Death is a regular part of my job, which makes small talk weird for me at parties.

My vet said, “She's telling you thank you for letting her go.”

Memorial Day is not to be celebrated. It is to be observed, scrutinized, and witnessed on behalf of the true witnesses of our human failure to love our neighbor as ourselves.

I am afraid and exhausted from the constant fear. I don’t know who to trust for information about the virus.

The wilderness alongside every moment, sprawling in each direction, holds more than the silence that theologians imagine of God.

Before I birthed my baby, he was a possibility, a kick against my insides. With that first cry, first breath, he became a person in the world.

As my body begins to loose its hold On this life, this earth, this entirety, May I lay my past to rest And face the unknowable With courage and curiosity. May those to whom I am connected gather. May they recall me as I am and have been....

We are grateful to mark time with seasons, to celebrate birthdays and anniversaries, or to gather as family to remember our loved ones. In all these seasons, may we give thanks for the breath of life, ever mindful of the fragile nature of existence. May we live fully in each moment....

"Grief no more needs a solution than love needs a solution. We cannot 'triumph' over death, or loss, or grief. They are immovable elements of being alive. If we continue to come at them as though they are problems to be solved, we'll never get solace or comfort in our deepest pain."...

[S]piritual and meditative practices are not meant to erase pain. That's a symptom of our pain-avoidant culture, and not an accurate portrayal of the practices themselves. It's a misuse of so many beautiful teachings to force them into roles they were never meant to play....

In my small-town congregation, our beloved dead seem to linger with us for a little while.

What had to die was my shame: my belief that I was not worthy of such love. I discovered a greater love within myself as a creation of God, worthy of these gifts.

Spirit of Love, hold us in your embrace. Offer comfort to [NAME] and all who love [her/him/them] as [she/he/they] move[s] through [her/his/their] final days. Help us look upon What Has Been with compassion and remind us that every minute of life is one more than we’ve been promised. Spirit of...

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...

Holy One, on this day of remembrance we say aloud their names again: the names of those who died this year. Died — the word is jarring. So jarring that we hardly use the word, substituting euphemisms that are a bit more vague. Sometimes people say “lost” when what they mean is dead: “We lost...

Life is full of seesaws: it offers us moments of extreme wonder and moments of fear. Sometimes you have to live through the fear for the wonder to arrive.

Remembering is the art of holding a memory and sharing it; it’s drawing upon that memory so it can help us to grow into people who live lives of meaning and service. As a practice, remembering connects us deeply to each other and to the love that sustains us.

From the time I was a baby, my mother often displayed her love for me by reciting a list of endearments such as: mi chiquitica linda, mi preciosa, mi criaturita hermosa, mi alegría, la hija más amada en el mundo, el tesoro de mi corazón. Loosely translated, her litany would go like this: my cute...

I do not know where we go when we die; And I do not know what the soul is Or what death is or when or why. What I know is that The song once sung cannot be unsung, And the life once lived cannot be unlived, And the love once loved cannot be unloved.