“Planting Trees at the End of the World”

Sunday July 19 & 26:  Rev. Rob Hardies Returns to Share Two Sermons on Hope
Rev. Rob Hardies, our former interim minister and frequent summer preacher, returns to UUSMV in July to share two sermons about how we find hope in difficult times. Blending practical wisdom and spiritual inspiration, these sermons suggest new ways of accessing hope when hope feels hard to find.

July 19 “Planting Trees at the End of the World”
Legend has it that the great religious reformer Martin Luther was once asked what he would do if he knew the world would end tomorrow. He answered: “I’d plant a tree today.” What can this brief story teach us about hope, grief and love in the face of the climate crisis and other losses? How do we keep loving what we may one day lose? View our Order of Service here: UUSMV OOS July 19, 2026

July 26 “From Our Mountain of Despair, A Stone of Hope” 
We will hew out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope. – Martin Luther King, Jr. In his I Have a Dream speech, Dr. King speaks of a faith that allows us to fashion hope from despair. What is this hope born of despair? And what are the practices by which we chip away at our mountain of despair until all that remains in our hands is small, sturdy stone called hope?