Remember the perennial fall television special, Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin? Eventually viewers were shown the interplay between Lucy and Charlie Brown and the question, “Will Lucy pull the football away just as Charlie Brown attempts to kick it?” Every year, viewers sadly noted Lucy was consistent even though she promised Charlie she would not do it to him again this year—yet, she did it anyway. And every year, from our living rooms, we told Charlie not to believe her! Consistency of Forgiveness But, he forgave her. Every time. And, he would wipe the slate clean between them, every […]

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Our Unitarian Universalist faith tradition does not limit our access to God’s love. This liberating fact means our on-ramp to God can be wherever we are.

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As I walked across the sunny campus of the University of Tulsa in 1969, my thoughts were interrupted by a stranger asking me an abrupt question: “Are you saved?” During that time period, college campuses were a buzz with those kinds of questions, mostly from a group who were called Jesus Freaks. They may have been from Campus Crusade, or some other heavenly body, but they were everywhere, it seemed. That was in 1969. It’s no longer the norm to have that question thrust upon unsuspecting college students. Why is this question of being saved or about salvation so haunting? […]

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You have heard the expression, 
“There, but for the grace of God…” As a boy, I often wondered about that expression because it seemed to paint God as having preferences. Does that mean that God didn’t like me because I was legally discriminated against? Does that mean God prefers people with a lighter shade of color? Does that mean God is white? For a young mind, these ponderous questions brought with it an anxiety and a search for reassurance. That’s when I began to feel this thing called grace. Grace is not about preference. Grace is the assurance God loves […]

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