This theme will be present in our worship services and classrooms throughout the month. The following quotes and resources are offered to suggest ways for individuals and families to explore our shared worship theme.

Readings, Poems and Chalice Lightings

“We light our chalice this morning, grateful for the love that we experience in this beloved community. May the flame light the way for all who seek such abundance.” – Dawn Skjei Cooley

“Love is precisely that which calls forth the continued emergence of the beloved, that guides into being the new life, the new potentiality. Love's nature is that it evokes an increase in being. Where there is love, there must be increase.” – Cynthia Bourgeault

“We have only begun
To imagine the fullness of life.
How could we tire of hope?
— so much is in bud.”
– Denise Levertov

“Riches are not from abundance of worldly goods, but from a contented mind.” – Muhammad

“Generosity is a sign of our reliable
connection to the Abundance.”
– Kabir Helminski

“Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.” – Buddha

Rumi’s Thanksgiving Poem

Thanksgiving is sweeter than bounty itself.
One who cherishes gratitude does not cling to the gift!
Thanksgiving is the true meat of God’s bounty;
the bounty is its shell,
For thanksgiving carries you to the hearth of the Beloved.
Abundance alone brings heedlessness,
thanksgiving gives birth to alertness…
The bounty of thanksgiving will satisfy and elevate you,
and you will bestow a hundred bounties in return.
Eat your fill of God’s delicacies,
and you will be freed from hunger and begging.
– Jalaluddin Rumi

Hafix Reflects on Abundance

Life is saturated
with mystery and abundance.
Our earliest taste of this
is what leads each of us
on the quest of knowing;
of understanding the world
in which we live and breathe,
which skins our knees
as we learn to stand and walk.
Any taste of abundance,
be it sheer beauty or a good meal,
a parent's love, a friend's laughter,
is what continues that turning
within ourselves towards
a life of praise and thanksgiving;
a turning towards love—the soul's journey home.
These many gifts—the next breath,
the belly-laugh demolishing fear,
the capacity to yearn, the solace in longing—
my abundance is beyond counting.
Though sorrows follow in succession,
sharp as they are, they do not deflect
this heart, this voice
from its unfolding portion of gratitude.
– Tom Neale

The Net of Gratitude

Giving thanks for abundance
is sweeter than abundance itself:
Should one who is absorbed with the Generous One
be distracted by the gift?
Thankfulness is the soul of beneficence;
abundance is but the husk,
for thankfulness brings you to the place where the Beloved lives.
Abundance yields heedlessness;
thankfulness brings alertness:
hunt for bounty with the net of gratitude.
– Rumi

Books and Other Resources

“Searching for Abundance in Uncertain Times” by Elaine Aron. Intern and Campus Minister. Unitarian Universalist Church of Davis, CA. October 12, 2008 (http://www.uua.org/documents/aronelaine/0810_abundance_uncertain.pdf).

A Grateful Heart: Daily Blessings for the Evening Meal from Buddha to the Beatles, edited by M. J. Ryan, Conari Press, 1994.

Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy by Sarah Ban Breathnach.

Stories of Awe and Abundance by Jose Hobday.

The Abundance of Our Faith: Award-winning Sermons on Giving Plus Suggestions for Group Discussion. Editors: Susan Milnor, Terry Sweetser.

A Different Kind of Luxury; Japanese Lessons in Simple Living and Inner Abundance by Andy Couturier.

The Tao of Abundance ; Eight Ancient Principles for Abundant Living by Laurence G. Boldt.

No Contest: The Case Against Competition by Alfie Kohn.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families by Stephen Covey.

Books for Children

May We Sleep Here Tonight? by Tan Koide, illustrated by Yasuko Koide.

I Love You the Purplest by Barbara M. Joosse, illustrated by Mary Whyte.

Stone Soup by Jon J Muth, illustrated by Jon J. Muth.

All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon, illustrated by Marla Frazee.

On My Way To A Happy Life by Deepak Chopra and Kristina Tracy.