In Episode 9 of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Gene Rodenberry put to screen one of the most iconic explorations of artificial intelligence and its implications as the crew grapples with the personage of Data, an android crewmember; a synthetic… person? This and other fictional considerations of consciousness, agency, and will are increasingly relevant in … Continue reading AI & the Measure of a Mind
All people have a trick up their sleeve, behind their awareness; a field of the mind upon which ideas are drawn, pictures arise, connections are made, and worlds are woven. Our species capacity for imagination has been rendered many ways; mere fancy or the ground of perception, but for all its mysteries it remains one … Continue reading Imagination: Everyday Arcana
Join us for YRUU Sunday, a heartfelt and joyful tradition. This year’s teen-led service, hosted by the Young Religious Unitarian Universalists (YRUU) from First and Second Unitarian, invites us to pause and appreciate life’s small moments, the people who brighten our days, and the beauty of Mother Earth. Our fabulous youth Margo, David and Greta … Continue reading Cherish the Moment
May the Force Be With You: Rebellion, Resistance, and the Power of Imagination Few films have left as indelible a mark on the popular imagination as George Lucas’s Star Wars franchise. Building off old heroic motifs set within a fantastical intergalactic backdrop, Star Wars explores empire, resistance, and the subtle powers that guide all beings. … Continue reading Rebellion, Resistance, and the Power of Imagination
The Earth is home to all we love, all we know, and we are part of it all. This Sunday we reaffirm our Love for our common home and recommit to its care, making room for grief beneath a twisting climate and seeking a path forward as collective stewards of this precious planet.
This Easter, we celebrate resurrection as a living metaphor for liberation. As spring returns and life rises green again we reflect on the many ways we are called to roll away the stones of stigma, shame, and unjust prohibition. In a fun convergence of calendar and spirit, this year’s Easter also falls on 4/20—a day … Continue reading A Very Special Easter Service: 4/20 Edition (Video)
As Unitarian Universalists, we root our faith in Love beyond dogma; beyond the rigid lines of lock step that would divide us from our neighbors and the world. In a time marked by the cruel and reckless disappearing of legal occupants of this country, the termination of visas, and the rounding up of simple tourists, … Continue reading Sharing Sanctuary
Found in traditions around the world, from Coyote and Hermes to Eshu, Loki, and Krishna, trickster figures challenge our assumptions, stir up transformation, and remind us that the divine is not only found in order and certainty, but also in laughter, ambiguity, and the dance of the unexpected. This Sunday as we enter into our … Continue reading Joy: Trickster Gods (Video)
This Sunday marks Trans Day of Visibility, an annual observance of the role trans people play in our society. This Sunday, join our 2U community as we wrap up March with a celebration of trans joy, lifting up trans leaders in our community and honoring the many contributions trans people make to the world as … Continue reading Alive in the World: Trans Joy
Lately, powerful figures in the United States have suggested something astounding. Empathy is a sin. The great weakness of Western culture. To our living tradition which names Love as the heart of our faith, even as we value diverse perspectives, such a thought is simply horrible. To diminish this aspect of our being that makes … Continue reading The Heresy of Empathy (Video)
