Left: Some of us are struggling with sorrow or grief, but are afraid to reach out for help. Right: Some of us are sick of ourselves and others, but don't know what to do about it. Some of us just want to be ourselves, but it seems that other people won't let us....

We are here because we are people of faith. Within each of us lives the conviction of a saving faith that could restore our broken planet and illuminate the lives of our sisters and brothers. Ancient wisdom teaches that we who would save the world must first save ourselves....

Universal Spirit of love, O God within each one of us, whose power reaches to the stars, whose love connects us one to another and to all creation—we are one. We cry out with the pain of this broken world. With all our capacity for love, we ask: why can't we wrap this world in love and bring...

We walk this earth but a brief moment in time. Amid our suffering and pain, however great or small, let us continue to learn how to celebrate life. Let us continue to grow in our capacity to love ourselves and each other. And let us continue to move toward the goal of a just world community....

The human spirit has enormous resilience. But it is pushed to the limit by grief following the tragedy we have witnessed: sudden and unexpected death, the loss of so many lives. These vicious attacks defy our understanding. It hurts. We grieve....

From arrogance, pompousness, and thinking ourselves more important than we are, may some saving sense of humor liberate us. For allowing ourselves to ridicule the faith of others, may we be forgiven....

I feel the suffering of millions. And yet, when I look up at the sky, I somehow feel that everything will change for the better, that cruelty too will end, that peace and tranquility will return once more.

The world is too beautiful to be praised by only one voice. May you have the courage to sing your part. The world is too broken to be healed by only one set of hands. May you have the courage to use your gifts. May you go in peace.

In our modern age of apathy and egoism, there is cause for hope whenever people care about something beyond themselves. But there is more to being human than feeling deeply, for we risk becoming impassioned fools. Our minds must conspire with our hearts. We should care enough to think—and think...

Wage peace with your breath. Breathe in firefighters and rubble, breathe out whole buildings and flocks of red wing blackbirds. Breathe in terrorists and breathe out sleeping children and freshly mown fields. Breathe in confusion and breathe out maple trees. Breathe in the fallen and breathe out...

May I become at all times, both now and forever A protector of those without protection A guide for those who have lost their way A ship for those with oceans to cross A bridge for those with rivers to cross A sanctuary for those in danger A lamp for those without light A place of refuge for thos...

A child I know, when asked this week whether she would answer the call of her elementary school principal to wear red, white and blue clothes on Thursday, was in a quandary. She put down the crayon with which she was painstakingly trying to squeeze the words Peace is Possible onto the white bars...