In the unity of the spirit, in the sanctity of this gathering, let us quiet ourselves as we settle into a meditative moment, a time when we can each listen to that still, small voice within. All our souls speak to us, if we trust ourselves to hear them. What do they tell us this day, in this very...

"What we need is here" is a perfect, simple song by Episcopalian priest Rev. Amy McCreath. Its five words are the closing sentence of a Wendell Berry poem, "The Wild Geese," which inspired Amy to write this tune....

Out of the darkness, light. Out of the light, warmth. Out of the warmth, joy. Out of the joy, togetherness. May this flame hold us for the time we are here with one another.

Let us join hearts in the spirit of meditation and prayer: Juntemos corazones en el espiritu de meditacion y oracion: Mysterious Presence, Presencia misteriosa, God, our Father and our Mother, Dios, nuestro Padre y nuestra Madre, Spirit of Life whom we struggle to name in our joys and our sorrows...

Universal Spirit of Life, God of many names, Source of all being in which we live and breathe and have our being, We come together in prayer even though many us struggle with what that means. We come together before that which is greater than us, although we struggle to say what that is....

By our presence here with one another, Hearing the harmony that is the music of the spheres, May some of the harshness and discord of our human lives Be transmuted into music....

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.

How does one address a mystery? Cautiously—let us go cautiously, then, to the end of our certainty, to the boundary of all we know, to the rim of uncertainty, to the perimeter of the unknown which surrounds us. Reverently—let us go with a sense of awe, a feeling of approaching the powerful holy...