These are new prayers for a new age. They spark the spiritual imagination back to life and reorient us to a mystical unity with the universe, Spirit, and all of creation.

challenges readers to develop a faithful response to climate change, which disproportionately harms the poor, threatens future generations, and damages God’s creation. This book uses scripture, tradition, reason, and experience to explore the themes of creation and justice in the context of the earth’s changing climate. By creatively employing these four sources of authority, readers discover a unique way to assess the physical realities of climate change, discern its physical and spiritual implications, reflect on planetary warming theologically and discern a faithful response.

A new collection of poetry and prayer. Vosper once again gives expression to the beauty and complexity of life in ways that can touch and move us on many levels. Identifying our interconnectedness as a core principle of our common, human journey, Vosper plays with imagery and symbol, weaving us into a whole that lifts and ennobles us all.

"An Unorthodox Faith" proposes an alternative to traditional Christian creeds and theology with a simpler humanist theology of love and compassion. It explores the implications for faith and ethics based on the proposition that “God is love”—not a loving supernatural being, but, more radically, frail human love itself. The book deconstructs traditional images of God as cosmic creator and occasional interventionist, the apocalyptic image of Christ, the image of the Holy Spirit as a supernatural being, medieval images of heaven and hell, ancient doctrines of sin and atonement, and contemporary beliefs in resurrection and eternal life. When all of these concepts are removed from traditional Christianity, what remains is a deeply spiritual humanism of service and social action—a way of living that reflects the words and deeds of the historical Jesus.

Spiritual practices are the best ways we know to demonstrate kindness and courtesy toward the Earth, to express our gratitude and wonder, to yield to the mystery and the beauty of it all. In observance of Earth Day we offer a set of practices (based on the Alphabet of Spiritual Literacy) you can do to honor the Earth over the next months.

May the fire in us nurture the Earth and not consume its life. May the fire in us consume our greed and save this sacred Earth.

Holy is my birth and sacred is my mother.

Give me warmth in my loving, Strength through forgiving, Peace in my being, Today and all my life.

Leader: Creator God to you we pray; - All: Help us hear your children's cry. Leader: Most joyful God to you we pray; ‑ All: Help us share your children's joy.

We give thanks for the plants, Give thanks for the creatures Whose flesh supplies this meal.

In silence now we join to pray Listening to the God within. May rich discernment shape our prayers As we learn from cosmic laws.

In the beginning is the Word W-O-R-D And the Word is with God And the Word is God And the Word is the bird That Jesus talked about

Most Christians, however, have a different take on the monistic approach, and believe that a divine presence inheres in all that is. God is. And God is everywhere, although hidden except to the eyes of faith. As progressive Christians, this is where we must take our stand. The sacred and the secular co-inhere. The one is in the other. With this as our basis, the questions now become: what language do we use? to whom are we speaking? do we speak directly of God? Let’s assume that we are at a ceremony of some sort, perhaps a wedding, a Thanksgiving dinner, a Christmas day gathering, a funeral. Let us also suppose that the crowd is mixed: some Christians, some Jews, some secularists. Is there a language that not only will not alienate anyone but will also communicate to them the depth of the moment? I believe there is.

May the food that we eat And the friends that we share Give us strength for spreading True justice and peace.

Oh, nurturing God we thank you for the seeds The source is yours and all in it

Drawn by God’s presence. . . . . .we gather Inspired by God’s spirit. . . . . .we worship

When prayers were words I felt like I was failing a sentence prayer exam.

Our eternal life which is in all creation Holy, Holy, Holy is your name

Part 2 of Sacred Energy (Mass of the Universe) contains the complete text of the mass

What can the prophet Jesus teach us? Where shall the mystic Christ lead us? His Way is wonder, the path compassion, And through letting go we shall find life.

For the freedom of the air that absorbs the smoke of hand-rolled cigs

A "meditation card" by artist Jim Garrison

As we leave worship Let us remember that we are reflections of the universe We embody the image of God

May the blessing of God go before you. May God’s grace and peace abound.

O God who is called I am who I am: As we leave this place grant to us, your children, the grace to speak and act with integrity reflecting who we truly are.

The idea of a second coming of Christ is a mystery, if not explicitly controversial. Jesus’ followers apparently believed he would return during their lifetime after he was crucified. When that didn’t happen, later followers gradually changed the belief into an indefinite “someday.” After two thousand years of waiting, most Christians no longer look for it to happen in their lifetimes and acknowledge that Jesus may have been speaking metaphorically about his return. It is just as likely that those words were put into Jesus’ mouth by the gospel writers themselves. Wishful thinking?

I am told that God answers prayer. Always. But then a few caveats are added, meant to temper my expectation for a quick and positive response.

Structured for Lent, but practical for any time of the year, this new resource examines the lament psalms for their connections to contemporary experiences. The introduction acquaints the reader with Dr. Walter Brueggemann's analysis of the psalms into the categories of orientation, disorientation, and reorientation. A contemporary psalm/poem for each entry discerns the emotional tenor of the psalms and makes it relevant for the challenges of contemporary life and relationships.

O God, our God: Our hearts long to be at home with You. Our minds hunger for more knowledge of You. Our hands are full of needs to lay before You.

O Dear One, light that travels years, darkness that frames the day, creativity that defies our conventions, cataclysm that mocks our smug sense of control, inspiration for the book of Psalms and the Book of Job alike, prayerfully we turn to you now.