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Displaying 1 - 50 of 97
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Appreciation and deep witness are beautiful gateways for returning to our most authentic selves.Reflection | By Jami Yandle | March 6, 2024 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Compassion, Friendship, Humanism, Interdependence, Listening, Love, Vulnerability, Worship -
Remind me that success is not the only measure of a life.Reflection | By Amanda Poppei | January 31, 2024 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Acceptance, Compassion, Failure, Humanism, Secular, Self-Respect, Vulnerability, Worship -
I am seeking the courage to be open.Meditation | By Douglas Taylor | April 20, 2023 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Courage, Vulnerability, WorshipWeb, Worship -
We are learning to regroup and remember perfection was never the point.Opening | By Gretchen Haley | June 27, 2022 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Acceptance, Grace, Growth, Healing, Progress, Relationships, Self-Respect, Vulnerability, WorshipWeb, Worship -
None of us are mission-making machines.Reflection | By Susan Maginn | May 18, 2022 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Compassion, Direct Experience, Humanism, Leadership, Military, Ministry, Secular, Vulnerability, Worship -
When I first entered the rooms of recovery, I thought I had nothing in common with the people around me.Meditation | By Anonymous | February 4, 2022 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Addiction/Recovery, Caring, Friendship, Self-Care, Vulnerability
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The moment of asking for help is a tender moment.Meditation | By Anonymous | February 4, 2022 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Acceptance, Addiction/Recovery, Humility, Personal Stories, Self-Care, Vulnerability
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Conflict resolution is in fact one of the greatest things that you can accomplish in your life and in your relationship. [W]hen I view people as not bringing conflict up, I think it’s being unfaithful to the relationship. I think it’s an abdication of your role in the relationship, and you are...Reading | By Amanda Doyle | June 23, 2021 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Caring, Conflict, Direct Experience, Friendship, Humanism, Marriage, Relationships, Secular, Vulnerability, WorshipWeb, Worship
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It’s important to honor the footprint others leave on our heart.Reading | By Lauren Robbins | October 1, 2020 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Brokenness, Change, Direct Experience, Discernment, Ending, Friendship, Humanism, Pain, Relationships, Secular, Self-Respect, Vulnerability, WorshipWeb, Worship -
Advent is about the new story being written in our lives.Quote | By Jes Kast | September 10, 2020 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Advent, Christianity, God, Hope, Spirituality, Vulnerability, WorshipWeb, Worship -
A new disease, without any cure, is pushing us apart. And, yet, we cannot escape one another. We need one another. Whether I acknowledge it or not, the guarantee of safety does not exist.Reflection | By Manish Mishra-Marzetti | April 15, 2020 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: #COVID19, 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Body, Coming Out, Direct Experience, Fear, Humanism, Illness, Interdependence, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Relationships, Secular, Shame, Vulnerability -
So much held in a heart in a lifetime. So much held in a heart in a day, an hour, a moment. We are utterly open with no one, in the end—not mother and father, not wife or husband, not lover, not child, not friend. We open windows to each but we live alone in the house of the heart. Perhaps we...Quote | By Brian Doyle | March 4, 2020 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Brokenness, Healing, Love, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Relationships, Vulnerability -
A lot of us feel like our lives should have come with instructions. Or maybe they did, but we lost the only copy a long time ago.Reflection | By Elea Kemler | February 12, 2020 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Brokenness, Caring, Change, Direct Experience, Friendship, Humanism, Interdependence, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Relationships, Trust, Vulnerability -
Spirit of Life, ancestor of the stars and the sun, you who embrace the vastness of space and us along with it, be with us today. Hold us in our worry, our exhaustion, our grief. Keep us close as we sit with our truth, whatever that may be....Prayer | By Lyn Cox | January 2, 2020 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Autumnal Equinox, Awe, Contemplation, Courage, Earth-Centered, Nature, Summer Solstice, Vernal Equinox, Vulnerability, Winter Solstice / Yule, Wonder -
It was disruptive and strange to know that someone had died to bring this hope, and to wonder how the donor’s family mourned at the same time we rejoiced.Reflection | By Elizabeth Bukey Saunter | December 11, 2019 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Body, Direct Experience, Family, Fear, Interdependence, Mystery, Relationships, Vulnerability -
The crisis was an opportunity to learn to be fully me and love it, inner turmoil and all. I learned that strength comes from authenticity, never from perfection.Reflection | By Tomo Hillbo | November 27, 2019 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Brokenness, Conscience, Direct Experience, Family, Grief, Healing, Love, Mothers, Self-Care, Self-Respect, Vulnerability -
God, teach us to consider also how others experience the world. To understand how my reality and their reality are different and yet they share qualities of the same core desire. Teach us to listen for shared feelings, for places of connection. Teach us to be curious and open to hearing differences.Prayer | By Tanya Cothran | September 11, 2019 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Christianity, Compassion, Direct Experience, Empathy, God, Healing, Imagination, Immanence, Love, Unity, Vulnerability -
Oh, divine Love, With the kindling of this flame, may we realize and love our true selves: Our true, round belly selves. Our true, bags under our eyes, selves. Our true, naturally hairy, selves. Our true, wrinkles on our skin, selves. May our self-love help keep our chalice ablaze.Chalice Lighting | By Cooper Garrett | May 27, 2019 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Acceptance, Body, Compassion, Courage, Dignity, Love, Self-Respect, Shame, Truth, Vulnerability -
Gracious God, We are not supposed to talk about hearing voices in our head. That’s how rumors get started. But there’s a voice, a familiar stranger, that we can’t seem to turn down or turn off. One that says we’re a mess, a mistake, a fool, a fraud. That voice says everyone else has it...Prayer | By Lori Walke | May 16, 2019 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), God, Searching, Self-Respect, Vulnerability -
What could you accomplish this week if you knew you had a ground team wishing you well? Who are the other explorers around you, needing a word of encouragement that would mean so much coming from you?Reflection | By Monica Dobbins | March 13, 2019 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Community, Direct Experience, Friendship, Hope, Humanism, Relationships, Science, Secular, Vulnerability -
This work isn’t all prayers and beautiful moments, nor is it laments and trauma. It’s not even both/and, because this work is something greater than you, greater than us, greater than the whole of those we serve. This work is a calling. And we’re doing it. Day after day, night after night,...Blessing | By Andrea Hawkins-Kamper | January 16, 2019 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Calling, Challenge, Commitment, Compassion, Courage, Grace, Gratitude, Healing, Installations, Ministry, Ordinations, Vulnerability, Worship -
My soul nudged me from a hiding place to confess and to seek forgiveness, and only through the grace of the Great Mystery of Life unfolding around us did I receive the blessing of journeying with a beloved, grieving friend.Reflection | By Rebekah Savage | January 9, 2019 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Connections, Direct Experience, Failure, Forgiveness, Friendship, Guilt, Love, Reconciliation, Relationships, Self-Respect, Vulnerability -
Once I quit drinking, my inner voice and I began the harder work: that of creating a life from which I do not need or want to escape.Reflection | By Alix Klingenberg | January 2, 2019 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Acceptance, Addiction/Recovery, Body, Change, Direct Experience, Discernment, Health, Humility, Letting Go, Self-Respect, Vulnerability -
Christmas is a risk for us to take. Shall we allow ourselves to be touched by sentiment? Awakened by song and story? Drawn into festivities, when our joy depends upon the goodwill of others? Dare we risk the disappointment of hopes raised high and excited expectations? May we have the courage to...Quote | By Rexford J. Styzens | December 8, 2018 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Christmas Eve / Christmas, Hope, Tradition, Vulnerability -
What, exactly, are we doing when we invite love into our lives? Surely we know that it's much tidier without it, when things stay at a distance.Reflection | By Amanda Poppei | November 28, 2018 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Animals, Direct Experience, Love, Parents, Relationships, Vulnerability -
"We can change. People say we can’t, but we do when the stakes or the pain is high enough. And when we do, life can change."...Quote | October 30, 2018 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Beginnings, Change, Contemplation, Direct Experience, Growth, Letting Go, Pain, Searching, Transformation, Vulnerability, Wisdom -
It has been a difficult week in the news, and as always, we have silent personal struggles in the midst of everything else. And so I invite you into a spirit of prayer....Prayer | By Lisa Bovee-Kemper | September 28, 2018 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Body, Brokenness, Healing, Violence, Vulnerability, Women -
Whenever you find tears in your eyes, especially unexpected tears, it is well to pay the closest attention. They are not only telling you something about the secret of who you are, but more often than not, God is speaking to you through them of the mystery of where you have come from and is...Quote | By Frederick Buechner | August 21, 2018 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Awe, Body, Conscience, Contemplation, Direct Experience, God, Mystery, Presence, Truth, Vulnerability, Wonder -
Remembering to breathe and to breathe deeply and then once more, to take the breath in and let the breath out, we pause, poised as we are, at a point of risking, at a possibility of courage: #metoo. Risking vulnerability Risking pain Risking being known Risking being not believed Risking being...Prayer | By Karen G. Johnston | January 23, 2018 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Body, Courage, Direct Experience, Gender, Healing, Mothers, Sexuality, Vulnerability, Wholeness, Women -
We remember the Magi, Observers of stars, Evidence-based seekers Who found their way to kneel before a baby. May we, too, kneel before life’s intricate mysteries Following the path of science-based searchers for truth We remember Mary, Birth-mother of a revolutionary prophet The fetus in her womb...Prayer | By Rebecca Ann Parker | December 18, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Anti-Oppression, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Integrity, Living Our Faith, Multiculturalism, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Unitarian Universalism, Vulnerability -
It’s been said that it’s easier to untangle a string of lights if you plug them in; it’s no different for people. Humans, just like strings of lights, are wired for connection.Reflection | By Erin Powers | December 13, 2017 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Advent, Awe, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Connections, Direct Experience, Humanism, Mystery, Relationships, Secular, Trust, Vulnerability, Wholeness -
Spirit of Compassion, help us draw strength from all that we are. Give us new language with which to claim our wholeness, a new litany of joy built out of words that wounded.Reflection | By Lindasusan Ulrich | December 6, 2017 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Acceptance, Body, Direct Experience, Fat Liberation, Fear, Honesty, Humanism, Secular, Self-Respect, Truth, Vulnerability, Wholeness -
It is always good to give thanks! All that we have is a gift from life: our food, our relationships, our shelter from the cold. And when we give thanks, it is always good to be mindful of all people, and notice those who are suffering and do what we can to ease suffering and change its causes....Opening | By Myke Johnson | November 23, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), 6th Principle (World Community), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Anti-Oppression, Gratitude, Healing, Justice, Spiritual Practice, Suffering, Thanksgiving, Vulnerability, Wholeness
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As a child, growing up Catholic, my sense was that we should give away forgiveness like candy at Halloween: freely and readily, to anyone who comes asking. As an adult Unitarian Universalist, however, I have realized that forgiveness is a lot more complicated and challenging than that image would...Reading | By Gretchen Haley | October 27, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Direct Experience, Forgiveness, Humanism, Love, Relationships, Secular, Vulnerability -
There is nothing you need to bring with you to be welcome here no right beliefs or proof of citizenship no eternal optimism or clarity of conviction no boundless courage or endless expertise You do not need to know what brought you here Or how you will solve that problem you are turning over and...Opening | By Gretchen Haley | October 24, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Acceptance, Community, Interdependence, Vulnerability -
Reader One: You who feel your heart is breaking, come in. Reader Two: You who are confused and wondering. Come in. Reader Three: You who are angry, in pain, or not wanting to be here. Come in. Reader Four: You who are hopeful and energized. Come in. Leader: Come into this community of your heart...Chalice Lighting | By Amy Russell | October 24, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Acceptance, Community, Hope, Pain, Unitarian Universalism, Vulnerability -
Spirit of Life and of Love, Holy One that reaches wide to encompass all beings, Hold us to Yourself in this moment. We come to this place carrying so much in our hearts. Around us we hear the laments of a broken world, Torn by fire, storm and strife, Crying, “I too have suffered. I too have been...Prayer | By Rev. Molly Brewer | October 21, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Anti-Oppression, Body, Direct Experience, Healing, Pain, Power, Salvation, Solidarity, Vulnerability, Wholeness, Women -
“Though we tremble before uncertain futures, may we meet illness, death, and adversity with strength. May we dance in the face of our fears,” writes trailblazer Gloria Anzaldua, who knew a thing or two about courage. Courage requires both vulnerability and careful strategy. Like other people of...Reflection | By Marisol Caballero | September 29, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Anti-Oppression, Courage, Identity, Indigenous American, International, Multiculturalism, Race/Ethnicity, Unitarian Universalism, Vulnerability -
Unitarian Universalist minister Rev. Theresa Soto writes, "All of us need all of us to make it." I want you to get used to those words; make them your prayer. All of us need all of us to make it. This is why Unitarian Universalists support the Black Lives Matter movement. Please take a moment to...Litany | By Megan Foley, Julián Jamaica Soto | April 1, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 6th Principle (World Community), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Anti-Oppression, Commitment, Direct Experience, Humanism, Interdependence, Multiculturalism, Race/Ethnicity, Salvation, Secular, Solidarity, Unitarian Universalism, Unity, Vulnerability -
We are sometimes selfish, sometimes complicit with systems that do harm, sometimes the cause of pain and injustice. Until we can hold compassion for ourselves and others—until we can be forgiving when we fall short—our love is incomplete.Reflection | By Sean Parker Dennison | March 29, 2017 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), 6th Principle (World Community), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Anti-Oppression, Brokenness, Compassion, Conscience, Direct Experience, Disability, Growth, Honesty, Humanism, Multiculturalism, Secular, Solidarity, Unitarian Universalism, Vulnerability -
God has a fondness for what is fragile. This means us. Advent tells us that God came to us—and comes to us still—with complete vulnerability. Christ is to be found among what is fragile—including us, ourselves, when pain and loss have left us feeling less than whole. In coming to us as a...Reflection | By Jan Richardson | November 28, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Advent, Brokenness, Christianity, Christmas Eve / Christmas, God, Immanence, Relationships, Vulnerability -
Gracious God, from Exodus we hear you say, "I am going to send an angel in front of you, to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared." You have called us all toward uncertain destinies, to cast our fate into unknown perils, upon paths as yet untrodden....Prayer | By Susan Maginn | September 18, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Calling, Caring, Christianity, God, Service, Trust, Vulnerability -
No hot house flowers, these, bred for perfection, dyed and trimmed, and arranged to order, clothed in ribbons and bows. Not these. No, these are hardy, raw and wild. Grown under the sky, they’ve weathered the wind and the rain and the heat. These drew nutrients from the neighborhood soil and...Meditation | By Lisa Doege | June 22, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Abundance, Beauty, Direct Experience, Earth-Centered, Flower Communion, Humility, Nature, Spring, Vulnerability, Wonder, WorshipWeb -
Six weeks into the church year, I have realized that I am the minister of a church where things usually go wrong. This morning the copy machine jams repeatedly. The bulletin describing the order of worship has been copied with the second page first and also upside down....Meditation | By Elea Kemler | June 7, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Acceptance, Direct Experience, Failure, God, Grace, Humility, Limitations, Living Our Faith, Playfulness, Spirituality, Unitarian Universalism, Vulnerability -
Leader: In this sacred place, we need not be alone. We seek a listening ear, a warm heart, open arms. Congregation: In this sacred place, we join together against the waves of negativity and oppression in our world. L: We are a community of individual beings, living our own lives, yet coming...Responsive Reading | By Lorelei Greenwood-Jones | May 13, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Acceptance, Caring, Community, Covenant, Relationships, Self-Respect, Vulnerability, WorshipWeb
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We are about to enter sacred time. We are about to make this time and this place sacred by our presence and intention. Please turn off or silence your phones… and as you do so, I invite us also to turn down the volume on our fears; to remove our masks; and to loosen the armor around our hearts.Welcome | By Chip Roush | March 23, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Acceptance, Body, Fear, Forgiveness, Inclusion, Vulnerability
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Good Morning. Welcome to our Unitarian Universalist congregation. I’m [name]; I serve as [role] of this growing, journeying community. We welcome all of you to our service, especially those of you who are searching for a spiritual home. Many of us were once, too, seeking for something larger than...Welcome | By Erika Hewitt | March 23, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Direct Experience, Humility, Interdependence, Journey, Purpose, Searching, Unitarian Universalism, Vulnerability -
Welcome to this morning, this day, and this opportunity to be together in community—which is a time of joy, comfort, and sometimes challenges. This Unitarian Universalist congregation is a place where we come to learn more about being human. We’re not here because we’ve figured out life’s...Welcome | By Erika Hewitt | March 21, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Community, Direct Experience, Humility, Identity, Purpose, Vulnerability -
In our reckless yearning to be safe, we turn again and again away from the blessed security of having nowhere left to hide. Give us the courage to lay ourselves bare. Amen.Prayer | By Evan Young | November 12, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Acceptance, Courage, Letting Go, Vulnerability -
We gather together this morning, Because others came before us. Some have left examples for us to follow, Others lessons for us to learn from, and the paradox is that many have left both pain and joy. We honor our ancestors this morning, not because they are perfect, But because, without them, we...Reading | By Chris Rothbauer | November 11, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Community, Generations, History, Limitations, Meaning, Pain, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Vulnerability