Sometimes, freedom is a long time coming. It may take generations upon generations for justice to be won. Our Unitarian ancestor Reverend Theodore Parker said, "I do not pretend to understand the moral universe: the arc is a long one...

Adapted from The Family Finds Out by Edith Hunter (Boston: Beacon Press, 1966).Ellen was sitting up on a branch of the apple tree, swinging her legs. Her mother was looking over the vegetable garden. "Want to see a nice fat green worm?" her mother called. Ellen jumped down from the tree and ran...

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....

A wisdom tale from many cultures, including Buddhist.A wise woman, a teacher, was passing through a forest. There, among the leaves, was something shiny. She wiped away the leaves and dirt and beheld a beautiful, large gem. "My, this is pretty," the wise woman said. She put the jewel in her pouch...

When Joseph Jordan (pronounced Jerden) was born in Virginia in 1842, slavery was still legal. Most people of African descent were treated as property, like horses or dogs. They were bought and sold; they had no rights. Whether enslaved or free, people of color were not treated with respect....

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...

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.

A contemporary painter named Debora Jones-Buck has what many consider an unusual approach to her work. She prepares a canvas and then paints a picture on it. Then, when the paint has dried, she paints an entirely different image on top of it. And then another, and another. Eventually she puts the...

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 "Unitarian Couple Honored for World War II Bravery," a story by Michelle Bates Deakin, first published December 12, 2005, by UU World.What Rosemary Feigl remembers most clearly about the woman who rescued her from the Nazis is her hat....

Sarah Foster is a lifelong Unitarian Universalist who wanted to make the world a better place while doing something that she loved. What she loved was performing and making others laugh, so she became a clown. As a professional clown with Clowns Without Borders, Sarah has traveled to Haiti,...

Adapted from a story by Jessica York. The song is an African American spiritual. This story is best told in pairs. One volunteer sings the song at the beginning and later in the story, while the other volunteer narrates the story....

(Leader: Invite the group to join you in singing the chorus of "Follow the Drinking Gourd." Teach the words and tune, if needed. Tell them that any time during the story they hear you start to sing, they should join in.) ...

Reprinted from Life Tides by permission of Sarah Tarbox. Copyright (C) 1993. Published by Skinner House Books, an imprint of the Unitarian Universalist Association. Hollow bones, streamlined feathers, and wings shaped to push aside the viscosity of air are not what make birds fly. Birds let go of...

By the Rev. Gordon McKeeman, reprinted from Out of the Ordinary with permission of the author. Copyright (C) 2000 by Gordon B. McKeeman. Published by Skinner House Books, an imprint of the Unitarian Universalist Association. Sometimes I enjoy cooking. I've discovered that one of the greatest of...