وطن المرء ليس مكان ولادته و لكنه المكان الذي تنتهي فيه كل محاولاته للهروب "Home is not where you were born; home is where all your attempts to escape cease."...

These banners, based on welcoming signs by Maryah Converse, are designed for use on Facebook, Twitter, and GooglePlus. The banners' designer, Ellen Rockett, incorporated background designs from 19th century drawings of mosque art released by the New York Public Library's Digital Collection.

Under the wide sky, upon this earth the feet will dance of children stretching, swinging, leaping in joy, challenging themselves with new achievements as the years go by. Memory of goodness is made in such moments as this place will bring. May those who play here feel cared for and filled with life.

We, all of us, build houses for our dreams.. The masonry and lumber, glass and tiles, A solid form, wherein we see our hopes, A shelter and protection for our growth....

We are all longing to go home to some place we have never been—a place half-remembered and half-envisioned we can only catch glimpses of from time to time. Community. Somewhere, there are people to whom we can speak with passion without having the words catch in our throats. Somewhere a circle of...

if we show them at all most of us who write our secrets down and call it poetry prefer to slip it under the door and run, and if we must be present at the reading, disguise ourselves in sotto voice and pale monotone but here was one who could take us into his personal life and show us around as i...

Where will you go home? These mountains cannot receive you, and there is no cave or grave to be dug for you in your old hills. And still a current of air keeps singing home . . . home as if that meant something you could go to, as if something could finally stand still. Turn then, and keep turning.

Once upon a time there was a teacher named Sophia. Sophia had been a teacher in the town where she lived for so long that the kids she first had in her class grew up and had kids of their own and sent them to her class too....

Why did I listen to Your calling, O God? Why did I step out on faith, O Love? Why did I lift my feet, ignore my fear, and run ­toward the unknown? Now I am far from home. My heart aches for my familiar land, for ­people who greeted me with kisses. I can’t see the way back—it doesn’t exist. I...

Committed to respond to the call of a wounded world… We join together this day with loving hearts, hands and minds. Embracing the interconnected web of water, air and earth… We light a fire of sustaining hope, ever bright with love and justice. May we bring forth this day new wisdom, strength...

Go forth Because we are always going forth from somewhere Going from our homes, our childhoods Going from our cities and countries Going from innocence to experience to enlightenment Going into mystery and questions Going into the desert Getting to the other side....

A cold grey sky, a cold grey sea And a cold grey mist that is chilling me; A light that burns on the harbor bar With the dull dim glow of a distant star....

Responsive Reading of Dedication 2011 (based on readings from 1950 and 1964 dedications of this church adapted by Rev. Kanter)....

We ask blessings on this, our church home. May this building be a tool to continue the good work of our helping hands, our loving hearts, and open minds. May this home be safe harbor for all who sail upon the sea of Life, and a beacon of hope to those on rough waters....

It was December. I was in a new school in a new place and there were new teachers and new classmates. And we were living in a new house too. Also there was no snow in Florida. That was a lot of new things at once. I didn’t like it. At least I had my bicycle—it was my old bicycle so it wasn’t...

Holy Spirit of Life and Love, You who are our source and our ultimate destiny, Lead us this day on a crooked path. So often we are in so much of a hurry Taking the direct route to our goal, Not allowing ourselves to be distracted, Sometimes being too direct with one another in all that we seek to...

Loving Spirit, Be our guest, Dine with us, Share our bread, That our table Might be blessed And our souls be fed.

If there is to be peace in the world, There must be peace in the nations. If there is to be peace in the nations, There must be peace in the cities. If there is to be peace in the cities, There must be peace between neighbors. If there is to be peace between neighbors, There must be peace in the...

In English This is a prayer for all the travelers. For the ones who start out in beauty, who fall from grace, who step gingerly, looking for the way back. And for those who are born into the margins, who travel from one liminal space to another, crossing boundaries in search of center. This is a...

To those of you who are visitors here for the first time, thank you again for being with us. If you are lonely, here you will find a warm companionship....