None of us does life alone – even when we try. We’re shaped by what we inherit and changed by relationships past, present, and future. This week’s service explores interdependence not just as something we practice now, but as something that stretches across time. It’s about what we’ve been given, what we hold for one another, and what we carry forward – sometimes by choice, and sometimes just by living.

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On February 15, Japanese Buddhists commemorate the Buddha’s Paranirvana: i.e., his death and entry into final Nirvana. The last teaching frequently (mis-)attributed to him is expressed in Unitarian Universalist hymn #184: ”Be ye lamps unto yourselves; be your own confidence; hold to the truth within yourselves as to the only lamp.” According to Buddhist scripture, he said no such thing. In fact, his final message was quite different. So where does this mis-quotation come from, what’s wrong with it, and why should we care? We will consider what Buddhist scriptures actually say, and how the Buddha’s final teachings might speak to Unitarian Universalists today.

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Rev. Maddie Sifantus retired as the full time ten year settled minister of the Universalist Unitarian Church of Santa Paula, California in July 2024 where she is now Minister Emerita. She previously served two small formerly Universalist congregations in Massachusetts: Wakefield and Milford. She was originally ordained by the First Parish in Wayland in 2002 as a community minister. She is the Founder and Director/Emerita of the senior citizen chorus she directed for 20 years, the Golden Tones, which was what sent her to seminary. She enjoys supply preaching, leading Rites of Passages, spiritual companioning, her professional singing career and seeing her family who live in Pasadena, California.

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We begin our exploration this month of the UU value of interdependence by reflecting on the human longing to belong. In this first service of the month, we’ll consider how community forms us, how it feels when we know we are held by a group, and what happens when that sense of belonging is fragile or uncertain. Through story, reflection, and shared worship, we’ll explore how our UU faith invites us to notice who we are connected to, who we might be overlooking, and how belonging can be practiced as a spiritual act.

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