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Displaying 1 - 39 of 39

  • In his autobiography, Theodore Parker relates that as a child, four or five years old, living on a farm in Roxbury, he was walking through the fields one day absent-mindedly swinging a stick through the tall grass. This was many years ago, in the days before the Civil War. It was summertime. He...
    Time for All Ages | By Gary Kowalski | September 8, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Animals, Children, Compassion, Conscience, History, Parents, Unitarianism
  • [We suggest that the Worship Leader act out the relevant parts of this message: e.g clutch a bag tightly; let the contents spill; hold it like a "club" for bopping congregants over the head.] Babies don’t believe anything. Babies aren’t born Buddhists or Baptists or believers of any sort. But...
    Time for All Ages | By Gary Kowalski | September 8, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Acceptance, Belief, Credo, Faith, Freedom, Identity, Integrity, Living Our Faith, Reason, Unitarian Universalism
  • Night has its own kind of beauty, different than the beauty of day. Night is a time of sleep and dreams and inward visions, A time of pause within activity. Darkness is an invitation to imagining and storytelling, And to using ears instead of eyes to listen to the world in its stillness....
    Meditation | By Gary Kowalski | June 3, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Balance, Beauty, Death, Earth-Centered, Imagination, Listening, Mystery, Searching, Silence, Solitude, Summer Solstice, Vision, Winter Solstice / Yule
  • Ever since I graduated from college, I have had a recurring dream. My wife has had it, too, as well as a lot of other people I know. In my dream, it is time to take an exam and I am unprepared. I have not gone to classes all semester. I failed to do the reading....
    Meditation | By Gary Kowalski | June 3, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Calling, Choice, Commitment, Fear, Freedom, Identity, Purpose, Responsibility, Stewardship, Worry
  • 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 WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 5th Principle (Conscience & Democracy), Brokenness, Character, Freedom, Generations, Governance, Living Our Faith, Politics, Power, Responsibility, Suffering
  • Gracious Mother Matrix of Creation Womb of Mystery We thank you on this day for the miracle of birth, For the holiness of sex, For the power of eros and passionate love To regenerate the world. Mother Nature, Earth Mother, We lift our hearts in song For all forms green and fragrant Glad with the...
    Meditation | By Gary Kowalski | February 23, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Birth, Earth-Centered, Goddess, Love, Mother's Day, Mothers, Mystery, Paganism, Pain, Sexuality
  • Gathered in our varied faiths, We give thanks for the blessings of world community As we share our common dream: Homes and schools where children thrive, Neighborhoods that are safe and clean, A city rich in colors and cultures, An economy where no one is expendable, A beloved community where ric...
    Benediction | By Gary Kowalski | February 23, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 6th Principle (World Community), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Class, Diversity, Economy, Interdependence, Service, Unitarian Universalism, Unity
  • How many of you like to go hiking? I have a number of walks nearby that I like. Hunger Mountain, Snake Mountain and others. Or if we don’t want to drive, my wife and I just go down to our local park where in just a few steps you can forget you’re in the city. Sometimes we bring our dog Smokey...
    Story | By Gary Kowalski | February 23, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Balance, Challenge, Direct Experience, Environment, Growth, Mindfulness, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Searching, Unitarian Universalism
  • In his avant-garde theatrical “The Last Supper At Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” New York choreographer/dancer Bill T. Jones includes a backwards broadcast of Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech: Last At Free Are We. Almighty God Thank! The jumbled juxtaposition of the great orator’s...
    Meditation | By Gary Kowalski | February 19, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Belief, Challenge, Faith, Love, Martin Luther King, Jr. Sunday, Nonviolence, Vulnerability
  • We thank you God for potlucks Where a multitude can cook With ingredients and spices That aren’t from just one book. From casseroles and dumplings, Hors d’oeurves and canapés, Puddings, sauces, pastas, To sensational flambés. How boring when there’s just one dish Or flavor to fit all. How...
    Meditation | By Gary Kowalski | February 19, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Abundance, Community, Diversity, Food, Friendship, Gratitude, Table Grace, Unitarian Universalism
  • Keeper of our journeys, Today we mark and celebrate a significant moment in the lives of these young people Who this year assume the responsibility of becoming licensed drivers. We ask that they might be gifted with wisdom to make good choices as they navigate the roads ahead....
    Blessing | By Gary Kowalski | January 25, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Balance, Beginnings, Choice, Discernment, Freedom, Health, Journey, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Respect, Responsibility, Youth Sunday, Youth/Teens
  • You never know how things will turn out. Sometimes big events have very small beginnings. A little acorn can turn into a giant oak tree, for example, but you’d never guess from looking that the acorn had all that potential hidden inside. Long ago, Jesus talked with people about that very idea....
    Homily | By Gary Kowalski | January 25, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 6th Principle (World Community), Children, Christianity, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Courage, Justice, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Transformation
  • I like congregational meetings. More than any other facet of church life, more than the worship or music or potlucks, these exercises in democratic decision-making go to the heart of our religious heritage....
    Opening | By Gary Kowalski | January 25, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 5th Principle (Conscience & Democracy), Business Meetings, Community, Democracy, History, Unitarian Universalism
  • Our time is short here on the earth. Around us swirl immensities of time and space, A universe infinite in all directions. How small our hopes and cares seem Amid the panorama of creation....
    Meditation | By Gary Kowalski | January 25, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Earth Day, Earth-Centered, God, Interdependence, Nature, Unity
  • We thank you sky for your blue, Also, breeze, for what you do: Everything simple, Undivided, And too ordinary to be tried as true. The sound of rain when we’re warm inside, Purple shadows on the mountainside, Help us to notice, Open our eyes, Give us grateful hearts, And unclinging minds. That we...
    Meditation | By Gary Kowalski | January 25, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Contemplation, Earth, Earth Day, Earth-Centered
  • When I think of power, strength, sheer physical force, I think of an avalanche. Tons of thundering snow come falling down the side of a steep mountain with the speed and irresistable force of a locomotive or freight train. In an instant an avalanche can sweep away everything in its path. But...
    Homily | By Gary Kowalski | January 25, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 6th Principle (World Community), Christianity, Earth, Earth-Centered, Easter, Flower Communion, Nature, Sacrifice, Transcendence, Transformation
  • Maybe prayer doesn’t mean talking to God at all. May it means just listening. Unplugging the TV, turning off the computer, Quieting the mental chatter and distractions. Maybe it means listening to the birds And the insects, the wind in the leaves, the creaking and groaning of the trees, noticing...
    Meditation | By Gary Kowalski | January 25, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), Contemplation, Direct Experience, Listening, Prayer Practices
  • On Easter Sunday, we remember the teachings of Jesus as we celebrate the miracle of life, which is also closely related to the mystery of death. Jesus, for example, spoke of a seed. Unless it falls to the earth and is buried, it remains just a seed. But by going down, down beneath the ground, it...
    Homily | By Gary Kowalski | January 25, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), Change, Christianity, Death, Easter, Faith, Growth, Transformation
  • Asked if he was lonesome in his hut on Walden Pond, our neighbor Henry Thoreau famously replied, “How could I be lonely? Don’t I live in the Milky Way?” Thoreau doubtless would have been encouraged by the recent discovery of Kepler-22, a planet just 600 light years from earth right in the...
    Reading | By Gary Kowalski | January 25, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Advent, Awe, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Direct Experience, Science, Wonder
  • Is the world getting more connected or more fragmented? Facebook, in conjunction with the University of Milan, recently announced that there were only 4.74 "degrees of separation" among its 700 million users (representing 10% of the world's population). That contrasts with the famous six degrees...
    Homily | By Gary Kowalski | January 25, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 6th Principle (World Community), Community, Friendship, Homecoming / Ingathering, Interdependence, Solidarity
  • We gather on this beautiful morning, the anniversary of a day painful to remember but impossible to forget ... We remember all the heroes and heroines of that day, the firefighters and emergency responders who demonstrated such courage in the midst of crisis....
    Meditation | By Gary Kowalski | January 25, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 6th Principle (World Community), America, Democracy, Nonviolence, Peace
  • Gracious Spirit, Who makes the first to be last and the last to be first, Who makes the rain to fall and the sun to shine upon all, Help us to understand that life is not an contest Where having the most toys is the point of the game, To realize that the victor’s circle can be the loneliest spot...
    Prayer | By Gary Kowalski | January 25, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), Acceptance, Dignity, Grace, Humility, Self-Respect
  • Children widen the circle of our being in ways that are limitless. Every baby that’s born connects us to our history, our own parents, grandparents and unknown forbears who brought new life to the world in each successive generation. Every baby that’s born links us to the future, to a world yet...
    Meditation | By Gary Kowalski | January 25, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Birth, Child Dedication, Children, Children's / Religious Education Sunday, Children's Sabbath, Family, Fathers, Generations, Love, Mothers, Parents
  • We draw from many wells, From oceans and rivers, From lakes and streams, From the muddy Mississippi to the roaring Rio Grande, From faraway places and from the ponds and puddles in our own backyards....
    Ritual | By Gary Kowalski | January 25, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Buddhism, Christianity, Community, Diversity, Hinduism, Humanism, Inclusion, Taoism, Unity, Water Communion
  • We give thanks for love, Agape and Eros, Chocolates and pillow talk, And all of cupid’s arrows. For unrequited yearning And the grand passion burning, For quiet appreciation And platonic contemplation. For lovers, too, we offer thanks: Those gay and straight, near and dear, Gender metamorphic or...
    Meditation | By Gary Kowalski | January 25, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Intimacy, Love, Sexuality, Valentine's Day
  • In this quiet hour may our spirits be renewed. In this gathering of friends may we be ready to extend ourselves to those in need, and with trust to receive the hand that is offered. In this community of ideals may we remember the principles that guide us and reflect upon those things that give...
    Opening | By Gary Kowalski | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Service, Spirituality, Unitarian Universalism
  • We pray for the children, For the voiceless, for the innocent, for the vulnerable, for the least powerful among us, and those most in need of our protection....
    Meditation | By Gary Kowalski | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Children's / Religious Education Sunday
  • Go in peace, speak the truth, give thanks each day. Respect the earth and her creatures, for they are alive like you. Care for your body; it is a wondrous gift. Live simply. Be of service. Be guided by your faith and not your fear. Go lightly on your path. Walk in a sacred manner. Amen.
    Closing | By Gary Kowalski | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Awe, Body, Earth, Faith, Service, Unitarian Universalism
  • And now may the blessings of life be upon us and upon this congregation. May the memories we gather here give us hope for the future. May the love that we share bring strength and joy to our hearts, and the peace of this community be with us until we meet again.
    Closing | By Gary Kowalski | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Community, History, Relationships, Strength, Unitarian Universalism, Unity
  • With faith to face our challenges, With love that casts out fear, With hope to trust tomorrow, We accept this day as the gift it is— A reason for rejoicing.
    Reading | By Gary Kowalski | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Acceptance, Challenge, Faith, Fear, Hope, Trust, Unitarian Universalism
  • Fantasies sometimes reveal undisclosed information about ourselves: our hidden phobias, unspoken desires and unexamined motives. And group fantasies say much about our culture—our society's real values as opposed to the ideals that receive mainly lip service.
    Sermon | By Gary Kowalski | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Greed, Money
  • We give thanks for the earth and its creatures and are grateful from A to Z: For alligators, apricots, acorns and apple trees; For bumblebees, bananas, blueberries and beagles; Coconuts, crawdads, cornfields and coffee; Daisies, elephants, and flying fish; For groundhog, glaciers and grasslands;...
    Meditation | By Gary Kowalski | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Animal Blessing, Animals, Children, Direct Experience, Earth, Earth Day, Environment, Nature, Secular
  • To the God above God we turn our thoughts in meditation.
    Meditation | By Gary Kowalski | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: God, Reverence
  • We gather here to worship: to seek the truth, to grow in love, to join in service; to celebrate life's beauty and find healing for its pain; to honor our kinship with each other and with the earth; to create a more compassionate world, beginning with ourselves; to wonder at the mystery that gave ...
    Opening | By Gary Kowalski | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Beauty, Courage, Earth, Healing, Listening, Mystery, Searching, Unitarian Universalism, Wisdom
  • Once more the year's turned round. We've come full circle on this small planet, Spinning down the grooves of change, Another revolution completed around the sun. Another year older ... Another set of rings on the tree ... As seasons parade in endless procession The people's troubles and prayers...
    Meditation | By Gary Kowalski | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Christianity, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Hope, Immanence, Revelation, Transformation, Unitarian Universalism, Wonder
  • 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 | By Gary Kowalski | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 6th Principle (World Community), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Peace
  • Each of us will be grateful this Thanksgiving in differing ways, Gathered in our separate families, Each with our own distinct recipes, customs and traditions; For some will have pies of mince, And others of pumpkin or apple; And some will dine early And some sit down late to the meal, Passing on...
    Meditation | By Gary Kowalski | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: America, Family, Food, Generations, Gratitude, Secular, Thanksgiving
  • Loving Spirit, Be our guest, Dine with us, Share our bread, That our table Might be blessed And our souls be fed.
    Blessing | By Gary Kowalski | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Community, Food, Generosity, Gratitude, Home, Hospitality, Presence, Reverence, Sacred, Spirituality, Table Grace
  • We give thanks for the animals Who live close to nature, Who remind us of the sanctities of birth and death, Who do not trouble their lives with foreboding or grief, Who let go each moment as it passes, And accept each new one as it comes With serenity and grace....
    Meditation | By Gary Kowalski | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Acceptance, Animals, Direct Experience, Earth-Centered, Gratitude, Peace

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