It’s Mother’s Day Again: A Childless Mother’s Cry
It can be a lonely time for those of us whose arms are empty.
The Cradle is Empty–Again
Can I do it again? Do I even dare? Do I have the strength? Because the cradle might be empty—again.
I Believe in Fathering
I believe in the radical idea that men have the full human capacity to nurture.
Meditation on the Four Directions
In the pagan tradition, which is grounded in a respect and reverence for the natural world, calling upon the four directions is the usual way to begin any ceremony. Each direction is associated with an element of the natural world, and represents some part of our human nature as well....
Every Moment Is One
Your first Christmas, your last Christmas, this Christmas, and the redemption of the whole world are all happening right now, forever.
Let this Be a Place of Silence
Let this be a place of warm and gentle silence: the silence that soothes and comforts the wounded, the silence that yields insights into heart and soul, the silence that calms, the silence the listens, the silence that speaks, the silence that renews. Let this be a place of warm and gentle silence.
Spending Time in Silence
Quiet yourself and listen to the rhythm of your breath, your heart . . .Listen to the silence . . .
The Communion Prayer
In the name of Providence, which implants in the seed the future of the tree and in the hearts of men [and women] the longing for people living in [human] love; in the name of the highest....
Fall Equinox Meditation
Like the sun moving toward the shortest day, each moment arises—and is gone before we know it.
In These Days of Fire
Let us pause, and breathe, and be in touch with the sacred presence that permeates all, including this room, now. Web of All... of life, death, and renewal: We open our hearts to those who suffer as a result of the wildfires.
Blessing for Flower Communion
Blessed be the flower that triumphs at last Over the snows, over the centuries, over the heavy feet of cattle and of soldiers treading down the fragile places of the earth....
I Do Not Like the "I Hate It" Feeling
I do not like the "I hate it" feeling, but I have it....
May We Seek the True Questions
Let us enter into a spirit of meditation. Much of our human struggle is with what we do not know or understand. It is often difficult not to want answers—or even more difficult, not to think we have them already. May we experience what we do not know not as an individual failure but as an...
We give thanks for this day
We give thanks for this day and for these people and all the people who have enriched our lives. We give thanks for the gift of life with all of its pain and its joy, its struggles and its triumphs....
God of all oppressed persons,
God of all oppressed persons, remind us of your presence in voices of protest; shatter our self-complacent faith in liberty freely given; and remind us of the cost of hard-won freedom. Let the pain of strangled dreams return us to a knowledge of our own triumphs in the struggle to be free....
The Lord's Prayer revised
Indwelling God, who art infused throughout all existence, we hallow thee with many names. Thy Kingdom is within the human heart. We accept life for all that it can be, on earth as throughout all creation....
We Are Part of the Mystery
Spirit of life—mysterious power in all creation—we gather before you now as countless others have stood asking that you make yourself known to us. Let us find you in the glories and wonders of the world and in moments of great joy and ecstasy. But most of all, let us find you in the commonplace:...
O Thou, whose kingdom is within
O Thou, whose kingdom is within, may all thy names be hallowed. May no one of them be turned against the others to divide those who address thee. May thy presence be made known to us in mercy, beauty, love and justice. May thy kingdom come to be in the life of all humankind....
Traditional Transylvanian Blessing (II)
I am Unitarian, I live and work in this faith. Jesus is my guide And God is my help. We, humans, are all brothers/sisters, Our law is one: love. The goal of our work is shared, Happy are those of God's Kingdom...
Listening for Our Song
On sabbatical in East Africa, I heard a story of a people who believe that we are each created with our own song. Their tradition as a community is to honor that song by singing it as welcome when a child is born, as comfort when the child is ill, in celebration when the child marries, and in...
The Web of Life
There is a living web that runs through us To all the universe Linking us each with each and through all life On to the distant stars. Each knows a little corner of the world, and lives As if this were his all....
Blessing of the Animals—St. Francis Day
You Birds of the Air, Hawk, Sparrow, and laughing Jay You embody freedom itself, delight us with your song, astound us with feats of migration Grant us your perspective, for too often our horizon is limited and we are blind to the full results of our actions....
The Meaning of the Solstice
While most of us have heard the term, Winter Solstice, we don't necessarily know what it means. Many years ago, when I first started celebrating the solstice, a scientist explained it to me in a way that made sense. Learning from him, I wrote a reflection on the solstice that gives his scientific...
To the Blessings of this Season
To the blessings of this season, may our senses be alert and our hearts take heed, for in a busy and sometimes tragic world, beauty is often the comfort most sure. To the blessings of warm, accepting human relationship, may our hearts be open and our minds take heed, for in a lonely and sometimes...
Guided Meditation on Dying
For this guided meditation, I invite you to get comfortable in your seat. Close your eyes, if you like, and take a deep breath. And another. Now, imagine that your death is a person. What does this person look like? Is the person angry and cruel, or laughing and kind? Does this person attract or...
A Prayer for the Faithifiers
Gracious One: Keep watch on the innovators, the trailblazers, the takers of risk. Invite us to be persons of vision and integrity. Help us to remember the mystery from which possibility is born. Lead us to honor the sacred space where ministries, idealists, and realists meet....
We Thank You God for Potlucks
We thank you God for potlucks Where a multitude can cook With ingredients and spices That aren’t from just one book. From casseroles and dumplings, Hors d’oeurves and canapés, Puddings, sauces, pastas, To sensational flambés. How boring when there’s just one dish Or flavor to fit all. How...
Meditation on Broken Hearts
Let us enter into a time of meditation, contemplation, and prayer. Feel the earth beneath your feet as it supports you. Feel the love of this community as it surrounds and enfolds you. Feel your breath as it flows in and out of your body. Listen to your heartbeat. Listen to your heart . . ....
The Buddha’s Tobacco
I lean back in the chair and exhale a long breath of thick white cigar smoke into the night sky. It rises upward, swirls in a light breeze, and disappears. I think to myself, “Damn this is a good cigar, a good night, and a good place to be for these few moments.” Earlier today, I walked through...
The Edge
A religion that promises a life without tension, a life without conflict, a life without suffering, is a religion of passivity, a religion of mediocrity, a religion of insignificance. Everything worth doing in the world is a desperate gamble, a game of chance, where nothing is certain. What is love?
Graduation
Ever since I graduated from college, I have had a recurring dream. My wife has had it, too, as well as a lot of other people I know. In my dream, it is time to take an exam and I am unprepared. I have not gone to classes all semester. I failed to do the reading....
Psalm for the Wintered Soul
To the Weaver of Molecules, the Spinner of Stars the Impulse that gives birth to the Universe, to the Earth, to Me In the deepest, darkest night of my wintered soul I wrap myself in the blanket of my sadness and grief, pain and suffering, doubts and concerns, fears and questions, and look out fro...
Resistance is Futile
“We want to give you an update on our progress,” the captain said over the PA. A silent groan went through the passengers: the word “update” meant the problem wasn’t fixed. I was on a plane sitting on the tarmac trying to get to the East coast where I was officiating at my nephew’s...
Getting Through This Day
I got out of bed this morning because of all those who had to get out of bed before me: Martin and Coretta, the day after his home was bombed. (What did they tell the children?) My father, every day of his young life in Lowndes County, Alabama....
The Harmony of Healing
The Congregational minister stopped me in the aisle of the supermarket a few months after I had unexpectedly recovered from a serious illness. With a gentle but slightly teasing smile he asked me, “How does a Unitarian deal with a miracle?” It was a good question, one which I thought about a...
Kindled Concerns
Ours is a spiritual community where we find and forge connection. We trust in the strength of our mutual support, knowing how it has sustained us, day after day, year after year. Today we hold in the light: _________ and we lift up: _________ Now you are invited to recall the names of persons or...
Spoken and Silent Meditation or Prayer
We join together now in a time of meditation or prayer, spoken at first and then for a time in the peace that silence brings.
Meditation on Hands
I invite you into a space of quiet and peace, to ground yourself by noticing your contact with chair and floor, by sitting straight, by becoming aware of your breathing. Look at your hands....
Now, in shared quietness,
Now, in shared quietness, we shall listen to the wisdom of our inner hearts and minds as we join in meditation.
Church History Service Meditation
On this both joyous and solemn day we have reason to celebrate; we have reason to be grateful; we have reason to be proud. We gather in the shadow of a world unsure of itself, of plans for peace lost in the plague of ambition, of a planet under threat. And yet, we have cause to be hopeful. Our...
For an Interfaith Dialog
God of all peoples, Spirit of life and love, be in our hearts and minds this hour. Bless this gathering and this place. Help us tonight to speak to one another as we would be spoken to, with truthfulness and kindly regard....
Earth Day Prayer: In the Spirit of Indigenous Traditions
Infinite Spirit, sometimes called Grandfather, Grandmother —...
Prayer for UN Sunday
Spirit of Life, We are here as a community dedicated to all that is good and just and beautiful. We ask that we might be strengthened in our dedication to a better world. In time of war, when national pride and anger overwhelms the call for world community, We would remember all those around the...
O Thou whose power we see in the stars
O Thou whose power we see in the stars and whose presence we experience as love, we would today be sustained by that power and open to that love. Help us to remember that "as we sow, so shall we reap"—that whatever we project out from ourselves also comes back to us....
In the name of all that is good and holy
In the name of all that is good and holy, with the Spirit of Life and Love which dwells within and among and beyond us,We bless you.May your journey know joy and contentment and satisfaction.May it also know pain and disappointment in just enough measure to grow within you good character and...
On Being Scared
I spent some time this weekend with an old friend, a dentist. She's considering buying her own practice, but wonders if she could retain the current patients and attract new ones. She wonders if the office staff would like her, or befriend her too much, or resent her, or desert her; she wonders...
Spirit of the Harvest
Each of us will be grateful this Thanksgiving in differing ways, Gathered in our separate families, Each with our own distinct recipes, customs and traditions; For some will have pies of mince, And others of pumpkin or apple; And some will dine early And some sit down late to the meal, Passing on...
Meditation on the Equinox
Over our heads, the great wheel of stars shifts, the autumnal (or spring) equinox manifests itself, and for one precious instant darkness and light exist in balanced proportion to one another. Within our minds the great web of neurons shifts, new consciousness arises, and for one precious instant...
Prayer for Christmas Eve
Please join me in a spirit of prayer or meditation as you are moved. Blessed and holy night, silent night, full of truths too awesome to bend into words, we sit in the glow of ages, wound round stories that teach us some of what it means to be human, and some of what it means to see God. The...