Not gold, nor myrrh, nor even frankincense would I have for you this season, but simple gifts, the ones that are hardest to find, the ones that are perfect, even for those who have everything (if such there be). I would (if I could) have for you the gift of courage, the strength to face the...

Out of wood and stone, out of dream and sacrifice, the people build a home. Out of the work of their hands and hearts and minds, the people fashion a symbol and a reality. May this house be truly a place of meeting: meeting in warmth and joy and openness; meeting in courage and love and trust....

Spirit of life, we come together this Easter morning to rejoice in your ongoing creation around us and within us. We come to rejoice, but we come with burdens of sorrow and pain, of shame and fear, of false obligation and false pride. On this Easter morning may we discover a joyous and courageous...

O Source of life and love, Torn by desires to sit back and to enjoy the beauty of the world— to savor the blue skies and gentle days— and by desires to recast the world and to fight its evils— to save the world... Torn by all those things that hurt and confuse and make no sense amid beauty—...

Let there be a quiet time among us. Spirit of life, in us and around us, here is our chance—once again—to live like we wish the world would live. May we find within ourselves the courage to be who we are. May we know when it is time to listen and when it is time to speak. May we trust ourselves...

In this time of anticipated spring let us allow ourselves to extend the anticipation—to value the time of budding before blooming, of seeding before sprouting. This is a time of revelation: the revealing of that which is eternal, which we see every year, but still need to be reminded to see it in...

Let us join in the exercise of silence for reflection, repose, meditation, or prayer. (Silence) In reflecting upon the dispiriting time in which we live, I have come to believe that the basic religious response is to refuse to be dispirited for long....

Eternal spirit, we witness bringing green growth throwing out tiny tendrils seeking support; sprouting thin twigs reaching for the bright golden sun; guiding new tubers seeking water in dark, sandy soil, Be in and amongst us this Easter morning. We gather this morning to celebrate the triumph of...

With faith to face our challenges, With love that casts out fear, With hope to trust tomorrow, We accept this day as the gift it is— A reason for rejoicing.

May our faith sustain us, our hope inspire us, and our love surround us as we go our separate ways, knowing that we will gather again in this beloved community. Amen.

Shall we pray? Too often, God, we have ignored you. We have lived as though you didn't matter. We have denied the new life that you would have us embrace; we have perpetuated that which depletes life. Forgive us for hesitating when we knew action was the needed response. Forgive us also for...

Thou who knows the secrets hidden within all hearts; thou who knows all sorrow and all joy, who knows all hope springing from sources unknown, who knows all loneliness, all desolation, all sadness; thou who knows all this, and understands, and with everlasting love seeks to lead us in each moment...

We summon ourselves from the demands and delights of the daily round: from the dirty dishes and unwaxed floors; from unmowed grass, and untrimmed bushes; from all incompletenesses and not-yet-startednesses; from the unholy and the unresolved....

We have come into this room of hope where our hearts and minds are opened to the future. We have come into this room of justice where we set aside our fear to name freely every oppression. We have come into this room of love where we know that no lives are insignificant....

We reach out, both backward into history and forward into the future, to link together the generations in this imperfect, but blessed, community of memory and hope.