We pray for the three Jewish congregations who meet at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, PA. We hold those taken too soon in our prayers even before we know all of their names – 11 people so far....

Gracious God, the week was filled with moments when words escaped me. They would not come. Forgive me, Holy One —I know it is the preacher’s job, but there were moments when I just did not know how to pray. First, at the hospital, labor and delivery, to see the new parents. The overnight bag sat...

"We want our children back. There are too many gone too soon." In December 2017, Rev. Jason Shelton was invited to lead singing at the fifth anniversary of the Newtown massacre, at a vigil in front of the headquarters of the NRA. He wrote this song of lament for the occasion, because he couldn’t...

There is too much beauty in this world to give up on it yet, and it is always too soon to surrender to cynicism....

Spirit of Life and Love, we gather today under smoky skies, Aching from the onslaught of the daily news, Our spirits weary and sore, Our nerves jangling with every loss of power, every alert on our phones Our thoughts this morning are with the firefighters and all those whose bodies continue to b...

We, the willing, follow the threads to one another; past rightness and quips and tweets. We will find one another and persist past sunrise.

Pray, if you pray. Send love and money, too. We will be rolled and covered, but we will rise and carry others with us. Watch for the opportunities to rise and carry. Watch for the holy moments where some people see God.

How often we seek refuge in this sacred flame From the world’s trouble and pain. Today, may our lamp light the way For whose who know no refuge, That we may open our minds Our arms Our hearts Our mouths to sing “Come, whoever you are,” Wholly new and wholly true.

We ask for the presence of the Spirit of Life & Love as we come together in a spirit of prayer and remembrance on this 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and the Federal Flood. We remember our old sense of invulnerability, how we used to think, “Hurricanes always turn away,” or “Hurricanes...

(Ahmedabad, India, 2001) Mother Earth is shouting but we do not hear. She is filled with anguish, for all we understand is death. And in her agony she suffers too over the fact that she must kill her own to get our attentionn...

Spirit of Life and Love, Be with us in this time, as people suffer, as parents grieve, as violence rages. Be with us who feel the pain of loss, who feel anger at injustice....

Today we gather with determination and commitment that is grounded in a profound sense of sorrow for those who have suffered and will suffer in the future because of climate change. As always, those who suffer most are the poor and marginalized....

Wondrous Gift of Life, thanks for this day and this gathering in our beautiful diversity and devoted generosity! We revel in our blessings for and from this holy life! Washed and refreshed in such grace, we celebrate the joys of this life....

We mourn the lost lives—the eleven workers who died—and we know the heaviness that hangs over their families. We mourn the lost livelihoods. Many have had their lives changed: shrimpers, fishermen, those whose income depends on tourists, and those who work on oil rigs. They have been hit hard.

Ode to Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill There’s a hole in the bottom of the sea. There’s a hole in the bottom of the sea. There’s a hole. There’s a hole. There’s a hole in the bottom of the sea. There is oil from the hole in the bottom of the sea. There’s crude oil from the hole in the bottom of...

Order of Service Welcome Chalice Lighting : "In our time of grief:" (#454, SLT) Opening Song: “We are a Gentle Angry People” vs. 1,2,6 (#170, SLT) Prayer: "A Prayer of Sorrow" (#478, SLT) Reflection A Silent Witnessing Song: “Comfort Me” (#1002, STJ) Sharing The Congregation Song: “Blue...

Earth’s blood, product of ancient deaths, source and flowing stream for civilizations, protector of many human lives, still spurts but barely abated into Gulf waters, host to countless lives of every kind, geo-bio-hazard threatening all lives of every kind for many miles and for months or years t...

A Haitian prayer book, entitled God Is No Stranger, includes the following words: “Father, I have learned that one strong in calculation is called a ‘mathematician.’ You are the greatest mathematician because You can count all the people yet still see each one of us.” Those words find new...

Holy One, We are on our knees In awe and supplication For we have remembered the incomprehensible value Of every human life. We have heard the thrum of helicopter blades And wailing sirens. We have smelled the ash and smoke....

My heart is moved by all I cannot save: so much has been destroyed I have to cast my lot with those who age after age, perversely, with no extraordinary power, reconstitute the world. #463, Singing the Living Tradition Original source: From Dream of a Common Language (1978)...