Spring Has Arrived
Beneath the snow, life is bursting, preparing for the next season.
Our Journeys, Our Hearts
We listen to the wisdom of our inner hearts and minds as we join in meditation.
A Prayer for People in War
Spirit of Life, You call us to embody equity and freedom in our lives.
No Longer Strangers
When I first entered the rooms of recovery, I thought I had nothing in common with the people around me.
Keep on Practicing
While it may be urgent to work toward creating justice, I can’t do that unless I have a sense of calm.
Love Is For Everyone, Including Us
For those of us who grew up in homes with addiction or dysfunction, it was so hard to know we were loved.
The Holy of Holies
The real holy of holies happens in sobriety when relationships with self and others are healthy and whole.
Surrendering to the Truth of My Addiction
Surrendering to the truth of my addiction has been the most empowering act of my life.
A Christmas Blessing
The story tells of a woman heavy with child, traveling with her partner to be counted in a census declared by a distant ruler unaware of the lives disrupted or the life that is to come....
A Guided Meditation on Gratitude
Ask yourself, in your heart: What or who are you grateful for?
Immortality
We remember the joys our departed gave us which opened us up to the life shared which is now ours to steward.
The Complex Feelings of Father's Day
Sometimes it feels like Father’s Day is more about enshrining a myth than it is about facing the realities of fatherhood.
Meditation on Letting Go
In our experience of letting go, may we be open to the possibility that we need not pick our worries back up.
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.
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.
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.
God, whom we know as love
Prayer - Wayne Arnason O God, whom we know as love, we gather here this morning as seekers and finders, creators and destroyers, givers and receivers of love....
Holding Reality and Possibility Together
I invite you now into a time of gratitude, reflection, renewal and hope. What an unearned blessing to delight in the calming peace of this space; to hear the robin's song again at daybreak; to feel the warmth in this room, and to enjoy the promise of summer almost upon us....
The Moment of Magic
Now is the moment of magic, when the whole, round earth turns again toward the sun, and here's a blessing: the days will be longer and brighter now, even before the winter settles in to chill us....
Meditation for Yom Kippur
Please join with me in the spirit of meditation and prayer.We have returned again to the time of Atonement, the time to look back over our lives this past year and face the realities of when we have fallen short of the aims set forth in "Moments of high resolve."We have the opportunity, if we cho...
God of goodness
God of goodness, you are the life of life, the breath of all, the eternal yet ever-changing wholeness into which infinity is poured and from which life is born anew. To you I offer myself, with you I simply am; as you I amaze myself with energy, compassion and calm....
Let us pray to the God
Let us pray to the God who holds us in the hollow of his hands -- to the God who holds us in the curve of her arms -- to the God whose flesh is the flesh of hills and hummingbirds and angleworms -- whose skin is the color of an old black woman and a young white man, and the color of the leopard a...
Spirit of life
Spirit of life, we are joined today in a moment of gratitude for a perfect fall day -- for a last blaze of sunshine in a sapphire sky, before the rain and snow -- for gold and crimson leaves, before we are mired in piles of slush -- for the moment of peace and contemplation in which to appreciate...
Speaks from within the heart and soul
O Thou whose voice speaks from within the heart and soul of all, help us to be still, calm, silent, and thoughtful. We desire to listen, to learn and to meditate in such a way that our lives will grow in a new depth of wisdom and understanding....
May Our Lives Be Blest
May our lives be blest according to the depth of our love, the persistence of our faith, our willingness to forgive and be compassionate, and in proportion to our yearning to be free. Amen.
The Healing Moment
Each day I am newly reminded of my unworthiness—a dozen thoughts misspoken; another day when the good I do falls short of the good that I could do; myriad small interchanges; moments of sharing that strain to the breaking point my desire to be generous, helpful, and kind; months of careful work...
The Peace Not Past Understanding
We pray for the peace not past understanding: The peace of children laughing and students quietly studying, Of young women dancing and men flirting beneath the stars. The peace not past understanding: Where no gunfire disrupts the night, Where girls can walk downtown and not be afraid, Where boys...
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......
We Are Whole
We are whole, even in the broken places, even where it hurts. We are whole, even in the broken places, the places where fear impedes our full engagement with life; where self-doubt corrupts our self-love; where shame makes our faces hot and our souls cold. We are whole, even in those places where...
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...
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...
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...
Marginal Wisdom
They teach us to read in black and white. Truth is this—the rest false. You are whole—or broken. Who you love is acceptable—or not. Life tells its truth in many hues. We are taught to think in either/or. To believe the teachings of Jesus—OR Buddha. To believe in human potential—OR a power...
Return
The first stop on U.S. soil after a deployment is the airport. From there, it’s all downhill until you get to see your family and loved ones again. But the airport is its own scene when you’re a soldier in uniform. On my trip home, I’m reminded of the last time I was in the airport—returning...
Paddling, No Water
I have learned some things about life from canoes. I’m not saying I know how to paddle. I have been in canoes twice, and both have been learning experiences. The second time was fun. The first time, a friend and I decided to take one out on a lake. We slid the canoe into the water. She hopped in.
Life is Always Unfinished Business
In the midst of the whirling day, In the hectic rush to be doing, In the frantic pace of life, Pause here for a moment. Catch your breath; Relax your body; Loosen your grip on life....
Acquitted of Universalism
In the newspaper there was a story about a seminary professor in Kansas City who was put on trial by the Southern Baptists, accused of being a Universalist. It's no wonder they were suspicious. He had stated publicly his belief that all people born into the world are children of God....