I offer my "Ouch" with hope and trust.

The moment of asking for help is a tender moment.

"I remove my shoes because this is hallowed ground," the guide says. "A holy place, not an everyday life place." The guide tells us how we know—or think we know—it was the one and not the other for those people millennia ago. But aren’t the places where we live holy ground? Don’t our very...

No hot house flowers, these, bred for perfection, dyed and trimmed, and arranged to order, clothed in ribbons and bows. Not these. No, these are hardy, raw and wild. Grown under the sky, they’ve weathered the wind and the rain and the heat. These drew nutrients from the neighborhood soil and...

Six weeks into the church year, I have realized that I am the minister of a church where things usually go wrong. This morning the copy machine jams repeatedly. The bulletin describing the order of worship has been copied with the second page first and also upside down....

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.

The universe does not revolve around you. The stars and planets spinning through the ballroom of space dance with one another quite outside of your small life. You cannot hold gravity or seasons; even air and water inevitably evade your grasp. Why not, then, let go?...

When I was a child, I would stand and gaze at the starry firmament and contemplate infinity. As I stood there, the boundary that is time dissolved; I expanded my Spirit to fill the boundary that is space. My being stilled and all fear, anxiety, and anguish disappeared....

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....

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...

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...

To be shared after the flowers have been distributed... Within our hands we hold the resurrection of the world. Transient and imperfect, these blossoms are still gifts of infinite value. Like ourselves. Too often we seek permanence and perfection. Resisting change, blind to our shortcomings, We...

Holy Spirit of Life and Love, You who are our source and our ultimate destiny, Lead us this day on a crooked path. So often we are in so much of a hurry Taking the direct route to our goal, Not allowing ourselves to be distracted, Sometimes being too direct with one another in all that we seek to...

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....

Unto that which is noblest in each of us we make appeal. Unto those common ideals of justice and mercy that bind us in common humanity we turn for inspiration. Unto the fearless dreams of our forebears in the worship of their gods and their vision of truth, we bow in gratitude. Unto the larger...

"Heart's delight, Source of mercy," beyond my sight yet beside my soul, holy is the very thought of thee. Justice is your call and love your enfolding heart. Abide with us day by day even in our stumbling, that we may grow in our compassion for our kindred....

Day by day, month by month, year by year we are confronted with all that we do not know, that we do not understand, that we do not grasp....

When I was a child, the day after Thanksgiving was steeped in ritual. Every year my family would travel to Chicago for the holiday festivities. Our tour was always the same: We'd tromp up and down Michigan Ave., admiring store windows with animated mechanical dolls that served as actors for the...