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Displaying 1 - 37 of 37

  • We’re staying home. Love has never asked this of us before. We’re staying home, this is our gift to humanity. Let us wish each other well. For those staying home alone, I offer you this blessing. May you grow a deeper understanding of your own worth. Dear one, leaven the aloneness with gentle...
    Affirmation | By Linda Barnes | April 7, 2020 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: #COVID19, 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Building Community, Direct Experience, Faith, Families & Faith Development, Family, Love, Patience, Peace, Social Media, Worth, Communication
  • I was made this way, in this body and this skin. Like all beings, I have an inherent good that cannot be eclipsed.
    Reflection | By Katie Romano Griffin | November 20, 2019 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Courage, Direct Experience, Self-Care, Self-Respect, Worth
  • You matter. There is no one like you; never will be again, from the birth of the earth to its outermost end. You — an eager shout, a sacred “Yes!” that moves your flesh, your bone, your breath. You— she, he, ze, they, you are whole and okay, gracefully teaching your truth and your way. You...
    Affirmation | By Matthew Rosin | September 7, 2019 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Humanism, Identity, Secular, Self-Care, Self-Respect, Worth
  • This group blessing is designed to be shared by many voices or read by just one. Alex suggests creating an altar with a chalice and testing supplies (which are then distributed to students as they need them). Speaker 1: We have come to the end of the quarter/semester/year. An end to these classes.
    Blessing | By Alex Haider-Winnett | June 19, 2019 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Bridging Ceremony, Challenge, Choice, Commitment, Direct Experience, Education, Forgiveness, Friendship, Growth, Responsibility, Secular, Wisdom, Worth
  • Voice 1: You are beloved and you are welcome here Voice 2: Whether tears have fallen from your eyes this past week or gleeful laughter has spilled out of your smiling mouth Voice 1: You are beloved and you are welcome here Voice 2: Whether you are feeling brave or broken-hearted; defiant or...
    Opening | By Joan Javier-Duval | January 16, 2019 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Acceptance, Brokenness, Caring, Community, Compassion, Diversity, Inclusion, Love, Unitarian Universalism, Wholeness, Worth, Worship
  • What if we encouraged and celebrated each other for who we are? What if, instead of criticizing, we challenged with love, affirming the good we see in one another?
    Reflection | By Connie Simon | March 21, 2018 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Acceptance, Compassion, Connections, Direct Experience, Humanism, Secular, Self-Respect, Unitarian Universalism, Worth
  • Spirit of Compassion, remind us that our task as humans is not perfection, but faithfulness.
    Reflection | By Lindasusan Ulrich | January 31, 2018 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Acceptance, Balance, Direct Experience, Forgiveness, Humanism, Letting Go, Psychology, Secular, Self-Care, Self-Respect, Worth
  • I had dreams about anywhere-else-but-here But our faith kept me close. I believed I had done something to deserve it. Our faith shouted, “No!” I tried to imagine it never happened But our faith reminded, “Yes, grief is real.” I thought I might die But our faith nurtured my life. I wondered...
    Poetry | By Megan Visser | January 23, 2018 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Acceptance, Community, Doubt, Inclusion, Living Our Faith, Love, Salvation, Unitarian Universalism, Wholeness, Worth
  • I pull another basket of steaming dishes out of the dishwasher in our church basement. My partner in kitchen clean-up grabs a clean dish towel to dab the pools of water from the upturned soup bowls. They ask, “So, what’s your undergrad in?” The conversations that happen in church kitchens are...
    Reflection | By Kari Kopnick | July 13, 2017 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Anti-Oppression, Class, Direct Experience, Education, Self-Respect, Work, Worth
  • The blasphemy of body hatred has no place in this temple.
    Poetry | By Misha Sanders | February 27, 2017 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Acceptance, Beauty, Body, Dignity, Direct Experience, Diversity, Fat Liberation, Humanism, Inclusion, Secular, Self-Respect, Women, Worth
  • Within each of our hearts there is a most glorious light....
    Benediction | By James Morison | April 4, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Generosity, Healing, Hope, Humanism, Love, Secular, Strength, Unitarian Universalism, Wisdom, Worth
  • How often we seek refuge in this sacred flame From the world’s trouble and pain. Today, may our lamp light the way For whose who know no refuge, That we may open our minds Our arms Our hearts Our mouths to sing “Come, whoever you are,” Wholly new and wholly true.
    Chalice Lighting | By Amy Carol Webb | November 24, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Compassion, Disaster, Hope, Hospitality, Inclusion, Interdependence, International, Journey, Leadership, Pain, Unitarian Universalism, Worth
  • I heard the Second Brandenburg Concerto played in honor of Bach’s 300th birthday, and I was swept away. I remembered a story about the people who send messages into outer space. Someone suggested sending a piece by Bach. The reply was “But that would be bragging.” Some say we get what we...
    Reading | By Robert Walsh | November 18, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Arts & Music, Awe, Beauty, Direct Experience, Gratitude, Humility, Thanksgiving, Wonder, Worth
  • We enter this meeting house for kindness and comfort. May rough-worn hands and aching backs be healed. We enter this meeting house of hope for equality. May those who labor to survive live to know justice. We enter this meeting house of love and vocation. May our bonds of solidarity be strengthened.
    Opening | By Megan Visser | September 15, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Body, Justice, Labor Day, Work, Worth, WorshipWeb
  • We light this chalice for our children and youth, and for us: celebrating the flame of faith lit in each of us, honoring the light each of us bring into the world, rejoicing in the community we create together.
    Chalice Lighting | By Christian Schmidt, Alexis Capen | June 4, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Child Dedication, Children, Children's / Religious Education Sunday, Community, Direct Experience, Faith, Family, Generations, Inclusion, Interdependence, Reverence, Worth, Youth Sunday, Youth/Teens, WorshipWeb
  • We who are Unitarian Universalist not only affirm the inherent worth and dignity of every person; we also affirm the inherent wholeness of every being -- despite apparent brokenness. No one reading these words is a stranger to pain, or the knowledge that things break, or break down: promises,...
    Reading | By Erika Hewitt | April 30, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 6th Principle (World Community), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Body, Brokenness, Direct Experience, Healing, Hope, Humanism, Wholeness, Worth
  • This image was created by Ellen Rockett, a Unitarian Universalist (UU) young adult, to accompany the seven separate images/smartphone wallpapers also found on WorshipWeb....
    Image | By Ellen Rockett | March 13, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Acceptance, Caring, Democracy, Interdependence, Justice, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Seven Principles, Unitarian Universalism, Worth
  • Remember your inherent worth and dignity. The Seven Principles by Ellen Rocket...
    Image | By Ellen Rockett | February 27, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Dignity, Unitarian Universalism, Worth
  • The question is not, “What happens when we die?” Nobody really knows. The real question is, “What happens when we stop living?” The stoicism we face on a daily basis is a symptom of a larger illness called a dually-dulled life. Our lives can be hypnotized by the monotonous commutes,...
    Reading | By Nathan C. Walker | February 24, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), 5th Principle (Conscience & Democracy), Belief, Calling, Challenge, Change, Character, Direct Experience, Easter, Gratitude, Homecoming / Ingathering, Martin Luther King, Jr. Sunday, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Respect, Trust, Unitarian Universalism, Worth, Yom Kippur
  • When we introduce ourselves to another person, we usually extend our hand and summarize ourselves with one word, usually our name. "Hello, my name is Naomi…" These are the kinds of face-to-face greetings that initiate relationships, that open our hearts and act as a bridge of connection from one...
    Reading | By Naomi King | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Dignity, Direct Experience, Humanism, Identity, Secular, Self-Care, Self-Respect, Unitarian Universalism, Worth
  • According to economist Juliet Schor, author of The Overworked American, having the chance to spend time not doing anything in particular is less common than it used to be. In her book, Schor documents the increase of time spent working—both paid employment and work around the house—over a...
    Sermon | By Cathy Bowers | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Power, Purpose, Self-Care, Work, Worth
  • Leader: We believe and trust that all people are equal in humanity: Black or White; Rich or Poor; Gay or Straight. Congregation: All people are equal in humanity. Leader: Our prayer today is that the Government in Uganda will listen to the cry of its people. May they find wisdom and recognize the...
    Chalice Lighting | By Anonymous | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Acceptance, Anti-Oppression, Change, Equity, Evil, Freedom, Human Rights, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Multiculturalism, Worth, Multiculturalism
  • We are whole, even in the broken places, even where it hurts. We are whole, even in the broken places, the places where fear impedes our full engagement with life; where self-doubt corrupts our self-love; where shame makes our faces hot and our souls cold. We are whole, even in those places where...
    Meditation | By Beth Lefever | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Acceptance, Brokenness, Self-Respect, Shame, Wholeness, Worth
  • Many of us have stories about God. A college student once told me how he asked questions about God in his childhood church and the leaders did not know how to answer. He decided that God must not be real....
    Sermon | By Susan Maginn | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Agnosticism, Atheism, God, Love, Religion, Unitarian Universalism, Unitarianism, Universalism, Worth
  • With humility and courage born of our history, we are called as Unitarian Universalists to build the Beloved Community where all souls are welcome as blessings, and the human family lives whole and reconciled. With this vision in our hearts and minds, we light our chalice. —“A vision for...
    Chalice Lighting | By UUA Leadership Council | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Acceptance, Brokenness, Calling, Courage, Diversity, Humility, Strength, Unitarian Universalism, Vision, Wholeness, Worth
  • The early settlers who risked life and limb to come to this land—a land strange and unknown, but full of promise—these early settlers had a dream. That dream included freedom to worship as they wished; it included the opportunity to prosper, if they were willing to work hard; it included the...
    Sermon | By Marilyn Sewell | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 6th Principle (World Community), America, Economy, Justice, Money, Poverty, Unitarian Universalism, Worth
  • We light this chalice to celebrate the inherent worth and dignity of every person; To reaffirm the historic pledge of liberal religion to seek that justice which transcends mere legality and moves toward the resolution of true equality; And to share that love which is ultimately beyond even our...
    Chalice Lighting | By Steve Stock | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 6th Principle (World Community), Anti-Oppression, Community, Dignity, Equity, Justice, Love, Mystery, Purpose, Solidarity, Unitarian Universalism, Worth
  • Blessed is the fire that burns deep in the soul. It is the flame of the human spirit touched into being by the mystery of life. It is the fire of reason; the fire of compassion; the fire of community; the fire of justice; the fire of faith....
    Chalice Lighting | By Eric A Heller-Wagner | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Community, Compassion, Faith, Justice, Love, Mystery, Reason, Reverence, Sacred, Worth
  • In honor of those we have known and loved in the past, In recognition of the gifts and sacrifices they have made on our behalf, And in our sincere hopes that we may be worthy of their memory, We light our candles, We give our thanks, And we offer our prayers. AMEN.
    Chalice Lighting | By Charles F Flagg | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Death, Freedom, Gratitude, Hope, Love, Memorial Day, Military, Sacrifice, Service, War, Worth
  • Each day I am newly reminded of my unworthiness—a dozen thoughts misspoken; another day when the good I do falls short of the good that I could do; myriad small interchanges; moments of sharing that strain to the breaking point my desire to be generous, helpful, and kind; months of careful work...
    Meditation | By Elizabeth Tarbox | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Body, Brokenness, Earth, Earth-Centered, Healing, Nature, Unitarian Universalism, Wholeness, Worth
  • Oh Divine Spirit, healer of my hurts, consoler of my sorrows, vibrant light of happiness, birther of all life and gentle way of death, hear my prayer. I raise my heart to you as do the ancient redwoods, rooted in the ground, swaying in the wind....
    Meditation | By Tess Baumberger | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Awe, Body, Gratitude, Joy, Listening, Mystery, Presence, Unitarian Universalism, Worth
  • Out of a troubled world of expediency and selfish strife, we come to this place set apart for the renewal of vision. Great Unity beyond all differences, should our lives be narrowed by personal sorrow or tragedy, envision us with a sense of worth; should we be weary of the diminishing purposes of...
    Meditation | By Andrew M Hill | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Healing, Purpose, Unitarian Universalism, Unity, Vision, Worth
  • We, the member congregation of the Unitarian Universalist Association, covenant to affirm and promote: The inherent worth and dignity of every person. We promote the first and most honored principle of our Association by opening our pulpit to all....
    Responsive Reading | By Michael E. Sallwasser | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Acceptance, Democracy, Identity, Interdependence, Justice, Living Our Faith, Seven Principles, Unitarian Universalism, Worth
  • Love is the Spirit of this church [or: congregation]. May the songs we sing celebrate this Love. May the lives we lead embody this Spirit. May you all go forth in peace.
    Benediction | By Eric Williams | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 6th Principle (World Community), Arts & Music, Love, Purpose, Service, Unitarian Universalism, Unity, Worth
  • In these hard times, let us look first to the response of love. In the midst of challenge, may our chalice flame bear witness to the inherent worth and dignity of every human being. In the midst of uncertainty, may our chalice be a beacon of encouragement, that our values may guide our choices....
    Chalice Lighting | By Maureen Killoran | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Challenge, Choice, Courage, Dignity, Integrity, Love, Reverence, Searching, Unitarian Universalism, Vision, Worth
  • As we settle into our seat all of our life comes down with us, like an extended slinky retracting into a single cylinder Back you snap into this body and breath where each day is born and done familiar in this cushion familiar in this ache....
    Meditation | By Susan Maginn | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Body, Presence, Silence, Wholeness, Worth
  • Here may you know that you are lovable and that, indeed, you are loved. And may you carry that love out into the world as a blessing.
    Closing | By Dawn Skjei Cooley | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Love, Worth

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