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Displaying 1 - 36 of 36

  • Harm of one is harm of all.
    Reflection | By Karen G. Johnston | May 1, 2024 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Character, Compassion, Connections, Direct Experience, Empathy, Ethics, Humanism, Interdependence, Poverty, Privilege, Responsibility, Secular, Suffering, Worship
  • Building relationships requires the risk of being open and curious.
    Reflection | By Melissa Jeter | November 22, 2023 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Community, Compassion, Connections, Healing, Humanism, Love, Mental Health, Relationships, Secular, Trauma, Unitarian Universalism, Worship
  • We cannot begin to find ourselves without love.
    Opening | By Elizabeth Mount | April 12, 2021 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Body, Children, Connections, Father's Day, Humanism, Interdependence, Love, Mother's Day, Parents, Relationships, Secular, Trust, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • I miss the way things were, and I know they’ll never really be the same.
    Reflection | By Erica Rose Long | June 24, 2020 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: #COVID19, 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Caring, Connections, Direct Experience, Friendship, Humanism, Ministry, Secular, Service, Unitarian Universalism
  • Hope rises. It rises from the heart of life, here and now, beating with joy and sorrow. Hope longs. It longs for good to be affirmed, for justice and love to prevail, for suffering to be alleviated, and for life to flourish in peace. Hope remembers. It remembers the dreams of those who have gone...
    Responsive Reading | By John A. Buehrens, Rebecca Ann Parker | April 8, 2020 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Connections, Faith, Generations, Healing, Hope, Humanism, Love, Secular, Unitarian Universalism
  • Knit six purl six sets of two rows four rows six rows up to twelve, patterns, repeating, steady, soothingly same. This is not what life is like. Life is like picking up a tousled hunk of yarn pulled out of the basket by an impatient child looking for a string too many times. You find an end. You...
    Poetry | By Dawn Star Sarahs-Borchelt | October 16, 2019 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Acceptance, Brokenness, Connections, Direct Experience, Grief, Humanism, Interdependence, Life Transition, Pain, Secular, Stress
  • May I always remember that Tango, like life, is a dance of the people. It’s meant to be shared, not practiced in isolation.
    Reflection | By Katie Romano Griffin | September 18, 2019 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Arts & Music, Balance, Body, Connections, Direct Experience, Family, Humanism, Multiculturalism, Playfulness, Power, Relationships, Secular
  • This litany is intended to be read antiphonally (the congregation, split left and right, reading it to one another). Here I am, my sibling. Here I am. Can you hear me? Here I am. Saying you . . . You. Here. Now. We. We are. Here. Us. Together. Can you. Hear me here? I am calling to you....
    Litany | By David Breeden | August 12, 2019 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Connections, Humanism, Interdependence, Relationships, Secular, Unitarian Universalism
  • In our water ritual, we bring water from the places we live or the places we may have visited and pour it in one container. All of the water mixes together, and every drop has some of the molecules of water from every place....
    Reading | By Myke Johnson | June 25, 2019 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Awe, Connections, Direct Experience, Earth, Interdependence, Nature, Secular, Unitarian Universalism, Water Communion
  • It's an impulse of the human self to be known fully, and that’s almost never possible unless we risk the conversations that help us see past our initial impressions.
    Reflection | By Amanda Poppei | September 5, 2018 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Anti-Oppression, Connections, Direct Experience, Empathy, Family, Humanism, Humility, Identity, Individualism, Listening, Playfulness, Secular
  • People move places for jobs, relations, opportunities, escape, hindering our ability to put down new roots. And yet, we carry a constancy: the still, quiet voice within.
    Reflection | By Teresa Honey Youngblood | June 6, 2018 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Awe, Change, Choice, Connections, Contemplation, Direct Experience, Home, Humanism, Nature, Personal Stories, Searching, Secular, Wonder
  • Among other wonders of our lives, we are alive with one another, we live here in the light of this unlikely world that isn’t ours for long. May we spend generously the time we are given. May we enact our responsibilities as thoroughly as we enjoy our pleasures....
    Poetry | By John Daniel | April 5, 2018 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Awe, Connections, Direct Experience, Earth, Earth-Centered, Gratitude, Interdependence, Joy, Relationships, Responsibility, Secular, Transcendence, Wonder
  • 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
  • “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 WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Brokenness, Connections, Direct Experience, Healing, Humanism, Interdependence, Secular, Unity
  • I put my faith in you. I put my faith in every one of you who woke up this morning with the weight of loss—manifesting as numbness, anger, fear, or an alienating, aching pain. I put my faith in you, and I pray you will put your faith in me. We need one another now, because we will not make it...
    Affirmation | By Anya Sammler-Michael | January 4, 2018 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Commitment, Community, Connections, Courage, Covenant, Disaster or Crisis, Humanism, Interdependence, Relationships, Secular, Solidarity, Unitarian Universalism
  • It’s been said that it’s easier to untangle a string of lights if you plug them in; it’s no different for people. Humans, just like strings of lights, are wired for connection.
    Reflection | By Erin Powers | December 13, 2017 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Advent, Awe, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Connections, Direct Experience, Humanism, Mystery, Relationships, Secular, Trust, Vulnerability, Wholeness
  • With gratitude for the freedom to be our true authentic selves, may we live the Spirit of Pride With the courage that comes from challenging fear, may we live the Spirit of Pride With sorrow for those who could not be here with us today, and in honor of those who died of AIDS or who lost their...
    Litany | By Elizabeth Ketcham | August 21, 2017 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Anti-Oppression, Connections, Direct Experience, Humanism, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Pride Sunday, Secular, Solidarity
  • Empathy isn’t just something that happens to us—a meteor shower of synapses firing across the brain—it’s also a choice we make: to pay attention, to extend ourselves. It’s made of exertion, that dowdier cousin of impulse. Sometimes we care for another because we know we should or because...
    Reading | By Leslie Jamison | July 19, 2017 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Commitment, Compassion, Connections, Direct Experience, Empathy, Humanism, Interdependence, Living Our Faith, Love, Relationships, Secular
  • May whatever gatherings or activities we engage in this Sunday afternoon help restore us — our connections to one another; our sense of hope, beauty, and fun in this world; our deep knowing that we have to take care of ourselves and each other with love and joy if we are to soulfully survive the...
    Benediction | By Heather Rion Starr | April 13, 2017 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Balance, Connections, Direct Experience, Joy, Playfulness, Presence, Secular, Unitarian Universalism
  • May you be safe. May you be free from all harm. As the road or skies carry you toward your fellow pilgrims, may you sense the presence of those who travel with you in spirit, whose hopes and hearts are tucked into your pockets, who name your journey’s purpose as sacred. May you encounter...
    Blessing | By Erika Hewitt | January 10, 2017 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), 5th Principle (Conscience & Democracy), 6th Principle (World Community), Activism, America, Anti-Oppression, Connections, Courage, Democracy, Direct Experience, Diversity, Human Rights, Humanism, Journey, Living Our Faith, Secular
  • The Solstices teach us that darkness comes, that darkness goes. The Solstices teach us that light comes, that light goes. The Solstices teach us, calmly, silently, to be calm, silent. Learning. The Solstices teach us as we circle the sun that everything flies....
    Poetry | By David Breeden | January 1, 2017 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Awe, Connections, Earth, Earth-Centered, Humanism, Nature, Paganism, Secular, Silence, Summer Solstice, Winter, Winter Solstice / Yule, Wisdom
  • I know sometimes you get cranky, And sometimes your tea gets cold Before you can drink it. Sometimes The news is too much. The resistance Seems too little. That's real. But we are Here. Imperfect and together and reaching. You can hold my hand if you want. I washed It with soap. It's OK. In this...
    Poetry | By Julián Jamaica Soto | September 26, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Activism, Compassion, Connections, Direct Experience, Friendship, Hospitality, Relationships, Secular, Solidarity
  • You’ve seen it. Two black men pass each other on the street. They nod. Subtle, sometimes imperceptible, but there is acknowledgement. “Do you know him?” “No . . . (yes) . . . no.” I learned this from my father and my grandfather and my other grandfather and my uncles and my great uncle and...
    Reading | By Adam Lawrence Dyer | May 17, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), America, Anti-Oppression, Connections, Direct Experience, Identity, Race/Ethnicity, Secular, Solidarity, Unity
  • One of the potential spiritual lessons of sports comes in its ability to connect people—to each other as well as to a team of strangers. Not too long ago, I was in a workshop in which we were discussing “peak experiences,” those mystical, transcendent experiences of what Abraham Maslow would...
    Reading | By Michael J. Tino | April 5, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Awe, Connections, Direct Experience, Personal Stories, Playfulness, Secular, Teamwork, Unity, Wonder
  • Spirit of life and love, may we find appreciation today, and in our lives, for our embodiment. We are physical creatures: mind, spirit and soul housed within our bodies. Our bodies, our physical form, allow us to experience the world: Taste—chocolate chip cookies fresh from the oven. Touch—the...
    Meditation | By Seth Carrier-Ladd | February 12, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Body, Connections, Direct Experience, Gender, Gratitude, Humanism, Intimacy, Joy, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Secular, Sexuality, Unitarian Universalism, Wholeness, WorshipWeb
  • Creator of Life, Source of All Being It was from the particles of the Universe that you formed me... Iron and carbon and phosphorous Mixed with energy, passion and dreams. I was made in your image, says ancient Scripture. Made from the colors of the rainbow, Shaped with bones straight and curved,...
    Meditation | By Cynthia Frado | December 8, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Atheism, Coming of Age, Connections, Direct Experience, Diversity, God, Homecoming / Ingathering, Identity, Inclusion, Individualism, Integrity, National Coming Out Day, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Reverence, Secular, Transgender Day of Remembrance, Unitarian Universalism, United Nations Day, WorshipWeb
  • And so we gather, from the ebb and flow of our lives Thirsty for connection to ourselves Thirsty for connection to others Thirsty for connection to the larger life. As we light this chalice May all who gather here be filled: Filled with joy and hope Filled with compassion and love Here, may we be...
    Chalice Lighting | By Gregory Pelley | September 15, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 6th Principle (World Community), Agnosticism, Body, Community, Compassion, Connections, Direct Experience, Earth, Homecoming / Ingathering, Hope, Humanism, Joy, Love, Nature, Searching, Secular, Unitarian Universalism, Water Communion, WorshipWeb
  • Hay tantísimas fronteras que dividen a la gente, pero por cada frontera existe también un puente. There are so many borders that divide people, but for every border there is also a bridge. Adapted from "Copla #1," Puentes y fronteras/Bridges and Borders, translated by Katherine Callen King.
    Reading | By Gina Valdés | August 26, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Anti-Oppression, Community, Connections, Culture, Direct Experience, International, Multiculturalism, Relationships, Secular
  • These words are taken from "We Need One Another," by George Odell: Reading #468 in Singing the Living Tradition.
    Image | By Ellen Rockett | June 11, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Caring, Compassion, Connections, Generosity, Humanism, Relationships, Secular, Service, Unitarian Universalism
  • A line from hymn #346 in Singing the Living Tradition: "Come, Sing a Song with Me" by Carolyn McDade...
    Image | By Ellen Rockett | June 4, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Connections, Hope, Humanism, Relationships, Secular, Unitarian Universalism
  • “You sargin or commandant?” a young Afghan lieutenant asks as he points to the cross on my chest. I try to explain what a chaplain is. In the end, he suggests Army mullah, and I agree. Not the most accurate description, but the most meaningful for him. Chaplain has little meaning for him.
    Meditation | By George A Tyger | May 17, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Acceptance, America, Community, Connections, Direct Experience, Diversity, Humanism, International, Memorial Day, Peace, Secular
  • This was created as a Message for All Ages for a service honoring Yom Ha’Shoah, the Jewish holiday for Holocaust Remembrance. In 2016, Yom Ha'Shoah begins on the evening of Wednesday, May 4th and ends on the evening of Thursday, May 5th. Once there was a place that was very bleak and dreary. All...
    Time for All Ages | By Martha Dallas | May 12, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Beauty, Connections, Direct Experience, Food, Generosity, History, Holocaust Remembrance / Yom Ha'Shoah, Hope, Judaism, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Secular, WorshipWeb
  • To those of you who are visitors here for the first time, thank you again for being with us. If you are lonely, here you will find a warm companionship....
    Welcome | By David R Chapman | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Connections, Direct Experience, Friendship, Home, Secular, Strength, Unitarian Universalism, Unity
  • Every day we experience hunger and yearning: for food, for approval, for respect, for love, for meaningful work, for any and enough work, for home, for family, for friends, for health, for healing, for hope, for the departed, for the newly arrived, for the green trees, for the cool clean waters, ...
    Meditation | By Naomi King | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Connections, Gratitude, Healing, Health, Humanism, Love, Meaning, Purpose, Relationships, Secular, Spirituality, Thanksgiving, Tradition, Unitarian Universalism
  • Let us join hands and hearts in gratitude on this wondrous day, where we have the abundance of our lives before us. We remember, on this day of bounty, all those who do not have enough, who are afraid, who are lonely, and who suffer....
    Meditation | By Naomi King | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Abundance, Commitment, Compassion, Connections, Fall, Food, Generosity, Gratitude, Poverty, Secular, Spirituality, Thanksgiving, Unitarian Universalism
  • Overview: Lead people in a reflection of where they are, or where they have just been. Then turn personal dreams into community dreams. Theme or Background: To look at our dreams for the future, and make those dreams collective dreams, Based on the most famous line Dr. Martin Luther King's most...
    Complete Service | By Jonathan Craig | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 6th Principle (World Community), Community, Connections, Direct Experience, Hope, Secular, Transformation, Unitarian Universalism, Youth/Teens

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