What We Mean When We Say Community
We explore what we mean when we say community, moving beyond personal preference or attachment to consider the shared responsibilities that hold a moral and spiritual community together. OOS for website 2-1-26
Speaker: Melissa O'Brien
From the Dream to the Work of Waking Up
The dream offers vision and hope. Waking up asks for attention and endurance. In a world that feels increasingly exhausting, we explore how we remain awake to truth, care, and responsibility without losing heart or withdrawing from one another. OOS 1-25-26
The Radical Love of Dr. King
“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” —Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. We gather to remember not only the movement Dr. King helped lead, but the soul from which it sprang. He was a dreamer, yes, but also a preacher, a father, a theologian. Today we listen not … Continue reading The Radical Love of Dr. King
The Quiet Underside of Resistance
We explore resistance as a living practice that includes rest, listening and patience as sources of strength. Beneath every visible act of endurance lives a quiet underside where renewal forms and courage gathers for the work ahead.
The Longest Night
Every tradition marks this night because it speaks to something essential in our human experience. The Winter Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere is when darkness reaches its fullness and the light begins again. The message invites reflection on endurance, imagination, and the ways we carry light forward for one another when certainty feels distant. OOS … Continue reading The Longest Night
The Story of Jacob- with John Fisher
As this service was on a snowy day, John Fisher graciously reflected with us about Jacob as Melissa O’Brien couldn’t be with us. We experience an interesting confluence this week with the start of Hanukkah and the arrival of the shortest day of the year. Both are stories of light, courage, and renewal—seasonal and spiritual … Continue reading The Story of Jacob- with John Fisher
Crossing the River
Tolerance is not an idea, it’s a lived practice. Respect for and tolerance of others comes in many shapes and sizes. Honoring diversity to strengthen understanding sometimes leads us into new territory. We explore this in our Sunday message. OOS 11-16-2025 Music sheet 11-16-25
Gratitude That Arises in Challenging Times
It’s very easy for us to turn to the obvious things when we think about gratitude. What if we began to look at the difficulties and challenges of our lives from a stance of gratitude? How might that shift our perspective in terms of what it means to be human? Is it possible that our … Continue reading Gratitude That Arises in Challenging Times
A House Not Made with Hands
A House Not Made with Hands is the dwelling place of spirit and community, the home we build in love that endures beyond walls. Melissa O’Brien grew up in Saratoga. She lives in southern Vermont where she is a hospice chaplain and community liaison for the Completed Life Initiative’s end of life project called The … Continue reading A House Not Made with Hands
To Everything There Is a Season
Melissa grew up in Saratoga Springs, went to Lake Ave Elementary, had her senior portrait taken by George Bolster, has ridden her bike down every alley, remembers when Mrs. London’s was on Phila Street and Mabou was on Broadway, worked at the Adelphi long before it was transformed, snuck into concerts at SPAC, spent Sunday … Continue reading To Everything There Is a Season