Quest January 2022
January 2022
If you are a dreamer, come in,
If you are a dreamer,
a wisher, a liar,
A hope-er, a pray-er,
a magic bean buyer…
If you’re a pretender come sit by my fire
For we have some flax-golden tales to spin.
Come in! Come in!”
—Shel Silverstein
Articles
Inviting You into Community
As we enter the third year of the global pandemic, there has been a general malaise and exhaustion. Read more »
To Whom It May Concern
Last picked for softball… first to be blamed… taunted and jeered at… hiding in shame… Read more »
The Eclipse of Our Lives
I’m a volunteer Suicide Companion, assigned to watch over and talk to other prisoners who are in crisis. Read more »
Ora Et Lobora
A task is only as dull as its suitor… and if you listen, you can hear your work… Read more »
Quest January 2022
“If you are a dreamer, come in, If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar, A hope-er, a pray-er, a magic bean buyer… If you’re a pretender come sit by my fire… For we have some flax-golden tales to spin. Come in! Come in!” —Shel Silverstein Read more »
Quest December 2021
December 2021
The possession of knowledge does not kill the sense of wonder and mystery. There is always more mystery. —Anaïs Nin
Articles
Quest December 2021
The possession of knowledge does not kill the sense of wonder and mystery. There is always more mystery. —Anaïs Nin Read more »
Mysterious Ways
About a decade ago, my husband and I traded in our old cell phones for iPhones, a move that heralded a subtle but profound change in our lives. Read more »
Collective Lights of the Holidays
The theme of this issue is mystery, which is defined as something difficult to figure out. Read more »
For Your Reflection
The theme of this issue is mystery, which is defined as something difficult to figure out. Read more »
Quest November 2021
November 2021
Let peace begin with you. Let peace begin in your heart. Find your center, a little bit at a time. —Rev. Dr. Michael Tino
Articles
“When all else fails…”
WTF?!?! Those three letters and what they mean seem to come to mind and sometimes roll off my tongue with more regularity these days. Read more »
Centering
What does it feel like to have your experience centered? How do you find your own center? Read more »
I Am Now Whole
To find a gathering of like minded souls… Makes me feel at home, I am now whole… Read more »
Daily Compass
The Daily Compass is a ministry of the Church of the Larger Fellowship crafted by Rev. Michael Tino of the Lead Ministry Team. Read more »
Centering: A Little Bit At A Time
If there is to be peace in the world… There must be peace in the nations… Read more »
Quest November 2021
Let peace begin with you. Let peace begin in your heart. Find your center, a little bit at a time. —Rev. Dr. Michael Tino Read more »
Quest October 2021
October 2021
Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. —Mahatma Gandhi
Articles
Praying With Our Everything
I love the phrase “praying with our feet.” It often comes to mind for me in protests at the Texas Capitol, when I wait in line to vote, and perhaps most especially every Friday, when I lead my Zumba class, where we pray with our arms, our hips, our everything. Read more »
Prayer
Little things, big things, anything; people pray for them. From the mundane, like to perhaps hit the lottery, to the serious, like for someone’s life. Read more »
Phoenix Rising
Looking at the night sky, Staring at the galaxy, Watching the Milky Way swirl… Read more »
Calling on G.R.A.C.E.
I am often asked by folks who don’t have a belief structure how they can “connect” or reflect on their own growth. Read more »
Upcoming Quest Themes
Do you have any thoughts related to these topics? All CLF members, both incarcerated and living in the free world, are welcome to submit entries for future issues of Quest. Write to us! Read more »
Quest September 2021
September 2021
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
Articles
Quest September 2021
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 Read more »
May This Be My Last Time?
Last semester, in a class on global Christianity at Meadville Lombard, I was reading examples of the early Christians in the Roman Empire taking a stand and becoming martyrs. Read more »
Home
We posed the above question in the most recent issue of the Worthy Now newsletter (a biannual newsletter sent to all incarcerated CLF members), and received the responses on the next two pages in response. Read more »
Hello from the CLF Board Chair
Hello beloveds, I’m Rev. Aisha Ansano, and I am thrilled to be serving as the new Chair of the Board of The Church of the Larger Fellowship! Read more »
‘Tis Mabon
After the close of Summer, before the land lies ‘neath snow, there comes the Magic of Autumn when all nature is aglow… Read more »
Widening the Leadership Table
Over the last year, the CLF Board, Nominating Committee, and Lead Ministry Team have been examining how to best serve and be accountable to our membership, nearly 50% of whom are currently incarcerated. Read more »
For Your Reflection
In this section, we offer questions for reflection based on ideas explored in this issue. You may wish to explore it individually or as part of a group discussion. Read more »
Quest July/August 2021
July/August 2021
You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have. –Maya Angelou
Articles
Quest July/August 2021
You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have. –Maya Angelou Read more »
Love the Limits
Creativity isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Neither is freedom—at least absolute freedom. Read more »
Updates from UUA General Assembly 2021
We were honored to send over 20 CLF member delegates and 16 religious professional delegates to Virtual General Assembly 2021. Now that it’s over, we want to let you know some of what happened. Read more »
Creativity in Cakes
I have been locked up for four years now and I have seen all things created in the penitentiary. Read more »
Reshaping the Soul
To create or to reshape. My understanding is that these are two different things. Read more »
Art as Creative Practice
For many years, you all have sent us your incredible works of visual art along with your poems and essays. Read more »
If You Want to View Paradise (Don’t Ask Me For A Picture)
Yeah, I know you want something a little more up-beat… Read more »
Flowers
Just like a flower, we bloom into ourselves, Taking our precious time as we open up to the world… Read more »
Quest June 2021
June 2021
When we heal our own trauma, individually and collectively, we don’t just heal our bodies. By refusing to pass on the trauma we inherited, we help heal the world. –Resmaa Menakem
Articles
The Slowest Part of Ourselves
The body is the slowest part of ourselves. Our thoughts, emotions, spirits — these can move at lightning speed, switching from one state to another in an instant. Read more »
Loss as a Gateway to Compassion
This might sound strange, but I have felt the most present, the most interconnected mentally, spiritually, and physically when I have experienced loss. Read more »
On Grief and Embodiment
Thank you to Rachel for your above piece, “Loss as a Gateway to Compassion” — this reflection is prompted by and written in response to your words. Read more »
Updates from the CLF’s 2021 Annual Meeting
The CLF held its Annual Congregational Meeting on Sunday June 6, 2021. Read more »
A Farewell Note from Rev. Jennifer
This is my last column for CLF in my capacity as Learning Fellow for the Worthy Now Prison Ministry. Read more »
Quest June 2021
When we heal our own trauma, individually and collectively, we don’t just heal our bodies. By refusing to pass on the trauma we inherited, we help heal the world. –Resmaa Menakem Read more »
Quest May 2021
May 2021
There is no freedom with out justice. No divine peace without holy struggle. —CLF Lead Ministry Team
Articles
Quest May 2021
There is no freedom with out justice. No divine peace without holy struggle. —CLF Lead Ministry Team Read more »
The System is Working as Designed
We come to you once again following the state-sanctioned murder of yet another Black man, Daunte Wright. Read more »
Accountability Culture
In response to my November article about why we use the phrase “Black Lives Matter,” Clifford, a CLF member incarcerated in Illinois, asked me to look into the work of political philosopher Hannah Arendt, who wrote extensively about power and accountability from her vantage point as a survivor of the Holocaust in Germany. Read more »
Introducing CLF’s new Prison Ministry Manager
Hi, I’m Cir L’Bert, Jr., the new Prison Ministry Manager for The Church of The Larger Fellowship. Read more »
My Graveyard of Honor
AFGHANISTAN — I can never go back, but it doesn’t let me leave. It latches on to you like an addiction, mentally and physically, and tears you apart like a ravenous dog. Read more »
Remembering our Beloved
In the March 2021 issue of Quest, Rev. Jennifer shared a prompt to send us remembrances of incarcerated loved ones whose deaths may have not been marked by the outside. Here are some of the names and reflections we received. Read more »
Quest April 2021
April 2021
But what we can do, as flawed as we are, is still see God in other people, and do our best to help them find their own grace. That’s what I strive to do, that’s what I pray to do every day. —Barack Obama
Articles
Believing Grace
Does believing that God’s grace extends to everyone prove there’s an end to suffering? Read more »
Looking for Sandworms
One of my favorite books is Frank Herbert’s science fiction classic Dune. Read more »
CLF Votes to Ordain Ali K.C. Bell
In our UU tradition, ministers are ordained by congregations. Only the vote of a congregation can give someone the title “Reverend.” Read more »
Notice of the CLF Annual Meeting
Per Article VII, Sections 1 and 2, of the Church of the Larger Fellowship (CLF) Bylaws, the 48th Annual Meeting will be held via video/telephone conference call and screen sharing on Sunday, June 6, 2021 at 6:30PM EDT. Read more »
Why Pray?
Growing up in a mostly secular family, I had very little exposure to prayer in my home. Read more »
Quest April 2021
But what we can do, as flawed as we are, is still see God in other people, and do our best to help them find their own grace. That’s what I strive to do, that’s what I pray to do every day. —Barack Obama Read more »
Quest March 2021
March 2021
We are already—each and every one of us—siblings to one another and to all that exists at the level of spirit. —Rev. Manish Mishra-Marzetti
Articles
Cultivating Relationality in a Time of Division
Is it any wonder that we have a crisis of relationality in our nation? Read more »
How does the CLF feed your spirit?
In the Fall 2020 issue of the Worthy Now newsletter, we asked for responses on a simple question: How does the CLF feed your spirit? Read more »
The Five Jagged Rocks of Unitarian Universalism
The five jagged rocks were created by Rev. Nancy Bowen, Rev. Mike Morran, and others within the Mountain Desert District of the Unitarian Universalist Association. Read more »
Honoring a Year of Pandemic: Grief and Gifts
Though the COVID-19 pandemic truly started months earlier, March 2020 was the month when its life-changing realities hit many of us in the US and other Western countries. Read more »
Remembering John
In November of 2020, Quest lost a frequent contributor, and the Church of the Larger Fellowship lost a longtime member and beloved friend. Read more »
For Your Reflection
Each month or so, we will offer a question or two for reflection based on the idea explored in this issue. Read more »
Quest March 2021
We are already—each and every one of us—siblings to one another and to all that exists at the level of spirit. —Rev. Manish Mishra-Marzetti Read more »
Spiritual Reflection Posts
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