• “Active Hope: A Post-election Journey” by Mary Sue Reutebuch

  Hope is not a vague feeling that things will “just work out,” because history tells us that life rarely goes that way. Rather, hope is a verb, more than a…

• “Decolonizing Spirituality” by Nandi (Sunita) Nandihalli (sponsored by Badgertalks)

  This talk will focus on addressing the ways that Western dominant religions have been mechanisms of colonialism, empire, and oppression. This work aims to center “folks who have been wounded…

• “Don’t Light a Candle and Don’t Curse the Darkness” by Rev. Dr. Michael A. Schuler

  One can understand the antipathy sufferers from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) feel toward darkness, their sense of dread as winter approaches. But in general, darkness gets a bad rap in…

• “Autumnal Lessons Through Poets’ Eyes” by Rev. Ralph Tyksinski

  We share poems by Keats, MacLeish, Thomas, Frost, and others, to explore and discover multiple meanings to be found in the Fall season.

• “Reading the Bible through New Eyes: Case Study; The Great Commission” by Vicar Vica-Etta Henrietta Steel

  The Bible is a rich resource that does not lend itself to singular interpretations. In Vicar Vica-Etta Henrietta Steels’ study and work, she endeavors to free the messages and hope…

• “The Past, Present, and Future Labor Movement” by Aaron Robert

  A brief history of the labor movement, some thoughts on where the labor movement is currently, where it is going and why it matters. 

• “Christian Nationalism: What is it and how does it shape our religious and cultural landscape?” by Rev. Ralph Tyksinski

  Christian nationalism is a cultural framework that conflates American identity with an exclusive form of religious identity. Based on the myth that America was founded as a Christian nation and…

• “A Young Man’s Odyssey Through Mexico” by John Gernandt

  A memoir of a young man’s escape from the life and stigma of living with a rare form of epilepsy in the 60s. 

• “UUA General Assembly Debrief” by Johanna Hatch and Randy Converse

  The UUA’s annual General Assembly took place virtually this year from June 20-23. Two of our Prairie delegates will recap their experiences at workshops and business meetings, including the voting…

• “Thomas Jefferson: His Religious Beliefs” by Rev. Ralph Tyksinski

  n this reflection on Thomas Jefferson, Rev. Ralph Tyksinski will explore the complexity of Thomas Jefferson’s religious beliefs and why, identified as a Unitarian, they have a bearing on today’s…