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Love is reaching through the generations with expectations that I live through challenging times.Reflection | By Melissa Jeter | November 2, 2022 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Direct Experience, Earth, Fall, Family, Generations, Healing, Love, Presence, Worship -
Our family secret is soul-sucking depression.Reading | By Kate Landis | October 18, 2022 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Depression, Direct Experience, Family, Healing, Hope, Love, Mental Health, Secular, Truth, WorshipWeb, Worship -
The real holy of holies happens in sobriety when relationships with self and others are healthy and whole.Meditation | By Anonymous | January 28, 2022 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Addiction/Recovery, Direct Experience, Healing, Health, Letting Go, Secular, WorshipWeb, Worship
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Surrendering to the truth of my addiction has been the most empowering act of my life.Meditation | By Anonymous | January 28, 2022 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Acceptance, Addiction/Recovery, Direct Experience, Healing, Health, Letting Go, Secular, WorshipWeb, Worship
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I am afraid and exhausted from the constant fear. I don’t know who to trust for information about the virus.Ritual | By Kate Landis | March 16, 2021 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #COVID19, Brokenness, Death, Direct Experience, Disaster or Crisis, Grief, Healing, Hope, Secular, Solidarity, WorshipWeb, Worship -
A reflection from the Side With Love Sunday worship service.Reflection | By Laura Conkle | March 10, 2021 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #30DaysOfLove, #SideWithLove, Direct Experience, Healing, Humanism, Inclusion, Justice, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Living Our Faith, Poverty, Secular, Unitarian Universalism -
I've adopted the practice of spiritual reconnection with my ancestors to heal intergenerational trauma.Reflection | By Jabari S. Jones | February 10, 2021 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), America, Anti-Oppression, Black History / Whitney Young / James Reeb, Direct Experience, Diversity, Generations, Healing, History, International, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Race/Ethnicity, Transformation, Trauma, Worship -
Uncertain as the world feels right now, love will bear whatever lies ahead.Reflection | By Julie Fanselow | November 4, 2020 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: America, Body, Brokenness, Democracy, Direct Experience, Healing, Health, Humanism, Marriage, Secular, Worship -
I take care of myself first, because I am deserving of exquisite care. I take care of myself to maintain the capacity to help others. I move and stretch my body every day. I spend time in nature, attuning my senses to the earth's wisdom. I ration my daily exposure to the news....Meditation | By Laura Mancuso | April 21, 2020 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #COVID19, 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Direct Experience, Healing, Health, Humanism, Letting Go, Limitations, Secular, Self-Care, Self-Respect, Spiritual Practice -
What if you thought of it as the Jews consider the Sabbath— the most sacred of times? Cease from travel. Cease from buying and selling. Give up, just for now, on trying to make the world different than it is. Sing. Pray. Touch only those to whom you commit your life. Center down. And when your...Poetry | By Lynn Ungar | March 17, 2020 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #COVID19, Body, Contemplation, Direct Experience, Healing, Judaism, Sacred, Wisdom -
“Trauma is not what happens to us, but what we hold inside in the absence of an empathetic witness.”...Quote | By Peter A. Levine | March 4, 2020 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Brokenness, Direct Experience, Empathy, Healing, Humanism, Secular, Self-Care, Self-Respect, Trauma -
The crisis was an opportunity to learn to be fully me and love it, inner turmoil and all. I learned that strength comes from authenticity, never from perfection.Reflection | By Tomo Hillbo | November 27, 2019 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Brokenness, Conscience, Direct Experience, Family, Grief, Healing, Love, Mothers, Self-Care, Self-Respect, Vulnerability -
God, teach us to consider also how others experience the world. To understand how my reality and their reality are different and yet they share qualities of the same core desire. Teach us to listen for shared feelings, for places of connection. Teach us to be curious and open to hearing differences.Prayer | By Tanya Cothran | September 11, 2019 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Christianity, Compassion, Direct Experience, Empathy, God, Healing, Imagination, Immanence, Love, Unity, Vulnerability -
[S]piritual and meditative practices are not meant to erase pain. That's a symptom of our pain-avoidant culture, and not an accurate portrayal of the practices themselves. It's a misuse of so many beautiful teachings to force them into roles they were never meant to play....Quote | By Megan Devine | February 4, 2019 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Brokenness, Death, Despair, Direct Experience, Grief, Healing, Humanism, Mindfulness, Pain, Secular, Spiritual Practice, Wholeness -
Leader: Because the daily pressure of life weighs heavy on our minds, on our bodies, and on our spirits. All: We need a time of sabbath rest. Leader: Because the stresses of our culture often leave us feeling burdened and looking for hope. All: We need a time of sabbath rest....Litany | By Dan Lambert | December 21, 2018 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Balance, Body, Direct Experience, Healing, Health, Self-Care, Work -
Let our lives be a prayer That waters dry souls Mends broken hearts Refuses to be terrorized Seeks this world’s beauty And carries us through its storms.Closing | By Joel Miller | December 21, 2018 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Beauty, Direct Experience, Healing, Integrity, Living Our Faith, Spiritual Practice, Unitarian Universalism -
We are broken, O God. We are broken. We gather in vigil again to mourn the death of school children and school teachers. Death and violence are the reasons that draw us together in sorrow, in anger, in anxious grief and loss....Prayer | By Douglas Taylor | December 7, 2018 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), 5th Principle (Conscience & Democracy), Brokenness, Direct Experience, Disaster or Crisis, Grief, Healing, Violence -
In the days ahead, many of us will gather with family and friends, people with whom we may have long and complicated relationships. It helps to prepare. Let us enter into the spirit of prayer or meditation. Dear Spirit, Great Mystery that has blessed us with Life, help us to feel grateful....Prayer | By Susanne Intriligator | June 18, 2018 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Brokenness, Challenge, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Direct Experience, Family, Father's Day, Forgiveness, Healing, Humanism, Mother's Day, Searching, Secular, Thanksgiving, Tradition
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I invite you to enter a period of quiet for a guided meditation. You may wish to adjust your position so that your spine is straight, your body relaxed, your hands resting gently in your lap. You will probably want to close your eyes and shut out all the distractions of the light....Meditation | By Shari Woodbury | March 15, 2018 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Awe, Creativity, Direct Experience, Earth-Centered, Healing, Humanism, Presence, Silence, Unitarian Universalism, Winter Solstice / Yule -
I wanted so much to believe that God was watching over this boy, that God was tender and protective and fiercely on the side of life and that this boy would not slip away.Reflection | By Elea Kemler | February 21, 2018 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Children, Depression, Direct Experience, Family, Healing, Humanism, Illness, Mental Health, Mothers, Presence, Secular, Unitarian Universalism -
Every little thing that breaks your heart Is welcome here We'll make a space for it Give it its due time and praise for the wanting it represents the longing for something more, some healing hope that remains not yet We promise no magic no making it all better But offer only this circle of trust...Opening | By Gretchen Haley | February 19, 2018 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Acceptance, Compassion, Direct Experience, Growth, Healing, Hospitality, Unitarian Universalism -
“We are all broken by something. We have all hurt someone and have been hurt. We all share the condition of brokenness even if our brokenness is not equivalent. The ways in which I have been hurt—and have hurt others—are different from the ways [others have] suffered and caused suffering. But...Quote | By Bryan Stevenson | February 8, 2018 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Brokenness, Connections, Direct Experience, Healing, Humanism, Interdependence, Secular, Unity -
Remembering to breathe and to breathe deeply and then once more, to take the breath in and let the breath out, we pause, poised as we are, at a point of risking, at a possibility of courage: #metoo. Risking vulnerability Risking pain Risking being known Risking being not believed Risking being...Prayer | By Karen G. Johnston | January 23, 2018 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Body, Courage, Direct Experience, Gender, Healing, Mothers, Sexuality, Vulnerability, Wholeness, Women -
This message for all ages involves two people, one of whom will need to bring forward a broken mug, plate, or bowl. These two leaders might hold a private rehearsal so that, in worship, this feels natural and playful — and yet meaningful....Time for All Ages | By Jaelynn Pema-la Scott, Erika Hewitt | December 16, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 6th Principle (World Community), Beginnings, Brokenness, Community, Direct Experience, Healing, Humanism, Integrity, International, Living Our Faith, Love, Relationships, Responsibility, Secular, Trust -
So much undone. So much to do. So much to heal in us and the world. So much to acquire: a meal a healthy body— a fit one— a lover a job a better job proof we have and are enough just around the corner of now. And up against it the reality of all that falls short and the limits of today. We honor...Prayer | By Vanessa Rush Southern | November 23, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Acceptance, Compassion, Direct Experience, Empathy, Healing, Letting Go, Love, Patience, Self-Care, Wholeness -
"How complicated it is to break silence: to open all of the secrets in all of our broken hearts. But silence does break; truth seeks the light. We're unraveling silence because we have determined that our power with one another is greater than the power someone once had over us."Reflection | By Erika Hewitt | November 15, 2017 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Brokenness, Direct Experience, Gender, Healing, Humanism, Men, Power, Silence, Truth, Violence, Women -
Spirit of Life and of Love, Holy One that reaches wide to encompass all beings, Hold us to Yourself in this moment. We come to this place carrying so much in our hearts. Around us we hear the laments of a broken world, Torn by fire, storm and strife, Crying, “I too have suffered. I too have been...Prayer | By Rev. Molly Brewer | October 21, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Anti-Oppression, Body, Direct Experience, Healing, Pain, Power, Salvation, Solidarity, Vulnerability, Wholeness, Women -
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...Meditation | By Barbara Rohde | October 19, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Awe, Body, Contemplation, Direct Experience, Good, Gratitude, Healing, Health, Wonder -
Let us open our hearts, still our minds and enter a time of prayer. Let us call forth and hold in our hearts the stories of all who have come before us, the memories of those who are with us today, and the hope for tomorrow and for all of those who will come after us. Let us be thankful for this...Prayer | By Viola Abbitt | October 15, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Anti-Oppression, Commitment, Direct Experience, Forgiveness, Healing, Listening, Multiculturalism, Race/Ethnicity, Reconciliation, Unitarian Universalism
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Spirit of Life and Love, God of Many Names, we gather in awareness of the opportunity before us as Unitarian Universalists. We have been given many chances before today to heal the wounds of the racism and oppression that have beset our denomination for many years, and held us back from realizing...Prayer | By Connie Simon | October 15, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Anti-Oppression, Commitment, Community, Direct Experience, Healing, Integrity, Living Our Faith, Multiculturalism, Race/Ethnicity, Reconciliation, Unitarian Universalism
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One: Listening is not an act of the ear, listening is an act of the heart. Many: In these times when so much speaks: outrage, anger, disillusionment. One: Rage is a constant cry. Derision has found his voice. The despair of the fair and faithful speaks fast and often. The whisper of despair grows...Responsive Reading | By Leslie Takahashi | September 12, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Caring, Direct Experience, Empathy, Healing, Meditation Practices, Multiculturalism, Prayer Practices, Unitarian Universalism, Wholeness
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One: It may be the hardest thing we will ever do, Many: Caught up in our self-righteousness, honing our pain. One: The one who offended may not deserve forgiveness Many: And we are not obliged to offer it. One: Why, then, should we forgive? Many: Because we have all caused pain....Responsive Reading | By Amanda Udis-Kessler | July 3, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Direct Experience, Fire Communion, Forgiveness, Growth, Healing, Humanism, Letting Go, Limitations, New Year, Spiritual Practice, Transformation, Yom Kippur
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”If we don’t find a way to transform our pain, we will always transmit it to those around us or turn it against ourselves… If your religion is not teaching you how to recognize, hold, and transform suffering, it is junk religion.” —Fr. Richard Rohr People are in pain all around us, all of...Reflection | By Erika Hewitt | May 10, 2017 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Brokenness, Buddhism, Compassion, Connections, Direct Experience, Healing, Mystery, Pain, Spiritual Practice, Spirituality, Unitarian Universalism -
The 7 Jobs Capitalism Asks of All of Us: 1. Measure Self Worth by Work: Don’t believe in the inherent goodness of people. Instead decide that everyone’s worth is only as much as they achieve. 2. Accept that Oppression is the Norm: This starts with adultism the moment we are born and conditions...Reading | By Talia Cooper | April 20, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Activism, Arts & Music, Character, Direct Experience, Healing, Integrity, Relationships, Secular, Self-Respect -
On this Father’s Day, we recognize the vast spectrum of experience and the often-complicated feelings that surround such a celebration. We honor those fathers and father figures in our lives who have loved, supported, encouraged and instructed us, and we seek to share these gifts with others. We...Meditation | By Rod Richards | April 13, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Children, Direct Experience, Family, Father's Day, Fathers, Generations, Healing, Men, Relationships, Secular -
There we were, two strangers idling at the red light―but I felt seen, and blessed, by a stranger.Reflection | By Erika Hewitt | March 15, 2017 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Body, Courage, Direct Experience, Healing, Hope, Humanism, Illness, Interdependence, Kindness, Mystery, Secular -
we were erased and still we loved we were shamed and still we loved we were expelled and still we loved we were laughed at and still we loved we were hunted and still we loved we were sacrificed and still we loved we were marketed and still we loved we were legislated and still we loved we were...Poetry | By Becky Brooks | August 1, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), America, Anti-Oppression, Direct Experience, Healing, Identity, Inclusion, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Love, Pride Sunday, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Solidarity -
One: Spirit of Guiding Love, we give thanks today for all of the people who followed a dream, and whose vision, persistence, labor, and commitment have given us the gift of this labyrinth. All: Bless this labyrinth and all who use it....Litany | By Kristin Grassel Schmidt | May 31, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Beginnings, Building/Space Dedication, Direct Experience, Earth-Centered, Ending, Healing, Home, Journey, Mystery, Paganism, Secular, Spiritual Practice, Transformation -
Don’t speak to me of “healing” racism, or “wounded souls” or the “painful hurt” until you are willing to feel the scars on my great-great-grandmother Laury’s back. Don’t speak to me of “values” or “justice” or “righting wrongs” until you are able to feel the heartache...Reading | By Adam Lawrence Dyer | May 17, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, America, Anti-Oppression, Brokenness, Direct Experience, Healing, Identity, Justice, Personal Stories, Race/Ethnicity, Responsibility, Secular, Shame -
Sisters, I stand before you without homily or lecture or opinion. I stand here naked on the page. I stand here with my hands extended in helpless prayer. I will never know your pain. I will never know your agony of spirit. I will never know the dark nights of your souls. I will never know the...Prayer | By Brian Doyle | April 20, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Body, Children, Choice, Compassion, Direct Experience, Healing, Health, Reproductive Justice -
Take a moment to breathe into the silence. Our breath is always with us. We can always come back to the breath, our anchor, our grounding, our freedom. Spirit of life and love, we are here not just minds and hearts, but bodies too. We human beings, spirit and body joined together. On this day we...Prayer | By Laura Horton-Ludwig | March 2, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Aging, Body, Direct Experience, Healing, Intimacy, Secular, Unitarian Universalism, Wholeness, Reproductive Justice -
Love is the aspiration, the spirit that moves and inspires this faith we share. Rightly understood, love can nurture our spirits and transform the world....Chalice Lighting | By Maureen Killoran | February 26, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Body, Challenge, Community, Direct Experience, Faith, Generosity, Healing, Love, Mourning, Power, Spirituality, Transformation, Valentine's Day, WorshipWeb -
Bruises are a part of roller derby — a celebrated part. It’s not uncommon for players to take pictures of their biggest, most colorful shaped bruises: bruises that go deep into your tissue, and come out in amazing blues, purples, and blacks that eventually fade to greens, browns and yellows. A...Reading | By Dawn Skjei Cooley | February 23, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 6th Principle (World Community), Anti-Oppression, Black History / Whitney Young / James Reeb, Body, Commitment, Direct Experience, Healing, Justice, Multiculturalism, Privilege, Race/Ethnicity, Secular -
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...Meditation | By Cynthia Frado | December 8, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Agnosticism, Depression, Direct Experience, Growth, Healing, Imbolc / Brighid's Day / Candlemas, Indigenous American, Meditation Practices, Mourning, Sadness, Secular, Transcendence, Transformation, Trust, Twelfth Night / Epiphany, Unitarian Universalism, Winter Solstice / Yule, WorshipWeb
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We are called today, from the midst of pain and challenge, we are called to praise the world. From a world that appears broken, we are called to praise life’s moments of joy and grace. From time that seems to freeze in ongoing exchanges of platitudes and blame, we are called to reach out to those...Opening | By Maureen Killoran | December 8, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 6th Principle (World Community), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Community, Direct Experience, Grief, Healing, Justice, Pain, WorshipWeb
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A man sits on the rubble— not just in the rubble, but on the pile of what remains. No people in the bombed-out houses. No dogs. No birds. Just ragged hunks of concrete and loss. And on his perch he is playing an instrument constructed of what is left—an olive oil can, a broom handle, a bowed...Poetry | By Lynn Ungar | November 20, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Arts & Music, Direct Experience, Grief, Healing, Hope, Humanism, War, Wholeness -
We ask for the presence of the Spirit of Life & Love as we come together in a spirit of prayer and remembrance on this 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and the Federal Flood. We remember our old sense of invulnerability, how we used to think, “Hurricanes always turn away,” or “Hurricanes...Prayer | By Melanie Morel-Ensminger | August 12, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: America, Direct Experience, Disaster, Healing, History, Nature, Trauma -
Mother's Day is complicated. Joyful for many, yes, but complicated. It's right there on the calendar, even if your mother has died....Opening | By Becky Brooks | May 28, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Brokenness, Children, Direct Experience, Family, Grief, Healing, Humanism, Love, Mother's Day, Mothers, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Relationships, Wholeness -
It is an hour before sunrise. The waves keep coming, but each minute they make less progress than the minute before....Meditation | By Elizabeth Tarbox | May 28, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Brokenness, Caring, Compassion, Direct Experience, Earth-Centered, Forgiveness, Guilt, Healing, Nature, Pain, Sadness, Vulnerability
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Holidays are complicated, especially the ones named after roles. Human relationships are messy, including relationships with people who are honored by holidays. For a lot of people, Father’s Day brings up feelings of grief for fathers who were lost, or who couldn’t be there, or who chose not to...Prayer | By Lyn Cox | May 6, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Direct Experience, Family, Father's Day, Fathers, Forgiveness, Healing, Humanism, Men, Parents, Relationships, WorshipWeb