Rooted and Boundless: A Sacred Container for a Flourishing World

Homily at Unitarian Universalist Congregation of DeKalb on June 28, 2026

Good morning. Thank you, Linda, for inviting me, and thank you to all of you for welcoming me to your beautiful congregation. I’m Sarah Woodard from Wisdom Grove, and I use she/her pronouns. I’m honored to be here with you today.

We’ve all traveled unique journeys to arrive at this place - not just today in this building, but in our lives to arrive at this specific point in our growth and understanding. And that, by accident or design, has brought us all together this morning. 

I don’t know for sure, but I suspect it’s a safe assumption that we’ve all faced challenges along the way. We’re all carrying generational trauma, past hurts, fears, anxiety…and hope. Hope that things will get better. Hope that somehow, in some way we haven’t discovered or understood yet, that thriving is possible. That individually, communally, and societally, we can all bloom and flourish and become the fullest, most beautiful and embodied versions of ourselves. I know I want this - deeply. 

How about you?

Yes? Good. I’m happy to hear that - and also happy to share that I believe there is a way, despite what’s happening in the world outside these walls. I believe there is a path to love, and thriving, and joy.

And it starts right here. Today. In this room.

It starts by making space for ALL that we’re carrying. I invite you to do that with me now. And before we begin, please know that making this space can feel heavy. Honor whatever your body needs. If you need to step out to protect your well-being, please do so. Just know that the weight is brief, and the space we are clearing makes room for the joy on the other side.

Close your eyes if you feel comfortable. Look inward. Call up the generational baggage that’s no longer yours to carry. Call up the trauma and wounds you’ve felt in this lifetime and past ones too. See them. Really see them. Don’t try to push them away or shove them back down. Hold them. Each and every one. Hold them close to your heart. Ask them what they need, how you can help. 

(Pause)

When you feel ready, hug, kiss, or otherwise thank each one for the ways they served you in the past. Let them each know that you’re okay to go on without them now. And then…gently release them. Like a feather floating on a breeze, watch them drift away…

(Pause)

That’s probably been a lot for many of you - I hope not too much. Let’s get rooted back in our bodies, in our core selves. You may stand if you wish or continue sitting.

Bring your attention to your feet. Feel the ground beneath them. Notice the firmness. The sense that it’s holding all of you and all that you carry - no matter how heavy it seems to you. Offer a thank you to Earth for the support and allow yourself to sink into that feeling of holding you…. Feel it rise up through your legs, hips, belly, chest, shoulder, neck, and head. 

(Pause)

Sit here with this and offer an expression of gratitude for always holding you, even when you don’t notice it.

Perhaps you also notice that Earth is carrying her own trauma and pain? I felt that long before I could put words to it, and for years it kept me from fully allowing Earth, Nature, the Divine - whatever name you choose - to fully support me - and that - as you may have guessed - kept me from thriving personally, professionally, or in any way at all.

The reasons for this disconnect were numerous, but they all began with feeling Earth’s pain and not knowing what to do about it.

Today, let’s change that. If you’ve ever felt Earth’s distress, even a little, you’re being called to this. If you’ve looked at a construction site and felt your chest get tight. If you’ve ushered ants and other insects outside instead of killing them. If you’ve seen a wild animal in distress and sent up a prayer or actively stepped in to assist - you’re being called to this.

Focus on your heart space. Feel the strength and love there. It’s the love that can hold all things, withstand all things, and is also wise enough to know when to say “enough. That’s all I can hold for now.” It’s the space that blends boundless love with sacred boundaries to create a sacred container for healing, for thriving, for flourishing.

Open that space and invite in as much of Earth’s pain as you feel comfortable holding. Remember, you’re not doing this alone. We’re all doing this together in this room, supporting each other and supporting the work. For as much you feel safe to do so, lean into where this pain is coming from. Perhaps it is lingering from the Indigenous peoples who were violently removed from their homes? Perhaps it is lingering from construction or toxins meant to somehow control bugs or rodents or in some way rule Nature? Perhaps it’s something else?

Only allow in as much of this as you feel you safely can and then gently shut the door to that space in your heart. 

In your mind’s eye, hold onto the pain you’ve allowed in. Minister to it. Let Earth know that you love All Life and value All She (or He or They, whatever pronoun feels right for you) brings to your life. Offer love in some form - a hug, a kiss, an energetic gift. And notice how that space in your heart starts to feel lighter, feel more spacious - like it did when we started.

You are transmuting Earth’s pain, just as many spiritual traditions tell us Earth does for us. Thank you for this. This is the beginning of coming back to a place where every Being flourishes together. 

We’re all born knowing how to do this. Without instructions, without thought, we’re all naturally able to commune and reciprocally heal Earth, All Life, ourselves, and each other.

And then, slowly, but also far too quickly, societal expectations, the noise of modern life, and the measurements of success we’ve imposed upon ourselves as a culture pull us away. We forget that we ever knew how to heal, how to thrive, how to flourish. We forget that flourishing requires diversity both in a health eco-system and in human societies.

And so, we wind up competing. Who has the biggest and best? Who’s thoughts, beliefs, and way of doing things is the most correct? Who has the most power & influence and how can I have more than they do?

We compete for everything from basic resources like water, air, and wild spaces to luxury items like planes and yachts - and everything in between. We compete for attention - like my cats when I’m trying to work and they feel ignored. We compete for medals and certificates to prove we’re the best at something - at anything. 

But…

What if being the best isn’t about competing with others, it’s about competing with ourselves? About trying each day to be a little kinder, a little more open, a little more of that sacred container than we were the day before?

Would society collapse? Maybe… Though I doubt it! Capitalism might shift as we all become aware of needs other than our own. Doctrine and dogma that currently cause divides huge enough to create violence might shrink to the point of invisible. We might all start to see each other as equals walking a similar journey. We might all start to view Nature as our peer to be respected and stewarded rather than something to conquer and control. We might all reconnect to the sense of awe and wonder we had as children and to the knowing we were born with.

And what then? What happens when we stop competing and start loving? When we stop trying to prove anything and start living in alignment and harmony? When we look for commonalities across the human-made divides of species, gender identity, sexual preference, race, religion, ability, etc? What happens when we reach across those divides?

We wind up, I think, in a world that looks akin to Star Trek the Next Generation minus the space travel, transporters, food replicators, and uniforms that look a little too much like pajamas for my liking.

We wind up in a world where war isn’t a thing - where swords have truly been beaten into plowshares and bombs have been beaten into flower beds. Not by might and strength - by love. 

We wind up in a world where, if we ever develop interspace travel, food replicators, and transporters, we’re actually ready to greet whatever life we might discover with love, rather than fear.

We wind up, in a very practical sense, in a world where we don’t all always agree - because that’s never possible. Rather, we wind up in a world where when we disagree with someone about something, we reach across the gap and we ask “how did you arrive at that conclusion” “tell me more about why you think this way” “that’s different from my perspective, can you explain more?”

And then - we listen. Truly listen - with that same sacred container space in your heart - to what they have to say. And they, in turn, do that for you.

This wisdom is at the heart of every spiritual and religious tradition. Ultimately, they’re all trying to accomplish the goal of helping us navigate the chaos of being a soul in human form. 

This vision of a listening, harmonious world isn't just a sci-fi dream, it’s the commonality between the world’s faith traditions. 

And demonstrating that has been part of my life’s mission. It would be a lot to teach you today in the time we have left. Instead, I want to teach you a little more about one specific aspect - that sacred container in your heart. The one where you’re expansive enough to allow everything in and wise enough to know when to say “stop, for now.”

But before I can do that, I need to back up for a second and explain my background - because it’s influenced how I arrived at the way I demonstrate that the underlying truth in all religious and spiritual traditions is the same.

I grew up in what some might call an interfaith home. Personally, I called it a war zone. Although both my parents went into the marriage Jewish and intending to raise a Jewish family, before I was born my mother converted to some born-again version of Christianity. I’m not sure which sect, and it doesn’t really matter.

What does matter is that from the day I entered the world, there was a battle raging - one that only increased when my sister was born about 5 years later. I always felt more aligned with aspects of Judaism - not all of them, but enough. And more than I felt aligned with what I was hearing on the other side of that battle.

And at the same time, I’d sit on the sidelines of this wondering “why are they arguing about this? They’re both basically saying the same thing with different words.” 

But…trying to convey that as a seven-year-old? Not so much.

That feeling, though, that question, nagged at me for decades. Which, of course, at least in my mind, meant it was vital to answer as part of my soul mission in this lifetime.

And when it was time, the answers started appearing. Slowly at first, and then full on firehose. 

I started getting interested in Kabbalah, which is often thought of as the mystical side of Judaism, though I’ve come to understand it as something far more universal than that, in college. I did some independent learning about it and set it aside in the midst of academic demands. 

Over the years after graduating, I’d circle back to it, always feeling like there were answers there, but I just couldn’t see them.

And then, a few years ago, light started to dawn. Not all at once. Slowly, like the sun rising above the horizon on a foggy morning.

What I eventually saw was the link to unite all faith traditions - including the ones my parents battled over all those years ago - is the Tree of Life. Not as an actual tree (though they have much to teach as well). As the sacred geometry found in Kabbalah. 

And that sacred container in your heart? The space that loves fiercely and also wisely? That’s right in the heart of the Tree! In this tradition, it’s called Tiferet, and it’s what happens when you combine Chesed on the right with Gevurah on the left. Chesed being boundless love and Gevurah being boundaries. 

On their own, both Chesed and Gevurah are signs of imbalance. Too much Chesed and you become a doormat, a people pleaser - and you probably hurt yourself in the process. Too much Gevurah and you become closed off, unable to give or receive love, support, or anything else.

When balanced, they become the sacred container in Tiferet. And let me be clear here. When balanced in this space, Gevurah isn’t a failure to love, it’s the protector of love.

We all know that living this way is becoming harder and harder, and we all also want everyone to flourish. We all want to do our part, to be a force for positive change somehow, to be an instrument of Divine Will - by whatever name you choose to call it - and somehow help lead humanity back to a place where everyone is respected and honored, where all voices matter.

As I said at the beginning, it starts with you, today, in this room. It starts by remembering what your sacred container space - your Tiferet space - looks and feels like. It starts by reawakening the part of you that knows how to transmute pain and sorrow. And, it starts by caring for yourself, by ensuring your own pain and sorrows get the healing they need. So that when you step out into the loud, messy world, your pain and sorrows don’t become triggers preventing you from flourishing. They don’t become blocks keeping you stuck in the Gevurah boundaries space. Instead, your wounds become your wisdom. They keep you grounded in wise love - in Tiferet - and help you guide others back to their own wisdom. They keep you safe and remind you to stay open.

When one of us individually is in our sacred container - Tiferet space - the collective rises up and aligns in that same space.

When each of us does our own inner work we also heal the collective - and we have more to give to the collective. Together, we become stronger in our own voices and can rise above the vindictiveness, divisiveness, and noise. Instead of being a whisper in a room where someone is always yelling, love becomes the loudest voice in the room - without yelling. Love leads by example, quietly, willingly, without fanfare or need of praise.

Love silences the hate and fear driving the loud voices and gently shows them a more peaceful way. Love welcomes the diversity we all need to truly flourish.

And so, today, I leave you with this: when you’re feeling triggered, angered, or distressed, find a way back to your sacred Tiferet space. Go out to Nature and ask Earth to help you transmute it, reciprocate when you can. Wait until you can lead from that sacred space in your heart before you respond. It won’t always be easy. It won’t always be perfect. It will always be necessary. We’re in this together - every soul of every being - we’re in this together, working to flourish together, making our way back to the sacred container together - and that makes all the difference.