Darkness is as important as light.

It is now, when we are called to act on our values, not to hide, not to fear, but to be bold and loud.

music arises from depths unknown often without words but never without meaning and spirit rises from deep within me seducing my body to join the song first a tremor in the soul, then tapping of toes breath aligns with breath, heart beats in syncopation and a stuttering buzz in my throat becomes a...

Give up the fight For some other moment Some other life Than here, and now Give up the longing for some other world The wishing for other choices to make other songs to sing other bodies, other ages, other countries, other stakes Purge the past; forgive the future— for each come too soon.

These opening words are formatted for two readers, as indicated below....

This opening was written for two voices, as indicated below. 1: Welcome, who come in friendship who long for genuine community... 2: May you be graciously received here as your authentic self. 1: Welcome, who come in curiosity, full of questions or simply open... 2: May you embrace wonder and...

Thresholds. We cross them every day. From room to room, from outside to inside, and back again, from here to there, from anywhere to everywhere, from age to age. Each threshold offers an opportunity for change, for renewal, for transformation, from what we were and what we are to what we can be....

Let us be thankful and full of praise to be in the company of those who came before.

We seekers are on a quest: A quest to discover truth and meaning. Sometimes we think we’ve found it— Wrapped up, glimmering with newness Straight off the intellectual assembly line. All the answers right here for us And others, if they’d only listen. But truth has a way of coming in disguise,...

Suspended between all that was and all that might be, we struggle to find this very moment—to live this very moment. Let us sit together for a moment, and savor this moment. Let us relish this between time where past meets future, Let us harbor a faith that reminds us that right now, right here,...

Every little thing that breaks your heart Is welcome here We'll make a space for it Give it its due time and praise for the wanting it represents the longing for something more, some healing hope that remains not yet We promise no magic no making it all better But offer only this circle of trust...

As we come together, let us pause to take stock of the year now concluding: its moments of happiness and hurt, its times of accomplishment and failure, and its occasions of inspiration and fear. We add these experiences to the tapestries of our years, and look bravely towards a new horizon.

You whose hearts are broken, come in. You whom pain has touched, and sorrow, and shock. You who have cried this week, and read the news with sadness. You whom loss has shadowed. You who grieve. Come in, come in. You with hearts open to joy and hope, come in. You whom love has touched, and...

We were all children once, and we carry fragments of our childhood times with us. Today, let us honor those children who walked before us, who transformed into who we have become, who led us to this place, who have lessons for us still.

Open up the doors Push on looming wooden arches embroidered with ironwork Brace shoulders against the weight of history unmoved Slough off the musty smell of unused joy and stored up sorrow Knock rust off the hinges if you have to And let your breath precede you inside Open the doors more Make ro...

What if everything always went according to plan? At first, we might accomplish more of what we think we need to accomplish. And it may seem less stressful, at first, being able to anticipate what happens next. But after a certain amount of time (and that amount would vary person to person) the...

Come into this place with your whole self – the parts that are raw and exposed; the part that is beaming with joy; the part that is seeking the truth, the new, the possibility. Come into this place – open your heart, lay down your burden, lift up your hope – for something new to happen. Come...

Listen! Can you hear it? The Spirit is calling. It calls us in the silence and through the noise and busyness of our daily lives. It calls us in the brightness of the day and the darkness of the night, in times of hope and despair. Listen! Can you hear it? The Spirit is calling. It doesn't matter...

Here is where we gather in the presence of the Sacred. Here is where we gather to experience the Holy Here is where, together, we face the unanswerable questions and acknowledge that not knowing is as sublime as it is frustrating....

Now has come hard winter, With whip of wind and slash of snow and the diamond-bright stars in the black ice of the heavens. Just as we resist the season with shovel and scraper, wool and windbreaker, we embrace it with sled and snowboard, cocoa and comforter. Winter is here: let us find warmth in...