
  • Spend time in nature.
  • Joy in difficult times is not a luxury—it is a necessity.
• Take delight in creation.
  • Cook a meal.
  • Organize a play or gathering.
  • Sew a quilt.
  • Knit a hat.
  • Make a sign.
  • Play music.
• Share what is helping you with others.
  • Writing
    • Creative pursuits.
    • Making art.
    • Working on multiple projects.
    • Dark fiction can provide a measure of catharsis.
    • This sermon.
    • Articles about healing, repair, and moving forward.
  • Getting outside in nature.
  • Movement.
  • Keeping busy and planning ahead.
    • Winterizing equipment.
    • Sorting parts.
    • Preparing for spring.
  • Cooking and baking.
    • Kneading bread is magical.

Relationship & Community Repair

• Build new relationships while restoring old ones.
  • Both online and face-to-face.
• Practices that encourage interpersonal repair.
  • Listen to the experiences and perspectives of others.
  • Resist making assumptions.
  • Create space for everyone to speak.
  • Accept that not every conflict will have complete closure.
• Attitudes that foster repair.
  • Search your own heart for where you may have missed the mark.
  • Offer forgiveness to those who have wronged you.
  • Take actions that make your community more just, loving, and peaceful.
  • Learn to recognize the sacred within what has been broken.
• Projects that embody the spirit of repair.
  • Community service opportunities.
  • Discussions about restorative justice.
  • Environmental stewardship efforts.

Conclusion

• When darkness descends, it may seem that hope has died.
  • But hope never remains dead.
  • Each morning it rises again, regardless of what happened the day before.
• Every day we choose whether to seek hope.
  • Choosing hope grants us its strength.
  • Its protection.
  • Its enduring resilience.
• No one knows what the future holds.
  • Uncertainty can contain either fear or hope.
  • Hope is always present.
  • We must choose to notice it.
  • We must choose to pay attention to it.
• Fear constantly competes for our attention.
  • It seeks to steal our courage.
  • It seeks to steal our power.
• We always have a choice.
  • The power to choose is the power to overcome.

Final Thoughts

• Samhain is always a season of healing and renewal.
  • Especially this year.
  • Personally and collectively.
• If these words don’t immediately calm your heart or ease your mind, that’s okay.
  • No one person can pull another completely out of despair.
  • All we can do is shine enough light to help one another find the path.
• On the darkest days it can feel as though nothing we do matters.
  • But that simply isn’t true.
  • In the darkest nights, the eternal stars shine brightest.
  • And the cycle continues.
• You are not alone.
• You are loved.