This “post-doom, no gloom” sermon by Rev. Michael Dowd was delivered at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Flint, Michigan on August 13, 2023. Connie Barlow, Michael Dowd’s wife, mission partner, and video editor, thinks it is one of his best. Also see separate 30-minute Q&A video: • Q&A after “Being the Calm in the Stor… and Wiki page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-doom
UPDATE March 2024: Dear friends and colleagues –
This is Connie Barlow, Michael Dowd’s widow. October 7, 2023, Michael died suddenly of a massive heart attack while away from home — two days after attending his father’s hospice death. Do know that both Michael and I regard his life as complete. His death is not a tragedy, even at his somewhat “youthful” age of 64.
Over the past two decades, Michael and I co-developed a perhaps unusual perspective on DEATH. It was grounded in the deep-time understanding of evolution and thus gave us a sense of identity not so much as individuals but as ephemeral expressions of the creative force of Life. That creative force was our larger Self — our “Great Self” as Thomas Berry would say. We have long posted on TheGreatStory.org homepage a link to this topical webpage: “Death as Natural and Generative — and no less sacred than life”.
I had the opportunity to live that worldview last autumn, and by golly it proved its worth. After the initial horror and necessary busy-ness of attending to endings, a welcome calm and gratitude took up residence in my life. Enhanced motivation to attend to my own last works and legacy in such spirit also was a gift.
Hear and see the full sermon/lecture here.
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