Leader: Spring, the triumph of light over darkness, Response: Victory of newness and growth, and warmth vanquishing cold, Leader: We, too, know coldness and darkness within us, as it is in our world....

We’ve begun a new ritual around our dinner table in which each member of the family takes a minute or two to name what he or she has been grateful for. No matter how yucky our day has been, we try to offer our gratitude in the spirit of kindness and real thankfulness. Often, the ritual’s nicest...

I hate goodbyes. I hate everything about them. It bothers me that “goodbye” isn’t really what I think we most often want to say. When those I love leave me, or I leave them, goodbye isn’t what I want to say. I want to tell them that their warm hand on my cheek, which caught my desperate...

Ministry is a quality of relationship between and among human beings that beckons forth hidden possibilities; inviting people into deeper, more constant, more reverent relationship with the world and with one another; carrying forward a long heritage of hope and liberation that has dignified and...

This is the home that love made. It is full of the love that the founders felt, when they planned out these walls and raised these beams above us. This is the home that love made. It is full of the love of all who have worshipped here; those who have celebrated and grieved here; the babies...

Am I a guest here. Here in this House. Are you? Are we guests here. Here in this House. And, whose House do we inhabit? In the small world of our lives the borders between us: easements, fences, gates, hedges—serve to delineate, to separate us. To remind us of where my property begins and ends.

Voice 1: Go forth in solidarity Voice 2: Your presence in [destination] is a clear statement to the residents: they are not alone; you stand with them in their struggle. Know also that all of [your congregation] stands with you....

I grew up as the heavily-committed eldest child of an American Baptist minister in the 50's. Committed, that is, to self-preservation, staying out of trouble with our small town and my family, and having fun within safe parameters, namely, church activities. I never felt particularly committed to...

Among the most accomplished and fabled tribes of Africa, no tribe was considered to have warriors more fearsome or more intelligent than the mighty Masai....

Speak, flowers, speak! Why do you say nothing? The flowers have the gift of language. In the meadow they speak of freedom, Creating patterns wild and free as no gardener could match. In the forest they nestle, snug carpets under the roof of Leaf and branch, making a rug of such softness....

About The Author: The author self-identifies as Afircan American and psychology professional. Frequently I am asked, ‘Why should the UUA [Unitarian Universalist Association] spend money, time, and resources on racial and cultural diversity?’ I sometimes feel burdened with the expectation that I...

Please speak the response when you hear: "...this season brings forth many feelings" Response: We find comfort in naming these feelings; we find some peace in being together All around us are bright lights and merry messages Yet in our heart not all is joyful There is grief with the loss of...

Easter gets its name from the Teutonic goddess of spring and the dawn, whose name is spelled Oestre or Eastre. (The origin of the word east, the direction of the rising sun, comes from various Germanic, Austro-Hungarian words for dawn that share the root for the word aurora, which means “to...

May means Mother’s Day. I’m going to trust Hallmark and daddies and six year-olds and grown-up kids who are mommies themselves to honor the mothers among us as they deserve to be honored—with brass bands, flags flying, breakfast in bed (and kitchens cleaned up afterwards). I wish for those...

"When we seek wisdom," says one Native American spiritual leader, "we go up on the hill and talk to the Great Spirit, Wakan Tanka. Four days and four nights, without food and water. And we listen. And God speaks." Roy Phillips, minister of the Unitarian Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, writes about...

Be ours a religion which, like sunshine, goes everywhere; its temple, all space; its shrine, the good heart; its creed, all truth; its ritual, works of love; its profession of faith, divine living.

Parents Once you were infants dependent upon our love and the wisdom of others.Youth Now we are young persons entering an adult world with increasing responsibilities for our own decision making.Parents Once you belonged to an environment of faith and values outside your ability to alter or reject.

Sitting on the ground, with the huge universe of sky and space all around, may we let our eyes be open to the miracle of life in every person whom we see. May our hearts and minds not be numb or unaware or unconcerned. The vibrancy of life is all around. The power of love and nurture is ours to...

Squirrel: tch tch tch Sparrow: cheep cheep Mouse/mice: squeak squeak Frogs: ribbit needeep Tadpoles: ribribrib Grass: oooohhhh Pond: plip plop Peepers: peep peep peep Nighthawk: scree scree Daffodils: nodding head/trumpet sound It wasn't a particularly hard winter that year, but it was long and...

Go out on a limb. That's where the fruit is.