Thou who are the heart of being, we come together but often feel alone. We come for fellowship but we hold back. We are certain -- in our uncertainty. We are sure of ourselves -- in our utter doubt. We are full of answers, but not to our real questions....

Incandescent, the bright autumn leaf clings to the branch, holding on to glory, then floats to the ground in its fine array—down to winter's snows and spring's muck and mold. Does it rant and rave into that good night?...

We gather this day to seek in the midst of our fragmented selves the unity which enfolds us all; to summon in the midst of the everyday that secret taste of danger, that peace which beckons beyond the trifles and deepens the human heart; to open our self-righteous selves to that judgment which we...