This page is curated by Steven Mead, our Lifespan Religious Educator. We come in all "religious flavors," and regardless of your perspective, use the wide-ranging sources on this page to inspire, challenge and create a life of sacred purpose for yourself and enrich the lives of those around you. ​ [There is a lot of content on this web page​―much of which is accessed by opening up the accordion files below.]
​

On Your Own Time | Adult Lifelong Learning Resources​

“We must first allow ourselves to be captured by the goodness, truth, or beauty of something beyond and outside ourselves. Then we universalize from that moment to the goodness, truth, and beauty of the rest of reality, until our realization eventually ricochets back to include ourselves!"―Richard Rohr​
“At some point in life the world’s beauty becomes enough. You don’t need to photograph, paint or even remember it. It is enough. No record of it needs to be kept and you don’t need someone to share it with or tell it to".―Toni Morrison in Tar Baby

Soul Food

"For all of our ignorance and mistakes, there is in everything this deep, internal dignity convinced of its own value."―Richard Rohr
​"No whining on the yacht."―Tim Duncan
​When accusers called Joan of Arc (1412–1431) the victim of her own imagination, she is frequently credited with this brilliant reply: “How else would God speak to me?”

​WISDOM CONTENT FROM THE DIGITAL WONDERLAND

This content changes monthly or so (sometimes more often). Visit often!
*NEW* August Content

More Wisdom Resources | The Accordion File of Good Stuff

Open the accordion file (+) below to reveal (lots of!) additional content.
Wisdom Resources:  Reading | Websites | Blog Sites
Reading | Contemporary Authors
It seems presumptuous to even suggest a list from among the combined wisdom of the world; but one must start somewhere. Try Goodreads 100 Best Spiritual Books of the Century. Here's a broad, short, sampler list:
​The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.―Alvin Toffler​
​Web Sites
The following sites cover a wide range of spiritual and wisdom tradition topics. Feed your mind and soul!
Blog Sites
We spill a lot of electronic ink talking about spirituality and religion. Here are some excellent resources biased toward Unitarian Universalist voices, but including others as well: 
What, at this moment, is lacking?―Rinzai
Wisdom Resources:  Elder Spirituality | Spiritual Practice | Multimedia
 The most important thing is to find out the most important thing.―Zen master, Suzuki Roshi
Elder Spirituality
​Spiritual Practice
"And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer."―Rainer Maria Rilke
  • Spiritual but not religious? But if you are curious which faith or wisdom tradition might nourish you, try the Belief-O-Matic!
  • For centuries and across religious traditions spiritual directors have helped people along the way.  If a more intense engagement with spirituality is calling you, you might wish to connect with someone from the Unitarian Universalist Spiritual Directors Network
  • Quotes about spiritual growth from Goodreads readers
Multimedia | Film | Performance Art
"...contemporary art that roams the ground between faith and mystery. . . calls us into the imaginative life and makes us aware of the rich possibilities of being human."―Image
​Do Shag!
“The Buddhist word for attachment is “do shag” which literally translates to mean “sticky desire.” I love this translation! If you really think about how you feel when you are grasping for something that you really want, you can feel its sticky pull. And until you figure out a way to get it, you feel this longing and obsession. We have all been there with different things and at different times in our lives. In a world that entices us with constant cravings and sticky desires, we can slow ourselves down and let go of attachment to that desire for more. And surprisingly, without fail, if we let go, we will receive…”―Rev. Karon Sandberg
Wisdom Resources: UUA Common Reads | Study Issues

Unitarian Universalist Common ReadS
Unitarian Universalist Common Read 2018-2019
  • Justice on Earth: People of Faith Working at the Intersections of Race, Class, and Environment, edited by Manish Mishra-Marzetti and Jennifer Nordstrom (Skinner House Books, 2018) is the 2018-19 Common Read selection (https://www.uua.org/books/read). The book looks at the ways in which the environmental justice, racial justice, and economic justice are intertwined, calling us to recognize that our Unitarian Universalist faith calls us to long-haul work for justice for our human kin, for the Earth and for all life.
  • Purchase Justice on Earth at inSpirit: UU Book and Gift Shop (https://www.uuabookstore.org/Justice-on-Earth-P18357.aspx)
  • The 2018-2019 UUA Common Read discussion guide is now available!

Unitarian Universalist Common Read 2016-2017
  1. Centering: Navigating Race, Authenticity, and Power in Ministry, edited by Mitra Rahnema (Skinner House, 2017), centers the stories, analyses, and insights of a number of Unitarian Universalist religious professionals of color as they explore how racial identity is made both visible and invisible in Unitarian Universalist communities.
    Download the discussion guide.
  2. Daring Democracy: Igniting Power, Meaning, and Connection for the America We Want, by Frances Moore Lappé and Adam Eichen, (Beacon Press, 2017) lifts up the importance of democracy itself. It examines the anti-democracy movement that has led to the Trump presidency, then offers a vision and call to action to save our democracy and to take our civic life to a place it has never been.
    Download the discussion guide.
UU Faith and Spirituality Resources​
​Websites YouTube Social Media
UU Church of the Larger Fellowship  | Quest for Meaning
The Church of the Larger Fellowship is our wider movement's online virtual church-without-walls. It is one of the best resources for current Unitarian Universalist thinking and spirituality.

​"Love and Loss. Awe and wonder. Journeys and home. The events of our lives and our spiritual curiosity lead us to ponder topics close to our hearts. Through 12 curated themes, you will find a wide range of spiritual resources to expand your perspective and enrich your search for meaning."
​Unitarian Universalist Perspectives
Sometimes described as "one faith and many beliefs," Unitarian Universalism draws from a wide range of wisdom traditions, both secular and sacred.
"I am now convinced that “belief,” in the way we usually use the word, is actually the enemy of faith, religion, and spirituality. Let me say that again: belief is the enemy of faith. When we dwell on beliefs we ask all the wrong questions. My faith is much more about what I love than about what I think."―Rev Peter Morales​
UU Santa Fe Current Monthly Theme - August- Beauty
Content to Explore
​
​Song and Music​​
​Video
Body Positivity or Body Obsession? - TED Talk
“Women are suffering because they are seen as bodies first and people second. So rather than working to make sure more women’s bodies are viewed as valuable, we are focused on making sure that women are valued as more than bodies to view...
Article
Wabi-Sabi: The Art and Beauty of Imperfection―Utne Reader
​Book
Beauty: The Invisible Embrace
―John O’Donohue
​Film
In my youth I am aware of it
and in my old age I shall walk quietly
the beautiful trail.
In beauty it is begun
and in beauty it is ended.
―Navajo Blessing
What Does It Mean To Be A People of Beauty?
Where do you look for beauty? There is universal agreement that we all must make time to visit museums and sit before stunning sunsets. But seeking beauty there is not enough. Every religion agrees: The secret to encountering spiritual beauty is to visit and observe the unlikely places. Indeed, one could argue that this is the job of religion. 

“Notice what’s behind it all!”

Our own Ralph Waldo Emerson writes, “The world is not painted or adorned, but is from the beginning beautiful; and God has not made some beautiful things, but Beauty is the creator of the universe.” The Quaker theologian Rufus Jones writes, “Beauty has no function, no utility… It greases no wheels, it bakes no puddings. It is a gift of sheer grace, a gratuitous largesse. It must imply behind things a Spirit that enjoys beauty for its own sake and that floods the world everywhere with it… Our joy in it shows that we are in some sense kindred to the giver and revealer of it.” 

Here we are reminded that beauty is not just an elegantly painted portrait. It is also the artistic force of the universe that is constantly painting us. Pulling out the elegance in each of us and the world around us to create the portrait that is life.

So, yes, friends, by all means, get yourselves to the museum this month. Make time to gaze at the color-laced sky on your evening walks in the woods. But let’s not forget to also visit the unlikely places and the beauty that awaits us there. 

​―Rev. Scott Tayler, abridged
Questions to Ponder
So, which questions below are calling to you? Which one contains “your work”?
  1. When were you first healed by beauty?
  2. When did beauty first teach you something?
  3. When was beauty a doorway to the divine?
  4. What makes a beautiful soul?  What do you do to beautify your own soul?
  5. What did your family of origin teach you about what it means “to be beautiful”?
  6. What parts of life have grown more beautiful as you’ve aged?
  7. What’s something you know now about beauty that you didn’t know when you were 16 years old?
  8. What if beauty isn’t something we encounter but something we become?
  9. Who in your life needs told they are a beautiful soul?
“Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us act, just once, with beauty and courage. Perhaps everything that frightens us is, in its deepest essence, something helpless that wants our love.”―Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet
Content Attribution:  Copyrighted content 2019. Soul Matters ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Soul Matters. Soul Matters packets are for use by member congregations of the Soul Matters Sharing Circle. UU Santa Fe is a subscribing member of the Soul Matters Sharing Circle. If you are intrigued by this thematic content and want to "go deeper" into this material, then join a UU Santa Fe Soul Matters Covenant Group. For more information, contact Steven Mead, Religious Educator
UU Santa Fe Featured August Author - John Welwood

John Welwood

“Forget about enlightenment.
Sit down wherever you are 
And listen to the wind singing in your veins.
Feel the love, the longing, and the fear in your bones.
Open your heart to who you are, right now,
Not who you would like to be.
Not the saint you’re striving to become.
But the being right here before you, inside you, around you.
All of you is holy.
You’re already more and less 
Than whatever you can know.
Breathe out, touch in, let go.” 
― John Welwood
About this author
John Welwood is an American clinical psychologist, psychotherapist, teacher, and author, known for integrating psychological and spiritual concepts. Trained in existential psychology, Welwood did his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Chicago in 1974. He has been the Director of the East/West Psychology Program at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, and is an associate editor of Journal of Transpersonal Psychology. A prominent figure in transpersonal psychology, he is a pioneer in integrating Western psychology and Eastern wisdom.―Goodreads

Try these
“A soul connection is a resonance between two people who respond to the essential beauty of each other's individual natures, behind their facades, and who connect on this deeper level. This kind of mutual recognition provides the catalyst for a potent alchemy. It is a sacred alliance whose purpose is to help both partners discover and realize their deepest potentials. While a heart connection lets us appreciate those we love just as they are, a soul connection opens up a further dimension -- seeing and loving them for who they could be, and for who we could become under their influence. This means recognizing that we both have an important part to play in helping each other become more fully who we are....A soul connection not only inspires us to expand, but also forces us to confront whatever stands in the way of that expansion.”―John Welwood

Celebrated Authors

Past authors highlighted here:
  • ​Aldo Leopold
  • Angeles Arrien
  • Ann LaMotte
  • Annie Dillard
  • Nisargadatta Maharaj
  • ​Joan Halifax
  • Albert Einstein
  • David Bohm
  • Jalaluddin Rumi
  • Mark Nepo
  • Neil deGrasse Tyson
  • Diarmuid O'Murchu
  • ​Karen Armstrong
  • John Welwood
  • Parker Palmer
  • Rachel Naomi Remen 
  • The Dali Lama
  • Wendel Berry
  • Dorothy Day
  • Mary Oliver
​Jack Jezreel, founder of JustFaith observes, “The world cannot be changed-by-love to become just, unless we are changed by love to become whole, but we cannot be made whole without engaging in the work of making the world whole. Personal transformation and social transformation are one piece.” ​

Recommended Books
​2018

​"From the simplest lyric to the most complex novel, literature is asking us to pay attention. Pay attention to the frog. Pay attention to the west wind. Pay attention to the boy on the raft, the lady on the tower, the old man on the train. In sum, pay attention to the world and all that dwells therein and thereby learn at last to pay attention to yourself and all that dwells therein."―Frederick Buechner
Recommended Reading―from the UU Santa Fe Adult Lifelong Learning Team
  • Daring Democracy, Frances Moore Lappe and Adam Eichen, Beacon Press
  • Undocumented: How Immigration Became Illegal, Aviva Chomsky, Beacon Press
  • Loaded: A Disarming History of the Second Amendment, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, City Lights (the author has published other book with Beacon)
  • The Origin of Others, Toni Morrison, Harvard Press 
  • Blue Horses, Mary Oliver, The Penguin Press 2012
  • A Thousand Mornings, Mary Oliver
  • Existence, A Story, David Hinton
  • Hunger Mountain: A Field Guide to Mind and Landscape, David Hinton
  • ​Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari

​​​Sophia Perennis 

Religion as participation is a rediscovery of the Perennial Tradition that Plotinus, Gottfried Leibniz, Alan Watts, Aldous Huxley, and so many saints and mystics have spoken of in their own ways. It constantly recognizes that we are a part of something, more than we are observing something or “believing” in something.―Richard Rohr
​The Perennial Tradition
​by Richard Rohr
​​Sophia Perennis | Perennial Wisdom Tradition
The Perennial Tradition encompasses the recurring themes in all of the world’s religions and philosophies that continue to say:
  • There is a Reality underneath and inherent in the world of things,
  • There is in the human soul a natural capacity, similarity, and longing for this Reality, and
  • The final goal of existence is union with this Reality.
Our own UU movement, beginning with the transcendentalists, contributed to this philosophy. Explore this fascinating wisdom tradition so compatible with current Unitarian Universalist faith development through a bibliography prepared by Steven Mead, our Lifespan Religious Educator.
021415_sophia_perennis_bibliography.docx
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Decisions
​Between two words, choose the quieter one.
Between word and silence, choose listening.
Between two books, choose the dustier one.
Between the earth and the sky, choose a bird.
Between two animals, choose the one who needs you more.
Between two children, choose both.
Between the lesser and greater evil, choose neither.
Between hope and despair choose hope:  it will be harder to bear.
 ―Boris Novak, translated by Mia Dintinjana
Picture
Kirsti L. Adkins Original work
“Inventory:
"Four be the things I am wiser to know:
Idleness, sorrow, a friend, and a foe.
Four be the things I'd been better without:
Love, curiosity, freckles, and doubt.
Three be the things I shall never attain:
Envy, content, and sufficient champagne.
Three be the things I shall have till I die:
Laughter and hope and a sock in the eye.” 
― Dorothy Parker, The Complete Poems of Dorothy Parker

Location

UU Santa Fe
107 West Barcelona
Santa Fe, NM 87505
​​Phone:  505.982.9674

Come! UU Santa Fe is meant for you.

Sunday services are at 8:30 am in our library and 10:30 am in our sanctuary. Nursery care is available in the Orange Room at our 10:30 am service.

​Inclusivity
We welcome all persons, regardless of race, ethnicity, national origin; gender or gender identification, affectional preference or sexual orientation; age, physical or mental challenge; or social, economic or marital status. Come, there is a place for you here.

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