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Death is a regular part of my job, which makes small talk weird for me at parties.Reflection | By Sarah Gillespie | January 17, 2024 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Death, Direct Experience, Friendship, Grief, Humanism, Ministry, Presence, Worship -
Sometimes we need someone to witness the pain in holy stillness.Reflection | By Jo VonRue | October 18, 2023 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Body, Compassion, Direct Experience, Gender, Ministry, Presence, Sexuality, Trauma, Worship -
Let us bless these candles with our tender hopes for the coming year.Ritual | By SarahRuth Davis | May 10, 2023 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Christmas Eve / Christmas, Presence, Spirituality, WorshipWeb, Worship -
There's an older rhythm calling us to rest.Time for All Ages | By Jamila Batchelder | January 27, 2023 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Balance, Body, Contemplation, Healing, Peace, Presence, Stress, WorshipWeb, Worship
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Life doesn't have to be ever-upward in order to be well-lived.Reflection | By Christine Slocum | January 18, 2023 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Balance, Contemplation, Culture, Presence, Worship -
We need places where we can come and find our grounding once again.Opening | By Heather Rion Starr | January 6, 2023 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Balance, Contemplation, Presence, WorshipWeb, Worship -
Advent encourages us to be present in each moment of waiting.Reflection | By Megan Lloyd Joiner | December 7, 2022 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Advent, Christianity, Contemplation, Patience, Presence, Sacred, Worship -
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 -
Once, during my ministerial internship, a woman I’ll call Clara came up to me during the hustle and bustle before the Sunday service. I knew that Clara struggled with anxiety; now, in great distress, she told me how anxious she was and that she didn’t know what to do. She was frantic, and I...Reading | By Barbara F. Meyers | July 27, 2022 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Acceptance, Caring, Listening, Mental Health, Presence
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I want to be shaped in a way that lets me serve the eternal.Reflection | By Jake Morrill | September 22, 2021 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Contemplation, God, Meaning, Presence, Purpose, Transcendence, Worship -
I believe in your grace and protection and cannot imagine them slipping through the cracks.Reading | By Vanessa Titang | September 15, 2021 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Contemplation, Mystery, Presence, Searching, Transcendence, WorshipWeb, Worship -
May we know that our interconnectedness is a miracle, and may it be a refuge for us.Prayer | By Carter Smith | September 15, 2021 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #COVID19, 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Compassion, God, Grace, Immanence, Presence, WorshipWeb, Worship -
Church is for helping people stay human in the face of inhumane circumstances.Audio Recording | By Erika Hewitt, Elizabeth Stevens | August 2, 2021 | From WorshipLabTagged as: Brokenness, Disaster or Crisis, Presence, Self-Care, Trauma, Worship Tips -
It takes all sorts of caring to create a supportive community.Blessing | By Liz Weber | May 11, 2021 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Abundance, Caring, Compassion, Humanism, Interdependence, Presence, Stewardship -
Maybe hope is fleeting. It leaves and returns again; there’s beauty in its impermanence.Reflection | By Jessica Clay | March 10, 2021 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Animals, Contemplation, Earth, Earth-Centered, Nature, Presence, Secular, Winter, Worship -
Sometimes, there is no reprieve from the pain of this world. Sometimes, it is too big and too obvious to ignore.Reflection | By HP Rivers | October 21, 2020 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Caring, Christianity, Connections, Family, Generations, God, Goddess, Paganism, Presence, Sorrow, Spiritual Practice, Worship -
The most life-giving coping strategy—for me—is to attune to a voice calmer and wiser than mine, and allow that seeking to be its own expression of faith.Reflection | By Erika Hewitt | July 22, 2020 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Calling, Direct Experience, Discernment, Faith, Letting Go, Listening, Presence, Searching, Spiritual Practice -
I hope that this Great Silence, which has come alongside the suffering, holds the beginnings of our healing.Reflection | By Elea Kemler | May 6, 2020 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Balance, Beauty, Body, Direct Experience, Earth-Centered, Hope, Humanism, Imagination, Nature, Presence, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Secular, Spring -
Let me find peace within So that I may be calm throughout. Let me find silence within So that I may find compassion throughout. Let me be reminded that some things Are worth waiting for. Let me be reminded that the journey Is more important than reaching the destination. Let me see that the...Prayer | By Kenneth P. Langer | April 29, 2020 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Balance, Contemplation, Humility, Peace, Presence -
There is a Universal Love that has never broken faith with us and never will.Affirmation | By Rebecca Ann Parker | April 21, 2020 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Acceptance, Compassion, Love, Peace, Presence, Unitarian Universalism -
Give up the fight For some other moment Some other life Than here, and now Give up the longing for some other world The wishing for other choices to make other songs to sing other bodies, other ages, other countries, other stakes Purge the past; forgive the future— for each come too soon.Opening | By Gretchen Haley | April 8, 2020 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Acceptance, Body, Choice, Direct Experience, Forgiveness, Mindfulness, Peace, Presence -
Here I am, God, here I am. Here I am with the dishes in the sink, the dust on the shelves, the skin on my hands which is drying out and starting to crack. My appetite has gone, without any other bodies to remind my body of itself. I can pray for salvation but my bones know this is all there is....Poetry | By Peregrine Morkal-Williams | March 31, 2020 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #COVID19, Brokenness, Direct Experience, God, Hope, Presence -
We light this flame For the art of sacred unknowing. Humbled by all that we cannot fathom in this time, We come into the presence of what we do know, Perhaps the only thing we can ever know: That Love is now and forever The only answer to everything And everyone In every moment.Chalice Lighting | By Amy Carol Webb | March 30, 2020 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #COVID19, 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Hope, Humility, Love, Presence, Unitarian Universalism -
Once upon a time there was a tiny, little, itty bitty, very small, tiny little god named Tiny. She lived her life hearing stories of all the big gods and, well, let’s face it, she was jealous. She knew she needed to think of some kind of special spark of an idea that would make her existence...Story | By Becky Brooks | March 26, 2020 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Compassion, Connections, God, Presence, Relationships -
Sit and rest for a minute. Take several deep breaths in and out again, calling your attention to this space. Attention. Pay attention. Pay attention to where you are right now. I mean where you are, Where you are, And where you are....Meditation | By Nancy Reid-McKee | January 16, 2020 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Listening, Presence, Spiritual Practice -
We are never numbers to be tallied for turnout. We are more than a sum. Together, we are the hope and courage.Reflection | By Robin Tanner | January 8, 2020 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), Activism, Commitment, Community, Hope, Justice, Presence, Solidarity -
Many: This morning* and all mornings, we are called to pay attention. One. We are called to pay attention to our individual lives, to our delights and pains. We are called to understand and cherish ourselves, to take good care of ourselves, to know ourselves as loving and worthy of love....Responsive Reading | By Amanda Udis-Kessler | January 2, 2020 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 6th Principle (World Community), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Caring, Compassion, Direct Experience, Earth-Centered, Interdependence, Justice, Mindfulness, Presence, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Relationships, Respect, Unitarian Universalism -
What I do know for sure is that hope matters. One of the best things we can do is to hold hope for someone when that person cannot hold it for themselves.Reflection | By Elea Kemler | October 2, 2019 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Hope, Listening, Ministry, Presence, Searching -
"A little bit of meditation is better than no meditation. Two minutes is better than zero minutes. Consistency sends a signal to your whole system, to the divine, to the planet that you want to serve that you’re showing up, that your attention is there. Just give it two minutes on the days...Quote | By Danielle LaPorte | September 7, 2019 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Commitment, Direct Experience, Presence, Self-Care, Spiritual Practice -
As a hospital chaplain, I often listen to painful stories. We call it compassionate presence, but I may be crying inside. When words fail, I pray and sing.Reflection | By Yuri Yamamoto | June 12, 2019 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Arts & Music, Brokenness, Challenge, Despair, Direct Experience, Faith, Fear, God, Presence, Unitarian Universalism -
Spirit of Life On this night, may we bear witness to the guiding lights: the lights in the sky That call us to gather, and to give of ourselves To celebrate new life....Prayer | By Carter Smith | February 7, 2019 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Birth, Caring, Christianity, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Community, Faith, Happiness, Hope, Love, Presence, Relationships, Transcendence -
"Grief no more needs a solution than love needs a solution. We cannot 'triumph' over death, or loss, or grief. They are immovable elements of being alive. If we continue to come at them as though they are problems to be solved, we'll never get solace or comfort in our deepest pain."...Quote | By Megan Devine | February 4, 2019 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Death, Despair, Direct Experience, Grief, Humanism, Love, Pain, Presence, Secular -
Advent is about expectation—radical expectations that undo the status quo—and anticipation: a skillful search for the places where liberation rises from the ashes.Reflection | By Robin Tanner | December 5, 2018 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Advent, Anti-Oppression, Christianity, Direct Experience, Patience, Power, Presence, Progress -
Of all the gifts in all the world, for love we are grateful. Of all the gifts in all the world, for helping hands we are grateful. Of all the gifts in all the world, for food we are grateful. May we remember that the best gifts don't arrive wrapped in paper or bows....Affirmation | By Amy Kindred | December 5, 2018 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Direct Experience, Family, Food, Gratitude, Presence, Table Grace -
In the unity of the spirit, in the sanctity of this gathering, let us quiet ourselves as we settle into a meditative moment, a time when we can each listen to that still, small voice within. All our souls speak to us, if we trust ourselves to hear them. What do they tell us this day, in this very...Meditation | By Kelly Murphy Mason | October 27, 2018 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Contemplation, Direct Experience, God, Immanence, Presence, Unity -
Be it real or metaphor, whatever is in your backpack, or your briefcase, or your purse that you’ve brought into this sanctuary that is weighing you down: leave it behind. Whatever you are carrying that is keeping you distracted, or caught up in shame, or guilt, or hopelessness: leave it behind....Opening | By Nathan Ryan | August 28, 2018 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Backpack Blessing, Community, Hope, Humanism, Integrity, Letting Go, Presence, Purpose, Secular, Unitarian Universalism -
Whenever you find tears in your eyes, especially unexpected tears, it is well to pay the closest attention. They are not only telling you something about the secret of who you are, but more often than not, God is speaking to you through them of the mystery of where you have come from and is...Quote | By Frederick Buechner | August 21, 2018 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Awe, Body, Conscience, Contemplation, Direct Experience, God, Mystery, Presence, Truth, Vulnerability, Wonder
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Mystery of the Universe – Ground of our very Being, Truly it is said that you make the sun rise, and the life giving rains fall, on both the just and the unjust And in that way, yours is an abounding grace, and we give our thanks. But it is also true that none of us are ever really spared –...Prayer | By Kyle Johnson | June 18, 2018 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Buddhism, Challenge, Change, Character, Patience, Presence -
today is a story day of a man who was loved dying washed with herbs wrapped in scented cloths laid to rest in a cave tomb a rock marking the place a story of followers weeping in surprise when they are told not to be afraid that the rock is rolled away and the cave tomb is empty and somewhere up...Invocation | By Lois Van Leer | June 18, 2018 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Belief, Christianity, Easter, Hope, Presence
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I give thanks for all it takes to be a healing presence, and also how simple it is. I confess that I want to be seen as (especially) good (especially) right (especially) useful. I confess that I'm still learning an artful skill....Prayer | By Samantha Lynne Wilson | May 30, 2018 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Awe, Contemplation, Direct Experience, Doubt, Humility, Leadership, Listening, Presence, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Self-Respect, Spiritual Practice, Transcendence, Unitarian Universalism -
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 -
Suspended between all that was and all that might be, we struggle to find this very moment—to live this very moment. Let us sit together for a moment, and savor this moment. Let us relish this between time where past meets future, Let us harbor a faith that reminds us that right now, right here,...Opening | By Linda Barnes | March 15, 2018 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Acceptance, Balance, Buddhism, Direct Experience, Mindfulness, Presence, Unitarian Universalism -
How many more Sundays will the preacher in black robes and the solemn shuffle of papers Read the names of those whose light was extinguished for our right to bear arms? How many more Sundays will we try to believe that our hopes for justice are worth more than the lobbyists’ tailored suits and...Meditation | By Eliot Brian Chenowith | March 15, 2018 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), Despair, Direct Experience, Disaster or Crisis, Grief, Pain, Presence, Sorrow, Spirituality -
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 -
May my wisest self guide me through this day. May she remind me to look through eyes of wonder and see the abundant beauty of Here and Now. to live from my toes up, grounded on this precious earth and in this miraculous body....Prayer | By Elaine Kiziah | December 13, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Body, God, Goddess, Growth, Presence, Sacred, Unitarian Universalism, Wonder -
I was talking to someone recently about the story of her church-going life, and she told me about a time in her life that she stopped coming to church. Many people who have a story about their church-going life also have a story about taking a break from church—when they stopped going, sometimes...Reflection | By Robin Bartlett | November 26, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Advent, Christianity, Despair, God, Hope, Inclusion, Presence -
Fire consumes, and casts a bright light. May our chalice flame consume our regrets for the past, our fears about the future, and our worries about today. May it light for us a path of joy and peace.Chalice Lighting | By Debra Burrell | November 21, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Beginnings, Direct Experience, Ending, Fear, Joy, Letting Go, New Year, Peace, Presence, Regret -
Someone whispered to me, “Can you pray?” I had no earthly clue what to say. It was a profound gut-level panic. It was the moment I learned to speak the truth as best I understand it, and to hold space for it to bloom.Reflection | By Lisa Bovee-Kemper | October 25, 2017 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Direct Experience, Humanism, Identity, Leadership, Ministry, Presence, Purpose, Secular, Self-Respect, Unitarian Universalism -
We carry bags with us throughout the week for many reasons. (If you have a bag with you, and you want to have it blessed, please bring it forward, send it forward with a helper, or lift up your bag when you hear me describe you.) Some of us take books and homework to school Some of us bring our...Blessing | By Erika Hewitt | August 28, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Backpack Blessing, Children, Community, Courage, Direct Experience, Journey, Love, Playfulness, Presence, Solidarity, Strength, Unitarian Universalism, Work -
Rest now, Rest in the peace of this moment. Be at ease. Look up at the stars, and down at the grass: Imagine the stars looking back at you over years and centuries, across oceans of empty space. Imagine the feel of the grass on your bare feet and feel it—dry and crunchy, soft and supple....Prayer | By Kris Cervantes | August 21, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 6th Principle (World Community), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Balance, Body, Contemplation, Direct Experience, Earth-Centered, Generations, Humanism, Peace, Presence, Self-Care, Wisdom