Joy
July-August 2016
A flower blossoms for its own joy. —Oscar Wilde
Articles
We Need Joy
After college, my best friend and I drove from her home in Texas through the Southwest. Read more »
A Bright Golden Thread
When a weaver starts a new piece, she first must tie the warp strings on her loom to form an underlying base of the fabric she will create. Read more »
Thanks to Congregations
The CLF would like to thank the following congregations who, between March 2015 and March 2016 have taken up collections to support our ministries. Read more »
Joy in Ordinary Time
My Mama was a second grade teacher at the Gladwyne Elementary School in the rich suburbs of Philadelphia. Read more »
Simple Joy
Shortly after I watched the full moon slide behind the trees on the ridge outside my cell window, Dusty, a young orange mackerel tabby tomcat, made his morning round… Read more »
River of Joy
“When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy.” ―Rumi Read more »
From Your Minister
I was blessed with an optimistic, joyful disposition, which I inherited from my mother. Read more »
REsources for Living
Unitarian Universalist minister Bill Clark tells a story about being at the beach after a long, hard day. Read more »
Did You Know?
that CLF has a web page just for kids, parents and religious educators, tied to our monthly theme? Read more »
At the Heart of All Creation
At the heart of all creation lies a good intent, a purposeful goodness, from which we come, by which we live our fullest, and to which we shall at last return… Read more »
Mystery
June 2016
The possession of knowledge does not kill the sense of wonder and mystery. There is always more mystery. —Anaïs Nin
Articles
Searching Among Stones
The other day I found myself in the home of the president of my congregation. The board of trustees was having its annual retreat, welcoming new board members, setting priorities, etc. Read more »
Face to Face with Mystery
So you’ve got a bunch of really pressing, life-changing, love-soaked problems, and you’ve tied yourself up into knots of anxiety. Desperate for relief, perspective and a change, you take yourself to the foothills to walk. Read more »
Mysterious Ways
When my husband Eric and I traded in our old cell phones for iPhones we noticed a subtle but profound change in our lives. Read more »
Embrace Mystery
In a sense, what it means to be UU is to continually embrace mystery—mystery of the divine, mystery of the sacred, and even the mystery of what is the right language to grapple with these concepts. Read more »
god is no noun
god is no noun. and certainly not an adjective. god is at least a verb, and even that shrinks her. Read more »
From Your Minister
My physicist father drove me crazy. I would ask him what rainbows were made of, and by the time he had pontificated for 15 or 20 minutes I would be desperately bored, sorry I asked, squirming to get away. Read more »
REsources for Living
As part of trying to define who we are and what we are called to do, Unitarian Universalists have come up with not only seven Principles that list the things that we “covenant to affirm and promote” but also a list of six Sources of our living tradition. Read more »
Did You Know?
Did you know that you can watch video of many events of the UUA General Assembly online? Read more »
The Mysterious
The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. Read more »
Mystery
“The possession of knowledge does not kill the sense of wonder and mystery. There is always more mystery.” —Anaïs Nin Read more »
Justice
May 2016
It is justice, not charity that is wanting in the world. —Mary Wollstonecraft
Articles
Calling Forth Justice
How many of you have a decent relationship with the Bible —as in, you’ve had at least a couple of conversations and neither of you left angry? Read more »
Anger and Justice
The only word repeated more than once in our seven UU principles is the word “justice.” We are called to justice. Read more »
A Public Voice for Justice
At the CLF we strive to be a public voice for justice and to curate a conversation that leads to deeper understanding of how we can build a more just world. Read more »
Justice Behind Bars
Three of our CLF prisoner members wrote pieces for Quest Monthly on the theme of Justice. What follows are excerpts from these pieces. Read more »
From Your Minister
When it comes to justice-makers on the front lines, one group of people often shows up—mothers. And when mothers truly know that, as the saying goes, “there’s no such thing as other people’s children,” I believe we have the power to accomplish anything. Read more »
REsources for Living
In her column, Rev. Meg talks about how mothers have a special urge toward justice, born out of a fierce love for their children that demands a world where those children—all children—can be safe and respected. Read more »
Breathe
Breathe, said the wind. How can I breathe at a time like this, when the air is full of the smoke of burning tires, burning lives? Read more »
Freedom
April 2016
I wish that every human life might be pure, transparent freedom. —Simone de Beauvoir
Articles
Free for All
I was 22, nursing a broken heart, and I knew for sure that I had to get out of town. Read more »
The Power and Poverty of Freedom
Freedom is not just a crucial principle in our religious tradition. It is also a foundational value for the United States. Read more »
Cultivating the Courage to Act
Did you know it’s part of the CLF mission to cultivate the courage to act? Help us continue to live into our mission, living into freedom by being bold and loving a broken world. Please make a $100 contribution or give what you can now, by visiting CFLUU or by calling 1-800-231-3027. Read more »
To All Get Free Together
To become an anti-racist faith community, the key question for a white/white majority community is not “How do we get people of color to join our faith community?” Read more »
Slipped the Bonds
There are no summer camps open during the last week of August, so my family has taken to spending that week at the beach. Read more »
From Your Minister
Now that I’m an adult, I can see that my father was jealous of my older brother. An only child himself, he was used to having the full attention of his parents, and then his wife. Read more »
REsources for Living
The Passover story is a story of freedom. And it’s inspired a lot of people who were seeking freedom, including slaves in the American South. Read more »
Notice of Annual Meeting
Per Article VII, Sections 1 and 2, of the Church of the Larger Fellowship (CLF) Bylaws, the 44th Annual Meeting will be held via conference call and screen sharing on June 14, 2016 at 6:00PM EDT. Read more »
We Have Not Come Here to Take Prisoners
We have not come here to take prisoners, But to surrender ever more deeply, To freedom and joy. Read more »
Freedom
“I wish that every human life might be pure, transparent freedom.” —Simone de Beauvoir Read more »
Brokenness
March 2016
The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places. —Ernest Hemingway
Articles
Brave Love
Adorning almost every Protestant church is a cross—inside, outside, over the altar, in the vestibule, in the minister’s office, and sometimes many stories high on top of the building. Read more »
Try to Praise the Mutilated World
What must it have been like for folks living through World War I, 1914–1918? The horror of that war is still something I struggle to understand. Read more »
An Apology
In the January 2015 “Transformation” edition of Quest, I had a sermon titled “Transformation vs. Acceptance.” In that sermon I gave passing mention to Jane Rzepka for the concepts I was writing about. Read more »
Human Feelings of Brokenness
We often feel so alone and isolated in our very human feelings of brokenness. Read more »
Broken
Have you ever come to a place in your life where everything is broken? Not only that, but broken by you? Read more »
Midori and the E Strings
When Midori Goto was three years old her grandmother gave her a 1/16 violin for her birthday. Her mother and grandmother sensed that music was one of her gifts, and they were right. Read more »
From Your Minister
According to some folks, everything wrong in this world is because of one disobedient woman who listened to a snake. She just had to eat that apple, and then everything that was whole became broken. We were all doomed. Read more »
REsources for Living
One of the most important lesson we learn—and try to teach our kids—is that when something goes wrong or breaks, we need to take a deep breath and figure out how to fix it. Read more »
Did You Know?
You can keep up with the many online events that the CLF offers through our website calendar. Read more »
The Unbroken
There is a brokenness out of which comes the unbroken, a shatteredness out of which blooms the unshatterable. Read more »
Brokenness
“The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places.” —Ernest Hemingway Read more »
Hospitality
February 2016
Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. —Hebrews 13:2
Articles
The Fragile Art of Hospitality
Mechthild of Magdeburg, a thirteenth-century mystic, once asked, “How shall we live?” Her answer provides a mantra of hospitality: “Be welcoming to all.” Read more »
Called to Hospitality
What does it mean to a Unitarian Universalist to be called to hospitality? And what or who is calling us? Read more »
Welcoming What We Do Not Want
It was a sunny spring day, and I was getting into my car in a sprawling parking lot when the phone rang. Read more »
Radical Hospitality
It is hard to invite in all that comes, especially when it’s sickness, disability, or death. Read more »
From Your Minister
One of my favorite books as a kid was The Boxcar Children, in which four siblings, whose parents were simply and completely absent, took care of themselves and each other. Read more »
REsources for Living
I admit it. I am a total flirt when it comes to babies and toddlers. I love coaxing a smile from the baby in front of me in a grocery line. Read more »
The CLF Invites GA Delegates
Would you like to represent the CLF at General Assembly (GA)? The CLF is entitled to 22 delegates at the UUA’s General Assembly in Columbus, Ohio, June 22-26, 2016. Read more »
Did You Know?
Did you know that you can find resources for UU families on the CLF Family Quest page. Read more »
Hospitality
Hospitality means primarily the creation of free space where the stranger can enter and become a friend instead of an enemy. Read more »
Hospitality
“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” —Hebrews 13:2 Read more »
Secrets
January 2016
The human heart has hidden treasures,
In secret kept, in silence sealed;
The thoughts, the hopes,
the dreams,
the pleasures,
Whose charms were broken if revealed.
—Charlotte Brontë
Articles
Secret-Keeping
I found out that something was wrong the same way I find out so many things nowadays: on Facebook. When I first joined that online social network, I was delighted to reconnect with friends from my growing-up years: high school buddies, former prom dates, even my best friend from Catholic elementary school, whom I hadn’t ...Read more »
Not as Alone as You Think You Are
So, here’s a question to get us started: Who do you tell your secrets to? Now, don’t go and say you don’t have any secrets. Because that’s just not true; everyone has secrets. Everyone does. Read more »
The Biggest Secret at CLF
The biggest secret at CLF is that we need your support to sustain Quest Monthly! With nearly 700 members in prison, and hundreds more on fixed incomes, many of our congregants are unable to contribute financially. Read more »
Secrets and Silence
In her book On Lies, Secrets, and Silence one of the essential writings of 1970s feminism, Adrienne Rich wrote: “Whatever is unnamed…will become, not merely unspoken, but unspeakable.” Read more »
REsources for Living
What does it feel like when you have a secret? We asked folks on the CLF Facebook page: How does it feel in your body to carry a secret? Read more »
Did You Know?
Did you know that you can share in real-time worship with other CLFers, or watch services on-demand after they run live? Read more »
Secrets
The human heart has hidden treasures, In secret kept, in silence sealed; The thoughts, the hopes, the dreams, the pleasures, Whose charms were broken if revealed. —Charlotte Brontë Read more »
Hope
December 2015
“Hope is patience with the lamp lit.” —Tertullian
Articles
At the Intersection of Despair and Love
My connection with the Unitarian Universalist Trauma Response Ministry began September 26, 2001. It was just fifteen days after the perilous events in New York City, Washington, DC, and western Pennsylvania. Read more »
The Hope of Our Ancestors
My heart is aching for answers, for a way this makes sense, for a way to understand a 12-year old child shot, a way to understand Eric Garner, a father of six, choked to death in broad daylight with his murderers caught on camera—no medical attention, left to die in the street just like Michael ...Read more »
Hope Has Human Hands (Excerpt)
In the late 1940s and early 50s, there was a song which, when it came on the radio, would make my dad groan and move as if to turn it off, muttering “That darn song, it’s so sticky!” and my mother and I would cry out, “No, we want to hear it!” Read more »
From Your Minister
For years, one of my favorite hymns of hope has been Carolyn McDade’s “We’ll Build a Land.” It opens with: “We’ll build a land where we bind up the broken; we’ll build a land where the captives go free…” Read more »
REsources for Living
Christmas is a season of hope. If you’re a kid, it’s probably a season of hoping for presents. There are lists you give to parents and letters you send to Santa and lots of waiting and hoping for the very best of loot. Read more »
A Time of Stillness and Cold
For many, the month of December is a time of stillness and cold, and it can be lonely. So we warm it up by welcoming love back, ushering in the return of light, and celebrating the resilience of our communities. Read more »
Hope
Hope wakes up in her green-lit room, stretches, tugs at her flannel nightie, opens her limbs to the morning. Read more »
Journey
November 2015
“One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.” —André Gide
Articles
On Setting Out and Coming Home
Matsuo Bashō, the late 17th century Japanese poet, speaks of a strong desire to wander, as if it’s the essence of who he is. Read more »
CLF Nominating Committee Seeks Leaders
The Church of the Larger Fellowship’s Nominating Committee seeks CLF members to run for positions on the Board of Directors beginning June 2016. Read more »
Trail Blazers and Covenant Keepers
As a little girl I ran away from home at least twice every summer, hurling myself out of the house with outrage at childhood oppressions like being left out by my brother and his friends or facing bad sportsmanship during a T-ball game. Read more »
Pilgrims Always
At core, we Unitarian Universalists are wonderers and wanderers; pilgrim seems to capture the balance of focused aim and fluid adventure so integral to Unitarian Universalism. Read more »
From Your Minister
When I was a young adult, my inner and outer life resembled a Taoist poem I had memorized (and now only partly remember). It began, “There’s no path in front of you; that’s the track of your own foot…” and ended, “I speak of the road the butterfly cuts.” Read more »
REsources for Living
Have you ever really thought about why we call those early settlers who came to New England seeking religious freedom “Pilgrims”? Read more »
Did You Know…
…that the CLF sponsors a blog page for UUs on the religion and spirituality site patheos.com? Read more »
Journey
“One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.” —André Gide Read more »
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 »
Spiritual Reflection Posts
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