On this both joyous and solemn day we have reason to celebrate; we have reason to be grateful; we have reason to be proud. We gather in the shadow of a world unsure of itself, of plans for peace lost in the plague of ambition, of a planet under threat. And yet, we have cause to be hopeful. Our...

We give thanks for this day and for these people and all the people who have enriched our lives. We give thanks for the gift of life with all of its pain and its joy, its struggles and its triumphs....

We give thanks for the earth and its creatures and are grateful from A to Z: For alligators, apricots, acorns and apple trees; For bumblebees, bananas, blueberries and beagles; Coconuts, crawdads, cornfields and coffee; Daisies, elephants, and flying fish; For groundhog, glaciers and grasslands;...

In prayer, we call to mind the peacemakers.

Like most traumatic scars, the ones that are found in Hiroshima and Nagasaki are permanent: reminders of the terrible damage human beings can inflict. Similar scars can be found in the hearts and souls of people around the world who understand this terror: scars of grief, sadness, fear and even...

The following meditation will begin and end with the sound of the mindfulness bell. breathing in i am aware of my pain. breathing out i am aware that i am not my pain. breathing in i am aware of my past. breathing out i am aware that i am not my past. breathing in i am aware of my anger....

Many of the past generation and many of today have found three abiding values in prayer: the quiet meditation on life, the reaching out toward the universal and the infinite, and the courageous facing of one's profoundest wishes....

Fill your heart like a vessel with the Christmas spirit. Take the time to let your vision clear and your concern deepen. Allow your heart to overflow with all the authentic gifts that this season has to offer....

I love to pray, to go deep down into the silence: To strip myself of all pride, selfishness, and coldness of heart; To peel off thought after thought, passion after passion, till I reach the genuine depths of all; To remember how short a time ago I was nothing,and in how short a time again I will...

In the presence of these flowers,These representatives of Creation's profound beauty:Diverse and Unique, but Related and Interdependent,These flowers which come to us as gifts from we know not whereAnd which we, in turn, choose to bring to our shared and common altarAs gifts to one anotherIn thei...

Welcome all you saints! Yes! You are saints, all of you are saints, for it is not by perfection that we are sainted, rather it is by our actions. It is not by perfection that we are sainted; rather it is by our presence. It is not by perfection that we are sainted; rather it is by our giving....

We pray for the peace not past understanding: The peace of children laughing and students quietly studying, Of young women dancing and men flirting beneath the stars. The peace not past understanding: Where no gunfire disrupts the night, Where girls can walk downtown and not be afraid, Where boys...

Each of us will be grateful this Thanksgiving in differing ways, Gathered in our separate families, Each with our own distinct recipes, customs and traditions; For some will have pies of mince, And others of pumpkin or apple; And some will dine early And some sit down late to the meal, Passing on...

I wish for you a troubled heart at times As woes of world and friend come close beside And keep you sleepless. I wish for you the thrill of knowing Who you are, Where you stand, And why. Especially why....

Often I have felt that I must praise my world For what my eyes and ears have seen these many years, And what my heart has loved. And often I have tried to start my lines: "Dear earth," I say, And then I pause To look once more. Soon I am bemused And far away in wonder. So I never get beyond "Dear...

Holy spirit, We feel you moving among us here. Bless us with your presence. For we are in need… …in need of strength and courage. Our road is filled with rocks, with boulders strewn, boulders so high we sometimes wonder whether we can climb them, We are in need… …in need of comfort and...

Spirit of life and love, In this season of beginning Some of us are hurried and harried. Some of us feel sorrowful and afraid. Some of us are not yet ready to step forward into the future. May we minister to one another with wisdom, Meeting our friends with open ears, open eyes, and open hearts....

It is worthwhile to live and fight courageously for sacred ideals.

In the name of Providence, which implants in the seed the future of the tree and in the hearts of men [and women] the longing for people living in [human] love; in the name of the highest....

Infinite Spirit of Life, we ask thy blessing on these, thy messengers of fellowship and love. May they remind us, amid diversities of knowledge and of gifts, to be one in desire and affection, and devotion to thy holy will. May they also remind us of the value of comradeship, of doing and sharing...