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meditations

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Universalism in practice
Black lives matter.
By Nancy McDonald Ladd 5.4.15 SPIRIT

'Let every heart prepare him room'
We are, each of us, still filled with the same promise as a newborn baby.
By Jane Rzepka 12.22.14 SPIRIT

Embracing a new universalism
We find our completeness in knowing that we are woven out of each other and the cosmos itself.
By James Ishmael Ford 9.1.14 SPIRIT

Preparing for a hike
Imagine your way through the good route / and also the other route.
By John Mercer 7.21.14 SPIRIT

How to know God
An atheist mystic meets the goddess of love.
By James Ishmael Ford 4.21.14 SPIRIT

As I ebb toward the end of life
Hear / the ocean's roar and backdrop din / in the death-hollowed shells.
By Everett Hoagland 2.24.14 SPIRIT

Gone sitting
A few words on going to a Zen retreat.
By James Ishmael Ford 12.16.13 SPIRIT

Meditation: Calling, part two
Being in the world who I was created to be.
By Nancy Shaffer 7.1.13 SPIRIT

I'm going to have to let me go
Who is really in control here?
By Meg Barnhouse 5.6.13 SPIRIT

Metamorphoses
Grief and celebration are interwoven in this world, like winter and spring.
By Gary Kowalski 3.18.13 SPIRIT

Meditation on gratitude
We give thanks for the voyage of life from seed to harvest.
By Carol Bindel 11.22.12 SPIRIT

Poem: Continuum
I'll return to that time and space that was my home.
By Ruth McKendree Treen 11.19.12 SPIRIT

Love will prevail
Love is not afraid; love is tough.
By Peter Morales 11.5.12 SPIRIT

I too am beautiful
Look at the way you see me.
By Kristen L. Harper 10.29.12 SPIRIT

Hand in hand, Fall 2012
To create deep and enduring relationships, our love must develop into mutual trust.
By Peter Morales 10.15.12 SPIRIT

The green after
'When I die, I want to have my ashes buried under this tree.'
By Meg Barnhouse 10.1.12 SPIRIT

Faith and belief
Sometimes grabbing on to what appears most solid is exactly the wrong thing to do.
By Jackie Clement 9.24.12 SPIRIT

Lessons from love
Our weakest parts help us communicate with others.
By Eliza Blanchard 7.9.12 SPIRIT

Poem: April wind
Unburden yourself.
By Kendra Ford 4.23.12 SPIRIT

Wandering in the wilderness
Personal feelings of being in the wilderness can help us tap into a collective force that evidences grace.
By Leaf Seligman 3.19.12 SPIRIT

As the crow flies
I aspire to live as the crow flies.
By Elizabeth Tarbox 1.9.12 SPIRIT

Quietude
We cannot hear unless there is silence.
By Tom Owen-Towle 12.26.11 SPIRIT

Winter solstice and the shaman within
It is we ourselves who must don the shaman's mask.
By Patricia Montley 12.19.11 SPIRIT

Are you a wretch?
Not every religious tradition asks you to choose your theological stance midway through a hymn.
By Victoria Safford 11.21.11 SPIRIT

Loving birds
Modern life interferes with the lessons and warnings of Nature.
By Mike Foster 11.7.11 SPIRIT

The koan
The 'I' of me is a snapshot of something in motion.
By James Ishmael Ford 9.12.11 SPIRIT

The soul's address
Why do we discount our bodies as unworthy of reverence?
By Laura Randall 8.29.11 SPIRIT

The wisdom of the wild
I don't mean misbehavior, but real wildness, elemental wildness, animal wildness.
By Dan Schatz 3.21.11 SPIRIT

Grace wins in the end
'I am a sworn enemy of the saccharine, and a believer in grace over karma.'
By Chance Hunter 3.7.11 SPIRIT

Winter hope
Optimism often lies, but hope never fails.
By Doug Muder 1.31.11 SPIRIT

Good works
If our beliefs have meaning, we must act as if our souls depend on it.
By Jeffrey A. Lockwood 9.20.10 SPIRIT

Crying out for justice
Everything is perfect, and needs a lot of work.
By James Ishmael Ford 9.1.10 SPIRIT

Meditation on brokenness
Our ability to break and heal keeps us alive and makes us stronger.
By David Pyle 8.16.10 SPIRIT

The wisdom tree
Sometimes the place where you used to find wisdom gets destroyed.
By Meg Barnhouse 8.2.10 SPIRIT

Broken Buddha
The enlightened one as imperfect, cracked, and chipped.
By Meg Barnhouse 7.5.10 SPIRIT

The ways of the forest
Everything has a job in the forest.
By David Cohen 4.19.10 SPIRIT

Who are you?
Do not be afraid of self-examination.
By Stephen Perrault 2.15.10 SPIRIT

Religious community is essential
The central task of the religious community.
By Mark Morrison-Reed 2.1.10 SPIRIT

The church is people
It is not a body of belief, a set of principles, or an impressive structure of stone, wood, and glass.
By Janet H. Bowering 1.11.10 SPIRIT

Cricket's song shows life's fragility
There is a cricket playing the violin in my bathroom.
By Elizabeth Lerner Maclay 10.19.09 SPIRIT

Be the change
We must become, and learn to think of ourselves as, forces of history.
By Stephen M. Shick 9.14.09 SPIRIT

Prayer for the people of Iran
An Iranian-American holds her breath as hundreds of thousands march for democracy in Iran.
By Parisa Parsa 6.22.09 SPIRIT

Opening words, Summer 2009
A Unitarian Universalist prayer from Kenya.
By Alice Kenunto Magara 5.15.09 SPIRIT

Watching the evidence change
A meditation on the inauguration of President Barack Obama, in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
By Rosemary Bray McNatt 1.19.09 SPIRIT

Reading for the day
Love the gift of your life and do no harm.
By Mark Belletini 6.16.08 SPIRIT

It's about time, Persephone!
Ancient myths dramatize the shift from winter to spring.
By Patricia Montley 3.24.08 SPIRIT

Meditation, Spring 2008
A family meditation.
By Edwin C. Lynn 2.15.08 SPIRIT

Feeling like an exile
Do you live in a kind of Babylon?
By John Nichols 12.3.07 SPIRIT

On the death of a child
Buddhist wisdom honors a brief life.
By James Ishmael Ford 11.1.07 SPIRIT

A community bound by love
An affirmation.
By Adam Robersmith 11.1.06 SPIRIT

Only forward
Time and the human spirit.
By Galen Guengerich 11.1.06 SPIRIT

Celebrate the Winter Solstice
Meditation for the longest night.
By Patricia Montley 12.19.05 SPIRIT

Creche surprise
Dramatis personae, wrapped in old newsprint.
By David S. Blanchard 12.12.05 SPIRIT

What do Unitarian Universalists believe?
Unitarian Universalists hold many beliefs in common.
By Commission on Appraisal 11.21.05 SPIRIT

Dawn meditation for the fall equinox
Fall equinox sunrise meditation.
By Anne Peek 9.21.05 SPIRIT

Meditations on our cosmic significance
Who hasn't felt tiny and insignificant?
By Julie Parker Amery 8.15.05 SPIRIT

Bubbles of Earth
'Dust thou art,' joyfully recast
By Flora Thompson 5.1.05 SPIRIT

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