From Christian scripture, John 6:1-19, New Revised Standard Version (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 1990). A large crowd kept following [Jesus], because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples....

A Celtic pagan story from Ireland, told by Erica Helm Meade in her book of wisdom tales, The Moon in the Well (Peru, Illinois: Open Court/Carus, 2001). Permission pending....

A retelling of a story from Cherokee tradition. When the earth was first made, it was very dark, and the animals were afraid. One day Bear said, “I have seen light on the other side of the world, but the people will not share. Perhaps we could steal some for ourselves.” The others thought this...

Compiled from a variety of West African and South African folk tales. Once upon a time two cousins lived side by side in a village. They worked together in the fields each day and returned home each night to share a meal and some fun in the evening. The young woman cousin's name was Nosa....

Adapted from a Jataka tale (Buddhist). Once upon a time on the outskirts of a big city in Japan there stood an old temple. From a young age boys who wanted to study Buddhism would come to live in the temple and to learn from the master teacher, a Buddhist monk....

It was a hot, muggy morning. Christopher was not sure he really wanted to be out riding in a competition. His thoroughbred horse, Eastern Express, seemed a bit off, as if maybe he would rather be grazing in the field than doing the demanding work of running and jumping with a big, muscular man on...

Genesis 22: 1-13 (New Revised Standard Version) After these things God tested Abraham....

1 Samuel 17 (New Revised Standard Version) Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle... The Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with a valley between them. And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion...

Activity time: 10 minutes Materials for Activity Story, "The Power of Half" Preparation for Activity Read the story and prepare to share it with the group. Read the discussion questions....

Based on a Santerian story. Special thanks to Lesley Murdoch for her insights to Afro-Caribbean religions. The Orisha are gods that came originally from Nigeria, in West Africa, as part of the Yoruba religion....

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

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 September 1965, Filipino grape workers in Delano, California, went on strike for more pay and better working conditions. A week later, the predominantly Mexican American National Farm Workers' Association joined the strike....

In 1977, Harvey Milk was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, becoming the first openly gay man elected to public office in the United States. Milk grew up in New York, quiet about his homosexuality. He studied mathematics and graduated from New York State College for Teachers in...

On July 27, 2008, people gathered in the sanctuary of the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville to watch the children and youth of the congregation present the musical Annie Jr. Suddenly, a shot rang out. At first, many thought the noise was part of the musical, but they...

Ralph Waldo Emerson was a leading 19th-century philosopher, father of the Transcendentalist movement. Before he became a philosophical and literary luminary, he was a Unitarian minister and served the Second Church in Boston between 1829 and 1832. In pursuing ministry, Ralph Waldo followed in the...

Long ago, it is said, there was a mighty flood, and the People left their world, the Fourth World, the Underworld, and came up into the Fifth World, the world we live in today. They found themselves on the shore of a great ocean. The People broke into groups by clan and went out to find new homes.

This is the story of Theodore Parker, a Unitarian minister who was determined to do whatever he could to end slavery in the United States. His powerful sermons were legendary. This is also the story of Millard Fillmore, whose actions earned him the contempt of Theodore Parker and abolitionists...

After many years of being out of shape, he decided it was time to do something about the state of his body. With great excitement and enthusiasm, he went to the local gym, got a membership, and began a circuit-training routine. He felt good. And he kept at it, going to the gym several times a week. ...