Inspiration:

 

Spirit of Life, help me to find ways to encourage ever more abundant life.

Abundant Life

San Ysidro creek starts somewhere high in the Inez mountains above Santa Barbara, California, and it falls through a boulder-strewn stream bed down to the bay and the Pacific Ocean. It is a dream of a creek, bubbling, dancing, pouring; sun-dappled and butterfly-haunted, laced with blossoms and grasses for which I have no name. In February, which is when I know it, it is in spate, swift with the melted mountain snows. The first time I saw this creek, my immediate thought was, “They must turn this off at night, when no one is looking at it.” Realizing how silly that was, I still had to wrestle a bit to wrap my mind around the idea that this pouring forth was continuous; that the stream flows all the time, splashing over the rocks and into the tiny pools constantly, whether I was watching it or not. And it struck me that the creek, in its careless fullness, in its unceasing abundance, is a kind of model for the ceaseless creative energy of the universe, which is also pouring out and over us all the time, whether we see it or not. So I go back to the creek every year to remember; to remind myself that we stand always in the flow, that the waters of life are washing over us in a springtime torrent every day we live.

by Kendyl Gibbons, Senior Minister, First Unitarian Society, Minneapolis, Minnesota TO READ MORE

Inspiration:

 

Has the way you think of yourself changed significantly in the last ten years? The last ten months?

Time and Transformation

People tend to think of transformation as this huge change that happens overnight. Like, you’re all about the caterpillar who goes into the cocoon, and then one day it breaks free and all of a sudden there’s a beautiful butterfly. But here’s what I think. Most transformation happens so slowly that you don’t much notice…

What about you? Are there ways that your life has radically changed, but maybe you haven’t noticed because the change has taken such a long time? Are there changes that you’re in the middle of, but maybe haven’t much noticed because you haven’t got all the way to where you hoped to be? Maybe it would be a good idea to give yourself a pat on the head and a “Good person!” for engaging in the slow work of transformation, however it takes shape in your life.

by Taz, a six-year-old Belgian Tervuren, the companion of Lynn Ungar, the CLF’s minister for lifespan learning.TO READ MORE

Inspiration:

 

 

Radical transformation is possible – by way of small steps.

A Hospitable Faith

Loving and appreciating the value of all lifts up the daily conversations with those we meet, and I hope these friends or strangers will feel called to lift up the best in themselves, share it with others, and bring a sense of change and transformation that flows back into this world. Today I recognize this was always my dream; however, it took the foundation of claiming this Unitarian Universalist faith to open the door to the opportunity I sought.

Let me share a small step I have used during these past twenty years. I repeat a UU mantra during meditation. My first mantra is: I affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person. Meditating, with this mantra’s guidance, settles my spirit, lifts up my soul, and encourages me to look at life through eyes that are filled with hospitality, acceptance, and love.

by Jim VanderWheele, minister of Community Church Unitarian Universalist TO READ MORE

Inspiration:

 

 

Do one thing today, however small, to change a life for the better.

Living the Loaves and Fishes

There’s the story in the Bible about Jesus and his disciples, and the loaves and fishes.  Sometimes it’s five loaves and 2 fish, sometimes more, or less.  But as the story goes, Jesus was preaching to the “multitudes” (estimated at 4 – 5,000). When meal time came, he realized there was nothing for them all to eat.  A small boy offered his meager lunch – loaves and fishes, which, when blessed by Jesus, multiplied enough to feed everyone.

I’d like to think that what really happened is that when those around Jesus saw the small child presenting his offering, they were so moved…or perhaps felt so guilty…that they, too, stepped forward and offered theirlunch; and others saw, and offered theirs, and so on, until indeed there was enough gathered to feed the crowd.  That’s the way it was at our house – we’d put out what we had, others would offer what they had.  While the meal might not always have been “balanced”, it was nourishing, filling, satisfying.  Or maybe it was the company we welcomed, or our hospitality offered, that filled that hollow.  It hardly mattered, in the end.  What made a difference is that we offered, someone accepted, and we all were blessed and enriched by our actions.  A gift that was received, and given back – or paid forward – in time.  Our hope is that we will always be able to offer the gift of hospitality to anyone.  May it be so.

by Ann Woldt TO READ MORE

Inspiration:

 

 

No chick would break out of its shell if it were still comfortable inside.

 

 

 

 

Transformation Is

Early on, I grew to love tramping through the woods hunting edible mushrooms. The little depressions filled with pine litter that bloomed after a rain in late summer into a patch of golden chanterelles, the snag that drew woodpeckers seeking sustenance flushing twice a year with the heavy fruit of sulfur shell, the sandy dry patches that bore tiny black trumpets were each and all seasonal treasures of transformation. One wonderful and magical place became yet another. The leaf litter changed to leaf mold and then back to earth and from that once again mushrooms, herbs, and trees grew anew.

Once we harvested those mushrooms, of course, another transformation went on – we washed and cut and cooked them. Those fungi nourished us, changing again. And what we did not eat or could not use went into the compost, to change again to nourishing earth.

Transformation is life, including the transformation that results in death and decay.

by Rev. Naomi King TO READ MORE