Abundance
October 2015
“My barn having burned down I can now see the moon.”—Mizuta Masahide
Articles
Not What We Have, But What We Enjoy
I’d like to tell you a story, a true story, that a friend of mine witnessed firsthand. It’s about a congregation in the midst of a holiday food drive for a local food bank. Read more »
Finding Abundance
The earth is our horn of plenty. She sends forth all manner of delicious food. She flowers and sends forth fruits and vegetables. Read more »
The Answer is “Everything”
I haven’t always been abundance-minded or able to see or believe in life’s silver lining. Read more »
Abundance
The CLF exists through the abundance and generosity of its community. Some give with their time, some with their presence, and some with money—and we are thankful for every gift! Read more »
From Your Minister
The story is told of Mulla Nasrudin, the Sufi wise fool. A rich man came to see him and said, “Nasrudin, if only you would learn to flatter the emperor and be subservient as I do, you would not have to live on chickpeas and bread.” Read more »
REsources for Living
What gives you a sense of abundance—a feeling that you have plenty, that you are satisfied, that there is enough to go around? Read more »
Did You Know?
…that CLF offers religious education curricula to use at home or for congregations with mixed-aged groups of children? Read more »
Raspberry
Almost October, and there it was, draped over the fence, ripe as July, and as seductive—a stranger’s bit of paradise… Read more »
Forgiveness
September 2015
“Forgiveness is the name of love practiced among people who love poorly. The hard truth is that all people love poorly.”―Henri J.M. Nouwen
Articles
Forgiveness
“Forgiveness is the name of love practiced among people who love poorly. The hard truth is that all people love poorly.” ―Henri J.M. Nouwen Read more »
A Lesson in Forgiveness
The Days of Awe—the ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur—are considered the High Holy Days in the Jewish tradition—significant moments that even secular Jews may celebrate in some fashion. It’s the New Year, after all. Read more »
Forgiving the Broken
I believe that our human survival depends on waking up to our connection with the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part. Read more »
Radical Forgiveness (Excerpt)
Corrie ten Boom was living with her older sister and her father in Amsterdam when Holland was occupied by the Nazis. Read more »
Hall of Records
In the Administrative Department of my heart, which is down the hall from Feelings, Major, I wrote down the time you offended me. Read more »
Finding Forgiveness
Many of us are struggling to forgive our parents. As adults, we’re wrestling with our parents’ inability to give us what we needed when we were kids. Read more »
An Opportunity to Give
One thing is certain, each one of us will be given opportunity after opportunity to practice forgiveness towards ourselves and others over the course of our lives. Read more »
REsources for Living
The evening of September 22nd this year marks the start of the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, which is often known as the Day of Atonement. Read more »
Did You Know?
That the CLF offers resources on our website for children, families and religious educators? Check out the Family Quest page. Read more »
Lorraine’s Choice
July/August 2015
“In honor of Lorraine Dennis’s 15 years as Executive Director of the CLF, we asked her to choose some favorite pieces to share with us before she retires at the end of the summer. This issue, then, is a special “Lorraine’s Choice” edition.
Articles
Lorraine’s Choice
In honor of Lorraine Dennis’s 15 years as Executive Director of the CLF, we asked her to choose some favorite pieces to share with us before she retires at the end of the summer. This issue, then, is a special “Lorraine’s Choice” edition. Read more »
Faith in the Borderland
I love Abhi’s language about the “hyphenated space between perspectives.” It really speaks to me and gives me hope for a more accepting and just world. —LD Read more »
Our Religion
In this homily from the CLF worship at the UUA General Assembly in 2009, Jane writes a primer on Unitarian Universalism, with my favorite message that beauty and fun are really important to UUs. —LD Read more »
Friend
I find Kim’s words about friendship, excerpted from a sermon of hers we printed in the February 2011 Quest, very helpful as a roadmap to a meaningful life. My friends as chosen family and my family as chosen friends. —LD Read more »
Joy
I always feel something when I read Lynn’s poems. “Building the structure of joy” seems like such a good aspiration to take into retirement. —LD Read more »
A Bittersweet Time
This is a bittersweet time for the CLF as we bid farewell to Executive Director Lorraine Dennis, who will retire in August. We feel both gratitude and sadness as we thank Lorraine for her 15 years of service. Read more »
Be Like Water
I just love this poem. I get a little slide show in my mind and so appreciate the idea that this very simple thing—water—is so darn complicated. —LD Read more »
From Your Minister
I am not happy to be writing this column to honor and celebrate Lorraine Dennis. No, I’m not happy at all, because underneath the honoring and the celebrating is the letting go. I hate goodbyes. Read more »
REsources for Living
Lynn has very good ideas in general, but particularly when it comes to having fun. Her list of boring things to do seems perfect for a person who is about to retire from a busy, inspiring job, doesn’t it? —LD Read more »
Did You Know?
Did you know that you can make an online gift in honor of Lorraine’s years of wonderful service to the CLF? Click here to learn more. Read more »
Music Together
Here’s one that I wish we had published, since it speaks to me as a singer and in my work for the CLF—so many precious times with CLF members, colleagues and friends. —LD Read more »
Grace
June 2015
“For me, every hour is grace. And I feel gratitude in my heart each time I can meet someone and look at his or her smile.” —Elie Wiesel
Articles
Grace
“For me, every hour is grace. And I feel gratitude in my heart each time I can meet someone and look at his or her smile.” —Elie Wiesel Read more »
Everyday Grace
Grace is one of those words whose meaning has been diffused by so many strands of religious tradition that it is hard to use without confusion. Read more »
Adventures in Grace
My mother tells how when I was in grade school I wanted to take dance lessons, so she enrolled me in ballet. Although I approached the activity with forceful energy and my typical incorrigible enthusiasm, I lacked grace. Read more »
Grace-full Moments
Sometimes they just happen: grace-full moments; gifts from something beyond myself. Read more »
Amazing Grace
Almost every Wednesday morning at my Lutheran school, we sang this song. No one taught us what the words meant, but over time I figured out that grace was somehow connected to a mysterious thing called the Holy Spirit, or, as I was first taught, the Holy Ghost. Read more »
Executive Director to Retire
No one has ever had more inspiration or fun at their job than I’ve had over my almost-fifteen years with CLF. My colleagues on the staff are downright fabulous—so caring and committed, so daring, so willing to experiment and fail forward. Read more »
From Your Minister
In “The Lanyard,” one of my favorite poems by Billy Collins, he describes making a plastic lanyard to give his mother. Read more »
REsources for Living
What do you think of when you hear the word grace? Maybe a dancer who moves with elegance and ease, the picture of smooth and graceful motion. Read more »
Bestowers of Grace
It was my good fortune to grow up in the midst of human graciousness. I am reminded of my father, whose practice when visiting Mexico was to patronize street vendors and bargain up. Read more »
Mistakes
May 2015
“Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.” —Scott Adams
Articles
Perils of Perfection
An overachiever’s high-stress lifestyle was causing a whole complex of stress-related issues: migraines, backaches, heart palpitations, and climbing blood pressure. Alarmed, her doctor told her she needed to slow down and learn to relax. Read more »
Imperfection: The Perfect Spirituality
My youngest sister Beth was very talented physically. When she was seven she could roller skate across the basement, up the stairs, down the steep driveway and the steeper hill of the road with perfect balance and grace. But she was very shy. Read more »
Want More?
If you enjoy the ways in which Monthly Quest gets you thinking, come join the conversation on Facebook—search for the CLF Quest Monthly Theme Discussion Group. Read more »
Always Evolving
It’s no secret that the CLF is willing to try new things and risk mistakes to reach more people with a Unitarian Universalist message of hope, love, and justice. Read more »
The Healing Moment
Each day I am newly reminded of my unworthiness: a dozen thoughts misspoken; another day when the good I do falls so far short of the good that I could do… Read more »
The Imperfectionist
The reason I’ve been able to produce so much is that I’m not a perfectionist— I’m an imperfectionist. Read more »
From Your Minister
Mistakes. The longer I live, the more clearly I know that I’ll never quit making them. So, one skill that I have honed to a fine point is that of apologizing. Read more »
REsources for Living
Contrary to popular belief, there is something to be said for failings and foibles. After all, mistakes are the basis of our whole diverse, ever-changing, interdependent web of life. Read more »
Afterward
Afterward, we want to say, But can’t we do that over? Say, But it was a mistake! Read more »
Mistakes
“Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.” —Scott Adams Read more »
Did You Know?
That the CLF shop has a variety of items, from chalice jewelry to note cards, that make perfect end of year gifts for volunteers? Read more »
Healing
April 2015
“Healing yourself is connected with healing others.” —Maya Angelou
Articles
The Healing Touch
For most of my childhood and adult life, I had been very dismissive of miracles portrayed in the New Testament, including the healing stories. Read more »
Notice of Annual Meeting
Per Article VII, Sections 1 and 2, of the Church of the Larger Fellowship (CLF) Bylaws, the 42nd Annual Meeting will be held via conference call and screen sharing on June 18, 2015 at 6:00PM Eastern Time. Read more »
We Go to the Sea
When my dad was a kid, his father had a stroke. Everyone in their church clucked their tongues. It’s too bad, they said, that God had seen fit for that to happen. Read more »
Praying in the Wind
Today, howling winds, too often heard in these parts, tear through the glass windows sealed for comfort. Incorrigible. Read more »
Healing
Don’t speak to me of “healing” racism, Or “wounded souls” or the “painful hurt” Until you are willing to look at my skin Read more »
From Your Minister
I told someone with a long-term illness—in this person’s case, chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)—that I was writing a column on healing. Healing, she said. I’ve come to dislike that word intensely. Read more »
REsources for Living
There are plenty of things to wonder about in the Easter story, but here’s one of them. If Jesus was a miracle healer, someone who cured everything from blindness to skin disease, someone who even raised a man from the dead, then why didn’t he heal himself? Read more »
A Refuge of Spiritual Reflection
Quest Monthly is a refuge of spiritual reflection for thousands, and CLF’s online presence has been a healing sanctuary for many across the globe. Read more »
Did You Know…
Did you know that archived CLF online worship services are available to view at any time? Search on YouTube for “Church of the Larger Fellowship” and click on the “Playlists” tab. Read more »
A Tomb Is No Place to Stay
A tomb is no place to stay, Be it a cave in the Judaean hills Or the dark cavern of the spirit. Read more »
Courage
March 2015
“Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. ” —Maya Angelou
Articles
Courage
“Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. ” —Maya Angelou Read more »
The Cadence of Courage
Arianna Huffington, the noted author and popular pundit, wrote a book entitled On Becoming Fearless. In it, she observed that too many women and girls today are afraid to be themselves. Read more »
Living with a Courageous Heart
Anyone can slay a dragon, she told me, But try waking up every morning and loving the world all over again. That’s what takes a real hero. Read more »
Standing Like a Tree
Perhaps you remember the story about Antoinette Tuff. She’s the woman in Atlanta, Georgia, who was working in the main office of an elementary school when a man burst in with an automatic rifle and 500 rounds of ammunition. Everyone got out, thanks to her. Read more »
The Courage to Endure
One of the things I miss most about home is having a comfortable place to sit. It isn’t something most people think about, but over time, it becomes more and more important. Read more »
From Your Minister
The older I get, the crankier I am about fear. My own fear, other people’s fear. I can see back across decades to all of the times when I have stood moving my lips soundlessly like the cowardly lion in The Wizard of Oz while some disembodied voice thundered, “QUIET!” Read more »
REsources for Living
A few months back 17-year-old Malala Yousafzai became the youngest person to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Read more »
To Risk Going Too Far
“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” —T. S. Eliot Read more »
When Things Fall Apart
When things fall apart and we can’t get the pieces back together, when we lose something dear to us, when the whole thing is just not working… Read more »
Did You Know?
That you can join a lively conversation on the theme of this issue in a Facebook group? Read more »
Love
February 2015
“Love makes your soul crawl out from its hiding place.” —Zora Neale Hurston
Articles
Living by Love
You don’t have to be Christian to admire this ancient and beautiful religion and wish to learn from its wisdom. Read more »
Sharing the Love
Love is a way of life. It should be how we make our way in the world. And truth be told, we should be preaching love every Sunday. Read more »
Love Is…and Isn’t
Love is patient—as opposed to people who rush to judgment; as opposed to those who insist that everybody should agree immediately on the obviously right answer, whether or not they have had time to think it through. Read more »
CLF Invites GA Delegates
Would you like to represent the CLF at the UUA’s General Assembly (GA) this summer? Read more »
Tucked In
On a quiet suburban street on a Sunday evening, just as it was getting dark, I saw a car pull into a driveway, and then the silhouette of a man walking from the car to the front door of the house, carrying a sleeping child. Read more »
Because of Your Dollars
“Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is such a struggle since coming back home from deployment. Thank you for being there for me, as it is hard to be with people right now.” —Tim Read more »
From Your Minister
Before I had the good fortune to serve the Church of the Larger Fellowship as senior minister, I was part of a team that designed and launched the Standing on the Side of Love Campaign at the Unitarian Universalist Association. Read more »
REsources for Living
A few years ago, Unitarian Universalists got a new nickname. In 2010 lots of UUs went to Arizona to protest the way immigrants were being treated. Read more »
Did You Know…
That you can buy many fun items with the CLF “I Carry the Flame” logo? Check them out at CLFUU.org Shop. Read more »
Transformation
January 2015
“You cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad.” —C.S. Lewis
Articles
Transformation
“You cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad.” —C.S. Lewis Read more »
The Necessity of Discomfort
Recently, in preparation for my daily practice of mindfulness and prayer, I came across a stunning piece of information. Read more »
Transformation vs. Acceptance
Transformation is part and parcel of most religious groups. The work of a faith community is to build a better world and to help each other become better people… Read more »
The Stream: A Sufi Story
A stream, from its course in the far-off mountains, passing through every kind and description of countryside, at last reached the sands of the desert. Read more »
These are the Times that Grow Our Souls (Excerpt)
The America that is best known and most resented around the world pursues unlimited economic growth, technological revolutions, and consumption, with little or no regard for their destructive impact on communities… Read more »
From Your Minister
For the past several years, I’ve been part of a group called Transforming Families, in which families that include trans* kids come together for support, information sharing, and fun. Read more »
REsources for Living
I can well remember from my childhood that most adults had a very strange habit. Pretty much any time you saw one of your parents’ friends, or an out-of-town relative, they would greet you in exactly the same way… Read more »
Life’s Transformations
To live is to change, to acquire the words of a story… —Barbara Kingsolver Read more »
Nighttime, January
When breath catches in the crisp night air, and sight turns to stars, mind to moon, silence asserts itself, breathing the beauty of night into being… Read more »
Signs and Wonders
December 2014
“Wonder is the beginning of wisdom.”—Socrates
Articles
Wondering and Wandering
In a meeting the other night we lit a small chalice and someone shared a blessing to center us down and gather us in for whatever work it was, and the blessing ended with the question, “What do you welcome in winter?” Read more »
No One Lights a Lamp
No one lights a lamp in order to hide it behind the door: the purpose of light is to create more light, to open people’s eyes, to reveal the marvels around. —Paulo Coelho Read more »
Miracles and Wonders
A man arrives at a wedding banquet and finds that they have run out of wine. Mysteriously, plain water is transformed into wine sufficient for all the guests. Read more »
God Crashes the Wedding
Was it only dumb luck in that wedding, out at the state park, when I happened to call thunder and lightning down out of the sky? Or was it a sign from God? Read more »
From Your Minister
When I was a kid, I pictured the part of the Christmas story about “no room at the inn” as a kind of neon no vacancy sign, blinking from the ancient motels of Biblical days. Read more »
REsources for Living
Some days are special not because there is a birthday or a holiday—although those are very special days. Some days are special because if you are paying close attention, you get a sign. Read more »
When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer
When I heard the learn’d astronomer, When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me… Read more »
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