Leaves of Faith

O you whose spirit bears witness

O you, whose spirit bears witness, we gather in all stages of life, and all manner of life to face our highest ideals, and to be comforted. May the least among us be able to become empowered, ultimately drink from the wellsprings of prosperity, and hope. May those who have been rejected be embraced with wide open arms. May we be reminded that we are co-creators with you in establishing the realm of heaven, of peace, joy, and liberation so that others may have life. In the name of the still speaking, still evolving one. Amen by Shawn Koester (as Kwana Rosca) given on December 13th, 2007 at the UU Church of Second Life

The American Dream

Author: 
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr

...All life is interrelated. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality; tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. As long as there is poverty in this world, no man can be totally rich even if he has a billion dollars. As long as diseases are rampant and millions of people cannot expect to live more than twenty or thirty years, no man can be totally healthy, even if he just got a clean bill of health from the finest clinic in America. Strangely enough, I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. You can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be. This is the way the world is made. I didn't make it that way, but this is the interrelated structure of reality. John Donne caught it a few centuries ago and could cry out, "No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main . . . any man's death diminishes me, because I am involve~l in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee." If we were to realize the American dream we must cultivate this world perspective.

My Universalism is Fierce

My Universalism is fierce. It has no patience for the theology of scarcity. We are beloved - like it or not. If we could only believe and accept that, we would not need to oppress, or control, or hoard the resources, because as God's beloved, we belong. Neither life nor death can separate us from that love. When we know that, there is very little else we need.

- Rev. Danielle Di Bona from Soul Work: Anti-Racist Theologies in Dialogue

The Future

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.

- Eleanor Roosevelt

Part of the Universe

A human being is a part of the whole, called by us, "Universe," a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest -- a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but the striving for such achievement is in itself a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security.

- Albert Einstein

What difference does it make?

What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?

- Mahatma Gandhi

If the concept of God

If the concept of God has any validity or use, it can only be to make us larger, freer, and more loving. If God cannot do this, then it is time we got rid of Him.

- James Baldwin

The color of a wall

The color of a wall depends on the wall. In the same manner the isness of creatures depends on the love of God. Take the color from the wall and the color would cease to be. So too, all creatures would cease to exist if they were separated from the love that God is.

- Meister Eckhart

If there is a soul

If there is a soul, it is a mistake to believe that it is given to us fully created. It is created here, throughout a whole life. And living is nothing else but that long and painful bringing forth.

- Albert Camus

Prayer of U. S. Catholic Bishops

God of justice, open our eyes to see you in the face of the poor. Open our ears to hear you in the cries of the exploited. Open our mouths to defend you in the public squares as well as in private deeds. Remind us that what we do to the least ones, we do to you. Amen.

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