Recent Stories
UUs ‘restored to sanity’
When the Twelve Steps and Unitarian Universalism are practiced together, they can heal the broken.
An unexpected journey
May we remember our power to bless, ourselves, and others.
Letter from a hoped-for future
What Unitarian Universalism looks like, twenty years from now.
Grief and weariness
Grief has often worn me out, while restoring me to myself at the same time.
Rise in body or in spirit
Truth be told, I don't think I ever took aging seriously or personally, until recent years.
Tarantula
I faced my fears and they faced me. It wasn't that big a deal.
A moral divide
Can we reconcile moral certainties with Unitarian Universalist Principles?
O gremlins, O St. Anthony!
My faith is in science, but I try to keep an open mind.
In hopes of traveling light
Some people seek balance and stability, but I like to be off-kilter.
A kind of mirror
I never considered myself a visual artist, but then, I never expected to have cancer.
When pigs fly
Do we try too hard to grasp joy when it comes?
Opportunities are always there
Thriving congregations have leaders who seize the opportunities before them.
Room to be both Jewish and UU
Religious pluralism was as much a part of our lives as the Southern drawl that flavored our interactions.
Our visit to Chernobyl
Sabbatical travel allowed us to see history with our own eyes.
Growing up on Star Island
Looking back on my summers spent at a beloved UU retreat.
War zone sabbatical
I went to Afghanistan and Iraq to learn something about hope.
Beyond comprehension
Visiting Auschwitz, the imagination can only handle so much.
Sankofa Ghana: A spiritual journey home
What did I need to retrieve from a visit to the slave ships' point of departure?
Painting: EJ
'Coming out is kind of like being reborn.'
Painting: Meg
Raised Unitarian Universalist, I have 'no problem with things that feel religious.'
A pond behind the church?
In my experience, no one improves by way of a scolding.
You don't say
We can’t help seeing through words, but it’s worth trying.
May you have ease of well-being
Do I really want to spend this entire day with whatever might come up about my mother?
Magic Mondays
Three decades later, a weekly women's group is still going strong.
A humanist's guide to prayer
What would the prayer of a humanist sound like?
Golden hours
Time is the most volatile and elusive element in our lives.
Workshop of being
Where was I to find a liberal religious community in the middle of Kansas farm country?
The lesson of Clive
I am a rock person; my husband is a cloud person.
The spirituality of the body
People watch the Super Bowl for reasons not usually recognized as spiritual, though they are.
The next Jesus to come through the door
When I meet a Jesus, I like to keep an open mind.
Poem: Continuum
I'll return to that time and space that was my home.
The gravity of family
All my adult life, I have valued my chosen relationships over the ones I was born into.
I too am beautiful
Look at the way you see me.
The green after
'When I die, I want to have my ashes buried under this tree.'
The Zen koan of Baizhang’s fox
We are what we do. And whatever we are, unless we notice and take corrective action, we just become more of it.
Weighty lessons
It is time for us to rethink our attitudes about weight and health.
Making sure General Assembly has something for everyone
General Assembly needs good social action, but in our diverse faith it needs other things, too.
A recipe for connection
An hour spent looking through old recipes is like a visit with old friends.
Me, Jewish?
An odyssey into my family's religious past.
At my mother's funeral
Unitarian Universalists are precisely the people who can't believe whatever they want.
The best gift that money can't buy
What is the best non-commercial gift you’ve ever received, and why?
A candy bar for death
I remember exactly when I first became afraid of death in a more-than-childish way.
A little change
Pretending I'm self-sufficient at the Family Dollar store.
Windows and mirrors
I was watching my son through the dim reflection of myself.
The koan
The 'I' of me is a snapshot of something in motion.
The soul's address
Why do we discount our bodies as unworthy of reverence?
A panhandler's greeting means 'Look at me'
I stop for everyone who greets me, including panhandlers.
Doors opened to women in UU ministry
As women entered the ministry, language and habits changed.
Sing me to sleep
I wanted things to go back to normal. I wanted none of this to be happening.
Chaos cats
They will spring your traps with impunity and lie in wait just to show you who's in charge.
Winter hope
Optimism often lies, but hope never fails.
A nation of immigrants
I couldn't help but connect the plight of these migrants to my own family history.
Responding to holiday depression with compassion
She stomped up and down the aisles until she saw her Christmas tree.
Stirring up gratitude
In a flash, memories of joy and sorrow mingle in thanksgiving.
Sudden death
The real sting of death is the thought that all life’s possibilities were supposed to wait until I got around to paying attention.
The spirituality of service
Giving our time to our congregations can be spiritually transformative.
Meditation on brokenness
Our ability to break and heal keeps us alive and makes us stronger.
What can we reasonably believe about an afterlife?
Where should we assign the burden of proof for ideas about the afterlife?
The catch
I haven't played chess in decades, yet somehow I've ended up with a chess player's worldview.
Finding spirit in the sundown
The only way to prepare for facing Alzheimer's is to remain attentive to the present moment.
Mary Daly changed my life
I am not sorry that I used to be ‘one of those angry women.’
What moves you?
We only find ourselves when we lose ourselves in service to something that transcends us.
Who says Unitarian Universalism's Principles are easy?
The UU Principles are demanding enough to make me whine.
The DIY spiritual practice
A spiritual practice my wife and I cobbled together.
What do you need a potion for?
Maybe I went too far mixing V8 and Pop Rocks, but life isn't always sweet.
Cricket's song shows life's fragility
There is a cricket playing the violin in my bathroom.
From mother to gypsy
Saying goodbye to the home where I raised my children.
Finding relief in the storm
The complexity of asking for, and offering, help.
The love truck
The Karma Fairy is laughing her head off at the SUV in my driveway.
Laying claim to my own blackness
Being an Afro-American is a diverse experience that resists simple characterizations.
Flat tire and a beating heart
A heartbeat is one thing you want to do like everyone else.
Hold on: The wisdom of endurance
Suffering and anxiety are usually just as finite and
time-limited as high passion and unalloyed joy.
The devil and Martha Stewart
Don’t give in to the voice that fuels the fires of perfectionism—especially here at the holidays.
The ghosts of Unitarian Christmas
'A Christmas Carol,' updated.
Do you have just enough anxiety?
Anxiety can be a major source of energy in our lives and our organizations.
Assembly of a lesser god
Belief and worship are powerful tools for organizing thought and behavior. If others get control of those tools, they can make us dance like puppets. But if we’re careful, we can learn to pull our own strings.
Can spirituality help at work?
Spirituality is packaged as if it's a pep pill for overworked managers.
The avatar's advantage
Cast your goals in mythic terms to make a lasting difference.
PostSecret Project reveals our common humanity
People keep secrets for all kinds of reasons.
The call of self
Finding my path when the choices I made in my twenties didn't work out.
The stages of rest
Four stages of burnout and recovery as the church year draws to a close.
Ceremonies for everyday life
Establishing connections with self, family, and the earth.
Do you feel loved?
On alternating days, a resolution to stop beating myself up.
Sketches of Crete
A sense of humor builds a bridge across cultures.
Rekindling the flame
Tickets to the Keith Urban concert weren't just a gift. They were a miracle.
Sitting between the extremes
Why a journalist writes haiku.
The floating life
Going with the flow sounds nice, until the river tries to kill you.
Confessions of a prodigal volunteer
Life after burning out at church.
The death of li'l Anthrax
A more vicious little creature you could hardly imagine.
Love the contradictions
The world needs people who can love it in its contradiction and complexity.
Reading our lives
Take time to read the story of your life.
Unitarian Universalists on the Eightfold Path
Buddhism puts down roots in American congregations.
Stick your neck out
How you can make a difference.
Fortune cookies for the soul
If I owned a fortune cookie company.
We are what we eat
Michael Pollan's 'Omnivore's Dilemma' challenges our eating habits.
Poem for an inked daughter
A mother reaches across the generations.
Why I am fasting for Ramadan
A Unitarian Universalist embraces a month-long discipline of letting go.
Can Unitarian Universalists talk about failure?
Original Sin isn't a good idea. Expecting perfection isn't, either.
Spiritual lessons from running
Ten spiritual lessons that running has taught me.
Was Thomas Jefferson really a Unitarian?
What makes someone 'one of us'?
A mother's bond
Grief and recovery transform the author's relationship with her mother.
Reconciliation as a spiritual discipline
In our own souls, between individuals, within groups, and between groups.
A religion of exile and personal choice
Unitarian Universalists aren't strangers to exile.
Resetting the worry alarm
Psychologically and spiritually, we don't have to live in Code Orange.
Winter mind
Emptiness, like silence, like love, is indeed a gift.
Living at the edge
By living in the present moment, we can find ourselves at the gateway to eternity.
