Many versions of the Buddhist Loving-Kindness meditation ask us to offer care and compassion to someone with whom we’re in conflict or who is a challenge for us in our lives. This is a good practice, and, in this day and age in our country, and, more is needed, something needs to be paired with … Continue reading Holy No
Compassion is lifted up as a virtue in most of the world’s religions, with good reason. In Western culture though, we tend to think of compassion as a two-party interaction – compassion flows from one person to another. We also tend to think of relationships that way, as happening between two people. We are in … Continue reading Cultivating Self-Compassion
Join us this Sunday as we explore what it means to cultivate a “practice of presence.” Often, we wonder what are the “right words” to comfort someone who is struggling. Often, as our pet companions demonstrate to us, words are not needed, our mere presence is enough. This service is also our annual “Animal Blessing” … Continue reading A Practice of Presence
Community is a term and an idea that we often take for granted. We all “know what it means” when we talk about community and the importance of community. Do we all have the same understanding of what it means to be in community? And are we even in “real” community together most of the … Continue reading How Do We Be Real?
Self-reflection and self-awareness are key ingredients towards living a life that involves growth, evolution, and wholeness, and yet they are not widely embraced practices within American culture. Self-reflection and self-awareness are powerful tools that can transform how we experience ourselves, our lives, and the world around us. We’ll look at how these spiritual practices can … Continue reading Looking Within
Many of us long to belong – some greater philosophers and mystics say it is a core part of our how we are wired as human beings, to yearn for connection and belonging. Yet many of us feel like we don’t belong, sometimes in many places in our lives. We’ll explore what it means to … Continue reading Building Belonging
It is our annual tradition to begin the program year with a ritual, Water Communion, a pooling of the waters symbolic of places we have been during the slow Summer season. Water Communion represents not only coming together after a time apart but coming together in a new way, renewed in our connections with one … Continue reading Water Communion: Coming Together
A modest exploration of the role of “serendipity” in our lives, seeking to answer the question: how much “chance encounters” are actually due to chance. Click here for: Sunday Worship Livestream Click here for: Order Of Service for 8/31/2025
In honor of Winchester’s 175th anniversary of incorporation, we will look at our town through historic artwork and photographs of places and people. We will discover farms, mills, factories, boarding houses, and the immigrants who transformed a village into a suburb. How can the past help us understand our community today as we continue to … Continue reading A Town in Flux
Communicating important facts and feelings is one of the greatest challenges we face. We have all made the mistake of remaining quiet when we should have spoken up. We have also made the mistake of speaking up too soon or too loudly. Let us explore the balance of honesty and diplomacy, of sincerity and restraint, … Continue reading The Wisdom of Graceful Honesty
