Inspiration: 

 

 

How do you choose to bless the world?

Give It All Away! Wisdom of the plants

As I go into the fifth or sixth summer of having turned my yard into flowers, herbs and vegetables, it is imperative that I give stuff away.  If I don’t, if I try to hold onto all of the abundance for myself, the whole thing will die…I go to farmers’ markets, see people paying $5 for rhubarb, $25 for a hanging basket full of morning glories, and though I want farmers to make a good living, still I want to whisper, “I’ll pay you to come to my house and take that same thing!”  I refuse to allow a friend I am there with to buy morning glory plants, my voice so sternly admonishing, you would think she wanted  to eat kittens.  I convince a friend into native foods to try to eat Jerusalem artichokes; I happen to have hundreds. I offer plants to neighbors who walk by and stop to admire, to friends planting gardens at their kids’ schools.  I plant lupines and ferns and hostas in pots from garage sales and sell them myself at a garage sale, to start others on their gardening journeys.

There is so much wisdom, so much life, in what the garden is teaching me about giving it away.

By Rev. Meg Riley, Senior Minister, Church of the Larger Fellowship, TO READ MORE

A Prayer for Those Who Love Soldiers

This is a prayer for the ones who love soldiers who are in harm’s way—

For the parents, who remember with longing when you could hold that child in diapers, sending out mothers’ or fathers’ intimate care,

For the lovers, who smell the sweaters left behind, touch the pillow on the empty side of the bed, and wish only for one moment’s touch,

For the good friends, who try to store up the jokes, to remember the bits of daily gossip and news, who don’t enjoy them as much alone,

For the spouses and partners (who are also lovers) but who miss today the partnership as the grass grows long, as the kids talk back, or eat their first solid foods,

And most of all for the kids.  For the kids who have a hole in their heart, who don’t quite understand it all, who live in a blur of unknowing and dread, who can’t tell time but know when something has gone on too long, for the kids who can’t remember, for the kids who do.

May your heart’s knowing be deeper than the longing.
May your memories hold you.
May the love of others surround and support you.
May you keep the flame burning, now and ever more.
This is a prayer for those who love soldiers who have returned—

For the mothers and fathers, who wish you could kiss away the booboos,

For the lovers, joyfully reunited, and also struggling with all of the changes,

For the good friends who share jokes and gossip with a friend who wants to be in the present, but keeps getting jolted back to the field,

For the spouses and partners (who are also lovers), grappling to find a way to knit back together a new relationship, trying to be patient and attentive but also weary yourselves,

And most of all for the kids.  For the kids who are happy, laughing, feeling whole again.   For the kids who are confused, who thought happily ever after would arrive on the plane with the parent, and it didn’t.  For the kids who try to make it all better, for the kids who withdraw, for the kids who try to believe that the parent will stay, for the kids who grin in their sleep.

May you find your way with love at the center.
May your memories hold you,
May the love of others surround and support you.
May you keep the flame burning, now and ever more.
This is a  prayer for those who love soldiers who have died, our Fallen Warriors—

For the parents, looking once more through photo albums, every cell remembering,

For the lovers, who smell the sweater stored in the back of the closet, touch the pillow on the empty side of the bed, and steel yourselves to face another day alone,

For the good friends who are saddened by jokes or gossip, knowing how much more they could have savored it together,

For the spouses and partners (who were also lovers), in a suddenly too-big home, seeing the deceased in the kids’ faces and movements, thanking the neighbor for shoveling the walk again,

And most of all for the kids.  For the kids who stare at pictures, trying to conjure the memory of laughter, of singing, of being held.   For the kids who can’t remember anymore, for the kids who do.

May your heart’s knowing be deeper than the river of sadness.
May your memories hold you.
May the love of others surround and support you.
May you keep the flame burning, now and ever more.

This is a prayer for the people who love soldiers.
May your love be your North Star, ever guiding you home.

Memorial Day Resources

Inspiration: 

 

Spend a few minutes letting the compassion that is in your heart wash over you. Then let that compassion spill out into the world as justice.

Faithful Risk for Living Faith

Contemplative spirituality leads to and supports active spirituality. When contemplative spirituality is only about self-improvement and self-regulation, then it loses the spiritual piece and becomes another set of practices, like turning off the lights when we leave a room. Good and useful, yes, but not something that moves us out of our comfort zones and into working with others to bring more compassion, merciful justice, steadfast love, or ecological renewal to this world. The fruits of practice that is self-focused are personal. The fruits of true spiritual practices, of living faithfully, are contributing to the goodness of the whole.

Inspiration: 

 

 

You have the right to remain silent – but you also have the right to speak out.

We Honor …

Unitarian Julia Ward Howe, who became famous for writing the words to “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” However, although the “Battle Hymn” was her most famous piece of writing, she ended up feeling embarrassed that people knew her for this song which made war seem very noble and wonderful. She wrote the “Battle Hymn” during the U.S. civil war, and was dedicated to the cause of freeing the slaves. However, she also saw the terrible cost of war—the killed or injured soldiers, the families who had to manage without loved ones, the homes and farms that were destroyed. When she saw war break out again, this time in Europe, she began speaking out on the horrors of war, as well as working for the rights of women and Arfican-Americans. In 1872 she wrote a stirring call for women to demand peace  and established a yearly Mother’s Peace Day as a way for women to work for peace.  Mother’s Day has since become a more general holiday honoring mothers (you can find out more about its history under the Mother’s Day link above), but we still remember Julia Ward Howe, who believed so strongly in the ability of women to change the world for the better.

If you’d like to learn a lot more about Julia Ward Howe, including her difficult marriage to Unitarian reformer and educator Samuel Gridley Howe, click here.

Inspiration: 

“If I am not for myself,
then who will be for me?
And if I am only for myself,
then what am I?
And if not now, when?”

–Hillel

Day of Service

Take a few minutes to write down your best ideas of what you would really actually do for a day of service, and some things that you have actually done to make the world a better place. It doesn’t have to be huge stuff—reusable shopping bags and speaking up when someone tells a racist joke count, as well as letters to the editor or calls to your senator, helping out at your school, going to a rally or march, helping someone with their homework, walking or biking instead of taking a car, choosing not to cross a picket line, buying fair trade or organic products, collecting food for people in need, helping kids work out an argument without hitting, planting trees, sharing your skills through teaching or coaching, listening to someone who needs support, etc., etc., etc. You might want to start with everything you can think of that you did in a day or a week that made the world a bit better, and then fill in some bigger stuff from other parts of your life.

 

BY LYNN UNGAR, MINISTER FOR LIFESPAN LEARNING, CHURCH OF THE LARGER FELLOWSHIP  TO READ MORE