UUFSMA: “What About Prayer?”

Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Online Service

“What About Prayer?”

Speaker: Reverend Tom Rosiello

Sunday, September 20, 2020

10:30 am CDT

Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/414604040 

Password: 294513

By Joseph Plummer

UUF Secretary

Some people find that praying is a natural and comfortable practice that becomes a part of every day or a fervent appeal in difficult times. Many such prayers are petitionary, asking a God to intervene and cause something to happen or not happen. For those who do not believe in an interceding God, prayer may seem silly or a waste of time at best. Some feel prayer is superstitious and that today people are too advanced for such a practice. But is it? Or is praying rewarding for everyone? Is prayer something to practice, regardless of belief? Are there benefits in praying? The Reverend Tom Rosiello, Minister of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of San Miguel de Allende, will explore these questions in the Fellowship’s Sept. 20 online Service.

Alfred Lord Tennyson once wrote that “more things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.” Rev Rosiello believes that there is truth in that statement. “I can’t say if prayer changes God,” Rev. Rosiello admits. However, he recognizes that in important ways prayers often change the praying person. “Perhaps we transform ourselves by praying,” he suggests.

After all, prayer can be many different things. It can be ancient words recited by rote. Or, as Unitarian Minister Ralph Waldo Emerson described it, prayer can be “the contemplation of the facts of life from the highest point of view.” Or as Mary Oliver described it in her poem The Blue Iris, prayer can express a few words patched together that allow one to enter through a doorway into a space where another voice may speak.

This Sunday’s multimedia-enriched Zoom service will explore the theme of prayer in several ways, including through music from various traditions and styles. Gospel singers and opera divas will add not only a message about prayer but also energy and beauty to the service. Singing will include hymns that express Unitarian Universalism’s traditions and approaches to prayer. Likewise, musician Malcolm Halliday will perform prayerful music on the great organ at the First Unitarian Church of Worcester, Massachusetts.

To participate in our online Sunday Service, visit the Fellowship’s website at www.uufsma.org and click on the Zoom Service button displayed on the home page. If requested, enter password: 294513. Sign-in between 10:15-10:25 am.

Through grants and awards, UUFSMA donates at least fifty percent of its budget to support nonprofit organizations that provide health, educational, and environmental services for underserved communities in the San Miguel region. Please support this work by clicking on the website home page Donate button. Now more than ever, your support is essential.

Due to the coronavirus, UUFSMA has suspended in-person Sunday services and other gatherings. The UU Fellowship welcomes people of all ages, races, religions, sexual orientation, and gender identity.