In 1927 a Roman Catholic priest and scientist Georges Lemaitre proposed what later became known as the Big Bang theory of the origin of the Universe, based on work by Edwin Hubble who theorized and then proved that the Universe was getting bigger and bigger. Many scientists have discovered other...

In a bay of the North Sea, in the middle of Denmark, on an island called Samso, the wind blows and blows. On this windy island, lived a man named Soren Hermansen. He farmed some land and played guitar in a band, but mostly he thought about the planet....

From The Kids' Book of Awesome Stuff (Brotman-Marshfield Curriculum, June 2004). Used with permission. Take a deep breath. The air you just breathed in is different from the air you just breathed out. The air you breathed out is a gas that can suffocate you if too much of it gets in the air. That...

Trout Are Made of Trees by April Pulley Sayre, text copyright 2008. Used with permission by Charlesbridge Publishing, Inc.Read the story dramatically and have fun with the sound effects! Trout are made of trees. In fall, trees let go of leaves, which swirl and twirl and slip into streams....

Jamie sat on his bed, while his Dad talked on the phone. In just three weeks, Jamie was going to turn seven. He couldn't wait. He was having a pirate party....

Adapted from The Empty Pot by Demi (New York: Henry Holt, 1990); permission pending. Long, long ago, the Emperor of an ancient land was old and dying. He loved children but had none of his own. So the Emperor decided to choose one of the children of his land to be the next Emperor....

Kylie groaned on the sofa. Her best friend Georgia was sick. It was Saturday, and the girls had planned to ride their bikes to Sundale Preserve that morning. But Georgia had a sore throat. Kylie had been looking forward to the trip all week. Sundale was her favorite place to go on weekends....

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,...

Based on information provided by Rev. Mike Young, The First Unitarian Church of Honolulu. Sometimes, the moment you meet someone, you know they will be a very important friend in your life. Other times, friendships start slowly. You might not know how important the friendship is for many years....

Searle-White, Joshua. "… Side Mary" in M… Wanda's Travel Emporium: Tales of Love, Hate and Things in Between. Boston: Skinner House, 2006. Used with permission. In a medium-sized town not far from here, there was a middle school. It was just like any other middle school, except for two things.

When you go camping, what do you miss most? Electricity? Or toilets? Only a hundred years or so ago, people didn't have either one. There were no microwave ovens or toasters. There were no light bulbs. You couldn't just flip a switch or push a button to make things happen. For thousands and...

One day a Religious Man approached a Mystic and asked, “Does God exist?” “Allow me to go within for an answer,” the Mystic replied.

Adapted from "The Real Heroes and Sheroes of New Orleans" by Lorrie Beth Slonsky and Larry Bradshaw. Original story appeared in the Socialist Worker. The sixth strongest Atlantic hurricane ever recorded, Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast region in August, 2005....

By Rev. Dr. Emily Brault. Used by permission.Rev. Dr. Emily Brault is a Unitarian Universalist minister who works as a Chaplain with the Oregon State Correctional Department. Prior to her current position working with incarcerated women, she worked at a juvenile correctional facility. This is one...

Based on information from People Building Peace, Peace News, My Hero, and Sara Cameron's website.Adults are usually regarded as the leaders in working for peace and—for good reason, as many have made a tremendous difference. Yet children can make a tremendous difference, too. Farliz Calle is one...

From the All Folk Tales website. Used with permission.A long time ago in the village of Ipetumodu, there lived a poor woman. This woman was so poor that she did not have any soup for her eba. The eba is a starchy paste made from cassava flour and it is rather unappetizing to eat all by itself.

The quotes in this story come from the website Oasis of Peace. Imagine a village that is home to 55 families with a waiting list of more than 300 families hoping to become part of the community....

Used with permission of Geoffrey Bayer , No More Deaths.The July sun beat down, and by mid-morning, there was no avoiding the heat. By 10 am, the anticipation rose with the heat as nearly 40 humanitarian volunteers gathered in a parking lot just outside the small desert town of Arivaca....

Once upon a time, there was a small village on the edge of a river. Life in the village was busy. There were people growing food and people teaching the children to make blankets and people making meals....

Adapted from Stories in Faith by Gail Forsyth-Vail, a Tapestry of Faith Toolkit book (Boston: UUA, 2007). Used with permission. Once there was a little girl named Cecilia who fell in love with the universe....