This group blessing is designed to be shared by many voices or read by just one. Alex suggests creating an altar with a chalice and testing supplies (which are then distributed to students as they need them). Speaker 1: We have come to the end of the quarter/semester/year. An end to these classes.

Your gifts—whatever you discover them to be— can be used to bless or curse the world. The mind's power, the strength of the hands, the reaches of the heart, the gift of speaking, listening, imagining, seeing, waiting Any of these can serve to feed the hungry, bind up wounds, welcome the...

Prayer of Thanks for Hoes & Scythes & Spatulas & Toothbrushes & Binoculars & the Myriad Other Tools & Instruments That Fit Our Hands So Gracefully & Allow Us to Work with a Semblance of Deftitude Lovely little inventions, just right for the job at hand—a lawn edger, for example, or an arrow, or...

Sisters, I stand before you without homily or lecture or opinion. I stand here naked on the page. I stand here with my hands extended in helpless prayer. I will never know your pain. I will never know your agony of spirit. I will never know the dark nights of your souls. I will never know the...

The light green shoots of blossoms-to-have-been are out of sight under the drifting snow. Gale force winds are rattling the old house. The temperature is far below freezing. Nature is not cooperating with preparations for Easter. The storm evokes the spiritual quality of Good Friday more than...

I knew a man who had printed on his stationary this proverb: “Nothing is settled. Everything matters.” It established a certain ambience for reading his letters, as if to say: what you are about to read is to be taken seriously, but is not final. I remember him and his proverb sometimes,...

Spirit of Love and Power, we are gathered today in beloved community that we might manifest in our lives the values and truths that we hold dear. Let us rejoice that we are together for this time is holy time, the transformation we seek is holy work, and the bonds that hold us together are sacred.

Here we are: children at the Big Party, having our moment in the sun, our piece of the action, till our bodies give way and we are called home. We’re one big, not-always-happy family, given life and breath by an eternal parent we dearly long to know....

Ever since I graduated from college, I have had a recurring dream. My wife has had it, too, as well as a lot of other people I know. In my dream, it is time to take an exam and I am unprepared. I have not gone to classes all semester. I failed to do the reading....

(The prayer was written to be read by three people, as indicated by the typefaces.) Peace is more than the absence of worry. It is the creation of safe havens for all; It is the building of security for everyone; It is the forgiveness of self, as well as one who would harm you. Let us seek...

All that we need is here now. From the ages of the earth we have gathered energies in wood, coal, oil, and other remnants of life. And the air, it is here too, and it need not be pure. All is ready, here, in the dark. Will you strike yourself against life’s hard surfaces and let the flame out, or...

Spirit of my longing and lonely heart, help me travel through the barren borderlands that separate me from others. Teach me to willingly explore relationships with those who frighten or threaten me, grant me the courage to risk confidently my own comforts, that I might make others more comfortable.

Spirit of Life and Love, we are here because we believe what we do matters. We are here because we believe how we live our life matters. That with every act of kindness or meanness, courage or fear, love or hate, we are weaving the fabric of the universe that holds us all. We are here because we...

Keeper of our journeys, Today we mark and celebrate a significant moment in the lives of these young people Who this year assume the responsibility of becoming licensed drivers. We ask that they might be gifted with wisdom to make good choices as they navigate the roads ahead....

The storm outside echoes the storm raging within my soul. So many people in need… so much pain, so much grief. Too many causes and campaigns fill my mailboxes, sap my energy, beg for my money. Three things I must do...only three things? You've got to be kidding—which three do I choose? Books and...

Goodness is a means, not an end. Look within. Who can stop the hunger for more than we deserve? Who can prevent a jealous thought from urging us to protect our hearts? Who can ward off all the uncertainties that disturb the mind before we decide to act?...

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—...

I invite you now into a time of gratitude, reflection, renewal and hope. What an unearned blessing to delight in the calming peace of this space; to hear the robin's song again at daybreak; to feel the warmth in this room, and to enjoy the promise of summer almost upon us....