May-7-2017: Healing Waters
Rev. Debra Thorne
Recently returned from the Celtic waters of Scotland, Rev. Debra shares her insights and discoveries from her sabbatical journey.
Apr-30-2017: Compassion in Troubling Times
Compassion in Troubling Times
Guest Speaker: Heather Talbot
Service Coordinators: Nancy Rupert and Janet Pivnick
Recent world events have left Unitarians feeling a sense of despair and seeking ways to support and catalyze change. Yet some may wonder how to participate in social justice without burning out or giving in to despair. Join us this week to listen to Heather Talbot share the ideas of deep ecologist Joanna Macy who has created an experiential model called the Work that Reconnects. Heather will answer the question, “How can we keep our hearts open in these troubling times?
• Choir sings
Heather Talbot is an artist and counsellor who has been facilitating Joanna Macy’s ‘work that reconnects’ for the past six years.
Apr-16-2017: Compassion in the Workplace
Compassion in the workplace
Brigit Atkinson, Sita Sahasrabudhe and David Jordan
Service coordinator: Joan Morris
With the theme of compassion this month, three Beaconites will explore their experience of compassion working in the caring professions. Brigit Atkinson, a registered clinical counsellor and trauma therapist; Sita Sahasrabudhe, a support worker; and David Jordan, a wheelchair technician, all work in an environment where compassion can make a difference in the lives of those they care for. Find out what role compassion plays in their work.
Apr-9-2017: Compassion: Our Interrelated Lives
Compassion:
Our Interrelated Lives
Sarah Hong, Susan Millar, Janet Pivnick and Marilyn Medén
Beacon writers Sarah Hong, Susan Millar, Janet Pivnick and Marilyn Medén will go deeply into their own and others’ experience of compassion, to give us food for thought and action.
Apr-2-2017: The Power of Compassion
The Power of Compassion
Sandy Burpee
Compassion is a powerful emotion, but does it always lead us in the right direction? Today we will explore the nature of compassion and consider its intersection with the ethical treatment of others.
A long time Beacon member, Sandy has chaired the Tri-Cities Homelessness & Housing Task Group since December 2006. Previously he was the founding chair of the Fraser-Burrard Community Justice Society (now the CERA society), a restorative justice program for youth, as well as the Tri-Cities Housing Coalition. He was Volunteer Lead at SHARE’s Coquitlam food bank depot for 10 years until May 2014, and is a Life Member of Coquitlam Search & Rescue. Sandy retired from a career with BC Hydro in 2004. On March 20, 2017 he was presented with a BC Medal of Good Citizenship at a ceremony at the Coquitlam Town Centre fire hall.
Mar-19-2017: Failing at Simplicity
Failing at Simplicity
Rev. Debra Thorne
As a country and as a culture, Canadians are the most wasteful, indulgent and neglectful in the world. We have been called environmental laggards. Knowing this doesn’t seem to make a difference. How do we encourage a sea-change in our relationship with earth and technological resources? I suggest our survival is dependent on a spiritual transformation.
Mar-12-2017: To Live Deliberately
To Live Deliberately
Rev. Samaya Oakley
We live in an age where we are constantly bombarded with messages about how to dress, what to eat, what to drive, what to listen to, and how to live. How do we, as Unitarian Universalists, maneuver ourselves through the quagmire of these messages? This service looks at the words of our Universalist forefather, Henry David Thoreau, to see if they provide any clues for those of us living in the twenty-first century.
Mar-5-2017: The Cost of Our Arising
The Cost of Our Arising
Rev. Debra Thorne
In this season of Lent the Christian tradition begins its journey of delving deeply into the meaning of death and the renewal of life. On a similar theme, we turn our focus to discerning that which is essential from what is not. From the mystic Gurdjieff to Saint David, wise people have set down formulas for deepening spiritually by leading simpler lives.
Feb-26-2017: Joy and Justice in Climate Action
Guy Dauncey
If we don’t have a pretty firm idea of where we are going, how are we going to get there? Guy Dauncey, eco-futurist and author of 101 Solutions to Global Warming and Cancer: 101 Solutions to a Preventable Epidemic and Journey to the Future, will speak of joy and justice in climate action. Guy’s positive vision of a sustainable and congenial future, will lead us to see the possibility of practical and enjoyable action.
Journey to the Future
Slide show Presentation (606 slides): https://www.slideshare.net/GuyDauncey/journey-to-the-future-a-better-world-is-possible
YouTube Presentation (2 hours): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJHuam61Vrc
Web page for book: www.journeytothefuture.ca
Feb-19-2017: Our Interdependence Calls
Rev. Debra Thorne
Listen. We are not alone. Breathe. We are connected to every person and every plant and every star. There is a humming rising from this connection, it is a song of joy and a song of love. It is a truth more powerful than a bushel of doubts, more real than your own hand. Smile.