It happens with the simplest gestures: a door swung open, a light turned on in the hall, the snap of a lock as it opens somewhere unseen inside. Read more »

Some among us are asking, “Is there a center to Unitarian Universalism?” Do we have a theological center? And why are we asking about this? When did pluralism become a problem? Read more »

Unitarian Universalists are people of words. But words mean different things to different people. Read more »

I am paid to evangelize, to grow current congregations and plant new congregations. I’ve been lurking on internet sites of fundamentalist evangelists, because, quite frankly, they have systems for planting new congregations. I mean, they’ve got systems! They have trainings and boot camps and coaches and conferences just for planting. I have a hot case ...Read more »

One of the ways that we create spiritual or theological common ground is so simple it’s almost embarrassing: We agree to do so. We make a commitment to each other to create a space that is held in common. In religious language, these commitments are called covenants. In the Bible, covenants are between people and ...Read more »

The ache for home lives in all of us. The safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned. —Maya Angelou

“Perhaps home is not a place but simply an irrevocable condition.” —James Baldwin

“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” —Hebrews 13:2

“Home is where one starts from.”—T.S. Eliot

“Out beyond idea of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I will meet you there.”—Jalal ad-Din Rumi

“Perhaps home is not a place, but simply an irrevocable condition.” —James Baldwin

“Visitor’s footfalls are like medicine; they heal the sick.” —African Proverb

It always surprises me when people tell me how brave I am for being openly transgender. It doesn’t seem like bravery to me because I know how painful it was to live in the “before”… Read more »

Some of us have been able to escape the bonds of belief systems that condemn us through religious hate-speak. As an “escapee,” I offer you words of comfort: You are not an abomination. You are not flawed. You are good and worthy, and you deserve to live life in an unfragmented fashion…as well as confident that you deserve to ...Read more »

What does it mean to belong to the Earth? At present, it seems that our western culture has slowly devolved into a culture of dissociation … Read more »

The ideal of diversity meets the messiness of putting multi-racial living into practice in both our family and our spiritual homes. Read more »

Over the years, we learned that gender too was one of the seeds that would only emerge in time. How beautiful it has been to watch as our beloved child has bloomed, in gender and identity and expression. Read more »

Well-meaning people explain that it doesn’t matter what religion I choose, but I must choose, and only one. Only then, they say, can I go truly deep into a religion. Read more »