When I was a teenager, I left the Methodist church and joined LRY, Liberal Religious Youth, of the Unitarian Church in Birmingham. At one point, we decided to each bring a song that had affected our hearts in a very powerful way. Below is the song that I shared. Now, at sixty, I find that this song has stayed with me, grows in meaning and strength and comfort.

What we knew when young, is often our greatest truth. This is to me. I am very grateful to these artists. – Susan Proctor

Continue reading Lenten Reflection from Susan Proctor: God is Alive →

A gracious, wide crape myrtle stands in our yard near the street.

During certain times of the year, leaves and seed pods from that lovely tree fall in just such a pattern as to block a few critical inches of our driveway. The drainage path to the curb gets clogged up.

And then I find myself pulling up during a rainstorm to step out of the car into ankle-deep water. I slosh across the driveway to that one corner and, in my already sodden shoes, kick the minuscule, problematic bundle of leaves, seed pods, and twigs out into the water flowing along the gutter. Continue reading Lenten Reflection from Jennifer Sanders: Stuck and Unstuck →

“Of course, pain or disappointment threatens whatever sense of wholeness we may have reached. This is a fragile balance. Life is a fragile and unpredictable journey; anything can happen. But the wisdom traditions tell us that these trials and tribulations can also be integrated. The suffering can be integrated as a way of deepening and intensifying our experience of wholeness.”
-from Health & Wholeness by Laurence Freeman, OSB

“Did you mean to die like that, was that a mistake? Or did you know your messy death would be a record breaker?” ! ! ! ! !

– Judas in Jesus Christ, SuperStar