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Will we accompany immigrants and deportees?
What is the 'gospel' Unitarian Universalists have to share with migrants and deportees?
By Colin Bossen 2.2.15 SPIRIT

What can you see from your back porch?
I used to think my grandfather's worldview was limited and small-minded.
By Travis Tennessen 12.29.14 SPIRIT

O gremlins, O St. Anthony!
My faith is in science, but I try to keep an open mind.
By Meg Barnhouse 10.20.14 SPIRIT

Yellow shirts for climate action
More than 1,500 Unitarian Universalists took part in the People's Climate March.
By Sonja L. Cohen 9.29.14 SPIRIT

Zentangle chalices, doodling, and meditation
Meditative doodling as a Unitarian Universalist spiritual practice.
By Cynthia Landrum 9.22.14 SPIRIT

A kind of mirror
I never considered myself a visual artist, but then, I never expected to have cancer.
By Jonah Eller-Isaacs 8.11.14 SPIRIT

T-shirt evangelism
Wearing my Standing on the Side of Love shirt tells the world, including me, what I stand for.
By Meg Riley 6.16.14 SPIRIT

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.
By Jaclyn Kottman 6.9.14 SPIRIT

Questions of comfort
Where do you find comfort in suffering if you don't believe suffering has a greater purpose?
By Sarah MacLeod 4.14.14 SPIRIT

Sankofa Ghana: A spiritual journey home
What did I need to retrieve from a visit to the slave ships' point of departure?
By James Gray and Jeff Riedler 3.10.14 SPIRIT

Following my moral compass
We all navigate through circumstances at the limits of human experience.
By Erika Nonken 3.3.14 SPIRIT

One simple, transformative practice
A search for connection is at the heart of all spiritual traditions and practices.
By Peter Morales 1.20.14 SPIRIT

Live better, help often, wonder more
The Sunday Assembly movement shares Unitarian Universalism's values, but has a lot more fun expressing them.
By Doug Muder 11.25.13 SPIRIT

Light a candle or two this Thanksgivukkah
Where are you in the stories of the two holidays that just happen to coincide this year?
By Lynn Ungar 11.18.13 SPIRIT

How to become a peacemaker
Four broad, ancient guidelines for human behavior at the heart of every religion.
By James Ishmael Ford 10.14.13 SPIRIT

A pond behind the church?
In my experience, no one improves by way of a scolding.
By Meg Barnhouse 9.2.13 SPIRIT

Living your faith online
How do you use social media as part of your religious life?
By Sonja L. Cohen 8.19.13 SPIRIT

Simply listening
I hated candles of joy and concern, until I started listening.
By Lynne Jacoby 8.15.13 SPIRIT

You don't say
We can’t help seeing through words, but it’s worth trying.
By James Ishmael Ford 8.12.13 SPIRIT

May you have ease of well-being
Do I really want to spend this entire day with whatever might come up about my mother?
By Kim K. Crawford Harvie 7.22.13 SPIRIT

Where is your water from?
When you pour water into your congregation's Water Communion bowl, where will it come from?
By Sonja L. Cohen 7.1.13 SPIRIT

Bound in covenant
Congregational covenants are declarations of interdependence.
By Victoria Safford 7.1.13 SPIRIT

Now let us sing
What is your favorite Unitarian Universalist hymn?
By Sonja L. Cohen 5.20.13 SPIRIT

Praying for each other
People felt closer to the church community, knowing the struggle of another in the room.
By Daniel Kanter 4.22.13 SPIRIT

Writing to the general
Or, how I realized that copying letters for Amnesty International was a spiritual discipline.
By James Ishmael Ford 4.8.13 SPIRIT

A humanist's guide to prayer
What would the prayer of a humanist sound like?
By Patricia Montley 2.25.13 SPIRIT

Speaking with many voices
True multiculturalism means being humble and brave enough to explore differences.
By Kathleen Rolenz 1.21.13 SPIRIT

Pet ministry: Caring for all creatures
UUs are providing comfort for ill or dying pets and their caregivers.
By Kimberly French 1.14.13 SPIRIT

Unitarian Universalism's two truths
What is our healing message? To what are we being beckoned when we gather?
By James Ishmael Ford 12.31.12 SPIRIT

The next Jesus to come through the door
When I meet a Jesus, I like to keep an open mind.
By Meg Barnhouse 12.24.12 SPIRIT

When God is a baby
A soul story is a dream from the depths of a culture.
By Meg Barnhouse 12.10.12 SPIRIT

Stitching it together
It would be easier to use a blanket, but we ask more of people who enter our churches: We ask them to be quilters.
By Jory Agate 10.22.12 SPIRIT

The taste of awakening
On having a spiritual practice.
By James Ishmael Ford 10.15.12 SPIRIT

Sitting and writing
'Small noticings' can lead to larger insights.
By Brenda Miller and Holly J. Hughes 10.1.12 SPIRIT

Sermon bingo
We come to church to hear meaningful words spoken to us.
By Cheryl Gardner 6.4.12 SPIRIT

International flower communion, June 10, 2012
Czech Unitarians mark their church's 90th anniversary.
By Petr Dolák Samojský 5.28.12 SPIRIT

Listen from the heart so others can speak from the heart
In Soul to Soul groups, silence can connect us more deeply than using words or questions.
By Christine Robinson and Alicia Hawkins 5.14.12 SPIRIT

Flowers for communion
What does your Flower Communion bloom symbolize?
By Sonja L. Cohen 4.9.12 SPIRIT

Prayers of desperation
My prayers are prayers of desperation lest I wish ill on the merely irritating.
By Cathleen Deery 4.2.12 SPIRIT

Practice religious hospitality
Simply smiling and saying hello to visitors would transform our congregations.
By Peter Morales 2.6.12 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

Faith takes practice
Our religious ancestors recognized each day as a chance to form their spiritual character.
By Ken Beldon 12.5.11 SPIRIT

How to give a blessing
I didn't mean to give an honest answer when asked, 'How are you?'
By Kathleen McTigue 11.28.11 SPIRIT

A candy bar for death
I remember exactly when I first became afraid of death in a more-than-childish way.
By Doug Muder 10.31.11 SPIRIT

How Unitarian Universalists break the rules
Rule breaking just might be right up our alley.
By Jane Rzepka 9.26.11 SPIRIT

Shopping for God
However people first come to a Unitarian Universalist church, their questions often include something about god.
By Jane Rzepka 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

A panhandler's greeting means 'Look at me'
I stop for everyone who greets me, including panhandlers.
By Victoria Weinstein 7.25.11 SPIRIT

Slow making
What if our new metaphor for time was craftsmanship?
By Doug Stowe 7.11.11 SPIRIT

My patient's faith
Before I began the operation, my patient asked, 'Could I say a prayer first?'
By Cullen Ruff 6.13.11 SPIRIT

Sing me to sleep
I wanted things to go back to normal. I wanted none of this to be happening.
By Meg Barnhouse 5.9.11 SPIRIT

Chaos cats
They will spring your traps with impunity and lie in wait just to show you who's in charge.
By Meg Barnhouse 2.7.11 SPIRIT

My home, your home, our home
What can we do to help others feel at home?
By Roberto Padilla 12.13.10 SPIRIT

Mi casa, tu casa, nuestra casa
¿Estamos dispuestos a incluir personas de diferentes culturas en nuestras congregaciones?
By Roberto Padilla 12.13.10 SPIRIT

The Honey Springs worship committee ponders a revival
What would a Unitarian Universalist revival be reviving?
By Meg Barnhouse 11.1.10 SPIRIT

Service is our prayer
When we serve we become more compassionate, more sensitive, more understanding, and more aware.
By Peter Morales 9.27.10 SPIRIT

The demon of certainty and the curious heart
Certainty is the most dangerous demon of all.
By James Ishmael Ford 9.27.10 SPIRIT

Choirs bring a 'heart connection'
Unitarian Universalist church choirs strengthen community, deepen personal spirituality.
By Donald E. Skinner 9.6.10 SPIRIT

We are already in paradise
There is no land promised to any of us other than the land already given.
By Rebecca Ann Parker 6.28.10 SPIRIT

Sitting, with a good Buddhist novel
Telling stories could be one of the most 'present' things we could do.
By Kimberly French 4.26.10 SPIRIT

The Honey Springs worship committee plans its Easter service
A minister, a Pagan, a Christian, a Humanist, and an anthropologist set to work, in a congregation not unlike yours.
By Meg Barnhouse 3.29.10 SPIRIT

Why I pray for others
I asked my friend to pray for me.
By Anita Farber-Robertson 3.1.10 SPIRIT

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

Merry Christmas, Garrison Keillor!
Just as Unitarian Universalists don't all pray from the same prayer book, we don't all sing from the same hymnal.
By Fred Small 12.23.09 SPIRIT

Chalica, new weeklong UU holiday, slowly gains adherents
One of the seven UU Principles honored each day.
By Donald E. Skinner 12.7.09 SPIRIT

The DIY spiritual practice
A spiritual practice my wife and I cobbled together.
By Doug Muder 11.16.09 SPIRIT

Practice gratitude
Like hope, trust, and love, gratitude is both a feeling and a spiritual practice.
By Christine Robinson and Alicia Hawkins 8.24.09 SPIRIT

Their spirit is still with us
One year after a gunman opened fire in the Unitarian Universalist church in Knoxville.
By Christopher Buice 7.27.09 SPIRIT

The church board and the Illuminati
What did the Décor Committee know, and when did they know it?
By Meg Barnhouse 5.4.09 SPIRIT

Sabbath, an ecological spiritual delight
Slow down and walk lightly on the Earth, even if just for a moment.
By Patricia Guthmann Haresch 4.20.09 SPIRIT

Imagineers of soul
Our churches should be sorcerer’s apprentices in the art of opening the doors of meaning. Why, then, are we so scared?
By Christine Robinson 4.6.09 SPIRIT

A religion for hard times
Faith is what’s left when you stop responding to radical uncertainty with panic and denial.
By Doug Muder 3.30.09 SPIRIT

Serving Dionysus
I worshiped the gods of comedy and tragedy long before I worshiped Jesus's God.
By Victoria Weinstein 3.23.09 SPIRIT

That elusive more
What do Unitarian Universalists need to go deeper?
By Doug Muder 1.12.09 SPIRIT

Hold on: The wisdom of endurance
Suffering and anxiety are usually just as finite and time-limited as high passion and unalloyed joy.
By William F. Schulz 1.5.09 SPIRIT

Renewing the world
Modern and ancient New Year's celebrations from around the world.
By Patricia Montley 12.29.08 SPIRIT

A broken hallelujah
Praise in the midst of a broken world and a broken heart?
By Barbara Merritt 12.15.08 SPIRIT

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.
By Doug Muder 9.22.08 SPIRIT

Ceremonies for everyday life
Establishing connections with self, family, and the earth.
By Louise Nayer and Virginia Lang 4.14.08 SPIRIT

Home grown Unitarian Universalism
Developing home-based community rituals that root UU adults and children.
By William J. Doherty 3.3.08 SPIRIT

Praying as Unitarian Universalists
How can we pray with integrity, grace, power, and purpose?
By Wayne Arnason and Kathleen Rolenz 2.25.08 SPIRIT

Sketches of Crete
A sense of humor builds a bridge across cultures.
By Robert Fulghum 1.7.08 SPIRIT

A Unitarian Universalist view of 'The Secret'
Despite the silly 'science' and fake experts on the hit DVD, some of The Secret's advice actually helped me.
By Fred Small 11.19.07 SPIRIT

Sitting between the extremes
Why a journalist writes haiku.
By Tom Stites 10.29.07 SPIRIT

Even secular parents are religious educators
If you don't answer your children's religious questions, someone else will
By Roberta M. Nelson 8.27.07 SPIRIT

Reading our lives
Take time to read the story of your life.
By Marshall Hawkins 7.9.07 SPIRIT

The spiritual practice of hospitality
Welcoming people to our congregations is a way to encounter the mystery and wonder of life.
By David Rynick 6.18.07 SPIRIT

Unitarian Universalists on the Eightfold Path
Buddhism puts down roots in American congregations.
By Rick Heller 5.21.07 SPIRIT

Don't be stingy with your faith
Unitarian Universalism saves lives. Don't keep it to yourself.
By John Gibb Millspaugh 5.14.07 SPIRIT

Unitarian Universalist spiritual directors form network
Network can help religious liberals find a spiritual director.
By Michelle Bates Deakin 5.11.07 SPIRIT

A theology of gratitude
Gratitude should be the center of Unitarian Universalist theology.
By Galen Guengerich 2.12.07 SPIRIT

Mayhem and the manger
Why didn't you warn me about Christmas pageants?
By Carl Scovel 12.25.06 SPIRIT

The storyteller by the sea
And the amazing, soulful, transforming stories she tells.
By Joshua Searle-White 12.4.06 SPIRIT

Fortune cookies for the soul
If I owned a fortune cookie company.
By Meg Barnhouse 11.13.06 SPIRIT

Why I am fasting for Ramadan
A Unitarian Universalist embraces a month-long discipline of letting go.
By Abhi Janamanchi 10.2.06 SPIRIT

Pilgrimages: Places that touch the spirit
Glory be to time and to water.
By Paige Grant 8.7.06 SPIRIT

Our calling, Summer 2006
Unifying features of Unitarian Universalist worship.
By William G. Sinkford 7.17.06 SPIRIT

Unitarian Universalists and Pentecostals sing together
A chance encounter in a hotel lobby leads to new understanding.
By Jason Shelton 4.24.06 SPIRIT

Skeptical of sacred stories?
Are the stories of Passover and Easter good for you?
By Jane Rzepka 4.10.06 SPIRIT

A ritual is born
Once, twice, ritual!
By Karen Lee Shelley 4.10.06 SPIRIT

Outdoor labyrinth
Virginia church practices a centuries-old tradition.
By Jane Greer 3.20.06 SPIRIT

Many religions, but only one earth
Can reverence for the earth bring us together across religious differences?
By Patricia Montley 2.6.06 SPIRIT

Creating UU family Christmas rituals
Finding the right mix of family traditions.
By Meg Cox 11.28.05 SPIRIT

Winter holiday resources for UU families
Recommendations from the UUA's Lifespan Faith Development staff.
By Staff Writer 11.28.05 SPIRIT

Halloween's ritual roots
Even in its secular and commercial form, Halloween ritualizes our inescapable destination.
By Patricia Montley 10.31.05 SPIRIT

New songbook explores new music styles
A review of Singing the Journey.
By W. Frederick Wooden 8.22.05 SPIRIT

Spiritual lessons from running
Ten spiritual lessons that running has taught me.
By Lisa Watts 8.8.05 SPIRIT

Beltaine (May 1)
Make an altar to celebrate the senses.
By Anika Stafford 5.1.05 SPIRIT

Small group ministry creates sacred time
A time when the stories of our lives are heard.
By Thandeka 1.1.05 SPIRIT

The ceremony of innocence
A ceremony of innocence is a statement of faith and an act of hope.
By Galen Guengerich 1.1.05 SPIRIT

Let's take back our time
We work more hours than medieval peasants did.
By William J. Doherty 9.1.04 SPIRIT

Orthodox Jewish wisdom for religious liberals
Engaging my ancestral Judaism enriches my Unitarian Universalism.
By Elizabeth Lerner Maclay 5.1.04 SPIRIT

Reconciliation as a spiritual discipline
In our own souls, between individuals, within groups, and between groups.
By Paula Cole Jones 3.1.04 SPIRIT

The practice of reconciliation
A personal guide.
By Paula Cole Jones 3.1.04 SPIRIT

Rituals for holidays and everyday
Five rituals to try at home.
By Meg Cox 7.1.03 SPIRIT

Creating rituals with and for children
Celebrate your family's values with your own traditions.
By Meg Cox 7.1.03 SPIRIT

Bearing witness to human diversity
A visit to Auschwitz.
By Barbara Hoag Gadon 5.1.01 SPIRIT

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