Fear not, the angels would text me. Hallelujah, I’d write back.

Is it not a marvel?

Remind me that life is magical and mysterious.

You are loved beyond your wildest imaginings by the spirit of creation.

We rekindle our connection to the sacred web of life.

We are mourning the dead and fighting for the living. We're singing for joy and striving for meaning.

I need to celebrate our human family, whose power and potential shimmer against the backdrop of deep time, because we aren’t at our best right now.

Deep in the shadow of night, down near the crossroads and cemetery gates, with bitter liquor and cigar smoke wafting, I greet you. Clad in white, upon the floor before shrines, following the names of the Ancestors being uttered, I greet you. You are the sacred and righteous rage of my people.

See how the winds have shaped her hands to hold hope? So tenuous, it trembles like a hummingbird’s heart. She gently carries hope to a nest in the midst of the maelstrom and tilts it into the bowl of tiny feathers and mosses. Hope is so hard to cup. She might need your help when it seeps through...

[Written for two voices, here set for Worship Association (WA) and Minister (M)] WA: Perhaps some here have outgrown mystery. Maybe you have doubts about Santa, Or have forgotten the magic of a newborn child. M: One might easily lose touch with awe, In the struggle to do it all, Or simply to...

Spirit of Life, ancestor of the stars and the sun, you who embrace the vastness of space and us along with it, be with us today. Hold us in our worry, our exhaustion, our grief. Keep us close as we sit with our truth, whatever that may be....

Our chalice reminds us that the fire within ourselves is the same fire that illuminates the Universe. It is our reminder that all is connected even though the space of the void is vast, and our experience here is but a blip in the cosmic timeline....

We live on a fragile island of life, in a universe of possibilities. For many millennia, humans have been on a journey to find answers, answers to questions about naturalism and transcendence, about who we are and why we are, and of course, who else might be out there. Is it really just us?...

We feel the season turning. The early sunset glancing through the red-tinged leaves. The newspaper arriving in the cool morning air. The flock of migrating swallows. A feeling of being on the edge of something new. These are the Days of Awe. A time to welcome a new year and a time to make the old...

Oh Spirit that moves in ALL things, Great Mystery, Whose reach spans beyond the cold distant edges of our Universe, And yet is present within the vast subatomic emptiness, Coursing through every fiber and every breath of our being – And through Being itself! Help us to see the Miracle in the...

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...

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.

Within the heart of the flower, the fountain of beauty Within the heart of the community, a fire that warms and dances Within the heart of each of us, a spark of the spirit of life. Holy, holy, holy.

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....

It would be a quieter holiday, no fireworks or loud parades, no speeches, no salutes to any flag, a day of staying home instead of crowding away, a day we celebrate nothing gained in war but what we’re given — how the sun’s warmth is democratic, touching everyone, and the rain is democratic...

Let us hold a quiet moment now as we light our Chalice. Henry David Thoreau wrote in his journal on February 2nd, 1841: "A child asked his father what became of the old moon, and he said it was cut up into stars." Consider the light. Light out of darkness. Light begets light....

The things to do have been done, well, for the most part. The people we need are in place, almost. We are ready, or as ready as we will be. Bless this most perfectly imperfect beginning. May we find the right people to do the right things as we go....

The Congregational minister stopped me in the aisle of the supermarket a few months after I had unexpectedly recovered from a serious illness. With a gentle but slightly teasing smile he asked me, “How does a Unitarian deal with a miracle?” It was a good question, one which I thought about a...

“If I ask you a question, do you promise to tell me the truth?" For future reference, if a child asks you this question at Christmas time, EVADE.

Life is full of seesaws: it offers us moments of extreme wonder and moments of fear. Sometimes you have to live through the fear for the wonder to arrive.

One: We would go deeper. Many: We would become the selves we cannot even imagine today. One: We would become courageous. Many: We would grow to delight in congregations filled with different perspectives. One: We would know unutterable joy. Many: We would be filled with gratitude. One: May we go...

May I remember in this tender moment that Love is my guide, always, shepherding me toward ways of openness and compassion. I have what I need, really, with Love at my side, above me, below me, in front of me, behind me, inside every cell of me, Love infused everywhere! Just when the weight of the...

Sheet music is available in two forms: full piano accompaniment and voice only. verse 1: I am who I’m becoming; I am all I have done. I am what I am dreaming; I’ve only just begun. I am who I’m becoming; I am all I have done. I am what I am dreaming; I’ve only just begun. verse 2: You are...

Those of us who call ourselves religious Humanists have a strong reverence for life. Many of us experience a deep sense of awe before the mystery of life and death, those powers greater than ourselves. We share a respect for science and reason, and we are willing to live with ambiguity to live...

Spirit of Hope, settle into our bones on this Easter morning. Remind us once again that the dawn light is never a gamble; If there ever was a sure bet, it is the sunrise. Even stones crumble even grief changes and shifts and death is a mystery that is certain but not solid; But hope is like the...

Gilead, by Marilynne Robinson, is a novel that takes the form of a letter or journal that a dying, elderly Congregationalist minister in Gilead, Iowa, writes to his 7-year old son in 1956 – written so that one day the boy will know something about his father’s life and character. In this passage...

Night has fallen. Stars beckon in an indigo and velvet sky Somewhere a baby is being born. Tonight, the world lazes in a love of goodness while glories stream from heaven afar God is meeting us, tonight, where we are. So be not afraid, and be of good cheer, We wish you, each and all, very Merry...

We light the Hanukkah candles in wonder, joy, and gratitude, each candle a miracle. When the Holy Temple was rededicated at the time of the Maccabean liberation battle, only one day’s worth of oil remained, yet it burned for eight days so we light candles in remembrance....

This was written for Christmas Eve, or other occasions when people are each holding a candle. The spirit of the holy dwells in each of us. The spirit of love dwells in each of us. May the flames in our hands remind us that Eternal Love dwells in our hearts....

Your first Christmas, your last Christmas, this Christmas, and the redemption of the whole world are all happening right now, forever.

This is the key to the mystery, The Word became flesh.

The wheel of the year has turned again. Once more the Thanksgiving season has arrived. How shall we sing our song of gratitude now? For what shall we give thanks? For this moment; for friends near and far; for our breath; for love; for courage and clarity; for strength; for delight; for laughter;...

Come, come, whoever you are. Do you hear that voice calling you, calling us? That voice which calls us together here today in this room made holy by our presence and by the sacred breath we share in our singing and speaking and silence....

That first breath must be delicious. It must be more tantalizing, more intoxicating than any drug, fragrant like no flower will ever be enticing like no body scent. It must be all of this, and more yet without words or memories, how do we know? That first glorious rush of air wants us to keep...

When you heard that voice and knew finally it called for you and what it was saying—where were you? Were you in the shower, wet and soapy, or chopping cabbage late for dinner? Were you planting radish seeds or seeking one lost sock? Maybe wiping handprints off a window or coaxing words into a...

Leader: For the love of all began with the world. Congregation: All of Nature is sacred. L: Every creature is a thinking, feeling being. C: We are blessed with wondrous variety. L: We are part of nature and of every being on the planet. What we do to one affects the many. C: In this web of...

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...

From night into day, From chill into warmth, From sleep into awakening, We open our hearts to the wonder of life, Born again.

This Time for All Ages is greatly enhanced by visual elements. If you're able to create a slide show, it may be helpful to show the accompanying images, as well as diagrams of the geocentric and heliocentric models of the solar system. We humans have always looked up at the stars, wondered about...

Holy grandparents of the Universe...energies of creation...endless mysteries of life: You are the music that sounded before our world was born, sound and silence woven throughout the ages, far beyond the most profound wisdom humanity has been able to touch....

Sheet Music (PDF) - In the darkness of the winter, quiet hearts beneath the sky, we are waiting for the daystar and a holy newborn’s cry. Friends and family here have gathered, gathered here from near and far, sharing hearts and...

This prayer was written to accompany the Advent hymn "People, Look East," #226 in Singing the Living Tradition. Spirit of the Living God, turn our faces to the East to look for your presence. Turn our faces in any and every direction from which you draw near to us....

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...

Here we have come into this sacred space— quieter now with our readiness Hushed voices, hoping, trusting for so many things: For connection, for communion For inspiration, for information For healing, for wholeness, For words, for music, For celebration and consolation, Here we have come into thi...

Why is this blank page staring back at me, mocking, like an affliction, and fraught with dread? How can it hold such sway, this simple emptiness? Might it instead be a gift left on my doorstep overnight, waiting to be broken open with the dawn?...