Christmas trees and tinsel
Yule logs and holly
Turkey and Christmas pudding

May you be gifts to those you see
Better than presents under a tree

May we be enraptured
By overshadowing Love;
May our souls magnify the Lord
Through our widening eyes,

Leader: Today we celebrate the birth of Jesus, the Christ.
People: We celebrate the birth of Jesus, who showed us how to express God by letting the Christ within be our guide.

A baby waits in a dark, warm womb
Lulled by the sway of a donkey’s walk

Leader: It is a night of anticipation, a night of waiting.
People: We wait, as Mary and Joseph waited for the birth of their son.

I am what comes before sand and sandstone
Chickens and eggs.
I am the unproven truth
On which all proofs depend.

Advent comes again
time for watching and waiting
fill your days with hope

My soul sings in gratitude.

I’m dancing in the mystery of God.

The light of the Holy One is within me

and I am blessed, so truly blessed.

Leader: In this Advent season, we honor a time in history when people anticipated the birth of a child.
People: The child grew to be a man who gave hope to his people.

English and Spanish verses of the song traditionally sung as Joseph and Mary search for shelter.

When one comes in a never-uttered name
God wins the glory for all that is done:
It’s in hoping for what cannot be claimed
That every inch of justice is won.

One day, several years ago, I took our dog Kai for a walk. Just outside our home in Mill Valley, California, next to our steep driveway, was a flume where water ran in the rainy season. Halfway …

Christianity follows the humble faith of an empty man. So how did we Christians become so full of ourselves? It’s time to empty ourselves of the belief that our religion is better than others.

In the rising of the sun and in its going down,
We remember them.


We believe in God, a divine presence, gentle and loving, the ground of our being.

If there is to be peace in the world,
There must be peace in the nations.

Peace is not an absence of conflict and violence. It is a set of relationships based on justice, participation and a recognition of our mutual humanity and inter-dependence.