David’s manuscript on humanist liturgy is available here: “Congregating for Secular People: Theory and Practice”
What do you say when people ask you how you’re doing? Do you have the words to describe how you’re feeling? Most of the time, I don’t. Recently, I came across a writing from Dr. Zelana Montminy that gives me some clues. She’s a Behavioral Scientist who works “to help people reclaim their minds in a world that profits off… Read More »Words For These Times: “The Ache of Being Awake” by Dr. Zelana Montminy
Need some instructions for finding some inner ‘nectar’ this summer? Your essence, your life-force, that thing that some people call a soul, may be feeling in great need of refreshment. So, listen to what Joseph Fasano suggests about how to nourish the depths of your very being. “Instructions for Having a Soul” by Joseph Fasano Take it out in the… Read More »Words For These Times: “Instructions for Having a Soul”
In these days of increasing polarities and strident viewpoints, I believe we would all do well to keep an open mind and to imagine possibilities…perhaps opening to things we’ve never thought of before…perhaps seeing those ways in which we have lost our imaginations. As imagination is our theme for the month of May, this poem by Robert Bly is an… Read More »Words For These Times: “Things to Think”
I went to see “No Other Land” this week (a film about the West Bank) and was stunned to witness small children, after their homes were bulldozed down, joyfully make claims to what they still had…the sun, the mountains, the rocks. And later, I had a conversation with a Canadian, who so beautifully reminded me that we can live our… Read More »Words For These Times: “Testimony” by Rebecca Baggett
There is an ocean out there that you long to become a part of. What is that ocean for you? Peaceful co-existence? A sense of communal purpose? Loving, inclusive relationships? Whatever it is, we can be afraid to take the steps that will move us toward that ocean. If Gibran is correct, fear will disappear when we release ourselves to… Read More »Words For These Times: “Fear” by Kahlil Gibran
Cheryl Strayed has written that “every mother has a different story, though we tend to group them together.” And for all the different ways we mother and are mothered, “The reality is that, regardless of the circumstances, most moms are alternately blissed out by their love for their children and utterly overwhelmed by the spectacular amount of sacrifice they require.”… Read More »Words For These Times: “Now that I am forever with child” by Audre Lorde
March 31 is #TransgenderDayofVisibility. It would be impossible to overstate how important this day is…this year…right now…here in the US. But actually, it’s not that this day is so important, but rather how very important it is that we open our hearts to the worth and dignity of each person, whoever they are, whatever their gender. And, how important it… Read More »Words For These Times: “a poem for Trans day of visibility” by Del Alta Esme
Prayer, for me, has nothing to do with what or who might be listening, or whether or not the listener has any capacity to respond. Prayer, for me, is a state of my heart; it is an acknowledgement that there is something that could be better; it is a way of naming and pouring out my longings into the universe.… Read More »Words For These Times: “Here” by J. Drew Lanham
March is Women’s History Month, and there are SO MANY great poems written by women about being women. Here’s a link to a few: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/collections/138721/celebrating-womens-history-month Lucille Clifton’s work emphasizes endurance and strength through adversity, focusing particularly on the African-American experience and family life. She is said to have composed “physically small poems with enormous and profound inner worlds”. This particular… Read More »Word For These Times: won’t you celebrate with me by Lucille Clifton
I recently noticed an ad for a dryer sheet that promised to soften one’s laundry. In it, the laundress wonders if putting a dryer sheet on their boss would soften them as well. Maybe not, but just as hate will never overcome hate, being judgmental and self-righteous won’t conquer a hardened world either. Here are some beautiful words about allowing… Read More »Words For These Times: “The Place Where We Are Right” by Yehuda Amichai
