Category Archives: Prayers & Meditations
May We Feel Pride
On this beautiful late spring weekend, as people around the nation begin celebrating pride for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer people, let’s pause. Let’s fill our lungs with the fresh morning air. Let’s rest in the embrace of this … Continue reading
Easter Lingers as Spring Arrives
Morning breaks. Blackbird sings. The grass is damp. The garden is wet. Dew moistens everything as the sun rises on early April mornings, announcing, finally, “spring is here.” The warm April sun on our backs; the soft, dark smell of … Continue reading
Edge Times (On the Coming of Spring)
We’re right on the edge. Spring has come so close. Snow, when it falls, melts quickly now. Thermometers now read forty, even fifty degrees at mid-day. Morning bird song, though sparse, is unmistakable now. Sharp green shoots will break through … Continue reading
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Tagged Edge Times, Josh Pawelek, Neo-Pagan, Nones, Pagan, planting, prayer, Spiritual but not Religious, Spring, Unitarian Universalism, UU, Vernal Equinox, Winter
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A Meditation on Imbolc
We’ve come to the middle of New England winter. We’ve come to a cross-quarter time—halfway between solstice and equinox. In the ancient Gaelic calenders, this is the time for the feast of Imbolc or Oimelc. Imbolc meaning ‘in the belly,’ pregnant, … Continue reading
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Tagged Blackthorn, Brigid, Brigid's Night, Candlemas, church, Groundhog Day, Imbolc, Josh Pawelek, Liberal religion Hartford, liberal religion in CT, liberal religion in Manchester, Nones, Oimelc, Spiritual but not Religious, St. Brigid, Theist, Unitarian Universalist, UU
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Sharp Shards Glistening (a poem for Kristallnacht, 2012)
Broken glass littering the streets; sharps shards in the cold November morning, a thin layer of frost, wet now, glistening as the sun rises on cities and towns in shock at what has happened, cities and towns embarrassed at inhumanity, … Continue reading
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Tagged Beloved Community, Charter Oak Cultural Center, Faith, God, Holocaust, Interfaith, Josh Pawelek, Judaism, Kristallnacht, Liberal religion Hartford, liberal religion in CT, liberal religion in Manchester, Night of Broken Glass, Peace, Poem, Repair the World, Rev Josh Pawelek, Social Justice, Unitarian Universalism, UUS:E
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A Prayer for Courage
Blessed Spirit of Our Lives: There are times when we have no choice—circumstances change and we must change too. This is how life works. We settle into patterns. We settle into routines. We settle into habits. We move along with … Continue reading
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Tagged Change, Courage, Josh Pawelek, liberal religion, Liberal religion Hartford, liberal religion in CT, liberal religion in Manchester, prayer, Rev Josh Pawelek, speak up, transition, Unitarian Universalism, Unitarian Universalist, UU, UUS:E, uuseast
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Meditation on the Coming of Autumn
O sing Hallelujah, for now is indeed a time for turning, a time of transition. Autumn comes this week. Summer vacation stretches out behind us; children are back in school. Here and there among the green leaves on branches of … Continue reading
Meditation on the Coming of the Summer Solstice (Quoting Sarah Dan Jones*)
Once again earth’s northern face gazes directly at the sun. The summer solstice is upon us, the longest span of daylight through the course of the year. May we rejoice. May we rejoice in the great, ongoing cycles of planets … Continue reading
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Tagged Atheist, breath, Breathe, Breathing, church, Earth, Faith, Josh Pawelek, liberal religion, Liberal religion Hartford, liberal religion in CT, liberal religion in Manchester, love, Meditation on Breathing, Peace, Sarah Dan Jones, Summer, Summer solstice, Theist, Unitarian Universalism, Unitarian Universalist, UU, UUS:E, uuseast
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Spring’s Wet Mornings
May ongoing spring inspire us. May beautiful spring days and nights move in us: move in our hearts, move in our minds, move in our hands the way the gods and goddesses are rumored to do from time to time. May beautiful … Continue reading
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Tagged Atheist, church, Compassion, Dew, Evening, Faith, Josh Pawelek, justice, liberal religion, Liberal religion Hartford, liberal religion in CT, liberal religion in Manchester, love, Moisture, Peace, praise, Rev Josh Pawelek, Spring, Theist, Unitarian Universalism, Unitarian Universalist, UU, UUS:E, uuseast, welcoming congregation, Wet
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Winter Takes Its Time
Our lives mirror the changing seasons. Now we await the end of winter, tired, restless, impatient. We await the end of winter. March mud, April rain and May sun call to us, coax us, tease us gently. We are almost … Continue reading
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Tagged Earth, Josh Pawelek, liberal religion, liberal religion in CT, liberal religion in Manchester, Mud, Rain, Rev Josh Pawelek, Seasons, Spring, Sun, Unitarian Universalism, Unitarian Universalist, UU, UUS:E, Winter, Winter Meditation, winter prayer
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