UUFSMA: Becoming Good Ancestors

UU Service

Becoming Good Ancestors

Dr. Branden Thornhill-Miller

Sunday, December 30, 2018

by Jon Sievert

Dr. Branden Thornhill discusses the process of “Becoming Good Ancestors” at this week’s Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Service.

As the Director of the Creativity and Innovation Profiling Project at the Sorbonne in Paris, Dr. Thornhill’s work focuses on big picture issues related to humanity’s long-term future. He studies human-generated threats to our survival and the creativity, empathetic imagination, and other ideal human qualities that need to be cultivated if we are to succeed and flourish in the radical new worlds on our doorstep today.

In his talk, he will tell us how ordinary people and traditions from around the world remind us of what we owe to those who have gone before and those who will come after us. Traditions of honoring ancestors, often sanitized from modern, death-denying cultures, are a gift to future generations and to ourselves that we should share and reinvigorate. He will talk about some practical ways that we might revive these lost traditions in our daily lives and tell the story of someone he once knew who truly understood the importance of being a good ancestor and model for others.

At the Sorbonne, Dr. Thornhill teaches and researches leadership, decision making, emotional intelligence, and individual differences in “soft skills” within the Economics & Psychology program.

He is also Vice President and Professor for the Preparing Global Leaders Forum’s schools in 5 different countries, where he focuses on the training and development of globally oriented leaders.  For many years after studying world religions at Harvard, he was a College Lecturer and then a Fellow at the University of Oxford where he remains affiliated. He has also worked as a computer programmer, a literature professor, and as a visual artist and creativity consultant for large-scale public projects. His research on the psychology of religion includes studies of Unitarian Universalism. He has also collaborated on a series of art pieces representing the world’s religions in a medium called leather mosaics.

The UU Fellowship meets every Sunday at 10:30 a.m. at La Posada de la Aldea, Ancha de San Antonio 15 and welcomes people of all ages, races, religions, sexual orientation, and gender identity. For information about our Children’s Sunday Program, contact us at chris.chase1955@gmail.com. Visitors are invited to attend the service and then join the UUs for hospitality afterwards. Wheelchair accessible. For additional information, visit our web site at uufsma.org.

Our fellowship was born in 1987 when a small group of expatriate religious liberals came together to meet as Unitarian Universalists in San Miguel de Allende. The fellowship has been active and thriving ever since. Every UU church has it’s own flavor, and we are no exception. We are a combination of expats and visitors, each actively engaged and contributing to this wonderful Mexican community we love. Because there is a coming, going, and returning aspect, our spiritual community is extremely fluid.  There is a magic in San Miguel which draws us in and binds us together—both as members of the church and of the larger community. Our programming is led by visiting ministers, community leaders, and church members, so the variety is lively. We have opportunities to meet as UU’s each week at discussion groups, breakfasts, luncheons, and in various other ways. Depending on the season, attendance fluctuates between 40 and 140. Our primary focus is on funding social action within the surrounding community. We love good music, good discussion, good food, and having visitors. We invite you to join us any Sunday morning.

Members regularly post updates and information on this site. We also post meeting minutes and announcements there.

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