Let us marvel at the miracle of being here, right now.

We know that our financial contributions to this congregation come from sacrifice and hard work. We are so grateful for this, and commit together to ensure the funds we gather collectively do a greater good for ourselves and our world than they could have done alone. May there be an offering to...

Blessed is this ground on which we stand. Holy is this place. Holy are the places of memory, the places which have formed us, where we store the icons of success and shattered dreams and gather threads and pieces of what we would become. . . Holy are the places of memory....

This script is intended to take place over the arc of a worship service or children's chapel. People Needed: Narrator (can be Worship Leader) and Five Villagers....

I sit alone, planning the rest of the day. Last night, I was joking and smoking, in broken Pashto, with the resident contingent of the AUP.* I introduced them to the beauty of Dominican tobacco, hand-rolled and perfectly aged. They all seemed to enjoy this symbol of Western democratic values, the...

I am part of you, O Truth Unfolding. I am part of you. I am part of a cosmos. I cannot see either its edge or its end. How amazing! I am part of a galaxy of a million, billion stars. They say it’s a pinwheel. How wonderful! I am part of a system of planets that swing around a small parent star.

To rise, to rise each morning with the faint glow of starlight on our backs as we head into the joys, the surprises, the challenges of each day sometimes with awe and wonder, perhaps expectation, perhaps dread… To rise, to rise each day peering over waterlines, sandbags, walls, garbage, bunkers…...

In this religious community we reach back into the past to honor those who came before us and those who have given much so that we may be here today. And we reach forward with hands of welcome to embrace those who have newly joined our Fellowship....

And now we take our leave. Before we gather here again-- may each of us bring happiness into another's life; may we each be surprised by the gifts that surround us; may each of us be enlivened by constant curiosity -- And may we remain together in spirit til the hour we meet again.

Spirit of life and spirit of grace, Rest with us this day, in this place. We lift up every joy, every gladness, We hold up every hurt, every sadness Spoken in this good company As well as every secret feeling Held quiet in the hollows of our hearts.