What images comes to mind when I say, “Labor Day”? Chances are you think of the holiday weekend and celebrations with your loved ones, the Federal Holiday, Unions and the cause of a working wage and benefits, maybe the history of the struggle of working people to have a fair share of the profits...

Traditions and habits can be changed or broken and that’s not always bad. It doesn’t mean we didn’t learn or like what we did in the past, it just means that we moved on to something else and that’s okay too.

Voice One, Elder (with chalice): Across the generations we have carried the flame. We fought the injustice, sang the songs, spoke for truth, and built something lasting. We join in the line and we carry the flame forward. (pass chalice and mic to next speaker) Voice Two, Active Leader (with metal...

I invite you now to join me in the spirit of meditation and imagination. Find a comfortable position in your seat and close your eyes. Take a deep breath and try to find the restorative power of air and water in the breath. We must breathe to live, but our bodies also need water to survive. Our...

In my small-town congregation, our beloved dead seem to linger with us for a little while.

Did you notice that in the story of Christmas there are lots of journeys? Mary and Joseph have to go on a journey. The shepherds have to go on a journey. And those angels must have gone on a journey to find the shepherds....

Photographs from the 2018 General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association.

As the child leaves the doorstep, the parent prays: Please, keep my child safe, And give me the courage to let them go out to explore the world. The child prays, Watch over my parents while I’m gone, And help them believe that I really do know what I’m doing. The grandparent prays, Thank you for...

For all the mothers and mother figures The grandmothers, aunts, and extended family members who mother The soon-to-be mothers, the wish-they-were mothers, the never-wanted-to-be mothers, the “it’s complicated” mothers The birth mothers, foster mothers, adoptive mothers, stepmothers The “used...

A congregation bonds over its multiyear collaborative quilt project.

A congregation bonds over its multiyear collaborative quilt project.

We give thanks for your presence among us. You are living examples of courage and perseverance. We give thanks for the stories you have collected through the years. By sharing your stories, you help shape ours. We give thanks for the many tasks you have undertaken for the betterment of others. We...

Welcome to this sacred celebration of emerging adulthood. We are gathered today to rejoice and bear witness as (name) and her parents and friends mark her transition from childhood to the estate of a young woman. The quinceañera tradition has its roots in the ancient cultures of Central and South...

May the flame of this chalice, the symbol of our faith, connect us to all who have come before us, all who are with us in body and and spirit, and all who are yet to come into being. May it serve as a reminder of our unity and connection across all time and space.

Come, let us enter this space of hope and community. Come, let us enter this space with our sorrows, our joys, our passion and compassion. Come. let us enter this space with the stories of our ancestors, for their strength and wisdom beats in our hearts....

Once upon a time, a baby was born. Even before that baby was born, there were people waiting and wishing and hoping for that baby. The people who were waiting and wishing and hoping for that baby didn’t know exactly what that baby would be like. And so, they wondered: Would the baby have a smile...

Holy One, on this day of remembrance we say aloud their names again: the names of those who died this year. Died — the word is jarring. So jarring that we hardly use the word, substituting euphemisms that are a bit more vague. Sometimes people say “lost” when what they mean is dead: “We lost...

My oldest child was confused: why would no one stop and help us? Even though people weren’t stopping to help us, my son said, he wanted to be more like me and stop to help someone anyway.