Welcome to the This I Believe web page and archive!
This I Believe is a longstanding tradition at WBUUC where members of the congregation are invited to share their journeys of faith.
Thanks to a diligent team of volunteer members and staff, you now have access to dozens of talks delivered from the mid-1960’s to the present. There are more to be located and new talks will be added continuously to the archive.
This beautiful preservation of our living history offers the latest opportunity to share what we value about our faith and our spiritual community. Take some time to read, reflect, and discover how our unique and common experiences have led us to this particular spiritual community over the decades.
We’re sure you’ll be moved by the wealth of insight and wisdom housed in this archive.
This I Believe: Bjørn Peterson (2025)
When I consider what I might claim as a belief, I ask myself, on the most basic level, what it is that I believe to be experiencing? What do I understand to be going on around me? How can I arrive at the statement of “this I believe”? So much of my experience in life has felt as though the world was turned up to a volume far beyond comfort. I am among the many people who have wondered whether life was worth living. And when the onslaught of life’s stimulations threaten to drown me, I can become quickly overwhelmed. Then I remember the words...
read moreThis I Believe: Cheryl Riley (2025)
Thank you for being here…and to those listening at home! Who? What? When? Where? Why? These are the questions drilled into a journalist when trying to report a story. At least that is what I was taught in journalism school more than 50 years ago. Good questions, right? But behind those or any questions must be a curiosity…a desire to know and to understand your subject. Did you know a 4-year-old is reported to ask 300 to 400 questions a day? This inquisitiveness is important to their understanding of the world. I was this kind of inquisitive...
read moreThis I Believe: David Radtke (2024)
Good morning. My name is David Radtke – he/him – and I’m a member of this congregation. *** We are a story-telling species. And we use metaphors – English major here. A search for truth is actually a search for a story – a metaphor – that rings true for us, that helps us deal with life as it happens. *** When I was a freshman in college I took a course in Ancient Philosophy. The course primarily covered Plato and Aristotle, but we spent a few days talking about the philosophers that came before Plato. Thales of Miletus is the earliest...
read moreThis I Believe: Rachel Blair-Paladino (2024)
Good morning. My name is Rachel Blair-Paladino and my pronouns are she/her. When Rev. Jack asked me to share my This I Believe, my instinct was to say no. Unlike my husband Jordan, who has spoken in front of you all several times, public speaking does not come easy to me. But the timing of Jack’s request was impeccable. This year Jordan and I will celebrate 10 years of partnership. They have been the best years of my life. Somehow each year is better than the last. We are incredibly lucky to have found a love like ours. Jordan and I have...
read moreThis I Believe: Aislin Cole (2024)
My family has always seen pets as an important part of a happy life. We have eleven pets, and our most recent adventure has been with guinea pigs. A few years ago we adopted one hoping he could be a companion for the boy we already had. It turned out that not only was she a girl, but she was pregnant. We weren’t originally going to keep the babies, although once I held each tiny one in my hands, there was no way I was giving them up. I have always had a passion for animals. They’ve preoccupied my interest over the course of my whole life. I...
read moreThis I Believe: Don Lifto (2023)
I remember sitting in the congregation here at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Mahtomedi many times listening to parishioners as they shared their “This I Believe” testimonials – bravely opening a window into their hearts and minds and shining a light on the essence of their faith journeys. Like artists at their easels – one brush stroke at a time – they painted soul landscapes to share with us. While I always found these “This I Believe” messages to be thoughtful, inspirational, and moving, they also left me anxious hoping that I would...
read moreThis I Believe: Lisa Hull (2023)
Good morning! My name is Lisa Hull, and my pronouns are she/her. I am very honored to share my story with all of you today. My first introduction to this church was virtual. I started watching services online in January 2021 and became a member in May 2022. It had been over 25 years since I had attended a church. I grew up in Michigan, in a conservative Christian, middle class family. Church on Sunday and Wednesday nights was a given. My experience with religion and church is complicated. Whenever people ask me what my religious...
read moreThis I Believe: Sharon Gooch (2023)
Good Morning. My name is Sharon Gooch. My Pronouns are she/her. I first found my way to this church in the spring of 2015. I had been seeing a therapist for depression and anxiety for a couple of months. I talked to her about how, as I worked to understand and sort out my feelings, my behavior and actions were hurting people that I loved. I talked to her about how alone I felt. She suggested that I “find a community” and recommended that I check out this church. So I dutifully attended every Sunday for several months that spring. I sat in...
read moreThis I Believe: Jeff Ranta (2023)
I like to start with my own spiritual journey. My father is agnostic and my mother was Lutheran. I didn’t attend church beyond 6th grade. My mother posted spiritual, uplifting statements around the house. My father is a recovering alcoholic of 45 years whose main spiritual practice is the Serenity Prayer that he still lives today at age 94. In college I was a YMCA camp counselor, and guided canoe trips in the BWCA and Canada, often carrying a bible, seeking a spiritual life. I grew spiritually in nature leading teens through the wilderness....
read moreThis I Believe: Ginny Johansen (2023)
Hello, my name is Ginny Johansen. My pronouns are she/her. Here’s my situation: I have Glioblastoma with a few months left. This is not a death sentence. It’s a gift! This gives me enough time to: Tell people how much they mean to me, Get my affairs in order, Do a few bucket list things (Native American Museum in Washington DC, Say goodbye. There are only 2 things I believe, everything else is just theories and questions: God is love Love never dies I consider myself a happy agnostic. I don’t believe God can be fully known or defined by our...
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