Let this year be a clean slate for new beginnings.

May we remember that we each carry inside of us a spark of the Divine.

Spirit of Life that goes by so many names… Spirit of Love that has taken so many shapes on our earth over the millennia of human habitation here… we open our hearts to make room for you. With the innocence and imagination of a child, help us to hear the beauty and the magic in the Christmas...

I invite you now to join me in the spirit of meditation and imagination. Find a comfortable position in your seat and close your eyes. Take a deep breath and try to find the restorative power of air and water in the breath. We must breathe to live, but our bodies also need water to survive. Our...

The things to do have been done, well, for the most part. The people we need are in place, almost. We are ready, or as ready as we will be. Bless this most perfectly imperfect beginning. May we find the right people to do the right things as we go....

We gather with a hunger for reconciliation. What is done cannot be undone. What is done next must now be done with care. We gather because we are hopeful, Because we have visions and dreams of a brighter future. That there may be more than vision in this room, These are the wounds we must heal...

All that we have been separately and all that we will become together is stretched out before and behind us like stars scattered across a canvas of sky. We stand at the precipice, arms locked together like tandem skydivers working up the courage to jump. Tell me, friends: What have we got to lose?

Each person (mostly children but some adults will have brought their backpacks too) comes forward with their backpack and stands in a group. The prayer follows, then worship associates give each person a “luggage tag” bearing a flaming chalice logo. Spirit of Life and Hope and Love, for many of...

When you heard that voice and knew finally it called for you and what it was saying—where were you? Were you in the shower, wet and soapy, or chopping cabbage late for dinner? Were you planting radish seeds or seeking one lost sock? Maybe wiping handprints off a window or coaxing words into a...

[Names], as you step forward into your next chapter, we send with you our fondest hopes and blessings. May life bring enough challenge to fuel your dreams, enough affirmation to honor your gifts and enough nurture to give your spirit peace. Believe in your vision. Follow your dreams....

EARTH, clay from which we are made and to which we will return. Soil, rich and aromatic, crumbling in my fingers, dark under my nails. This, cleansing dirt, the natural filter for aquifers, holds life....

From night into day, From chill into warmth, From sleep into awakening, We open our hearts to the wonder of life, Born again.

I knew a man who had printed on his stationary this proverb: “Nothing is settled. Everything matters.” It established a certain ambience for reading his letters, as if to say: what you are about to read is to be taken seriously, but is not final. I remember him and his proverb sometimes,...

In the spirit of community and a sense of purpose in our ministry: Let us commence the discovery of our strengths, our concerns, our grief and our joy. Let this journey be one of love, authenticity and reverence....

I will lift up my voice and sing; Whatever may befall me, I will still follow the light which kindles song. I will listen to the music Arising out of grief and joy alike, I will not deny my voice to the song....

Dear God: Good Friday is gone—a dark day on the calendar, A time of suffering—with more losses than gains, And more pain than we thought we could bear. We are tired of crying, We are tired of burying, We are tired of mourning. But Easter is here—and we who survived are prepared For the turning...

What a gathering—the purple tongues of iris licking out at spikes of lupine, the orange crepe skirts of poppies lifting over buttercup and daisy. Who can be grim in the face of such abundance? There is nothing to compare, no need for beauty to compete. The voluptuous rhododendron and the plain...

Like those shepherds who were on the hillsides with their flocks, like those wise ones in their observatories with their telescopes and astronomical charts, we find our daily work interrupted by these holidays. Like them, we can’t keep on working, we have to listen to singing angels, we have to...

Note: This ritual combines fresh water with water from the previous year that has been boiled and filtered. The combined water is poured over the hands into the common bowl. Minister: The ancient Greek philosopher Heracltus of Ephesus is famous for one belief. He taught his students that...

Keeper of our journeys, Today we mark and celebrate a significant moment in the lives of these young people Who this year assume the responsibility of becoming licensed drivers. We ask that they might be gifted with wisdom to make good choices as they navigate the roads ahead....