Here are some meditation/prayer words composed by our minister, Rev. Andy Pakula.
You may use any of these words freely with appropriate attribution.

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Wherever we may direct our thoughts at this time, whether within or beyond ourselves, whether to our own hearts or the divine in one or more of its many names, let us be together now in sharing our deepest intentions, aspirations, and dreams.

Today, with a distinct chill in the air and the name September on our diaries for the first Sunday this year, we have to admit that this is a time of endings.

The summer, with its warm, sun-drenched days, its long hours of light, its feeling of greater ease, and with the abundance it brings forth from the earth – the summer is coming to an end.

And, as we say farewell to the summer, we also welcome in a new time of promise. Autumn – for many of us – feels like a new beginning. In our community, it is a time of return – a time when we see again the many people who mean so much to us.

It is a time to recommit – as we resume projects and return to goals that we may have laid aside during the slower months of summer.

Life flows on in this way: the lazy days followed by more productive ones. The times of growth followed by fallow periods, followed again by new beginnings.

Today, with the warmth, ease, and light of summer increasingly behind us, let us turn our attention to the cool crisp days that bring the possibility of new beginnings and new commitment.

Today, let us turn our attention to the work that we can do – to the possibilities – to the power we hold within. There is not one of us incapable of helping others. There is not one of us who is unable to ease suffering and contribute to justice. Despite all we may be going through, there is not one of us who cannot look beyond ourselves to make a difference somewhere else.

In this season of new beginnings, let us each recommit to our goals, our intentions, to our vision of who we may be as individuals and in community.

Let us turn our hearts now to that which we hold sacred, within and beyond us.

We recall and reinforce our gratitude, not neglecting our pain and weakness, but also rejoicing in the abilities and the time that we do have. May we see each day as a blessing, a gift, and an opportunity.

As we step forward, we ask for strength, that we may hold true to our path while holding open our arms to others.

We ask for insight, that we may find the way even in the darkest winter night.

We ask for confidence, that our power will be available to us to place in service of the good.

And we ask for love – love that binds and empowers and emboldens us – love that transforms and beautifies everything around us – love that defeats hatred - love that, above all, creates more love.

May we become the people of our vision.

May we be the hands, hearts, and minds of the creative good.

May we be blessed and bring blessings to all we touch.

Amen

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Imagine…
The tender green grass
The clear blue sky
The warmth of sunlight on your back
The rustling of leaves at each step
The loving touch of a friend
The cool breeze on your face
The kitten’s mew
The baby’s impossibly soft skin
Forgiveness
Peace
Love
Life

For these gifts and so many others, we are grateful
The world that surrounds us is too wonderful to be earned
Too spectacular to be created
Too insistent to be ignored

Come thou fount of every blessing
Let us find our truth
Let us embrace life whole

Amen

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We come once again to this place
A place made sacred by our intentions and our care
And by the sharing of lives, of stories, of hopes and of dreams

Let us take a moment now to be calmly aware
To notice the sounds of this place
The gentle breathing of other bodies and our own
Notice the sounds beyond this place
Life continues buzzing on even as we deliberately pause
Notice the space itself
The way it looks and the way it feels
Everything here was created by loving hands
And touched through use and in appreciation by many more
Every inch of this place is alive with echoes of the sights and sounds and being of this worshiping community

Spirit of life and love, God of many names

The pieces of our lives can be so easily scattered
Through hurt and betrayal
Through busyness and striving
Through the demands that take us away from our true nature

In the peace of this place
And surrounded by its blessings
May we be reminded of our essential wholeness
Of our most authentic natures
May we recall that we are much more than the momentary needs that blow us this way and that
More than our responses to the demands of our daily lives
May we begin to draw together what has been dispersed
And return again to our selves

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We come together today to celebrate
To experience and offer gratitude for the earth’s bounty
To reconnect with the natural cycles of the land
To bring to mind once again the beauty of the world and all of life’s gifts
To touch a sense of awe and wonder at the unearned joys we have received

Spirit of life and source of love
Let us feel and know in our bones the wild generosity of existence
Let us sense in each nurturing taste of the earth’s fruits, the life that dances among stars
Let us find more moments of awakening – where we may more fully appreciate the extravagant beauty of the earth and its living things
And when we suffer – fear or grief or pain our only companion
Let these wonders be a balm to our troubled souls
And reawaken us to joy

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As we come together today, sharing the joys and sorrows of our individual lives with one another –
We are aware of tragic occurrences around the globe
Our faith is tested by daily reports of cruelty, brutality, and oppression.
We wonder about the goodness and generosity of a universe that allows such things to come to pass
And question the nature of the human heart

Spirit of Life and source of love,
Let us not lose hope
Let us not lose faith in humanity and in the abundance of all creation
In the loving prayers of red-cloaked monks, we see our better nature
In their faces and hands, we sense the love that unites us
In the great ones guided by that love – Aung San Suu Kyi, Nelson Mandela, Ghandi, Martin Luther King – we see what we can become

May we recommit to the common struggle of all beings
For justice, for peace, for love.
And may we be an instrument of that high calling

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In the midst of these – the joys and sorrows of life’s journey – we come together here in community and in worship
We come because we seek something elemental and life-sustaining
We come to be reminded of truths that are abide deep within us
To be reminded that all life is a glorious gift to be loved and embraced
That we are all part of one fabric of life
That what one does affects all
That compassion is its own reward

Spirit of life, source of love –
We are forgetful beings
Though possessed of a divine spark, we stray from what we know to be good and true
May we be recalled to our best and truest selves – to that sweet light within

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We arrive together here
Travellers on life’s journey
Seekers of meaning, of love, of healing, of justice, of truth
The journey is long, and joy and woe accompany us at every step
None is born that does not die
None feels pleasure that does not also feel pain.
The tear has not yet dried on the cheek but the lips curve sweetly in a smile

Numerous are our origins, our paths, and our destinations
And yet, happily, our ways have joined together here today

Spirit of life. Source of love.
May our joining be a blessing
May it bring comfort to those who are in pain
May it bring hope to those who despair
May it bring peace to those who tremble in fear
May it bring wisdom and guidance for our journeys

And though this joining may be for just a moment in time
The moment is all we can ever be certain of
May we embrace this and every instant of our lives

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We have come together in this house of faith
A community of diverse minds and hearts
Standing at many places along different paths
Bearing scars and flowers, whole and wounded,
Broken-closed and broken-open to love
Prepared to share what we have found
And to listen for the wisdom of others

We have come to the altar of the sacred and the human
And we present our joy and our pain
An offering to that which holds us all and brings meaning to our lives

As the sacred is throughout all being and knowing
We stand at once as priest, deity and offering

We offer and receive the sorrows and disappointments, joys and celebrations that have recently touched us and our community:

Spirit of life – source of light and love – this is our offering.
We bring that which has touched us most deeply as there can be nothing more precious
Accept from us our joys – may they be amplified and shared among all beings.
Accept from us our sorrows – of this raw ore, may we refine the glittering essence of self-knowledge and wisdom.

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Let us pause for a moment now.
In the quiet, listen.
For the breathing of other bodies
For the beating of other hearts
For the life that pulsates beyond this place
For the stillness itself
And then listen still deeper
The prophet Elijah encountered the holy in a still small voice
Whatever name we may call it, we come to seek that which holds us all and brings meaning to our lives – the ground of our being
We reach toward that giver of hope, that source of love, that fount of life’s spirit.

We hold now in our hearts and minds the sorrows and disappointments that have recently touched us:

Despite its sorrows, the world is overflowing with beauty and goodness.
We swell with gratitude and feel our own burdens lightened and faith restored as we bring to mind the joys that have recently affected us:

Spirit of life – source of love and light – hold us in all the delights and terrors of this life.
May we have the strength to bear the hardships we face and the wisdom to mine their depths to support our growth toward wholeness.
May we have the generosity to share our joys - and the grace to celebrate the joys of others.
And may we have the vision to recognise the miracle in every flower petal and tree, every creeping and crawling thing, and in the eyes of each of our fellow travellers.

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I spy a bold green shoot pressing up, tender, from an inhospitable crack in the pavement
Foolish thing – likely to be crushed underfoot, dried out, choked of nourishment
But there it is. And in it, the energy and spirit of life driving forward – through the worst of circumstances.
Courageous little one – this could not have been the plan, yours or your maker’s
Yet you persist – bringing life where none was expected, sought or deserved.
Spirit of life, grant us the courage of grass.
Let us feel the energy that courses through all creation in our own hearts

Often, the world brings us days of sunshine and joy:

Sometimes we encounter joys for ourselves or those close to us:
may the beauty and joy of the world open us to that energetic source

We also know that difficult times will also appear:

And when sorrow or pain or cruelty touch our lives
may we lean into life’s challenges and reach out in compassion
Offering or seeking a strong shoulder to lean on.

Source of all love and light.
May we not despair when we find ourselves pavement-bound
But press on – the shared energy of life coursing through us.

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Let there be now a time of meditation or prayer.
Joy and sorrow are woven together to make up the fabric of our lives.
Each day, some are born and others die.
Each day brings the tender caress of love and the jagged ripping edge of hate
Each day, tears of both grief and joy are shed.
Each day, the world witnesses unimaginable cruelty and also unfathomable kindness.
We struggle to comprehend a world that is at once hideous and splendid
May we come to accept the dark and rejoice in the light

Today, we bear in heart and mind the ongoing conflicts through the world and mourn all those who are fallen. Our thoughts and prayers are for them and their loved ones.
We are also mindful of the touch of life’s darkness and light closer to home

Spirit of life, in us and around us – Sacred one beyond naming… We find ourselves blessed with the opportunity -- once again -- to live as we wish the world would live. May we find within ourselves the courage to be who we are. May we recognise when it is time to listen and when it is time to speak. May we trust ourselves to be the ones to find the words that need to be said and to do what needs to be done. May we know that although we cannot change some of what life gives to us, we choose how we deal with what we are given.
May we find the strength and faith to embrace this messy imperfect life whole.

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Please enter with me now a time of meditation or prayer.
It is customary to begin a prayer with an address to the divine
Dear God, lord, spirit of life, God of many names, source of all, eternal one beyond naming…
And yet, we need offer no name
For we know that whatever it is that holds and guides us is with us always, whether it is the motive force of love, the God that knows and sees all, or the still small voice within each one of us.
And so we join together to pray to make heard and make known to one another, to ourselves, and to the sacred – the aches and dreams and celebrations of our lives.
Today, we are once again all too aware of the hatred and anger that exists among us – a hatred so deep and so malignant that it leads some to pack cars full of nails and explosives for the slaughter of innocents.
We are mindful too of those who have fallen in all the conflicts throughout the world and offer our prayers and thoughts to them and their loved ones.
And we bear in mind the sorrows that are close at hand...

Let us keep these tragedies and those all those who suffer close to our hearts that we may offer our gentle support and compassion.
“Joy and woe are woven fine says the poet.” Just so, our lives are visited regularly by celebration and satisfaction.
Today, we share in the happiness of...

May there be peace in all hearts, in all homes, and in all lands throughout this hurting and needy world. Amen.

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Spirit of life, known to us by many names and by none
Let us know wisdom that we may recognize our blessings and our responsibilities.
Humankind has dreamed your dreams of a world of peace. Yet, our fear has led us to despise and harm one another. May we yet come to beat our swords into plowshares.
Humankind has dreamed your dreams of an Earthly paradise. Yet, our greed has led us to treat it without respect. May we become better stewards of the world’s bounty.
Humankind has dreamed your dreams of love. Yet, our timid hearts fail to open to one another. May we learn to love ourselves so we may love others.
Great Spirit. Grant us these things that Earth may be fair and all her people one.

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Spirit of life – who we call by many names and by none
We come together today amid earth’s vernal rebirth
Each day, we find ourselves surrounded by an explosion of new life
It comes bearing leaves, and fur, and scales, and feathers…
It walks on two legs or four legs or fin-slices through pond and stream
To absorb the fullness of this miracle is to swell with gratitude
For life – all life – is a gift, unearned, unbidden, and undeserved.

Great spirit, we know that winter’s icy blast is as much a part of being as ruah – your life-sustaining breath carried on spring’s breeze.
May we welcome the winds of each of life’s seasons with ardent embrace
May we greet nurturing warmth and killing cold as dear friends
For one never comes but that the other follows in turn
Those with leaves, fur, scale, and feather are mortal
But the carousel of life’s seasons spins on.

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Gracious spirit
I have sought you and seek you still
When I am lost and seek your guidance, I call to you, but you answer not
When I sit in silence and listen for your softest word, you speak not
When I cry out in my pain, your presence is nowhere to be seen
Dear God
I have heard the stories of your tenderness and fury
Of salvation and condemnation
Where are you today when so many suffer still?
And then in my distress
I feel the touch of his hand
and see the look in her eyes
The warmth of the human embrace
How could I have missed it before
Mischievous God! To hide your love within us!

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Spirit of Life. Source of Love. Fount of Justice. God of many names and none.
We come together on this day, set aside for the remembrance of those who have sacrificed in war.
Let us bring to mind, first of all, those who – even now – are embroiled in warfare. We pray for their wellbeing and for their safe return.
We know that many will not return from the hell of combat, of if they do, will be forever changed by their experiences.
We pray for the easing of their suffering and that of their loved ones.

We also remember at this time those who have served their nations’ armed forces in the past. We remember the many who returned broken and the many millions of lives lost.

In the stillness of this moment, may their names and their memories surround and fill us.
May their cherished dreams live on in our hearts.

Let us remain together in silence, as a tribute to all that they have sacrificed.

[silence]

Amen

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Let us delight in the many wonders that surround us
The beauty of the earth that delights our senses
The love that gives us strength and purpose
The miracle of life itself
May we be filled with wonder and gratitude for a world that holds such things

We are mindful too of the terrors of this lovely world
We know too well the casual cruelty of the natural world, which with water, wind, and fire brings such misery to all beings
And although our minds stagger to comprehend how it could be so, we acknowledge the deliberate cruelty of humankind

Amid the manifold joys and sorrows of creation, we are easily discouraged
We become detached from our own power for positive change
And from our responsibility to use that power

Spirit of life and love. God of many names.
We pray that we may be hopeful when hardships come upon us
That our own power for transformation may become clear to us
And that we will ever recognise in our hearts, minds, and hands, the instruments to fashion a better world.

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Spirit of life, silent strength within and without, God of many names
We come together today from different places and perspectives
We are people who seek for more - people with longings - we bring with us our needs and pains and hopes and dreams
Each of us carries also our unique gifts - a healing touch, a compassionate heart, an infectious passion, a listening ear, an ability to create beauty of sound or sight, a talent for turning fond dreams into reality
We come to minister to one another and to be ministered to. Each one will be both healer and healed when we journey together in love
May we be the community we aspire to be:

A place of welcome, where all people of open heart and mind may be at home
A place where the icy grip of despair is thawed by the warmth of hope
A place where the sacred is realised in human hearts and minds
A place where people stand up for justice and peace and work to bring about the world we dream of

May we be the people we aspire to be:

People willing to step close to pain
People willing to put aside their own views to see the world through another’s eyes
People willing to take a chance for justice
We pray for the strength, the inspiration, the passion, and the wisdom to be the people who can build the beloved community
Blessings on this place and this people
Amen

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1 Corinthians 13:1-13
If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
2And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
3If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Spirit of life and love –
Bring us back to what is greatest
When we believe that what we say is more important than who we are
When we imagine that what we know and what we can do overshadow how we are with one another
When we give generously of our time, our energy, our treasure, and yet fail to give our hearts
Bring us back to what is greatest
“And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.”
Let our words be words of compassion, our knowledge be the wisdom of care, and our gifts be offerings of love.

Amen

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As summer warmth and sunshine reveal the Earth’s lush fertility
We delight in the many wonders that surround us
The beauty that dazzles our senses
The love that gives us strength and purpose
The miracle of life itself, bursting forth in all its wild variety
May we be filled with wonder and gratitude for a world that holds such things

We are mindful too of the terrors of this exquisite world
In the same week that brought sunshine and warm breezes to our land
The harshness and power of nature aggravate by human cruelty visited death and devastation upon tens of thousands
Our thoughts today are with the bereaved and with the millions who continue to suffer and struggle to survive

Amid the manifold joys and sorrows of creation, we are easily discouraged
We may become detached from our own ability to create change
And from our responsibility to use that power

Spirit of life and love. God of many names.
We pray that we may be hopeful when hardships come upon us
That our own power for transformation may become clear to us
And that we will ever recognise in our own hearts, minds, and hands, the instruments to fashion a better world.

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Spirit of life - God of many names

We know all too well how to suffer.

As we join together today - many pains are carried in our hearts
Some of us are consumed by dread or anger in the face of a world that seems devoid of compassion and kindness.
Some of us experience the unrelenting ache of loneliness or loss - the absence that - like starvation - eats away at our very selves.
Some worry for the future - how will we survive, who will care for us, what will our lives become? Will there be a place for us?
Some fear for others - for loved ones struggling with their own pain and anguish. Our pain made all the more intense by our depth of our caring and helplessness.
In these ways and countless others…
We know all too well how to suffer.

But we have chosen not to lock ourselves away - not to surrender
Instead, we come together here in a spirit of hope, unsure of the path, tentatively reaching out for a hand to hold
Longing to bring forth that deep truth which we sense but can not touch.

We know…
There is more to each one of us than our pain
There is more to this existence than its trials
There is more to our joining than being alone together

This is our prayer:
That the deep goodness within all life may be encouraged to emerge
That in the eyes of another we may find the holy within ourselves
That our individual sparks, however fragile and faint
May together kindle a great blaze of sacred love
Bright enough to vanquish fear
And warm enough to heal the world

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Did you ever have one of those toys that expands when you put it in water?
You begin to soak it and tiny bit of something becomes larger and larger
Sometimes the joys and woes of our individual lives seem to expand like this
They grow every more imposing – narrowing our view to a pinhole perspective
We become immersed in the oversized, bloated, details of life
We come together today to regain our perspective –
As we open our hearts to one another and to the great love that holds us all – gradually, a larger world begins to reappear
A world of beauty and sadness
A world with the miracle of new life and the inevitability of loss

Spirit of life and love

May we retain the broad perspective
May we view the world with our eyes open wide
To the world
To life
And to our deep connectedness to all things

Amen

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Spirit of life
Spirit that rises when all else has fallen
Wellspring of love from which we draw sustenance

Our larger family has been touched by violence and hatred
Our hearts ache as we touch the pain of our brothers and sisters,
We offer thoughts and prayers are for those whose lives have been cut short or forever changed by the intrusion of violence.
For Greg McKendry and Linda Kraeger whose lives have been senselessly taken. May their loved ones be comforted and may they find meaning in their tragic loss.
For the wounded: Jack, Joe, and Betty Barnhart, Linda Chavez, Tammy Summers, John Worth Jr. and Allison Lee. May their recovery be full and rapid and may they once again find the peace that has been taken from them.
For all of those, and especially the children, who have been devastated by trauma. May they continue to receive support and love to help them heal in heart and mind. May what has been broken be restored.

We are no strangers to violence. We see and know its impact on our world near and far.
And yet, this recent attack - though far away in miles - is close to our hearts and intrudes into places where we should feel safety.
We are reminded painfully of the fragility of life and of the cruelty that torment can wring from the human character
We may find ourselves sad, afraid, and angry.
Our deeply held commitments have been tested

This is our prayer
May we find hope in the face of life’s horrors
May we have the courage to hold true to our beliefs and our values, even when they are most severely tested.
And may we draw upon the invisible reservoir of love, in us and among us, to heal a wounded world and create peace.

Let us share now a time of silence in honor of those who have been affected by the Knoxville shootings.
Amen

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Here we have gathered
From places far and near have we gathered
From places of joy and places of sorrow have we gathered
From places of hope and places of despair have we gathered
From places of confidence and places of fear have we gathered

Here, we have gathered from the many far-off places
We have gathered to be with one another, to touch one another,
To feel the warmth of care and love in this place
We have gathered to find strength when we struggle
And to offer it when we feel our power and our wholeness

We have gathered to stand again in the presence of something beyond us, something that dwells and happens within and between us, that deep reservoir of hope, compassion and love upon which we draw.

Spirit of life and love

In this time together, may we pause to feel the connection between us
To open ourselves to the love of this community
And may we find and know our strength to help, our capacity to love, and our power to make a better life.

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We come together today as summer’s ending approaches
The days have begun to shorten
Flowers have bloomed and gone to seed
Soon, we know, crops will be harvested.
Leaves will turn colour and fall

In each life too, we recognize the inevitable change of seasons
Summers of exuberant growth and fertility draw to an end
Bringing a time to pause and to gather
To prune and to plow under
Times of painful loss
That may prepare the ground for harvests to come

Spirit of life and love. God of many names.

Let us embrace the changing seasons of our lives

Let us grow when warm winds caress
Tho icy gusts will surely come
Let us offer our hard-won fruits to all living things
Tho we know that barren fields lie ahead
Let us drink deeply of the water of life
Tho frigid days will later turn it solid

We are of the earth
Connected to its changes and to life itself
May we take our place
Boldly, responsibly, and with love
Through all the seasons of our lives

Amen

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As we come together today
We become aware once again of the blessing of our connection one to another
We are grateful for this community where loneliness can be lessened and sorrows eased
Where celebration and joy can be shared
Where we are free to be our authentic selves and where we can each grow toward a sacred wholeness

And as we gratefully look into this circle of the spirit, we also turn our attention outward
To see the millions who live lives of quiet desperation
To feel the suffering of those who exist without freedom
To hear the cries of those who struggle against the bars of injustice

Spirit of Life and source of love, God of many names
We dream of a world of peace and justice
We pray for the realization of that day when love becomes a palpable force in all lives and where all people know of their essential unity
Our dreams sometimes seem terribly far off
Our faith is so often tested by events of the world, far and near
Let us not lose hope
Let us not lose faith in humanity and in the abundance of all creation
The light of love that we know here can grow.

May our light shine to welcome and bless all we encounter
May we recommit to the common struggle of all beings
For justice, for peace, for love.
We pray that we may be an instrument of this high calling

Amen

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Spirit of life and love
We join together today, standing at the threshold between seasons
Today, we bid farewell to summer.
With its long days of blooming flowers, of teeming growth, of nature at its most fruitful - summer is behind us now
Ahead lie the shorter and shorter days and longer, colder nights of autumn
Leaves, no longer needed by trees preparing for a new phase, begin to turn colour and fall, from branches newly bare of fruit and flower.
We move today from a time of where life burst forth vigorously in every conceivable way and place, to a life turned inwards, a time of waiting and sheltering.

We have known times like these
Our congregation has known long periods of waiting and sheltering.
Though we enjoy a season of summer now
There were, not so long ago, days when just surviving was a struggle

And we have known times like these in our lives.
When loved ones were lost to us and we had to rebuild a life without them
When employment and income ceased and even necessities became a struggle
When illness or injury changed all our images of the future
When closely-held dreams evaporated in the heat of harsh reality

We have known times like these
And we have survived autumns and winters
Sometimes to know the rebirth of spring and restoration of what was lost
But often to become accustomed to a new reality
To an adjustment of our hopes and dreams
An adjustment of what we expect from each day of living
And an adjustment to how we understand the word “need”

Autumn is a time of letting go
What is not needed must be shed
This is the time to go light through the world with only the essentials

Autumn is not an ending to life
Life in all its sacred vigour and persistence hangs on
We are of life
The essence of life’s holiness ebbs and flows in us as it does throughout creation.
May we go light into the Autumn, holding to what we need
Unburdened of what we do not
Gathering strength to live our new vision fully when spring comes again

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Listen for a moment to the quality of stillness in this space
Hear if you can, the echoes of the words that have been shared here today
Sense also the silent words
Words that tell of trials still too tender to be spoken

[brief silence]

The gift we receive from one another here is a sacred one
It is nothing less than a glimpse of the great and varied fabric of life
It is a fabric so vast we never know more than one small part
A fabric that connects us as surely as if we were a single being

Spirit of life,
May we be mindful of the connections between us
Aware of our power to hurt, to hold, to help, and to heal
Our love is the great love that unites all beings
Let us be weavers of unity

Amen

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We come together today to celebrate
To experience and offer gratitude for the earth’s bounty
To reconnect with the natural cycles of the land
To bring to mind once again the beauty of the world and all of life’s gifts
To touch a sense of awe and wonder at the unearned joys we have received

Spirit of life and source of love

Let us feel and know in our bones the wild generosity of existence
Let us sense in each nurturing taste of the earth’s fruits, the life that dances among stars
Let us find more moments of awakening – where we may more fully appreciate the extravagant beauty of the earth and its living things
And when we suffer – fear or grief or pain our only companion
Let the gifts and wonders of this life be a balm to our troubled souls
And reawaken us to joy

Amen

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We have come once again to this place made sacred by the laughter and tears of generations
Made precious by the care, the compassion, and the aspirations that have been expressed here.
Made holy by the dreams that have been held in the hearts of those who stand where we stand today.

We have come from many places and all of our stories are unique.
Some of us arrive in strength – confident of our own power – prepared to grow and ready to reach out a hand of support to others.
Some of us arrive grabbing hold of this place like driftwood in a roiling sea. Life has battered and beaten us. It is all we can do to keep our heads above water.

Spirit of life and love

Let this be a community where all - the weak and the strong - the poor and the wealthy - those of all colours, abilities, orientations, sexes, ages, and classes - may join together as one people.
Let this be a community where the healing power of love flows freely from hand to hand and heart to heart - to the one who has been here a whole lifetime and equally to the one who is as yet a stranger
Let this be a community and let us be a people who know that true meaning in life comes not from what we have, but what we give away

Amen

---

Morning, so fair to see
Night veiled in mystery
Glorious the earth and resplendent skies

Truly glorious is this earth
As we open our senses to the world around us each day
We can be aware of exquisite everyday delights
The most simple growing thing – a leaf, a tiny flower, a blade of grass, the lowliest insect – holds within it miraculous complexity and beauty
It is for us to look, to listen, to hear, to touch…
to take in the wonder of creation and to respond as we must – with awe, with wonder, and with gratitude
Let us be aware of life’s many splendours and let us be deeply grateful

Amid the beauty of the world, so enmeshed as to be inseparable, is pain and sorrow, cruelty and destruction
Let us also be aware as life’s dark side takes hold of our fellow travellers
And recognise the deep connection that holds us all in this one web of living

Spirit of life and death. Spirit of creation and destruction.
Open our senses to all that creation offers - its joys and its sorrows, pleasures and pains
We pray that our awareness of beauty will never blind us to the ugliness that is also part of existence
That the sound of laughter will not obscure for us the cries of the wounded and the grieving

We pray too that the vision of darkness will not seem to us to be larger than its due
Night does come, but each morning, the sun rises once again
Let us know the gloriously complex wonder that is life.

Amen

---

We have come together here for this moment
To take this time apart from life
Not to escape from reality
But to know our place within it
We take this time away, so that we may return to our lives
bearing a greater sense of purpose
awed by the beauty and splendour of creation
strengthened by an abiding hope in the abundance of life
filled with a commitment to move toward a world of love
recognizing our enduring connection to all beings
unafraid, unbowed, unashamed, and undividable

Spirit of life and love
God of many names

We come with prayer in our hearts

May this community be a place of growth and peace
May it be a source of healing, where wholeness becomes tangible
May we open our minds to the subtle wonders of living and our hearts to the love that transforms.

Amen

---

We pause for a moment now
With the joys and sorrows of this community still echoing in our ears
And taking up their place in our hearts.

As we listen, we know the diversity among us
The great difference in the stories we carry and the events that befall us
And as we listen still, we hear the deep commonality of all human experience
We each know the pain of loss and the fear that life can bring.
We know the joy of a victory, a step forward, a new life, a recovery from illness.
As we listen most deeply, we hear, not how different we are, but how very much we share

Eternal spirit of love. God of many names.

We come together to refocus our attention on the glowing essence of life
Amid our frenzied living, we too easily lose sight of what is deeper, of what holds meaning for us, of who we are and why we are here.
We come to know the energy of life – to feel all of its vitality, the resolute force of the seed that overwinters and bursts forth in glory when spring finally arrives.
We come to know the generosity of life – to trust in the possibilities that arise each day and to be aware of all that is given to us.
And we come to know the sacredness of life – to experience with all our beings that we are a part of something greater – that a fundamental unity lies beneath our apparent separation

We come to take up our place in the vast, complex, awesome spectacle of life.
May we be ever mindful that we belong to life
And that we must take our part
As we are called to shine

---

We join together here today
In this sacred space hallowed by the commitment and care of generations
And we may be comforted to find ourselves at home
Among those who share our purpose and our values
Among those who are prepared to listen for our stories
And to accompany us on our journey.

This week, we have cause to celebrate
A legal battle has been won in our larger community
A court ruling has at last ended what many of us understood to be a frightening challenge to the guarantee of equal rights for people of all sexual orientations
We won

And now, having fought our fight
Having drawn the lines between right and wrong
Having been sure of our purpose and our position
We have been lured by the temptation to turn a human being into an enemy – a being that does not feel or think as we do – a being that is beyond our understanding or our sympathies

Today, let us pray for our enemies
Let us pray that their hardened hearts will soften
May the bitterness of their defeat be dispelled like the night’s darkness with the rising sun
May the fear and anger that has driven them ease
May they have peace and be surrounded by love

Let us pray also for the victors
For the sweet wine of conquest can be as corrosive as the bitter acid of defeat
At this time, may we turn from rejoicing to listening
There is another story to hear
It may be a tale of fear – with change appearing as fierce as any fairy-tale dragon
From listening, let us turn to understanding – as we come to know the humanity of those who oppose us
From understanding, let us turn to compassion.
And from compassion to an understanding of our connectedness.
For peace will never come from battle and defeat, but only from love.
Let us seek love.

---

We join together here today
In this sacred space hallowed by the commitment and care of generations
And we may be comforted to find ourselves at home
Among those who share our purpose and our values
Among those who are prepared to listen for our stories
And to accompany us on our journey.

This week, we have cause to celebrate
A legal battle has been won in our larger community
A court ruling has at last ended what many of us understood to be a frightening challenge to the guarantee of equal rights for people of all sexual orientations
We won

And now, having fought our fight
Having drawn the lines between right and wrong
Having been sure of our purpose and our position
We have been lured by the temptation to turn a human being into an enemy – a being that does not feel or think as we do – a being that is beyond our understanding or our sympathies

Today, let us pray for our enemies
Let us pray that their hardened hearts will soften
May the bitterness of their defeat be dispelled like the night’s darkness with the rising sun
May the fear and anger that has driven them ease
May they have peace and be surrounded by love

Let us pray also for the victors
For the sweet wine of conquest can be as corrosive as the bitter acid of defeat
At this time, may we turn from rejoicing to listening
There is another story to hear
It may be a tale of fear – with change appearing as fierce as any fairy-tale dragon
From listening, let us turn to understanding – as we come to know the humanity of those who oppose us
From understanding, let us turn to compassion.
And from compassion to an understanding of our connectedness.
For peace will never come from battle and defeat, but only from love.
Let us seek love.

Amen

---

We come together today
As a community
A group of people joined by shared aspirations and dreams
United by shared values and purpose
And held by bonds of care and compassion

We assemble in a place that has been home to generations of Unitarians
A building that has, like most lives, seen tremendous upheaval
Built to be grand, enlarged with growth
And then destroyed in a sudden disaster,
To arise again from the rubble
As a home for this vibrant community

And we are here, together, for this moment in time
A time to mourn our losses together
And a time to celebrate our many blessings

And as we join together to reflect on the content of our hearts
And to reconnect with that which is of greatest worth in life
Let us offer our wishes and prayers

May this community be blessed with health and vitality
May it be a place of love and care
Of nurture for individual growth
Of support in times of need
Of joyful celebration in triumph
And a source of hope beyond our walls

May we be worthy of our dreams
And our dreams form us to the people we need to be

---

Gracious, inexhaustible God
Creator of understanding and source of the unity in which we abide

Thank you for the gifts that give purpose and meaning to our days

Amid our busy and often fragmented lives
You are as near as our own hearts and as distant as we allow you to be
May we recognise your presence among us and
The possibility presented at each moment to make more of ourselves and of the connections between us

Let us know our own purpose and power
It is not for us to plead for your favour – it is always with us
It is not for us to beg for your mercy – it is certain
It is not for us to entreat you for miracles – they surround us

Our purpose is to give ourselves to you
To join with you in that great work of transformation
The work that is as common as mud and as sacred as your blessing
The work of restoring connection to your people
To join as co-creators of a greater future, building with you a world of justice, equality, and peace
And bringing divine love to all creation.

Amen

---

Spirit of unity
Connecting all beings in their pain and joy
In our gathering and through our intentions,
We come into your presence today
Each of us bringing our own personal challenges and celebrations
Each of us just slightly aware of the greater reality around us
Each of us holding a fragment of truth in our minds and hearts

Today, with the life experiences of our fellow beings echoing in this place
Let us begin to know the invisible filaments that connect us
Let these ties become real to us, as tangible as our own arms and hands
And more precious than threads of pure gold

Today, let us know that we do not exist alone
But in connection with all others
That our responsibility does not end with ourselves
or our families
or our communities
or our country
Or with our species
But is broader still

Today, let us know connection and unity
May we reach for the wholeness that can only be found
When the distinction between within and beyond dissolves
Into a unity of all

Today, may we seek that greater oneness
And approach a sacred harmony with all things.

Amen

---

We come together here today
Each of us solitary
Each with our own stories
Each bringing our own needs, our strengths, and our vulnerabilities

We assemble in this special place
Where the sacred element of life feels just a bit closer
And where centuries of devotion have imbued the environment

We assemble to join our separateness together
- to become part of something larger
And in so doing, to recall our connection with something vastly greater

Spirit of life and love.
God whom we call by many names and none.
The fragility of this life can terrify us
Its unpredictability dashes our dreams and schemes
The greatness of creation can leave us feeling small, insignificant, and even worthless.

Today, let us pray that we may come to know the wonder of humanity and its preciousness
Let us understand more fully the great possibility of this human family
May we come to feel that ‘human being’ is identity enough
- a source of worth and dignity
- membership in a connection that dispels our solitude
- a grasp of a strength that calls us to responsibility
- and a love that guides and heals us

In humanity, let us know a self that is enough – a self that needs no striving
And may we grow ever closer to the sacred wholeness within

---

Spirit of life and love
We come together once again
In the presence of all that is human and all that is sacred
We come together as a community that treasures difference – a community that insists that all voices and perspectives should be heard and honoured
At our best, we become a place of acceptance, a place of healing, a place where difference is treasured and used in the service of greater understanding and the forging of a wider, more inclusive vision
It is a vision that we hope will spread throughout our community, our land, and our world.
And in our great diversity, we do not and can not expect that we will always be in harmony
We know that disagreements will emerge
We know that our ways of seeing the world will be at odds
And we commit to engaging in disagreement with respect, with honesty, and with love
This is the kind of community we wish to be
But, at times, being human, we each fall short of our aspirations
We may be hurt, suspicious, and angry. We may feel left out, or even a righteous sense that we alone know the truth
We may be less respectful, less honest, less kind, and less loving than we hope to be
The embracing fabric of this community can be damaged - Its threads frayed and unraveling at the edges
The fabric is resilient though. It has grown strong with many thousands of fine stitches of love. And yet, small holes can become large ones if untended
The fabric can be repaired
The tools we need are already in our hands
The needles of forgiveness and compassion, the threads of honesty, apology, respect, and compassion
It is for each of us to use these tools
We each hold the power to tear or to mend the fabric of this community
May we recognise the beauty of the overall weave, although our own individual preferences make up only a small part of it.
Let us choose to be weavers of the fabric of beloved community.
That it may embrace all, and provide a home for our spirits
And a source of hope for us all

---

We come together once again in this special place
Each of us touched and shaped by the ways of this life
Each bearing our concerns and our delights as we make our way through up and down of the paths on the uneven journey of life
Though we may arrive alone, each of us here is accompanied by many more
Each one brings along the spirit of the memories of many thousands.
Like viewing the reflection of one mirror in another, an endless procession of beings stands behind and beside each of us
We think of those who came before us to build and then rebuild this structure - they who worshiped here and kept this community alive through the leanest of times
We think of our parents and other guides and mentors, who look on with pride and encouragement as they see the people we’ve become
We think of generations past from our own ancestries – we are children of children of children of children of children
Let us include all of these too in our circle, and offer gratitude for what they gave and compassion for what they could not give.
Even more dimly visible and faint, but here as well are the faces of the future – stretching out into times we can not imagine
Just as the decision and actions of those behind us affected our lives, so ours affect the very being of those to come.

Spirit of life
Timeless presence in our lives and throughout generations
May we take our place in the endless p of life
May we regard those who came before with respect, with gratitude, and with forgiveness.
May we also know the special responsibility we hold for those will come after.
Leaving to them a world of more love, more justice, and more peace.

---

The beginning of December heralds a season of paradox
Nights grow longer and the days grow colder
Nature seems to have gone to sleep and we alone are left to make our way through the windy streets
And at the darkest time of the year, we find cause to hope
Christmas, with its message of the birth of peace and salvation in the person of a helpless child, is the very image of hope
We celebrate the longest night with flame and joy as we rejoice with faith that light and life will return again
The coming of a new year brings the promise of new ways of being, new commitments, and a chance to put old baggage aside
Spirit of life. God of many names and none. Source of light.
Let us, here, know the darkness
Feel the cold in our bones
And yet… join with all beings in the upwelling of hope
In times of darkness, help us to be among those that light candles
In the cold of winter, help us have the strength to be bringers of blankets and cocoa
When faced with hopelessness, help us to be those who rekindle the flame of hope.
May we be the people we long to become
May we be the people who work patiently, persistently, and powerfully for the realisation of the great dream.
Amen

---

Let’s settle into our selves now for a moment
making the time and space we need to reconnect with the wisdom within and that which we hold to be of greatest value
We come together with the shortest day of the year just ahead of us
There are so few hours of daylight now - long nights, cold, ice, and snow
The dark time is here
And this is a filled with festivals and rituals – ancient and modern - that aim to dispel the darkness with light and fire and gaiety.
The light will return. We know. We trust.
And yet, let us stay with the darkness for a moment
For it has much to teach
We are no strangers to darkness
There is darkness in every life and in every heart
There is darkness in our loneliness and our grief
Darkness in our very human inclination to close our hearts against the pain of the world – closing out hurt but also shutting out the healing power of love.
Let us know the darkness
For we can not ease what we do not understand
Let us feel its texture – be aware of its coldness and fear – recognize its need and longing
Can we befriend that forlorn darkness?
Surely, its life is a part of our own
Let us not push it away, but bring it with us, into the coming warmth and light

Spirit of life and love, God of many names
May we know well the blessing of light in our lives
The blessings of friends and fellowship
The blessings of love and companionship
The blessings of faith and growth
And may we have the wisdom and the courage to know the darkness
To stay close to its icy embrace
Knowing that we must go whole as we embrace the light
Fully human, fully flawed, and fully powerful
May we, in our wholeness, be blessings to all those we encounter
Bringing compassion. Bringing understanding. Bringing love.
May we bring the blessings of the season.
Easing the darkness, and bringing the light

Amen

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We gather together here today
A community of faith and love
A community of people committed to supporting one another in sorrow, to celebrating together in joy, and to creating a home where each one has the chance to grow into wholeness and fullness
For this, let us give thanks
For the relative safety we feel in this land, let us give thanks
For the beauty around us, let us give thanks
For the gift of life and the simple fact that we live another day, let us indeed give thanks
The news today is filled with reports of tragedy and desperation in Haiti – the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere
There are no words to describe the enormity of the crisis
The magnitude of the death toll becomes an abstraction
Tens of thousands dead
Millions injured, made homeless, or bereaved. The scale of the suffering is unimaginable
Spirit of life and love. Spirit that brings illumination to even our darkest moments.
May we remain awake to the suffering in this world, that we do not look away in despair and fall victim to hopelessness
The divine is not in the earthquake
The sacred is not in the suffering of the people
It is heard in our calling to care
It is felt in our love
And it motivates our hearts and hands to help
To seek peace
And to work for justice
May we here be among those who help
In our own communities as well as across the world.
Amen

---

As we join together now, days have begun to be perceptibly longer
Though cold is still with us, warmer winds chase at its heels
and sunshine breaks more frequently through gloomy grey
Like an unwelcome guest, winter hangs around in the lounge
he’s made himself at home
leaving wet and icy rubbish on the floor and furniture
And yet, we begin to feel that spring is on its way
Spring, with its reawakening of hidden somnolent life
heralds a time of productivity, fertility, and new energy
Seeds begin to stir beneath the crust
Sensing the change ahead
Gathering energy for a glorious eruption
We too know the times of killing frosts -
Those times in our lives when the chill takes our very breath
Drains the warmth of love from our hearts
And leaves us capable of little but sleep
Deep in the protective darkness of earth
Alone, sheltered from the elements
Now we too feel the change to come
we too sense the gathering of energy within -
the readiness for a new season of creativity
The sunshine of compassion warms our sheltered covering
Something stirs within – a forgotten longing
An inkling of the connectedness that our lips could not speak
Reemergence – resurgence – resurrection
as powerful as germination, as tender as seedlings, as certain as the coming of spring
It comes again and again
As ever it shall
Hope is in the air
The dark days are waning
Prepare for the coming of the light
We give thanks for every awakening
For every spring
For every day of sunshine
May we join our light to that life-giving blaze