Spring 2019 I was enchanted by Robin Wall Kimmerer’s book Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer is available on our UU bookstore https://www.uuabookstore.org/Braiding-Sweetgrass-P18117.aspx I delivered a sermon on what I learned from the book: My Sermon, The Democracy of the 3 Sisters.…
Reflections on Love and Loss
Reflections from an experienced chaplain going through the loss of his own father. My father died April 2018. In October I traveled back to Colebrook, CN to help my family celebrate his life in the church across the street from the house where he grew up. When I returned from…
May the Light Keep You
This 2018 Solstice I wrote an article for the a Patheos Pagan Blog that was selected for their Yule newsletter.
Dear America, How Ya Been?
Dear America, How Ya Been? is a sermon delivered at South Valley Unitarian Universalist Society December 2018 about my love for the dream of liberty, welcome and respect of individuality that I find at the heart of America and having the hard political conversations to cross the divides we have…
The Risk of Caring
The Risk of Caring is a sermon delivered in March of 2017 at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Ogden where I was invited to preach as a guest speaker. This sermon shares stories from chaplaincy and talks about the holy ground we walk upon when caring for others. I do…
Once there was a dream called America…
July 4…Independence Day…for me today is a day when I remember the dream of America, take stock of where we are in realizing that dream, mourn our shortcomings and hope that in the years to come, we will do more to realize the dream. Once there was a dream…
Journey Hal·le·lu·jah
From soft moment, breath held tentative Praise rises with, first word sung Hal·le·lu·jah Raised high in song, in but one word, that word His face singing a lifetime I hear. Join with, being with, hearing all, knowing Moments through all of a life, each one Blessing me, sharing…
Unbound
On this morning Where bright wind kisses gentle sky, I wonder where you are now That your voice is no longer…then with a breath I feel air Brought all round the world; From a deep jungle far south, An arid desert to the west, Cold mountains north, Lush forests eastward. And…
My Father Died…
My father David Cooper died April 4, 2018 of Interstitial Pulmonary Fibrosis, which he got from being in downtown Manhattan in the hours, days and weeks following the disaster of 9-11. My dad would remember the hours after, the sky full of white particles, falling like snow, building materials from…
Spiritual Care Research Part 2: Impact on Patients and Healthcare
When I was a resident in the Pastoral Education Program at St. Mark’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah I did a second residency with an emphasis on surveying research into the efficacy of spiritual care. I looked over dozens of studies (the bibliography is available here) and wrote up…