Help us feel at home with ourselves and with one another so there is no need to pretend.

Do not fear agitation, for agitation is the rhythm of life itself; to be put into motion, to be stirred. Do not fear the movements that decenter what you always thought permanent. You carry within the center of your understanding, the compass to show you the way. Carry with you the love that will...

This is a prayer for when words fail, for when they are not big enough or small enough to slip into the little cracks left in our hearts by life’s unbearable pressures....

This prayer is for all. For all who are fearful about the economy; about the fate of our country; health care for yourself or your children. For all whose heart aches at the injustices being done to others in our name. For all who fear for the survival of the planet. For all who fear whether they...

Give voice to sorrow and fear — the wracking sobs at family betraying family the shock at the chasm separating neighbors “What will you do in the days ahead?” one asked. “Hide in an attic,” another replied, her eyes as wide and dark as Anne Frank’s. Already the assaults on bodies have...

O God who gave us life and death, you hold us in your hands. You cradle us in our need, and you push us into growth. We confess to you that all is not well, that we grieve the loss of many things and people....

Spirit of life and love, light within and without, mystery from which we have all emerged, within which we live and die: be with us now as we allow ourselves to drop into the silence and stillness at the center of our being. As people of faith, we seek to live in a spirit of love, a spirit of...

Each person (mostly children but some adults will have brought their backpacks too) comes forward with their backpack and stands in a group. The prayer follows, then worship associates give each person a “luggage tag” bearing a flaming chalice logo. Spirit of Life and Hope and Love, for many of...

Any time, Friday evening, Sunday morning, Monday afternoon Any place, Paris Beirut Baghdad West Bank Chad Cameroon Lebanon Syria Somalia Sinai Charleston Any number, 132 19 2 43 1 228 10 Fear invites new participants to its dance of death But every time, In every place, Numbers beyond counting ri...

When we are overwhelmed with the world And cannot see our way clear, When life seems a struggle between tedium and apathy Or frenzy and exhaustion; When today seems a punishment and tomorrow a torment, May we find the courage of patience. May we recognize courage in ourselves and our companions;...

Ever since I graduated from college, I have had a recurring dream. My wife has had it, too, as well as a lot of other people I know. In my dream, it is time to take an exam and I am unprepared. I have not gone to classes all semester. I failed to do the reading....

Our locks tell us a lot about our lives. Locks of all kinds hold my attention because of a dream I had when I was thirteen. In the dream a gray-haired woman in a white coat sat behind a desk. I knew she was me, far in the future. Behind her on the wall was a cross-stitched sampler with a motto. I...

When the escape from Egypt was certain, when the last furious wave had closed over their enemies' heads and the dangerous waters lay smooth again, when the Israelites could finally turn toward the future without fear that the past would snatch them back--what did they see before them? Not the...

Spirit of Life, God of Love, grant me the courage to love boldly in the face of my greatest fears. Grow me in your wisdom and let my actions speak when silence threatens justice and indifference disturbs peace....

In prayer, we call to mind the peacemakers.

The following can be read by one leader, read by several leaders, or read responsively between leader(s) and the congregation. Blessed are you who can question your own assumptions and listen with an open mind; you will receive new insights beyond your imagining. Blessed are you who suffer the...

I spent some time this weekend with an old friend, a dentist. She's considering buying her own practice, but wonders if she could retain the current patients and attract new ones. She wonders if the office staff would like her, or befriend her too much, or resent her, or desert her; she wonders...

Shall we pray? Too often, God, we have ignored you. We have lived as though you didn't matter. We have denied the new life that you would have us embrace; we have perpetuated that which depletes life. Forgive us for hesitating when we knew action was the needed response. Forgive us also for...

Thou who art the soul and heart of life, save us from fear—the fear of days and nights yet to be, the fear of the known and the unknown, the fear that builds high walls around our spirits and our lives, the fear that closes in and envelops us, the fear that nibbles at the edges of every...

Spirit of kindness and compassion, we come from different places to this sacred ground of communal caring. We are enriched by the company of each other, and are drawn closer to the heart of love in this time of service. Touch this gathering with tenderness so that we may be refreshed anew by the...