Restoration
April 2019
All the beauty that’s been lost before wants to find us again. ―U2
Articles
Notice of Annual Meeting
To all members of the Church of the Larger Fellowship, Unitarian Universalist: Per Article VII, Sections 1 and 2 of the Church of the Larger Fellowship (CLF) Bylaws, the 46th Annual Meeting will be held via video/telephone conference call and screen sharing on Tuesday, June 11, 2019 at 8:00PM EDT. Read more »
Finding Restoration Through Stories
If European Americans begin to learn the real stories, and become aware of the level of devastation and grief suffered by Indigenous peoples, our first reaction can sometimes be defensiveness. Read more »
Restorative Justice
Restorative justice is an act of giving back, not going back, for nothing will ever be the same as before the damage was done. Read more »
Already Saved (Excerpt)
Years ago, I worked in Arizona’s so-called justice system. A woman named Kathy McCormick, who worked at the Attorney General’s Office doing victim-offender mediation, told me this story. Read more »
Arrows of Love
Do you remember a time when you attended a Unitarian Universalist congregation or gathering, and it felt like you were finally at home? Read more »
Soul-Restoring Work
Perhaps you find that Quest or other resources from the CLF help to restore your spirits in difficult times. Read more »
Audio Resources
You can listen to audio recordings of Quest Monthly, read back issues or get electronic versions of the text to share with friends (and much more) at questformeaning.org Read more »
The Road to Restoration
When I think of restoration, I cannot help but think of my time in prison so far. Before I was arrested I was a hopeless, miserable wreck that could not pull away from drug addiction. Read more »
Desire
March 2019
I have a deeply hidden and inarticulate desire for something beyond the daily life. ―Virginia Woolf
Articles
Hungry Hearts
What do you want? If I had a magic wand and could give you your heart’s desire, right now, what would it be? Read more »
The CLF is There for You
Whether what you long for is compassionate community, resources for spiritual growth or challenge and support to build a more just world, the CLF is there for you, and for thousands of others who share those deep desires. Read more »
The Theology of Desire
How fair and pleasant you are,O loved one, delectable maiden! You are stately as a palm tree, and your breasts are like its clusters… Read more »
The Cage of Desire (excerpt)
The flood of marketed desire that we experience daily began in the US at the turn of the 20th century. Read more »
From Your Minister
I was on a Vipassana meditation retreat in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley one spring, looking out over rolling hills. Read more »
REsources for Living
Desire seems to fall into two categories. There is good desire, the kind of desire that makes you come alive and orient toward what your body and/or soul most deeply wants. Read more »
Ananda’s Eyes
One day, while the Buddha was staying in Sravasti, his disciple Ananda was walking back from alms lunch under the hot sun and felt thirsty. Read more »
Desire
I have a deeply hidden and inarticulate desire for something beyond the daily life. ―Virginia Woolf Read more »
Truth and Lies
February 2019
In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act. ―George Orwell
Articles
A River or a Rock
I am guessing that you have heard what seems to be one of the most frequently used statements about Unitarian Universalism. Read more »
The Truth Shall Set You Free
From Untruth lead me to Truth. From Darkness lead me to Light. From Death to Immortality. — The Upanishads Read more »
From Your Minister
My roommate in college was a chronic liar. Though in ways we were close to one another, her constant lies ensured that we could never be too close. Read more »
A World of Half-Truths
In a world full of half-truths, evasions and outright lies, the CLF works to share spiritual truths that speak to the heart. Read more »
REsources for Living
My friend Thomas Anastasi, now retired from the ministry, had a simple solution to the ongoing ministerial problem of what to put in the newsletter about upcoming sermons. Read more »
Audio Recordings
You can listen to audio recordings of Quest Monthly, read back issues or get electronic versions of the text to share with friends (and much more) at questformeaning.org Read more »
Truth Against the World
Being in a minority, even in a minority of one, did not make you mad. There was truth and there was untruth, and if you clung to the truth even against the whole world, you were not mad. Read more »
The CLF Invites GA Delegates
Would you like to represent the Church of the Larger Fellowship at General Assembly (GA) this summer? Read more »
Truth and Lies
In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act. ―George Orwell Read more »
Hope
January 2019
In a time of destruction, create something. —Maxine Hong Kingston
Articles
When Hope and History Rhyme
Martin Luther King Jr. and other leaders were rather demoralized that spring of 1963. They had started a campaign to end segregation in Birmingham, Alabama and it wasn’t going well. Read more »
The Good News of Hopelessness
Hope is tightly woven into Unitarian Universalism. The doctrine of universal salvation was referred to as “The Larger Hope.” Read more »
The Reason Why
For the longest time I found myself living life in despair. I felt that I had little to live for, and had not only contemplated, but also attempted, suicide several times between the ages of 14 and 26. Read more »
An Airplane That Never Lands
Being in prison is like being dead. Nothing matters. People fall out of your life; the world passes you by and forgets about you. Read more »
When Hope is Hard to Find
How can we find hope in circumstances such as these we live in today? Would it help to ask what it is we are even looking for? Read more »
From Your Minister
I believe that the CLF mission statement is a recipe for hope: We seek to cultivate wonder, imagination, and the courage to act. Read more »
REsources for Living
In what is surely the most famous English-language description of hope, Emily Dickinson declares that… Read more »
Audio Resources
You can listen to audio recordings of Quest Monthly, read back issues or get electronic versions of the text to share with friends (and much more) at questformeaning.org Read more »
Freedom Ridge
Outside my window, past the razor wire and fence, lies a ridge. A quartet of blue jays and a woodpecker live in the scrub oaks on the left. Read more »
Thank You
Enormous thanks to the following congregations and organizations, which generously contributed to the CLF between April and August 2018. We are so grateful! Read more »
Humility
December 2018
Humility is to make a right estimate of oneself. —Charles H. Spurgeon
Articles
On Humility
From Hasidic tradition we have a little story about Rabbi Simcha Bunim Bonhart, who lived in the Polish village of Peshischa at the turn of the 19th century. Read more »
You Might Be Wrong
I grew up Catholic, even pondered becoming a nun, and studied theology with awesomely radical social justice Jesuits before following the theological thread of my life right into Unitarian Universalist seminary. Read more »
Humility and Hubris
My first impulse in trying to describe the essence and practice of humility was simply to say: Look at the current U.S. president and then think about his opposite in personality and behavior—that will pretty well define humility. Read more »
From Your Minister
Perhaps you watched the comedy special on Netflix by Australian comedian Hannah Gadsby, entitled “Nanette.” If you didn’t, perhaps you’ve seen some of the media coverage about it, using words like “game-changing” and “comedic revolution.” Read more »
Positive Change
The CLF is deeply committed to serving those who are making positive change in the world. Read more »
REsources for Living
What is your favorite Christmas carol? Mine is the English carol “The Friendly Beasts,” which begins… Read more »
Audio Recordings
You can listen to audio recordings of Quest Monthly, read back issues or get electronic versions of the text to share with friends (and much more) at questformeaning.org Read more »
Christmas
It was all so complicated: The questionable parentage, the awkward journey, the not knowing where you will sleep… Read more »
Ancestors
November 2018
You are the fairy tale told by your ancestors. —Toba Beta
Articles
A Way Out of No Way
Martin Luther King, Jr.’s last speech is now called “The Mountaintop Speech.” Read more »
Spiritual Ancestors
Like many Unitarian Universalists of color (and many white allies), I get tired of white male dominance within our society and yearn for more diverse representation. Read more »
Nominating Committee Seeks Leaders
The CLF’s Nominating Committee seeks members to run for positions beginning June 2019. Read more »
Always
On the morning my grandmother died, I squeezed the juice out of citrus fruits and strained out the seeds with a fork so I wouldn’t drink them. Read more »
And When Ancestors Are Dishonorable?
Many people think of their ancestors as dead and gone, and therefore to be thought about only occasionally and with no real attachment, as if they have no claim on us who live. Read more »
From Your Minister
One sentence launched me into discovery about my ancestors. It’s the first line of a book, Tearin’ through the Wilderness, which my great-Aunt Marie researched, wrote and self-published in 1956, long before self-publishing was a thing. Read more »
REsources for Living
Our ancestors are the people gone before us—blood relations or family of mind and spirit—who guide and instruct and inspire us. Read more »
Audio Recordings
You can listen to audio recordings of Quest Monthly, read back issues or get electronic versions of the text to share with friends (and much more) at questformeaning.org Read more »
Oops!
In our June issue we thanked congregations that had supported the CLF in the past year. Unfortunately, we missed a couple of generous congregations in that thank you. Read more »
Persistence
October 2018
First forget inspiration. Habit is more dependable…. Habit is persistence in practice. ―Octavia E. Butler
Articles
And Not Grow Weary
My son learned a song at Village Green preschool that he made me sing with him all the next day. Maybe you know it. Read more »
Perseverance
Until my stroke four years ago, at a very healthy 61 years of age, I did not know what perseverance was. Read more »
Offering Comfort and Support
Across the decades, through changes in technology and staff, through world crises and institutional crises, the CLF has been there, offering people around the world comfort and challenge in the form of our liberal faith. Read more »
Swimming Lessons
My first sermon at the first church I ever served (which is also the only church I have served) was called “Swimming Lessons.” Read more »
Cinders as Far as the Eye Can See
While I explored central Idaho’s Snake River Plain, I camped at Craters of the Moon National Monument. Read more »
From Your Minister
As another gardening season begins to come to a close, I offer gratitude for all of the lessons that I learn from my garden. Read more »
REsources for Living
I have a fairly big front lawn—or what passes for a large lawn in my suburban California location. If, that is, it passes for a lawn at all. Read more »
Audio Recordings
You can listen to audio recordings of Quest Monthly, read back issues or get electronic versions of the text to share with friends (and much more) at questformeaning.org Read more »
Ra’s Army
From a distance they look like miniature, yellow-helmeted soldiers marching along next to the fence, sort of an invasion of Ra’s army. Read more »
Persistence
First forget inspiration. Habit is more dependable…. Habit is persistence in practice. ―Octavia E. Butler Read more »
Making Change
September 2018
Everything’s got a story in it. Change the story, change the world. —Terry Prachett
Articles
In the Midst of It All
Some years ago I had the opportunity to work with a youth group to plan their annual worship service. They had a great theme in mind, all about voices. Read more »
Transmogrified
I first learned the word “transmogrified” from the cartoon Calvin and Hobbes. Read more »
Revolutionary Love
When I gave birth to my daughter, I had already been laboring for days—not hours, but days. Read more »
From Your Minister
When I was a kid, it seemed like magic. My mother would take a piece of fabric and somehow bewitch it, so that it became a shirt, or a pair of shorts, or a dress for me to wear. Read more »
Audio Recordings
You can listen to audio recordings of Quest Monthly, read back issues or get electronic versions of the text to share with friends (and much more) at questformeaning.org Read more »
Always Being Made
We are beginning to understand that the world is always being made and never finished… Read more »
Always in Beta
The unofficial CLF motto is “Always in beta.” We’re not afraid to make change within our own organization, and we are deeply committed to making positive change in the larger world. Read more »
Making Change
Everything’s got a story in it. Change the story, change the world. —Terry Prachett Read more »
Sabbath
July/August 2018
The Sabbath is the link between the paradise which has passed away and the paradise which is yet to come. —Andrew Wylie
Articles
A Wholehearted Sabbath
It was August 21st of last year when something out of the ordinary happened. Schools closed. People took off from work early, or even the whole day if they could. Read more »
Space of Renewal
Sabbath opens up a space of renewal and spiritual sustenance. We hope that the CLF provides that for you through Quest Monthly, our online worship, daily reflections from the Daily Compass and more. Read more »
The Ritual of Sabbath
I fell in love with the Sabbath many years ago when my work took me to Israel. Until then, I’d never thought much about the Sabbath, except to be annoyed when stores were closed on Sunday and I needed to buy something. Read more »
Vacation as Spiritual Discipline
A series in the Cathy comic strip about vacationing caught my eye, perhaps because it was really about the opposite. Read more »
From Your Minister
Years ago, I directed the UUA’s Washington Office. It was a challenging time in U.S. history, marked by the passage of the civil-rights-denying Patriot Act, pompous patriotic righteousness about the need to attack Iraq, support for fundamentalist Christian-style “family values,” and endless attacks on vulnerable communities. Read more »
REsources for Living
A few years ago, various members of the CLF staff were talking about taking a social media Sabbath for one day a week, and shared things like the graphics they would post to Facebook letting people know that they were unavailable for the day. Read more »
Did You Know?
You can listen to audio recordings of Quest Monthly, read back issues or get electronic versions of the text to share with friends (and much more) at questformeaning.org Read more »
Adjacent to Eternity
One who wants to enter the holiness of the day must first lay down the profanity of clattering commerce, of being yoked to toil. Read more »
Sabbath
The Sabbath is the link between the paradise which has passed away and the paradise which is yet to come. —Andrew Wylie Read more »
Beauty
June 2018
You are imperfect; permanently and inevitably flawed. And you are beautiful. ―Amy Bloom
Articles
Beauty as Well as Bread
For many years, I spent most Monday evenings in the basement of All Souls Church in New York City, where their fellowship hall, nicknamed “Friendship Hall,” was transformed into a dining room for over 300 guests. Read more »
Loving Ugly
Have you ever been worshipped? I’m not talking about the “bring offerings to an altar built in your name” kind of worship—although if you do happen to have offerings of chocolate, I’m open. Read more »
Inner Beauty
I entered prison in 1989 and did not care about beauty. I hadn’t for many years. I did not seek it, didn’t even pay attention to it. Read more »
Do You Find Beauty
Do you find beauty—even inspiration—in the words that you find in Quest each month? Read more »
From Your Minister
When my child Jie was 4, we were waiting in line at the post office behind a very dark-skinned man who wore a kufi cap, tunic and pants of a colorful African fabric featuring oranges, yellows and reds. My child looked up at him in wonder. “You’re beautiful!” Jie declared. Read more »
REsources for Living
The saying goes that “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” What is beautiful to one person might very well do nothing for another. Read more »
Audio Recordings
You can listen to audio recordings of Quest Monthly, read back issues or get electronic versions of the text to share with friends (and much more) at questformeaning.org Read more »
Aching Beauty
What to do with beauty? or joy, for that matter— in the midst of tragedy, of violence, of cruelty? Read more »
Beauty
You are imperfect; permanently and inevitably flawed. And you are beautiful. ―Amy Bloom Read more »
Issues
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