The Moment of Magic
Now is the moment of magic, when the whole, round earth turns again toward the sun....
Meditation: Breathe with Me
Breathe with me You who feel sorrows calling across the oceans, calling across the room, echoing in the spacious cavern of your chest. Breathe with me You who wake with the sun carrying a restlessness to make justice and do mercy....
There Is a Love
There is a love Holding me. There is a love Holding you. There is a love Holding all. I rest in this love. —Rebecca Parker, Unitarian Universalist...
May All the Beings in the Worlds Be Happy
May all the beings in all the worlds be happy. May all the beings in all the worlds be happy. May all the beings in all the worlds be happy. Om Peace, Peace, Peace. One of the earliest and most important religious texts of ancient India, the Rig Veda is the oldest of the four collections of hymns...
Wage Peace
Wage peace with your breath. Breathe in firefighters and rubble, breathe out whole buildings and flocks of red wing blackbirds. Breathe in terrorists and breathe out sleeping children and freshly mown fields. Breathe in confusion and breathe out maple trees. Breathe in the fallen and breathe out...
The Inescapable Divine
Waiting is a window opening on many landscapes. For some, waiting means the cessation of all activity when energy is gone and exhaustion is all that the heart can manage. It is the long, slow panting of the spirit. For some, waiting is a time of intense preparation for the next leg of the journey.
I Want to Be Better
The concern which I lay bare before God today is my need to be better: I want to be better than I am in my most ordinary day-by-day contacts: With my friends— With my family— With my casual contacts— With my business relations— With my associates in work and play. I want to be better than I...
I Am Afraid of Nearly Everything
I am afraid of nearly everything: of darkness, hunger, war, children mutilated. But most of all, I am afraid of what I might become: reconciled to injustice, resigned to fear and despair, lulled into a life of apathy. Unchain my hope, make me strong. Stretch me towards the impossible, that I may...
Faith, For Now
As we settle into our seat all of our life comes down with us, like an extended slinky retracting into a single cylinder Back you snap into this body and breath where each day is born and done familiar in this cushion familiar in this ache....
Prayer for Congregational Meeting
Spirit of life and love God of many names—and no name— Divine spirit which resides in all, We do not always understand each other. We do not always speak or listen carefully. We often find it difficult to look beyond our selves to our common purpose, and We cause suffering to each other and...
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....
Communion Prayer
Spirit of Life and of Love, Deep down we know that there is a greater mystery, a life and a pulse with which we are all connected. We know also that our lives are happier, healthier and more satisfying when we reach out to it, when we make it a conscious and real aspect of our lives. Yet it is so...
Easter Meditation
Let us do the unthinkable thing. We'll sit and breathe together on the edge of our seats in a world that pollenates and reproduces, shape shifting and breaking into bloom. Let us sit and breathe together as one breath, sit still just long enough for each of our dreams to rise and silently hover...
UU Leader's Prayer
With gratitude and grace we lead forward to answer the call of our faith, we move happily together into the unknown, we open ourselves to growth, we go forth to begin the change to our corner of the world, we covenant together to transform the world through love and we are moved by Spirit to...
Flower Communion Blessing
Each of us is a flower, with a delicate beauty uniquely our own. We may be like sunflowers, turning always towards the light. May our lives bloom like the flowers. We may be like night-blooming cereus, only displaying our fragrant petals when it is dark and we think no one can see. May our lives...
A Thanksgiving for the Elements
The strength of the Earth is the stones And the same is the source of our bones. The Water flows across the ground And within our blood. The Air blows around the world And brings us our breath. The Fire streams forth from the Sun without ceasing And sustains our lives. By these elements We are...
On Veterans Day
"If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is 'Thank You,' it will be enough" — Meister Eckhart Today we have set aside time to publicly say thank you to our siblings who have served in the Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Navy and Marines; to say 'Thank You' to all who served, whatev...
Veterans Day Invocation
Father God, Mother God, God of many names and of none, we invite your presence; be with us this morning. Be with us as we honor our veterans of wartime; teach us how to care for those who have borne arms in our names. Be with us as we honor our veterans of peacetime; teach us to care for all who...
As the year winds down
As the year winds down to its close And we are submerged once again In the seasonal darkness we have come to know so well, We have reason to think back upon the year that was, If only because it will soon be gone....
Christmas Eve Prayer
Source of all gifts, Giver of all peace, On this silent and holy night we celebrate once again our deep faith that this venture we call existence is not meaningless, is not hopeless....
The Invitation
We know the story: an angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds. The glory of the Lord shone around them. A great light descends on dark fields, happy angels and cherubim sing for joy, play their lutes, and dance about to defy the gravity of earthly cares....
Let Us Hear, Let Us See, Let Us Be
Source of Life, Taker of Life, Transformer of Life, Life Itself We implore you—hear us. Let us hear ourselves. Let us hear our own cries for help. Let us hear the pangs that rise from our bodies. Let us hear our bodies. Let us hear our breaths. Let us hear our living soul, its bellowing laughter...
A Reflection and Prayer after Sarin Gas
All violence is framed by blood. Our scars are the red line reminders— for the survivors, and all who follow later. See them, and do not turn away from the violence that drew them. Feel the scars you know, and hear the ones whispered about— They are guides. They are pathways, as much as they are...
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...
Imagine yourself on a wide, flowing river in a small boat
Imagine yourself on a wide, flowing river in a small boat, You are one little speck of being in a wide expanse of water bordered by rocky cliffs, towering trees and bright blue skies. Ahead of you are boulders and white water rapids, but also calm pools and sand bars for picnics. Around you are...
Crossing Bridges
When I was very young, my family often went camping at Assateague Island on the Maryland shore. It was a long drive, but there were lots of adventures along the way. The last adventure was crossing the Verrazano Bridge over the Sinepuxent Bay. This was one of my favorite moments. As we approached...
Within This Instant
Within the space of an instant, you can make a first impression show gratitude, kiss, change your mind, wipe away a tear, live, and die. It only takes a minute to write a note, tell a joke, change a diaper, sing a song, or be still....
We Matter (Joys and Sorrows Meditation)
In our community we make time each week to share pieces of our lives with one another. We do this because each person in this community has value. Each person’s experience matters. We share our sorrows with one another today, knowing that sorrow comes into each person’s life, knowing that...
O Send Forth Me
O, send forth me, spirit, O Send Forth Me (form for corporate worship) O, send forth us, spirit, forth to do well our work, work of our lives, our living. May these our lives touch healingly, lovingly, those in need of love and healing....
The Death of American Innocence
Innocence does not die at once, in that first raptured thrust. It dies in each small seduction, in every subsequent acquiescence....
Let Us Make this Earth a Heaven
Let us make this earth a heaven, right here, right now. Who knows what existences death will bring? Let us create a heaven here on earth where love and truth and justice reign....
Wise Woman Redwood
I lean against wise woman redwood, press my cheek to her scaly side and cry, whisper how I wish to be a tree, so I would no longer have to see what humans do to one another. Her wooden reedy voice replies, "Yes, but then you'd listen to earth lament what humans do to her."...
Pastoral Thought: December 16, 2001
The holiday season is upon us But this year many of us Move toward it with leaden feet. It has been such a year....
The Deep Well of Appreciation
To rise, to rise each morning with the faint glow of starlight on our backs as we head into the joys, the surprises, the challenges of each day sometimes with awe and wonder, perhaps expectation, perhaps dread… To rise, to rise each day peering over waterlines, sandbags, walls, garbage, bunkers…...
A Prayer as the Supreme Court Considers SB 1070
On April 25, the Supreme Court of the United States began hearing oral arguments about the constitutionality of Arizona’s S.B. 1070 law, a law that broadly targets undocumented immigrants. Many across the country, including Unitarian Universalists and other people of faith, anxiously awaited the...
Prayer for Travelers / Oración Para Los Viajeros
In English This is a prayer for all the travelers. For the ones who start out in beauty, who fall from grace, who step gingerly, looking for the way back. And for those who are born into the margins, who travel from one liminal space to another, crossing boundaries in search of center. This is a...
Join Hands - Join Spirits
Good Friend, your soul is within me now, And I hallow your spirit with my love. Our peace will come and goodwill shall be done, And we will learn that our Earth is our Heaven. This day and all days, I offer you My bread, my hand and my heart....
Prayer of Hope and Healing
To the God of our own understanding, the spirit with whom we commune this morning – we ask that our minds be open, our hearts welcoming, our arms embracing. We lift up those whose lives are touched by sadness, by illness, by worry, or by loneliness. May they find comfort, hope, and healing...
Your Presence Is Near
We have not forgotten In nature we seek you In the whisper of wind In the new green wood Your presence is near We have not lost hope In the dust of the desert In the rush of the wave In the rise of the mountain Your presence is near We remember the cycle In the promise of blossoms In the dying...
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...
Prayer for the Opening of the Coming of Age Program
Great Spirit of Life, be with us now as we witness these, our youth. By laying our hands on you, we infuse you with the power of our love. The many generations of families who have participated in the life of this congregation have left for you the legacy of their love and commitment....
Prayer for Bridging Youth
Great Spirit of Life, be with us now as we honor these, our young adults. By laying our hands on you, we infuse you with the power of our love. The many generations of families who have participated in the life of this congregation have left for you the legacy of their love and commitment. Those...
Let Us Rest In This Peace
Spirit of Life and Love, We have gathered again out of our separateness to know that we are not alone. In our fears, we are not alone. In our grasping for peace, finding it in fleeting moments, and losing it again to some turmoil of the mind and heart, we are not alone....
Three Things
The storm outside echoes the storm raging within my soul. So many people in need… so much pain, so much grief. Too many causes and campaigns fill my mailboxes, sap my energy, beg for my money. Three things I must do...only three things? You've got to be kidding—which three do I choose? Books and...
Unitarian Universalist Confession
Here we are gathered, Humanist, and Christian, Non-theist, Buddhist, and Jew, Pagan, and Seeker—a Unitarian Universalist congregation. Let us confess what we know to be true.We are quick to proclaim our faith, but slow to live the teachings of that faith as it has been handed down to us, across...
There Is Room For You Here
If God is your strength and companion and prayer the means of centering your thoughts, There is room for you here. If the teachings of the Buddha give you clarity and calm in the midst of human striving, There is room for you here If Gaia’s seasonal rhythms lead you best through the myriad steps...
We Give Thanks For The Animals
We give thanks for the animals Who live close to nature, Who remind us of the sanctities of birth and death, Who do not trouble their lives with foreboding or grief, Who let go each moment as it passes, And accept each new one as it comes With serenity and grace....
A Thanksgiving Blessing
Let us join hands and hearts in gratitude on this wondrous day, where we have the abundance of our lives before us. We remember, on this day of bounty, all those who do not have enough, who are afraid, who are lonely, and who suffer....
A Thanksgiving Meditation
Every day we experience hunger and yearning: for food, for approval, for respect, for love, for meaningful work, for any and enough work, for home, for family, for friends, for health, for healing, for hope, for the departed, for the newly arrived, for the green trees, for the cool clean waters, ...
The Quiet and the Calm
Let us seek the quiet and the calm Let us lay aside our loud calling Let us lay aside our struggle Speak softly: let us listen to the melodies that recall other proportions Our moments tarry not with us Let us then seek the dimension that endures beyond all nowness and hereness beyond all...