Introduction As we continue to seek out the stories of hope in our world in the new year, there are also some things we would very much like to put behind us from the old year. The ushers have given you scraps of paper on which to inscribe those things from which we would seek to unburden ourselves.

Recorded music (e.g., Mozart's Requiem; Arvo Pårt's Lamentate) will be playing as the background. Spoken introduction as people prepare to walk in silence: Let us open our minds and hearts to the power of healing that is in us and in the world around us....

Spirit of Life, hold us in our pain and comfort us in our grief. Our grief feels boundless; our rage eats at us. We feel pain for all the wild creatures of the Gulf and the wetlands....

Dear Goddess, Mother, and Source Your womb is all of creation Your love is mother's milk Please grant us support during this transition Please help us move through this next stage Please carry us in arms of support, grace, and love So that we may bring new life to this ministry So that we may gro...

Minister: The life of our religious community is fluid, ever changing with new lives, new visions, new possibilities and new ministries. [Length of time] ago we welcomed our intern minister, [Name]. And we have been changed....

If you are who you were, and if the person next to you is who he or she was, if none of us has changed since the day we came in here— we have failed. The purpose of this community— of any church, temple, zendo, mosque— is to help its people grow. We do this through encounters with the...

Once more the year's turned round. We've come full circle on this small planet, Spinning down the grooves of change, Another revolution completed around the sun. Another year older ... Another set of rings on the tree ... As seasons parade in endless procession The people's troubles and prayers...

We are five days away from what is has come to be traditionally celebrated as the birth of Jesus of Nazareth....

Leader: We are here to derive meaning in our actions All: When I change, the world changes Leader: We are here to win our power back over our areas of powerlessness All: When I change, the world changes Leader: We are here to deepen our understanding of ourselves in order to strengthen...

To be shared after the flowers have been distributed... Within our hands we hold the resurrection of the world. Transient and imperfect, these blossoms are still gifts of infinite value. Like ourselves. Too often we seek permanence and perfection. Resisting change, blind to our shortcomings, We...

When Jesus was baptized the spirit descended upon him like a dove and God said, “This is my son, in whom I am well pleased.” It must have been a great feeling, but it didn’t last long. The next thing Jesus knew, the nice spirit that had descended like a dove became aggressive and drove him...

We know there is great abundance in our world: a great abundance of suffering—of people homeless, hungry, frightened, lonely, in danger, sick, exhausted, and wondering when this abundant suffering shall cease. We know there is great abundance in our world: a great abundance of love—of people...

I send you out now, to share yourself with the world May its promise and complexity set your mind ablaze May you hold fast to what your life has taught you May you question everything And when you have changed the world, And the world has changed you, May you return again, to this place, And shar...