The concern which I lay bare before God today is my need to be better: I want to be better than I am in my most ordinary day-by-day contacts: With my friends— With my family— With my casual contacts— With my business relations— With my associates in work and play. I want to be better than I...

I am afraid of nearly everything: of darkness, hunger, war, children mutilated. But most of all, I am afraid of what I might become: reconciled to injustice, resigned to fear and despair, lulled into a life of apathy. Unchain my hope, make me strong. Stretch me towards the impossible, that I may...

Gracious One: Keep watch on the innovators, the trailblazers, the takers of risk. Invite us to be persons of vision and integrity. Help us to remember the mystery from which possibility is born. Lead us to honor the sacred space where ministries, idealists, and realists meet....

Spirit of life and love God of many names—and no name— Divine spirit which resides in all, We do not always understand each other. We do not always speak or listen carefully. We often find it difficult to look beyond our selves to our common purpose, and We cause suffering to each other and...

As we settle into our seat all of our life comes down with us, like an extended slinky retracting into a single cylinder Back you snap into this body and breath where each day is born and done familiar in this cushion familiar in this ache....

A few summers ago my wife Suzanne and I took our son Christopher gem mining in the mountains of North Carolina. We mounded a pile of mud and dirt, got a sifter, and began sifting through the soil in search of treasure. Liberal religious education is like gem mining. In a Unitarian Universalist...

Adapted from Flower Sunday, 1969 On a day such as this may a great change come upon us. The sounds we have been hearing have been discordant; the sights we have been seeing have been violent; the words we have been reading have been hateful. All this has been wearying, discouraging and distracting.

God of our hearts, that which enlightens and ennobles us, we come together in a unity of spirit to celebrate a personal commitment of these young men and women. We join in thanksgiving....

Two women, thin, one small, one gray-haired, sit side by side on a high-backed bench. The smaller one leans against the other, lays her head atop the other’s shoulder, wraps her arm around the other. The one wrapped around, leaned against and onto, sits upright. The smaller one sits up also, but...

This is the kind of God I could worship: a heavenly Mother who prefers imitation to adoration, and who sees in all Creation the indivisible smiles of Her children. Our Mother, Holy Wisdom, draws one breath and even we who are miles away are warmed by the glory of Her inspiration. Our Mother, Holy...

In the hours before the birds stream airborne with chiming voice, a silent breath rests in the pines, and upholds the surface of the lake as if it were a fragile bubble in the very hand of God. And I think, this is how we are called....

Early spring awakens memories of a deeper cold and hopes of a warmer wetness, sprouting seeds and budding branches. Gray trees on gray sky screen eyes from all that lies waiting: the color of a million flowers, the feathers of migrating songbirds, the blossoming smiles of friends. Soon we will no...

May we open ourselves ever more fully to that Eternal Mystery which lures us onward toward life and creativity. May we find the courage to live our faith, to speak our truth, and to strive together for a world where freedom abounds and justice truly does roll down like water. May we know the...

May the walls of this house be strong in the face of storms: Whether of winds or of words, whether of thunder or of tyranny. May the windows of this house be clear to the world's light: Whether of dawns or of daring, whether of sunsets or of stillness....

May our lives be blest according to the depth of our love, the persistence of our faith, our willingness to forgive and be compassionate, and in proportion to our yearning to be free. Amen.

I am Unitarian, I live and work in this faith. Jesus is my guide And God is my help. We, humans, are all brothers/sisters, Our law is one: love. The goal of our work is shared, Happy are those of God's Kingdom...

(Hungarian first—English follows) Hol hit—ott szeretet Where there is faith there is love Hol szeretet—ott béke Where there is love there is peace Hol béke—ott áldás Where there is peace there is blessing Hol áldás—ott Isten Where there is blessing there is God Hol Isten—ott...

Let us give thanks, for we are blessed with heads that we may think clearly. We give thanks. Let us be grateful, for we are blessed with hearts of loyalty. We are grateful. Let us give thanks, for we are blessed with hands with the potential for great service. We give thanks....

"For a time, I rest in the grace of the world and am free." —Wendell Berry In this time of meditation, may you rest in the grace of the world and be free. In weakness, may you sense the strength of the eternal hills, and rest in the grace of the world. In failure, may you be upheld like the...

Unto that which is noblest in each of us we make appeal. Unto those common ideals of justice and mercy that bind us in common humanity we turn for inspiration. Unto the fearless dreams of our forebears in the worship of their gods and their vision of truth, we bow in gratitude. Unto the larger...