December twelfth, Christmas Day is Clara Barton’s Birthday (1821). Clara Barton, Universalist and founder of the American Red Cross, is a hero of our liberal religious faith. We remember her around the holidays season since she was born Christmas Day, 1821. But in the season when we recall the...

December eleventh, Charles Dickens’ "A Christmas Carol" (1843). Unitarian Charles Dickens impacted the way Christmas is celebrated today more than any other individual. "A Christmas Carol" has been credited with popularizing everything from turkey dinners and family gift exchanges to holiday...

December tenth, Christmas Scenes in "Little Women" (1868). Unitarian Louisa May Alcott wrote over a dozen Christmas-themed stories and poems in addition to the Christmas scenes in "Little Women.” Her description of a holiday with the March family nurtured a growing sense of American nostalgia for...

December ninth, "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" (1849). "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear” was written by Unitarian Minister Hamilton Sears while recovering from a nervous breakdown. The melancholy carol’s conspicuous omission of any reference to Jesus or his birth has drawn criticism from orthodox...

December fifth, "Jingle Bells" (1857). First performed at a Thanksgiving event by the Sunday school children from the Unitarian Church in Savannah, GA who were led by the church music director and the song’s composer James Pierpont. “Jingle bells” was published in 1857, but only gained...

December third, Currier and Ives (1834). Founded by Unitarian Nathaniel Currier, the Currier and Ives Printing Firm published an annual set of winter images....

A man sits on the rubble— not just in the rubble, but on the pile of what remains. No people in the bombed-out houses. No dogs. No birds. Just ragged hunks of concrete and loss. And on his perch he is playing an instrument constructed of what is left—an olive oil can, a broom handle, a bowed...

I heard the Second Brandenburg Concerto played in honor of Bach’s 300th birthday, and I was swept away. I remembered a story about the people who send messages into outer space. Someone suggested sending a piece by Bach. The reply was “But that would be bragging.” Some say we get what we...

I vote we let the artists win the ones covered in paint from their last attempt to smuggle across the beauty of a bowl of fruit the 14-year-old rapper learning to spit throwing life's chaos on the rhythm wheel uncovering the shapes that live on after the next break I say we let the food bank...

For Natalie Fedak, environmentally sustainable moviemaking is no fantasy.

‘My thought process as I paint is a non-linear flow of consciousness.’

As we listen to the blessing of music, May we know this ending As more than a time of goodbye. May the warmth of this community and the memory of our chalice flame sustain our hearts and encourage our minds, as we engage the blessings of life's challenges and joys. The service has ended. Your...

In Westport and Hartford, Victor Lundy designed dramatic expressions of mid-century Unitarian Universalism.

Frances E. W. Harper (1825–1911) challenged us to practice a religion of justice.

Surviving alcoholism and seminary, a novelist finds depth and comedy in Unitarian Universalism.

Visually compelling biography for young readers provides an accessible foundation in the notable Unitarian’s words and beliefs.