Adapted from a National Park Service website; used by permission of Wind Cave National Park. In this Native American legend, Lizard sings a happy song about his home: “Zole, zole, zole, zole, zole, zole, rock is my home.” Bear wants to learn the song. Lizard shares the song, but Bear keeps...

Adapted from a Jewish folktale from Poland In this fun and participatory story a farmer lives in a house with his wife and children and the grandparents, and it is so noisy that he thinks he will go crazy. The rabbi advises the farmer to bring his animals into his home, too. First chickens, then...

Adapted from "Amrita's Tree" in The Barefoot Book of Earth Tales by Dawn Casey and Anne Wilson (Cambridge: Barefoot Books, 2009). Used by permission. Amrita leaned back against her favorite tree and rested. After the glare of the desert sun, it was cool and green in the forest grove. Sometimes,...

This story is designed to be used with Leader Resource 2, Beehive Poster in Activity 3. What Do Bees Do at Home? How do you think bees get into their hives? (Point to the opening in the hive on the poster.) That's right; the hive has an opening so the bees can go in and out. Last week we talked...

One day some worker bees made a honeycomb in the hollow trunk of an oak. They settled nearby to rest. Then, the drones from their hive flew by. The drones said, "We made that honeycomb. It belongs to us." "You did not make that honeycomb," replied the worker bees. "You know very well that you did...

In the warm salty waters of the great blue sea, little orange and white fish called clown fish played their favorite game: chasing each other round and round, swimming as fast as they could go. Yet always they stayed close to their sea anemone home. Their sea anemone had thousands of soft white...

Janeen K. Grohsmeyer, adapted from the story, “Circles of Light: The Flaming Chalice." In the dark nights and the darker days of World War II, guns blazed all over Europe and airplanes dropped death from the sky. Many people tried to escape from the war. These people were called refugees. Some...

(Light a chalice, if there isn't already one lit, and have some matches at hand.) Have you ever watched a candle burn? (Lean forward to impart the secret.) The fire is alive. Watch it! It moves. It flickers. It dances on the wind. It changes with every breath of air. (Demonstrate this.) Fire is...

Adapted from "The Grumpy Gecko" in The Barefoot Book of Earth Tales by Dawn Casey and Anne Wilson (Cambridge: Barefoot Books, 2009). Used by permission. In a shady glade, the chief of the jungle slept. Until, GECK-O! GECK-O! GECK-O! Tiger woke up with a snort. He opened one yellow eye....

“The Magic Vase” was adapted from "The Magic Vase" as retold by Margaret Silf in One Hundred Wisdom Stories from Around the World, compiled by Margaret Silf (Cleveland: The Pilgrim Press, 2003), 41-42. Used by permission, all rights reserved. There was once a poor family who lived in a drab...

There was an extraordinary range of personal beliefs among the participants in my 2003 small group workshop in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic. They were the delegates, staff and visitors attending the annual meeting of the International Council of Unitarians and Universalists....

Several years ago, I spent an evening discussing Covenant Groups with members of a New England church who were interested in starting a small group ministry program....

In July 2003, I went on an eight-day spiritual retreat at a Benedictine monastery in Wisconsin. The night before I left Chicago to drive to the monastery, as preparation for the journey, I made a series of decisions about what kinds of clothes I would need while on this retreat. I was thorough. I...

Excerpted from the 2006 Berry Street Lecture. When I was seven or eight years old, I lived across the street from a little dog named Amy. Every afternoon after my school let out, Amy and I would play together for an hour. One of Amy's favorite games was a dancing game in which I held her two...

James Luther Adams, from "The Evolution of My Social Concern." Used with permission, Herbert F. Vetter, Harvard Square Library....

Excerpted from Worshipping Together with Questioning Minds, by Sophia Lyon Fahs. Copyright (C) 1965 by Sophia Lyon Fahs. Reprinted by permission of Beacon Press, Boston. Two first-person anecdotes from Fahs' experiences as a religious educator, each followed by her analysis....

Based on multiple sources, particularly a letter from Margaret Fuller to Caroline Sturgis, October 22, 1840. The letter may be found at Houghton Library, Harvard University (call number MS Am 1221 (242))....

Adapted from multiple sources, primarily the Memoir of William Ellery Channing with Extracts from His Correspondents and Manuscripts, in Three Volumes, William Henry Channing, ed. (Boston: Wm. Crosby and H.P. Nichols, fifth edition, 1851)....

In 1789, Hosea Ballou attended the Baptist revival held in his hometown of Richmond, New Hampshire. Moved by the preaching during this event, which was touted as "The Great Reformation," Ballou, age 19, stepped forward to be baptized....

Charles Chauncy was the leading opponent of the Great Awakening, the Protestant evangelical movement that swept through the British North American colonies between 1739 and 1745. Chauncy was born into the elite Puritan merchant class that ruled Boston....