We Can’t Go Alone Link to Sermon Order of Worship   Let us be as open vessels that God’s spirit may enter. The Community Gathers: 

“Both abundance and lack exist simultaneously in our lives, as parallel realities. It is always our conscious choice which secret garden we will tend… when we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that’s present — love, health, family, friends, work, the joys of nature and personal pursuits that bring us pleasure — the wasteland of illusion falls away and we experience Heaven on earth.” –Sarah Ban Breathnach

Agape is something of the understanding, creative, redemptive goodwill for all. It is a love that seeks nothing in return. It is an overflowing love; it’s what theologians would call the love of God working in the lives of all. And when you rise to love on this level, you begin to love others, not because they are likeable, but because God loves them. Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Listening creates a holy silence. When you listen generously to people, they can hear truth in themselves, often for the first time. And in the silence of listening, you can know yourself in everyone. Eventually you may hear, in everyone and beyond everyone, the Unseen singing softly to itself and you.”

—Rachel Naomi Remen, Kitchen Table Wisdom, Stories that Heal

“Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate.”

                                                               -Albert Schweitzer

“We seek to remember that blessing comes in meeting the authentic call of the moment with greater compassion. There are always inner voices that focus on what is wrong in ourselves, in others, and in our world. There are always opportunities to act unkindly. But each moment offers us the opportunity to step into our freedom with greater awareness. The Way of One is a Way of deep compassion, healing, and forgiveness. It’s a choice we are challenged to make again and again.”

Rabbi Ted Falco

Lord… Let every ray of sunshine on my face, every touch of warmth upon my back, every cooling breeze upon my cheek, every bloom along my path, every splash of green across blue skies: tell me of your beauty, reveal your awesome glory, herald your good news and remind me to raise a joyful prayer of praise for the beauty of the earth… Amen.     

“Keep me away from the wisdom which does not cry, the philosophy which does not laugh.”        ~ Kahlil Gibran

“Healing may not be so much about getting better, as about letting go of everything that isn’t you – all of the expectations, all of the beliefs – and becoming who you are.”

“Jesus didn’t say, ‘Blessed are those who care for the poor.’ He said, ‘Blessed are we where we are poor, where we are broken.’ It is there that God loves us deeply and pulls us into deeper communion.” Henri Nouwen

But listen to me For one moment quit being sad. Hear blessings dropping their blossoms all around you.                                                          Rumi

“To be a person is to have a story to tell.” – Isak Dinesen

“True patriotism springs from a belief in the dignity of the individual, freedom and equality not only for Americans but for all people on earth.”                                        — Eleanor Roosevelt

You must do the thing you think you cannot do.
Eleanor Roosevelt

“In the sacred traditions, the first thing you do in the morning is ask for blessings from the four elements: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. Because all of the work that you are going to do that day will change the Universe.” –
– Laura Esquivel, Writer

Do we really need much more than this? To honor the dawn. To visit a garden. To talk to a friend. To contemplate a cloud. To cherish a meal. To bow our heads before the mystery of the day. Are these not enough? Kent Nerburn

“If you keep the Sabbath, you start to see creation not as somewhere to get away from your ordinary life, but a place to frame an attentiveness to your life.”
– Eugene H. Peterson

“When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares.” Henri Nouwen, Out of Solitude: Three Meditations on the Christian Life

Let us be as open vessels that God’s spirit may enter.
The Community Gathers: Experience God’s presence in the assembly. Please greet one another with joy and welcome new friends into our community of love.
You are welcome here…come and worship!

“Earth rejoices in our words, breathing and peaceful steps. Let every breath, every word and every step make the mother earth proud of us.”― Amit Ray

“Finding your way in life is not so much about choosing a direction. It’s about uncovering the voice of the soul, the call that is already imprinted inside you, and then finding the courage to face down your fears and let your true voice be heard.” Rabbi Naomi