This third week of Chalica, we observe the third UU principle: Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations

If you are lighting candles at home to observe this season, here’s a chalice lighting that you might use from Gregory Pelley:

And so we gather, from the ebb and flow of our lives
Thirsty for connection to ourselves
Thirsty for connection to others
Thirsty for connection to the larger life.

As we light this chalice
May all who gather here be filled:
Filled with joy and hope
Filled with compassion and love

Here, may we be filled
So that we may pour ourselves out
into the world.

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If you are celebrating with little ones, a very special and wonderful book that is much loved in our Spirit Play classroom is this one by Cori Doerrfeld, The Rabbit Listened. If you have children or grandchildren, inviting them to tell you what this means to them would be an education in itself!

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Encouraging one another for spiritual growth is rooted in accepting ourselves and accepting one another. Winter is a season that naturally leads us to reflection, and in this season, this Chalica week invites us to consider the radical way in which we inhabit the world: always enough, always bursting with worthiness and dignity, always everything we need to be. If you haven’t read this poem 1,000 times in your life, this week is a good time to start. And if you have read it that many times, it is still worth a re-read.

Allan T. Georgia, MDiv, MTS, PhD