I encouraged my students to question authority, especially my authority, because only rarely can we recognize our biases without help.

People move places for jobs, relations, opportunities, escape, hindering our ability to put down new roots. And yet, we carry a constancy: the still, quiet voice within.

We seek our place in the world and the answers to our hearts’ deep questions. As we seek, may our hearts be open to unexpected answers. May the light of our chalice remind us that this is a community of warmth, of wisdom, and welcoming of multiple truths.

Spirit, I would really rather not learn this. Didn’t think I needed to. I thought someone else could do it. Thought a leader was coming to do it. Thought the young people could do it. Or the elders could do it. Or the professionals. Or I don’t want to learn it ‘cause it means letting go of...

I invite you now into a time of meditation. You may wish to adjust your position: your feet flat on the ground, your body resting easily against the back of the chair, your hands gently open, palms up, resting on your thighs, your eyelids relaxed and half-closed, your breathing soft and easy.

“If I ask you a question, do you promise to tell me the truth?" For future reference, if a child asks you this question at Christmas time, EVADE.

Out of the depths I cry: Who will hear my voice? Out of the pain I cry: Who will make space for my living and my dying? Out of the years I cry: Who will remember? Who will remember? My soul awaits: More than those who watch for the morning. More than those who watch for the morning. —inspired by...

Cherish your doubts, for doubt is the attendant of truth. Doubt is the key to the door of knowledge; it is the servant of discovery. A belief which may not be questioned binds us to error, for there is incompleteness and imperfection in every belief....

"Thou art greatly wise, my friend, and ever respected by me, yet I find not in your theory or your scope, room enough for the lyric inspirations, or the mysterious whispers of life. To me it seems that it is madder never to abandon oneself, than often to be infatuated; better to be wounded, a...

We know the story: an angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds. The glory of the Lord shone around them. A great light descends on dark fields, happy angels and cherubim sing for joy, play their lutes, and dance about to defy the gravity of earthly cares....

Emmanuel means "God is with us." Who is your Emmanuel? Who is your "God is with us," the one you were promised, the one you have been waiting for? For the ancient prophet Isaiah, he was a boy soon to be born who would guide the people of Judah back to peace and harmony with God....

May this flame, symbol of transformation since time began, fire our curiosity, strengthen our wills, and sustain our courage as we seek what is good within and around us.

Let us enter into a spirit of meditation. Much of our human struggle is with what we do not know or understand. It is often difficult not to want answers—or even more difficult, not to think we have them already. May we experience what we do not know not as an individual failure but as an...

We are people of all ages who enter this space bringing our joys and our concerns. We come together in hope. We greet each other warmly with our voices and our smiles. We come together in peace. We light the chalice to symbolize our interdependence and our unity. We come together in harmony. We...