March’s Ministry Theme is Paying Attention

Join us in-person and online on Sundays at 10:30 am. All are welcome! We as Unitarian Universalists in Santa Monica look forward to being with you.

Masks are optional, but always acceptable and welcome. If you or someone in your household is not feeling well or has tested positive for COVID, please stay home; you can still join us via our Facebook or YouTube live-stream worship. 

Parking at the UCLA parking structure at 1311 16th St. is available to people attending Sunday services. The entrance is from 16th St. between Santa Monica Blvd. and Arizona Ave., on the SE corner of Arizona and 16th; ask the attendant for a free UUSM parking permit to place on your dashboard. For those with a handicap parking tag, several spaces are also available onsite, via the alley west of 18th St., as well as in the UCLA structure.

Worship Online: We livestream our service from the sanctuary. Join us by clicking the WATCH NOW button above where the video is live every week beginning at 10:20 am, or watch on YouTube or Facebook. You don’t need to have a YouTube or Facebook account, or be logged in, to watch the service. You do have to be logged in to comment and chat with other members of the congregation. 

Explore past services on our Sermons page, available 24/7. Tune in anytime to catch up and worship with your community. We encourage you to light a chalice or candle at home, meditate, and sing along. 

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Generous Congregation Recipient: Planned Parenthood Foundation

Our practice here at UUSM is to dedicate half of our non-pledge Sunday offerings to support the life of our church and the other 50% to nonprofit organizations doing work in the world that advances our Unitarian Universalist principles. This month we’ll share our Sunday Offering with the Planned Parenthood Foundation. 

Unitarian Universalists believe in actively opposing assaults on human reproductive rights. From the Supreme Court to statehouses nationwide, access to reproductive health care and sex education continues to be under attack. The right to control our bodies is threatened and abridged through dangerous bills, regulations, and judicial actions. Opponents of safe, legal abortion have stepped up their attempts to thwart medical decisions about pregnancy that are best left between a patient and their doctor. Among these are restrictions on nonsurgical abortion and requirements for mandatory ultrasounds, waiting periods, and state-scripted counseling that inject bias, religion, and politics into the medical treatment room.

For over 100 years, Planned Parenthood has played a key role in public health by providing high-quality and affordable sexual and reproductive services. This includes preventive care, including birth control, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, and screenings for cervical and other cancers. Programs, resources, and tools are delivered in classrooms, communities, and online to help people make informed choices about their sexuality and relationships. 

Thank you for your generous support of our beloved community and the Planned Parenthood Foundation. To give $10 right now, text “$10 GCC” (or another amount) to 844-982-0209. (One-time-only credit card registration required.) Or visit uusm.org/donate.

 

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March 2026 Theme: Paying Attention

Our theme this month invites us to consider our world, our community, and our lives in the light of the practice of Paying Attention. As Brene Brown puts it, “stories are only a form of connection when someone’s listening and hearing us.” And there’s a lot going on that can get in the way of truly listening and hearing. It’s hard to get out of our own narratives long enough to let someone else’s story stand on its own….

Shake the scales from your imagination. Reach. Stretch. Rise. There is no more time for pretending that everything can be all right without your care, without your attention. ~ Rev. Julian Jamaica Soto

Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity. ~ Simone Weil

The average attention span of the modern human being is about half as long as whatever you’re trying to tell them. ~ Meg Rosoff

I don’t just have a news problem. I have an imagination problem. The constant barrage of media and information takes up so much of my attention… it is easy to get swept up, to be consumed by it all… and in these moments, I have come to understand that my attention has been overwhelmed, my imagination has been captured… ~ Rev. Anna Tulou

The world is full of magic things. Waiting for our senses to grow sharper. ~ W.B. Yeats

Pay attention to the things that bring a tear to your eye or a lump in your throat because they are signs that the holy is drawing near. ~ Frederick Buechner

We need mindfulness and kindness now more than ever. And the two are related… The practice of shepherding our attention back to the present — even an incalculable number of times — helps us find the power to be kind to ourselves. We can let go of our laundry list of work agenda items once we get home to be with our family members, even if our Google calendar gives us a ping. We may be compelled to ruminate or obsess, but a commitment to mindfulness, to being present, is a gesture of kindness to ourselves. ~ Sharon Salzberg

Attention Is Both an Act of Resistance and an Act of Reverence.
Go forth from here with this blessing:
May you see clearly without cynicism.
May you witness pain without looking away.
May you notice wonder even when despair makes more sense.
Attention is both an act of resistance and an act of reverence.
Choose it constantly. Practice it daily.
And come back when you need renewed, so you can choose it once again. ~ Rev. Michelle Collins

 

Our service in the world continues.