Leader 1: It takes a Unitarian Universalist Village to raise a Unitarian Universalist Child. We will read what we believe important for our children to learn, to know, and to experience. We invite you to respond by saying “It takes a village to raise a child.” Leader 2: It is important for our...

A cold grey sky, a cold grey sea And a cold grey mist that is chilling me; A light that burns on the harbor bar With the dull dim glow of a distant star....

Who cast a spell over my world? Who opened the doors, stirred the crowd of possibilities, put gold dust in my dreams causing my life to turn? O Fate, O Love, O Spirit, O God: is it true that all good things must end? Or have you set me on a path of meaning Not luck Of clarity Not magic And this...

This body is not what it was I got shin splints from running today Ten years ago all I’d get was smelly feet My back aches just from sitting these days In my youth, all my pain came from climbing trees This body is not what it was Not some alien thing thrust upon me So clumsy, always in the way I...

(adapted from the original) I say that it touches us that our blood is sea water and our tears are salt, that the seed of our bodies is scarcely different from the same cells in a seaweed, and that the stuff of our bones is like the coral. I say that the tide rolls in on us, whether we like it or...

Once upon a time I was Now I am Some day I will become Once there was And now there is Soon there will be And some day there surely shall be Once upon a time we were Now we are And some day (Hallelujah!) we shall surely become Amen Amen...

My high school years were speckled with trust walks. In my ­Unitarian Universalist youth group at the First UU Congre­gation of Ann Arbor, each year, the incoming freshmen were given blindfolds and a partner. They were led out into the dark, with only hands on their shoulders to guide them. When...

Spirit of life and love, In the silence In the stillness We hear the call of our own heart Its tender dreams Its sorrows and its triumphs In the silence In the stillness We hear whispers of days gone by Of dreams still becoming The promise of the future We celebrate together Our individual journe...

This ritual, for use within a worship service, calls for the voices of two lay leaders—such as the Board President and a worship associate—although a single lay leader could just as easily read both parts. Lay Leader 1: The life of our religious community is fluid, ever changing with new lives,...

For millennia People have gathered together to hear stories, To root for the underdog, To jeer the evil and the unkind. We see in our stories Mirrors to our own lives Where we hope good things will happen to good people And that evil will be vanquished....

This pastoral prayer is adapted from the prayer of Shantideva, an 8th century Buddhist monk and major source of inspiration to the Dalai Lama, who references the original prayer often. There are many translations, some of which contain the whole text; some of which do not....

My theology understands humanity as simultaneously fragile and resilient, weak and strong, greedy and generous, mean and compassionate. I see the divine spark in the tension between those opposites....

Oh spirit of life and love, We pause for a moment on this snowy day to reflect on the changes one week can make in our lives. We celebrate the feast of Imbolc, the pagan holiday that heralds the coming of spring. Our hearts stir with the thought that lambs are being born, that the light is...

My prayer today is that I learn to stay a war atheist— my prayer today for each of us, for everyone in this nation, in this world, is that we all learn to be war atheists. I don’t believe in war anymore. My prayer today is that I never again succumb to fear, fear which seduces me to believe that...

Listen. Listen to silence. Listen to the wind. Listen to the stars. Hear trees. Dance. Dance to the beat of your neighbor’s heart. Dance to the rhythm of your childhood dreams. Sing. Sing and hum a wordless song to the tune of your rushing blood. And Pray. Pray with a fever that makes you sweat...

(In the) Spirit of Love and Remembrance, we mourn and honor [pet's name]. In life he embodied: the one-ness of all living things. In death he bears witness: to love beyond the bounds of race, kin, or species. This is a love with which it is tasked upon us: to unite, heal, and consecrate. From the...

We all emerge from Dwell within Are transformed by And called back to Love. May your mind be humbled before this Mystery. May your heart grow hopeful by it. May you be sustained by this Love always.

Respect our interdependent web of existence: the image on the right may be used as wallpaper for a smartphone or tablet. The 7th Principle of Unitarian Universalism is respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part. The Seven Principles by Ellen Rocket...

Improve the global community: the image on the right may be used as wallpaper for a smartphone or tablet. The 6th Principle of Unitarian Universalism is the goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all. The Seven Principles by Ellen Rocket...

Support democracy: the image on the right may be used as wallpaper for a smartphone or tablet. The 5th Principle of Unitarian Universalism is the right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large. The Seven Principles by Ellen Rocket...