This week, several Unitarian Universalist blogs are discussing the value of song in our churches and our lives, inspired by an article in the New York Times about “community sings” and one of Unitarian Universalism’s biggest proponent of singing in groups, Pete Seeger. This sermon by Martha Dallas (PDF), the Director of Religious Education at the First Unitarian Universalist Society of Burlington, Vermont, speaks directly to the power of song in our religious lives:

“Being Carried Away”

by Martha Dallas

I have been singing all my life. I’ve sung in church choirs, school choruses, gospel choirs, chamber ensembles, and done solo performances. I also sing for myself: many times a day, I’ll spit out a spontaneous ditty to diffuse tension, express my joy, or illicit a chuckle from my partner. I sing in the car, the bath and the shower. I sing what I know, and improvise to suit my mood and the meanderings of my curious ear.

Since I’ve lived in Burlington, I’ve sung with Social Band, a group that has performed as guest musicians here a number of times. About a year ago I got an email from one of my singing buddies. He wrote, “Let me know if you want to come to a workshop about singing for people who are dying.”

Singing with Social Band, I’ve grown in my appreciation of singing for song’s sake, rather than just for performance. Social Band’s core repertoire is shape note music. Rooted in New England, it is a church-based, a capella tradition, which was written for worship, not for performance.

To me, death and life are inextricable, and I’ve always grappled with the meaning of existence.

So, would I attend a workshop that brought singing together with hospice? My response was instinctive and immediate: Yes!

(Read on … )

This morning we celebrate an extraordinary songwriter, who just happens to belong to the Community Church of New York, Unitarian Universalist: Pete Seeger. Many of us had the privilege a couple of years ago at the General Assembly in Fort Worth, Texas, of hearing him play and sing along with a host of musical friends. For me, at least, it was one of the most spiritual experiences I had at that General Assembly.

Pete Seeger wrote a song in 1997 called “And I’m Still Searching,” which I find to be one of the best examples of a simple song with a profound message, something he is a master at:

And I’m still searching
Yes, I’m still searching
For a way we all can learn
To build a world
Where we all can share
The work, the fun,
The food, the space,
The joy, the pain,
And no one ever
Ever need or want to seek
To be a millionaire.

There is a wonderful interview with Pete at Beliefnet, with text and recordings, that sheds a lot of light on his story and his beliefs. While most of his most famous songs are from the Vietnam War protests, or part of the environmental protection movement, they all seem to have a common thread of a simple theology: Be nice to each other, don’t take more than you need, be fair and loving. Here are a few of those that speak most deeply to me:
(Read on … )

Many people join a church for community, for solidarity, for a place to belong. This sermon by the Rev. Marlin Lavanhar, senior minister at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, OK, illustrates just how powerful that belonging can be.

Rev. Lavanhar and his family suffered the terrible loss of their three-year-old daughter, Sienna, last spring. This was the beautiful, heart-felt message he had for his congregation on Homecoming Sunday, four months later:

Finding Our Song

By Rev. Marlin Lavanhar, All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, September 10, 2006

Once upon a time, back when people still had time, back before time was something we put into little circles and carried around on our wrists, there was a time when the world burnt down. There was nothing left on the face of the planet but a thick layer of coal and ash. All that survived was a bird named Ekanchu. And Ekanchu flew all over searching for signs of life. But he found none.

Ekanchu thought that he should try to find the special tree, the one where the holy men (the shamans of the community) went, in order to allow their spirits to rise into the heavens and descend into the dark places. Ekanchu figured if only he could find that tree, then maybe, maybe he could find life.

(Read on … )

Singer-songwriter Peter Mayer writes many lovely songs that speak to many Unitarian Universalists. His “Blue Boat Home,” set to the familiar hymn tune “Hyfrydol,” is a new favorite in the supplemental hymnal, Singing the Journey.

But this piece, “Holy Now,” is one that speaks to a very Unitarian Universalist point of view — how to see the whole world as a holy place, every part of it, rather than just what we might learn from a traditional view of church and religion.

Holy Now

Lyrics by singer-songwriter Peter Mayer

When I was a boy, each week
On Sunday, we would go to church
And pay attention to the priest
He would read the holy word
And consecrate the holy bread
And everyone would kneel and bow
Today the only difference is
Everything is holy now
Everything, everything
Everything is holy now

(Read on … )