A new disease, without any cure, is pushing us apart. And, yet, we cannot escape one another. We need one another. Whether I acknowledge it or not, the guarantee of safety does not exist.

It was disruptive and strange to know that someone had died to bring this hope, and to wonder how the donor’s family mourned at the same time we rejoiced.

Oh, divine Love, With the kindling of this flame, may we realize and love our true selves: Our true, round belly selves. Our true, bags under our eyes, selves. Our true, naturally hairy, selves. Our true, wrinkles on our skin, selves. May our self-love help keep our chalice ablaze.

Once I quit drinking, my inner voice and I began the harder work: that of creating a life from which I do not need or want to escape.

It has been a difficult week in the news, and as always, we have silent personal struggles in the midst of everything else. And so I invite you into a spirit of prayer....

Whenever you find tears in your eyes, especially unexpected tears, it is well to pay the closest attention. They are not only telling you something about the secret of who you are, but more often than not, God is speaking to you through them of the mystery of where you have come from and is...

Remembering to breathe and to breathe deeply and then once more, to take the breath in and let the breath out, we pause, poised as we are, at a point of risking, at a possibility of courage: #metoo. Risking vulnerability Risking pain Risking being known Risking being not believed Risking being...

Spirit of Compassion, help us draw strength from all that we are. Give us new language with which to claim our wholeness, a new litany of joy built out of words that wounded.

Spirit of Life and of Love, Holy One that reaches wide to encompass all beings, Hold us to Yourself in this moment. We come to this place carrying so much in our hearts. Around us we hear the laments of a broken world, Torn by fire, storm and strife, Crying, “I too have suffered. I too have been...

We are about to enter sacred time. We are about to make this time and this place sacred by our presence and intention. Please turn off or silence your phones… and as you do so, I invite us also to turn down the volume on our fears; to remove our masks; and to loosen the armor around our hearts.

Invite the congregation to join hands. The hand in yours belongs to a person whose heart is sometimes tender, whose skin is sometimes thin, whose eyes sometimes fill with tears, and whose laughter is a beautiful sound....

The church is a body. May this body breathe and be together in the spirit of hope May it feel held by comfort. Those who seek consolation, may they find it in the solace of this moment. The church is a body. It is as strong as all the people who have ever gathered within its walls....

Note: This call to worship was written to be preceded by the first three sentences of "Wild Geese" by Mary Oliver (Singing the Living Tradition #490). As we enter into worship, put away the pressures of the world that ask us to perform, to take up masks, to put on brave fronts. Silence the voices...