Beneath the snow, life is bursting, preparing for the next season.

Growing connects me to ancestors who had their hands in the dirt because it was keeping them alive.

We are living today with time to do good for ourselves and for each other.

Tip if you are video recording this story: you can have a clip of an adult stretching out their arm in one direction, then another clip of a different adult stretching out their arm in the other direction, so that when you edit it, it looks like they are stretching towards each other. It would be...

What once seemed certain is now unpredictable, even dangerous.

Of course there are people behaving badly during this pandemic, using it as an excuse to practice prejudice, to hoard, to blame; using it to divide and weaken us, cashing in on surface tensions for their own terrible benefit. The news daily shows these heavy things....

A seed knows how to wait. Most seeds wait for several years before starting to grow; a cherry seed can wait for a hundred years with no problem. What exactly each seed is waiting for is known only to that seed. Some unique trigger-combination of temperature-moisture-light and many other things is...

It was my inadvertent letting go that made this wild, interdependent beauty possible. And at that very moment, I knew I didn’t need that sort of control anymore.

Recognizing the beauty around us and within us, in voice and spirit, we gather to light our chalice. May we savor the beauty of our abundance and diversity, always cherishing one another and our earth. May we remember to inhale the lushness in life knowing that we are a people of beauty.

I call the tall bush on my back patio “Burning Bush” because in autumn its leaves are a fiery red. All winter long I overlooked three uninhabited nests inside of it. For months and months I could have perceived—but didn’t—what was in plain sight. ...

For all the mothers and mother figures The grandmothers, aunts, and extended family members who mother The soon-to-be mothers, the wish-they-were mothers, the never-wanted-to-be mothers, the “it’s complicated” mothers The birth mothers, foster mothers, adoptive mothers, stepmothers The “used...

However imperfectly I may be living this life of mine, there’s no one better at it, and there’s no one else who can do it for me.

It would be a quieter holiday, no fireworks or loud parades, no speeches, no salutes to any flag, a day of staying home instead of crowding away, a day we celebrate nothing gained in war but what we’re given — how the sun’s warmth is democratic, touching everyone, and the rain is democratic...

Prelude Chalice Lighting by Laura Horton Ludwig [For this service, the chalice was a large pillar candle in a clear glass bowl of water.] Call to Worship Welcome to this Earth Day worship service! Like so many days, this day holds wonder and sorrow....

Light We Seek, wherever I am on the journey toward wholeness for all of us—that is, toward racial equality—help me to forgive myself and others for missteps and missed opportunities, and guide my efforts to build up the relationships where love, justice, and understanding grow.

Those of us who call ourselves religious Humanists have a strong reverence for life. Many of us experience a deep sense of awe before the mystery of life and death, those powers greater than ourselves. We share a respect for science and reason, and we are willing to live with ambiguity to live...

The Solstices teach us that darkness comes, that darkness goes. The Solstices teach us that light comes, that light goes. The Solstices teach us, calmly, silently, to be calm, silent. Learning. The Solstices teach us as we circle the sun that everything flies....

Let’s start with the people we love and those who love us, thankful they are in our lives obliging us to open our hearts. Let open hearts embrace the Earth, the sea and soil and stars, blessed by bold beauty, the bounty of being. Then with hearts open to beauty let us embrace the arts and the...

Leader: [if applicable: In addition to our own beloved dead], we take the time to acknowledge all those already lost as the world feels the effects of global warming and climate change. Thousands of people, as well as animals and plants, die every year from the effects of global climate change....

Did you know that there are trillions of little tiny creatures living inside your bodies? They’re called microbiota, and they're SOOO tiny that to them, you and your body… are like a planet. To my microbiota I am Planet [your name]. You are Planet [name of child present]. You are Planet [name of...