Grief in all of its forms is essential to a healthy life in this fragile world. But fiercely and stubbornly clinging to singular events and losses in the past is not so much grief as it is a kind of “stuckness” that truly limits the gift of our present life. Read more »

Fifteen years ago, I was diagnosed with cancer. I had what the surgeon called a ‘strenuous surgery, was off work for nearly three months and debilitated for another six. But…it was OK. The results of the surgery had been the best possible, and this kind of cancer wasn’t supposed to come back. Read more »

I was listening to a tape about health during my hospital stay, and it defined health as the ability to fully participate in one’s life. That stopped me. I had to rewind the tape and listen again. Read more »

I was diagnosed with a chronic pain disorder when I was 35 years old. Though my symptoms can be traced back many years earlier, I had managed to, well, manage the pain for some time. Read more »

In my senior year of college I had a psychotic manic episode and was hospitalized for two weeks. At 21 years old I received a lifelong companion, bipolar disorder. Read more »

Grief is just love with no place to go. —Jamie Anderson

When your child or infant is in the hospital, ill or injured, you may feel like all of life’s “knowns” are turned upside down. Suddenly unmoored, you may be struggling… Read more »

Your relinquishment has been my biggest blessing. Your very life has made my own shimmer with joy, laughter, the words “my child…” Read more »

Losing someone you love is painful. Losing someone you struggled with is confusing. Part of you is relieved they are gone… Read more »

Our UU theology calls to build the beloved community through our relationships with others. Sometimes we are faced with a different calling—to receive the help and support of others. Read more »

Just as much as marriage, divorce or separation can be a holy choice. When divorce is grounded in deep reflection and care, it can be an expression of love and commitment to life. Read more »

When we become ill, we discover what it means to be a human “being” as opposed to a human “doing.” Read more »

Unitarian Universalists hold justice to be a particularly important aspect of right relationships among human beings. But how can we temper justice with mercy? Read more »

“Do you know who I am?” I asked my soul mate of almost 23 years. She looked at me attentively, which was something, but said no words. “I’m Patti,” I said, “your wife. We’ve been together for 23 years.” Read more »

If we look beneath memory loss and the inability to reason, we may be surprised to discover what persons with Alzheimer’s reveal to us … Read more »

For many of us, it proves impossible to limit religious thought to a narrow creed. The more we learn, the more difficult it becomes to restrict ourselves to the definition of ultimate reality, or God, that we grew up with, or held when we were young. Read more »

Caregivers often must put the rest of their lives on hold to attend to the sick child. But those of us in that role must also take care of ourselves so that we are strengthened to give that care. Read more »

The most fundamental decision any person makes is whether to continue to live. We are so interconnected that when someone makes the choice to end their life it sends shock waves of pain through their community. Read more »

Many of us have long since mastered the art of despair. Many of us have fallen into despair’s trance, memorized by thoughts of suicide. Read more »