Welcome, all who seek renewal in a weary world.

What if sometimes it’s about sparking potential into possibility, and possibility into existence?

“Verily with hardship comes ease...” (Quran; 94:5-6)

We come together in one faith.

We face a challenge to democracy.

Can we find space for lifting our heads in wonder—that we’re still striving, still trying together

This burning flame represented hope during the bleakness of World War II.

May our beacon of hope give you respite

May we tend our Soul Fire through these challenging and trying times

It is in gathering that we find our hope.

Light the fire of the Future

Here we gather to celebrate hope, and the infinite possibilities of love.

Easter is a holiday of miracles.

The chalice, as a symbol of Unitarian Universalism, arose as a beacon of hope in an atmosphere of tyranny. The chalice arose as a sign of promise that the marginalized would neither be forgotten nor ignored, because they are beloved and precious from the perspective of the Holy. This morning, we...

We kindle this flame, Honoring the doorways in our souls: The windows through which we gaze at one another The balconies where we catch glimpses of sky The thresholds we stand on this morning Wondering, hoping, fearing, dreaming.

Spirit of life and love, We gather together in different ways this morning, From computer screens, from telephones, from car radios, We gather, reaching out across the wires, waving from a safe distance, To come together in religious community....

We light this flame For the art of sacred unknowing. Humbled by all that we cannot fathom in this time, We come into the presence of what we do know, Perhaps the only thing we can ever know: That Love is now and forever The only answer to everything And everyone In every moment.

In a time of uncertainty, when everything around us is changing constantly— each day new developments, rising numbers, changing guidelines; when the world we live in suddenly seems upside-down and topsy-turvy: We light our chalice to remind ourselves of our grounding in our faith....

For the new year, just days old, beginning today, always beginning: We light our chalice, symbol of faith, perseverance, and hope, in astonished thanksgiving and irrepressible praise. For beginnings that emerge out of endings, appear amidst continuity, become visible in hindsight: We light our...

Thresholds. We cross them every day. From room to room, from outside to inside, and back again, from here to there, from anywhere to everywhere, from age to age. Each threshold offers an opportunity for change, for renewal, for transformation, from what we were and what we are to what we can be....

Reader 1: Flaming chalice, symbol of our living tradition, we kindle you for light Reader 2: Light in this darkest season of the year Light to reveal the sources of greed and hate among us Light to guide our way forward together Reader 1: Chalice Flame, we kindle you for love Reader 2: Love to ke...

As we light the chalice may our souls become its hearth. We join our hearts to the one great flame of bright compassion, Beloved Community, and fervent justice. May we become lanterns to the world, lighting the way for all.

We light this chalice—symbol of our faith alive in this world— naming our vision of collective liberation, and daring to re-member each other into beloved community.

We are a People of Memory. As inheritors of our ancestors’ legacy, we hold their stories tenderly. Gleaning wisdom from diverse journeys; united in hope for the future. Guide us to trust in love as we kindle this flame together.

[for 2-3 voices, alternating] On this eve of mystery and magic, let us enter into the Christmas story as if we were there on the holy night. What part will we play this year? Are you the mother, trusting your body to know what to do when the time of birth comes?...

We light this chalice, the symbol of our faith, knowing that this morning many others across this land and around the world are doing the same. For us and for our far-flung kin it is a light of peace, of justice, and of love....

We light this chalice to remember the miracle of the oil that burned for eight days.

Be it real or metaphor, whatever is in your backpack, or your briefcase, or your purse that you’ve brought into this sanctuary that is weighing you down: leave it behind. Whatever you are carrying that is keeping you distracted, or caught up in shame, or guilt, or hopelessness: leave it behind....

today is a story day of a man who was loved dying washed with herbs wrapped in scented cloths laid to rest in a cave tomb a rock marking the place a story of followers weeping in surprise when they are told not to be afraid that the rock is rolled away and the cave tomb is empty and somewhere up...

Hallelujah! As the spring sun coaxes lilies and bluebonnets from the soil, Let us celebrate that even after murderous betrayal, After days and nights suspended in torture, When all the world has gone dark and we cried out, “Why have You forsaken me?”—even then, there is a sunrise. Even then,...

There is too much beauty in this world to give up on it yet, and it is always too soon to surrender to cynicism....

You whose hearts are broken, come in. You whom pain has touched, and sorrow, and shock. You who have cried this week, and read the news with sadness. You whom loss has shadowed. You who grieve. Come in, come in. You with hearts open to joy and hope, come in. You whom love has touched, and...

Reader One: You who feel your heart is breaking, come in. Reader Two: You who are confused and wondering. Come in. Reader Three: You who are angry, in pain, or not wanting to be here. Come in. Reader Four: You who are hopeful and energized. Come in. Leader: Come into this community of your heart...

We light our flaming chalice as a beloved people united in love and thirsting for restorative justice. May it melt away the tethers that uphold whiteness in our midst. May it spark in us a spirit of humility. May it ignite in us radical love that transforms our energy into purposeful action....

We live inside paradox. Humans generally don’t like to admit it—we much prefer tidy, stable, comprehensible, logical ways of getting through the day—but paradox is woven into the fabric of this particular universe we inhabit. Light is both a particle and a wave Imaginary numbers describe the...

At last, we are here. After a long winter, we can say enthusiastically and without second thought, alleluia! Alleluia, spring is here in all her glory. New life begins, the earth and its creatures are resurrected from their dens of hibernation and dark slumber....

What's going to happen? Will everything be ok? What can I do? In these days we find ourselves, too often, Stuck with these questions on repeat: What's going to happen? / Will everything be ok? /What can I do?...

If ever there were a time for a candle in the darkness, this would be it. Using a spark of hope, kindle the flame of love, ignite the light of peace, and feed the flame of justice.

We light this chalice in honor of Life’s sacred dance of living and dying. May its flame remind us of those who have passed to us fragments of holiness. May it remind us that we too are participants in the dance. inspired by Wendell Berry and Sara Moores Campbell...

In times of darkness we stumble towards the tiny flame. In times of cold we seek the warming fire. In times of repression we reach for the lamp of truth. In times of loss we pray for the comforting light. In times of joy we light a candle of celebration....

The poet Langston Hughes has written: "Hold fast to dreams for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly." May this chalice flame challenge each of us to cherish to our dreams, for all things worth doing begin in the courage and inspiration of a dream.

When all around us voices are raised in anger, hatred spilling into the streets and sparking more hatred, sometimes the best we can do is to sink our hands into the soil. Let the fights over abstractions ebb away, flow like water into the earth....

We gather today in the presence of the old old story of death defeated by emptiness, of hope and newness triumphant over fear and separation. We come, hearts heavy with pain and anxiety, spirits flattened by exhaustion and apathy, vision darkened by strife and violence. We come seeking connection...

This welcome was written for a Sunday after a national crisis. Whether you’re here because worshiping with us is part of your routine or whether you feel like our country has been stopped in its tracks and it’s impossible to return to normalcy, on this morning we gather to proclaim that we...

We come together tonight to remember the history, or the myth, that says hope was born in the form of a baby named Jesus. What is so compelling about the story of Jesus’s birth, his life, his love? Why has this story reached across the ages to us while so many others have faded into history?...

If we lived in another climate Our souls might speak other languages We might speak oasis or permafrost, dry season or monsoon But our souls speak spring Our souls speak green shoots pushing through last year’s leaves Our souls speak flower buds stretching to sun Our souls speak mud puddle and...

We light this chalice on the brink of a new year Letting go of what has been Open and hopeful for what may come Renewed, restored, ready To live Life fully anew May we move forward with intention. Note: this chalice lighting can be read in unison or responsively.

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.

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...

Fire of our faith, fire our future.