Aug 19, 2024
Worship service given August 18, 2024
Prayer by Jitendra Singh, Worship Leader
https://firstparish.info/
First Parish
A liberal religious community, welcoming to all
First gathered 1739
I hope to talk about respecting the world around us, people but also other sentient beings, even trees and rocks. Annie Dillard speaks of “teaching a stone to talk.” The Tao Te Ching speaks of “being like water,” to assimilate rather than rise above. Buber speaks of communicating deeply with others’ whole self. Does any of this make sense? Yes, if we embrace the contradictions in life!
During the summer our worship is led each week by a member of our congregation. Jitendra has been a member of First Parish Arlington for 7 years and a Unitarian Universalist for over 40. Jitendra was born in India into a Sikh/Hindu family and now identifies mostly as Taoist/Buddhist. He and his wife live in Arlington. He teaches Computer Science at Tufts. He enjoys deep conversations, long walks and cooking & sharing meals with friends. Every few years, he enjoys doing deep research on a topic of interest and translating it into a summer service.
Offering and Giving First
The Giving First program donates 50% of the non-pledge offering each month to a charitable organization that we feel is consistent with Unitarian Universalist principles. The program began in November 2009, and First Parish has donated over $200,000 to more than 70 organizations. For June, July and August 2024, the Giving First recipients are the ArCs Cluster, a local refugee support group, and the Immigrant Learning Center, a not-for-profit organization in Malden, MA.
The remaining half of your offering supports the life and work of this Parish.
To donate using your smartphone, you may text
“fpuu offering” to 73256. Then follow the directions in
the texts you receive.