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Displaying 1 - 46 of 46
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Loss binds us together undeniably.Affirmation | By Atena O. Danner | August 23, 2022 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Brokenness, Connections, Grief, Healing, Kindness, Suffering -
We are an angry and beautiful people.Reflection | By Laura Solomon | June 1, 2022 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Brokenness, Connections, Direct Experience, Disaster or Crisis, Fear, Humanism, Love, Suffering, Unitarian Universalism, Worship -
God of our hearts, God of our understandings, God who gives us hope and inspires us to commitment, God who commands us to remember: We come together today with hearts contrite and broken; We come together with minds awake, comprehension striving against incomprehension; We come together in hope...Prayer | By Paul Oakley | August 3, 2018 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Death, God, Holocaust Remembrance / Yom Ha'Shoah, Judaism, Solidarity, Suffering -
This is a prayer for when words fail, for when they are not big enough or small enough to slip into the little cracks left in our hearts by life’s unbearable pressures....Prayer | By Leslie Takahashi | July 17, 2018 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Challenge, Community, Disaster or Crisis, Fear, Hope, Power, Suffering, Transcendence, Unitarian Universalism, Unity -
As the news cycle brings us images of terror and heartbreak once again, We grieve together As each of us faces into this new level of horror, We grieve together As we remember other moments of pain, fear, and loss, We grieve together Yearning for an end to violence and suffering, We grieve togeth...Litany | By Caitlin Cotter Coillberg | December 8, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 6th Principle (World Community), Brokenness, Community, Connections, Disaster or Crisis, Grief, Healing, Solidarity, Suffering, Unitarian Universalism -
It is always good to give thanks! All that we have is a gift from life: our food, our relationships, our shelter from the cold. And when we give thanks, it is always good to be mindful of all people, and notice those who are suffering and do what we can to ease suffering and change its causes....Opening | By Myke Johnson | November 23, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), 6th Principle (World Community), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Anti-Oppression, Gratitude, Healing, Justice, Spiritual Practice, Suffering, Thanksgiving, Vulnerability, Wholeness -
"Suffering doesn't always mean something's gone wrong; it just means you're living a life." —from the Dear Sugars podcast, Sept. 2, 2017.Quote | By Cheryl Strayed | September 7, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Acceptance, Balance, Direct Experience, Suffering, Truth -
An awakening passed through the whole theatre, and as if touched by some invisible hand, the people stood, clapped, shouted with joy, laughed, and wept… It was blessed to be connected to—no, to be a part of a community—a people. —Volker Kühn, in his essay about a cabaret performance during...Reflection | By Sean Parker Dennison | December 14, 2016 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Arts & Music, Community, History, Personal Stories, Power, Responsibility, Self-Respect, Suffering, Tradition -
All great spirituality is about what we do with our pain... By trying to handle all suffering through willpower, denial, medication, or even therapy, we have forgotten something that should be obvious: we do not handle suffering; suffering handles us in deep and mysterious ways that ironically...Quote | By Richard Rohr | May 23, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Christianity, Despair, Meaning, Mystery, Pain, Spiritual Practice, Spirituality, Suffering
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Dear Liberal Allies, You and I learned very different things in very different ways. If you didn’t live an experience, then step aside. We students of color, gay students, trans* students, children of immigrants and refugees knew this stuff before our professors told us what to call it....Reading | By Trungles | March 30, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Anti-Oppression, Direct Experience, Growth, Identity, Justice, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Multiculturalism, Personal Stories, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Race/Ethnicity, Solidarity, Suffering
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"We hold on to hell because when we discard it we glimpse through the clearing smoke a God who is too complicated for us."...Quote | By Robert Walsh | January 10, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: God, Suffering, Unitarian Universalism
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I vote we let the artists win the ones covered in paint from their last attempt to smuggle across the beauty of a bowl of fruit the 14-year-old rapper learning to spit throwing life's chaos on the rhythm wheel uncovering the shapes that live on after the next break I say we let the food bank...Poetry | By Bob Janis-Dillon | November 16, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Arts & Music, Awe, Caring, Direct Experience, Peace, Playfulness, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Suffering, Wonder -
God of mercy, spirit who makes peace out of war, who wanders with refugees and keeps vigil with children at our border and all borders; Holy healer in hospitals and shelters, at schools, in homes, at weddings, and in planes; May your love be balm for all the hurt. May your truth be present in...Prayer | By Elizabeth Nguyen | August 31, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, Brokenness, Doubt, Freedom, Healing, Hope, Justice, Peace, Suffering, Unitarian Universalism -
[In the] spirit of love, harmony, and remembrance, we stand too often divided, too often set apart from one another in heedless ways. We seek to be compassionate but our vision may be clouded or distracted. We too often go forward, day by day, and look without seeing....Litany | By Dennis McCarty | August 3, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), Anti-Oppression, Compassion, Direct Experience, Integrity, Relationships, Solidarity, Suffering, Vulnerability -
Be revered In thee the faithful hope that still looks forward, And keeps the life-spark warm of future action Beneath the cloak of patient sufferance.Closing | By Margaret Fuller | June 25, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Faith, Hope, Patience, Self-Respect, Strength, Suffering, Unitarianism -
“It’s hard to know when to respond to the seductiveness of the world and when to respond to its challenge. If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy. If it were merely challenging, that would be no problem. But I arise in the morning torn between the desire to improve the world and...Meditation | By Richard S. Gilbert | June 4, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Activism, Balance, Guilt, Individualism, Joy, Justice, Salvation, Service, Suffering, Wholeness -
When we are overwhelmed with the world And cannot see our way clear, When life seems a struggle between tedium and apathy Or frenzy and exhaustion; When today seems a punishment and tomorrow a torment, May we find the courage of patience. May we recognize courage in ourselves and our companions;...Meditation | By Richard S. Gilbert | June 4, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Courage, Despair, Direct Experience, Fear, Pain, Patience, Solidarity, Strength, Stress, Suffering
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It is the day before the election as I write these lines, and whatever the outcome, I will be glad when it’s over. Some will be elated by the results, and others will feel dejected, but regardless of who wins or loses, our world will still be broken and suffering from ills that government is...Meditation | By Gary Kowalski | June 3, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 5th Principle (Conscience & Democracy), Brokenness, Character, Freedom, Generations, Governance, Living Our Faith, Politics, Power, Responsibility, Suffering
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A religion that promises a life without tension, a life without conflict, a life without suffering, is a religion of passivity, a religion of mediocrity, a religion of insignificance. Everything worth doing in the world is a desperate gamble, a game of chance, where nothing is certain. What is love?Meditation | By David O. Rankin | May 28, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Activism, Challenge, Conflict, Courage, Faith, Journey, Living Our Faith, Love, Religion, Suffering
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I have learned to trust those who are witnesses rather than gurus, those who express their confusion as well as their knowledge, and those who share their suffering along with their joy.Quote | By David O. Rankin | May 28, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Humility, Joy, Suffering, Trust, Vulnerability, Wisdom
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Where will you go home? These mountains cannot receive you, and there is no cave or grave to be dug for you in your old hills. And still a current of air keeps singing home . . . home as if that meant something you could go to, as if something could finally stand still. Turn then, and keep turning.Meditation | By Lynn Ungar | May 25, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Change, Dignity, Home, Searching, Suffering, Transformation
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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 . . ....Meditation | By Thomas Rhodes | April 23, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Acceptance, Brokenness, Community, Compassion, Despair, Disaster or Crisis, Healing, Hope, Love, Suffering, Wholeness -
We are in the midst of advent, friends, and I have to admit how much I love this season. Like most clergy I feel that it is my job, 24/7/365 to orient the world to the best of my ability toward peace, love, hope and joy....Sermon | By Susan Maginn | February 19, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), 6th Principle (World Community), Anti-Oppression, Direct Experience, Doubt, Faith, Justice, Peace, Race/Ethnicity, Suffering, Unitarian Universalism, Wisdom
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Spirit of Life and Love, Be with us in this time, as people suffer, as parents grieve, as violence rages. Be with us who feel the pain of loss, who feel anger at injustice....Prayer | By Christian Schmidt | February 19, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Anti-Oppression, Change, Disaster, Hope, Suffering, Unitarian Universalism
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On this Transgender Day of Remembrance, we remember those who have been murdered for being who they are, those who face violence on a daily basis, those who have lost loved ones, and those who worry for loved ones. May we come to a time when we cease to shame children around gender roles and...Prayer | By Sunshine Jeremiah Wolfe | February 19, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Acceptance, Anti-Oppression, Gender, Identity, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Suffering, Transgender Day of Remembrance, Violence, Wholeness -
[In the] spirit of love, harmony, and remembrance, we stand too often divided, too often set apart from one another in heedless ways. We seek to be compassionate but our vision may be clouded or distracted. We too often go forward, day by day, and look without seeing....Litany | By Dennis McCarty | February 18, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Anti-Oppression, Direct Experience, Healing, Love, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Seven Principles, Suffering, Unitarian Universalism, Violence, Wholeness
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Today we gather with determination and commitment that is grounded in a profound sense of sorrow for those who have suffered and will suffer in the future because of climate change. As always, those who suffer most are the poor and marginalized....Prayer | By Peter Morales | February 18, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Disaster, Mourning, Solidarity, Suffering, Climate Justice
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God of many names and mystery beyond all our naming, Persist in guiding us to a quiet measure of this moment, That we might link heart to heart in the stillness and calm, Leaving behind all scurrying and fury, rush and contempt For the shore of this quiet moment....Prayer | By Daniel Chesney Kanter | February 17, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 5th Principle (Conscience & Democracy), Balance, God, Healing, Stress, Suffering, Unitarian Universalism
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Holy One, We are on our knees In awe and supplication For we have remembered the incomprehensible value Of every human life. We have heard the thrum of helicopter blades And wailing sirens. We have smelled the ash and smoke....Prayer | By Sue Phillips | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 6th Principle (World Community), Compassion, Death, Despair, Disaster, Disaster or Crisis, Good, Kindness, Suffering
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My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer; and by night, but find no rest.Quote | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Despair, Hope, Pain, Suffering
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I feel the suffering of millions. And yet, when I look up at the sky, I somehow feel that everything will change for the better, that cruelty too will end, that peace and tranquility will return once more.Quote | By Anne Frank | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Brokenness, History, Hope, Suffering, Transcendence
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To worship God is nothing other than to serve the people. It does not need rosaries, prayer carpets, or robes. All peoples are members of the same body, created from one essence. If fate brings suffering to one member The others cannot stay at rest.Reading | By Saadi Shirazi | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Compassion, Connections, God, Islam, Solidarity, Suffering, Unity
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"Put up at the moment of greatest suffering a prayer, not for thy own escape, but for the enfranchisement of some being dear to thee, and the sovereign spirit will accept thy ransom."...Quote | By Thomas Wentworth Higginson | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Faith, History, Hope, Spiritual Practice, Suffering
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I. THE CYNIC I was the town cynic whose life was choked out By a hidden disease of the heart That I knew was there in my chest But never told. And I carried it around with me And quoted verses to the people I met About the vanity and absurdity of it all And made them weep. If only they could have...Reading | By Joshua Leach | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Arrogance, Death, Failure, Searching, Suffering
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Universal Spirit of Life, God of many names, Source of all being in which we live and breathe and have our being, We come together in prayer even though many us struggle with what that means. We come together before that which is greater than us, although we struggle to say what that is....Prayer | By Krista Taves | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Conflict, Diversity, God, Presence, Spiritual Practice, Suffering, Unity -
Wondrous Gift of Life, thanks for this day and this gathering in our beautiful diversity and devoted generosity! We revel in our blessings for and from this holy life! Washed and refreshed in such grace, we celebrate the joys of this life....Prayer | By Naomi King | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Beauty, Calling, Death, Despair, Disaster, Earth, Environment, Healing, Nature, Suffering -
When the world’s violence shatters the joy of a moment We pause and reach out for the hands that remain We open our hearts with love. When despair rises as a monster from the deep and drags down one of our own, our answer is that We open our hearts with love....Reading | By Naomi King | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Compassion, Healing, Love, Suffering
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How can we begin to understand what hope and healing mean in the face of a deadly illness with no known cure? We have many sources of hope and healing in our lives—singing, praying, thinking, communicating, acting, giving, and remembering. Dr. Richard Cabot tells the story of a young theological...Reading | By Jay E Abernathy, Jr | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Body, Healing, Illness, Suffering
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Take a moment right now to visualize in your mind’s eye the first American Thanksgiving feast which our Pilgrim forebears shared with their Native American neighbors on the shores of Massachusetts Bay in the Fall of 1621. If you’re like me, you imagined a pretty pleasant and peaceable scene—a...Sermon | By Scott W. Alexander | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Courage, Gratitude, History, Suffering
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This morning, I want us to grapple with one of the most universal and troubling facts of human existence. Though every last one of us would have it otherwise, it is an unavoidable reality that during our lifetimes people close to us will become sick, suffer great pain, and, in some cases, die. It...Sermon | By Scott W. Alexander | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Illness, Presence, Relationships, Suffering
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Note: Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom HaShoah) 2016 begins in the evening of Wednesday, May 4 and ends in the evening of Thursday, May 5. This week holds the annual observance of Holocaust Remembrance Day, or Yom Hashoah. Jewish communities prefer not to call the dreadful events of the 1930's and...Ritual | By Mary Wellemeyer | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), Grief, Holocaust Remembrance / Yom Ha'Shoah, Hope, Human Rights, Judaism, Responsibility, Suffering
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Chaplain (C): The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. Patient (P): There is so much that I want. I want to be well. C: He makes me lie down in green pastures. P: I am tired of laying here. I wish I could get out of bed. C: He leads me beside still waters. P: I feel like I'm in a whirlpool....Meditation | By Robin L Zucker | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Christianity, God, Healing, Health, Illness, Judaism, Suffering, Unitarian Universalism
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Sometimes I feel like a motherless child... Here may you find a warm greeting a kind word a gentle touch Sometimes I feel like I have no friend... Here may you find a community of support a pulse of liberation a vision of hope Sometimes I feel I am almost gone......Opening | By Amy Bowden Freedman | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Community, Despair, Friendship, Juneteenth, Kindness, Suffering
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A well-known poem by Robert Graves speaks of butterflies—their "honest idiocy of flight," "lurching here and there by guess and God and hope and hopelessness." Any number of quotations sound this way, and so, I think do we. But privately. Publicly we speak the civilized language of human beings...Reading | By Jane Rzepka | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Acceptance, Connections, Suffering
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Spirit of Life, You call us to embody equity and freedom in our lives.Meditation | By Eric Cherry | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 6th Principle (World Community), Compassion, Courage, Disaster or Crisis, Human Rights, International, Leadership, Oppression, Peace, Power, Solidarity, Suffering, Wisdom -
Some days dark tremors sweep across our lives. Troubling events accost us. We have grown accustomed to such things, and often we have fenced off our natural sympathies with the thought: this belongs to somebody else....Meditation | By George Kimmich Beach | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Hope, Self-Care, Suffering