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.

First, let me bring you greetings from the larger family of faith of which you are a part. The Unitarian Universalist Association is the coming together of, now, 1055 free, liberal religious congregations in North America....

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....

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We are here today to recognize the completion of your program of study for this Coming of Age ceremony and to celebrate with you the faith you have come to accept through this year of questioning and investigating. Some of you were brought to a Unitarian Universalist church to be Dedicated and...

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...

Now, go forth into the world in peace. Be of good courage. Prove all things and hold fast that which is good. Amen.

We are never complete. We are never finished. We are always yet to be. May we always allow others to be, and help and enable each other to grow toward all that we are capable of becoming. Amen...

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...

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....

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...

God of life and beauty: We pray for the quietness of snowflakes, knowing that love is quiet. We pray for the kindness of small acts, knowing gentleness is fragile....

We seek life’s meaning in the wonder of morning In the freshness of springtime, And in each others hearts and minds. Yet still we hope for something more, A break in the ordinary, An infusion of the unexpected, An explosion of glory, A miracle, Revealing more than we hope to understand.

When I was a child, the world felt safe and whole and meaningful to me. It reached out and embraced me in a comfortable, welcoming, protective way. I felt "at home in the world," to borrow from the title we use for one of our Church School curricula....

It was Spring. At long last there was no hint of snow on the ground. It was even warm, sort of. Birds and bugs had, at last, returned to Milwaukee. And so in the great flush of Spring madness, Jan and I decided it was time to barbecue....

We bid you welcome on this first Sunday of the new year. Like Janus we gather with part of us looking backward and part of us looking forward. We gather on the edge of the new year saddened by our losses, cherishing our joys, aware of our failures, mindful of days gone by....