Adult Religious Education — 9:30 AM\
Iris Craig, “Beyond Resilience”\
(First Parish Church of Stow and Acton, MA, November 2020)\
Good news: Research shows that everybody has resilience. We’re born with it.\
You are not “a resilient person” – or not -- through some quirk of fate. Our ability to bounce back can be encouraged or discouraged by the environments in which we’ve grown up and lived. But the seeds of resilience are right there inside us, and guess what? Tough times really DO make us stronger and better equipped to adapt to changes in circumstance. \
• Have you ever emerged from tough times better prepared to deal with future challenges? If yes, do you know why? If no, do you know why not? \
• When do you take time to mentally hit ‘pause’ and check in with yourself? Could you share any ways you work with your strengths to get a better outcome? \
• What parts of your life protect you in crises? Are there areas where your choices have left you more vulnerable? \
• Have any changes or struggles in your life affected your sense of identity or understanding of yourself? If so, what helped you regain/define your sense of self? \
• Were there any people in your life that showed you how you can fail and then get up and try again? Have you helped teach or role model that for anyone else? \
• Have you ever found or helped to create an environment that made it safe to respond emotionally in tough times, or easier to be resilient and effectively respond to challenges? \
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Main Service — 11:00 AM (IN-PERSON & ONLINE)\
Guest minister Rev. Dr. Joy Atkinson, “The Third Aliveness: On Friendship”\
It has been said that friends are like good medicine. We lean on our friends to help us get through rough times, and friendship greatly enhances our life experience. The sermon will explore the human phenomenon of friendship, what constitutes a friend, and the role friendship plays in our lives.\
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Rev. Joy Atkinson retired in 2018 after 41 years as a UU parish minister, serving as
