We can’t always predict which choices will wind up having a huge impact on us, whether it's bringing home a stuffed animal or taking a particular train to Oxford Circus.

Surrender is the last thing, often the only thing, available. And so we give ourselves to it. We fear it is our end. Sometimes—with grace or luck—we find it is our liberation.

What, exactly, are we doing when we invite love into our lives? Surely we know that it's much tidier without it, when things stay at a distance.

Who are the angry birds in my life? What are the sticks I carry in my heart so as not to be hurt again?

Leader: Ours is a world alive and aloud with the presence of creatures and critters. Animals abound, interwoven in our human lives and wholly independent. This is the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part....

May we recognize and abandon the familiar attitudes and practices that do not serve the whole. We are who we are and we have the opportunity to be who we want to be, to create a new inheritance for the future....

Characters: Narrator, Very Important Person, Enemies (including Leader of the Enemies), Spider, and at least four Cave Rocks. Materials needed: Grey, silver, or white yarn Narrator: I’d like to share a story with you today – a story about a simple little spider who did an amazing thing. You’ll...

Gilead, by Marilynne Robinson, is a novel that takes the form of a letter or journal that a dying, elderly Congregationalist minister in Gilead, Iowa, writes to his 7-year old son in 1956 – written so that one day the boy will know something about his father’s life and character. In this passage...

"The soul is made of love and must ever strive to return to love. Therefore, it can never find rest nor happiness in other things. It must lose itself in love. By its very nature, it must seek God, who is love." —Mechthild of Magdeburg, 13th century Germany For twelve years, Daisy has been the...

This song by Jake Tidmore is about animal rescue. He's provided WorshipWeb with sheet music in the key of F and the key of E flat. I was kicked out and abandoned On a road from nowhere lost and alone I felt unwanted, my spirit fading How much longer could I keep going on?...

October 12, 2016 "Blessed are the faithful, for they shall be called dogs." —Rev. Gary Kowalski He was, I am told, just a dog. But who was it that, fresh from the litter, climbed onto my chest, licked my face, and rubbed his pink baby nose against my cheek? Who chewed the edges of my only antique...

For the blessing of animal companions we give thanks. For the beautiful ones, those whose fur is silky and whose tails are long; whose feathers are brilliant or whose voices are splendid... we give thanks. For the frantic ones, the runts and the hungry, who run for a food bowl or a pat as though...

In his autobiography, Theodore Parker relates that as a child, four or five years old, living on a farm in Roxbury, he was walking through the fields one day absent-mindedly swinging a stick through the tall grass. This was many years ago, in the days before the Civil War. It was summertime. He...

Come hoof and trunk and tail and horn and paw and wing and claw; Come bird and reptile, mammal born all full of nature’s law. Bring bark and crow and ribbit, too and silent stare and hiss; Bring purr and trill and warble, too and voice no ear can miss....

Leader: For the love of all began with the world. Congregation: All of Nature is sacred. L: Every creature is a thinking, feeling being. C: We are blessed with wondrous variety. L: We are part of nature and of every being on the planet. What we do to one affects the many. C: In this web of...

There are different versions of this Middle Eastern folktale; this version is just one way to tell it. You can find storytelling tips on WorshipWeb, but this story is also followed by suggestions about integrating this story into worship....

I am frequently astonished by monarch butterflies. Delicate beyond belief, they fly thousands of miles each year from all parts of the continent to settle in the forests of South America. To my delight, their migratory route takes them along a bridge near my home. A few days ago, I was driving on...

Great spirit of life, We pray today for our animal friends, Grateful for their companionship and devotion. By our kindness to them, May we be worthy of their love. We pray also for pets who are gone from us, But who brighten our days And who comforted us by night....

On this green bank, by this soft stream, We place with joy a votive stone, That memory may their deeds redeem, When, like our sires, our sons are gone. —Ralph Waldo Emerson A green heron stands motionless on the bank of Emerson’s soft stream. In its beak it holds a fish, just the right size for...

What if when I light the chalice, you hear an invitation to welcome gratitude for the earth? This week, as I got ready to light the chalice, my family talked about blessings from this planet. Here is my list: [list 3-7 things] And now, with this flame of hope shedding light in your heart: what is...