At Prairie, we build the fabric of our community most strongly, Sunday after Sunday, with the stories told during Candles of Community. It is a sacred and special time and I am always touched by how careful everyone is to tell their stories of sorrow and happiness, leaving time for others to share as well. I also am deeply appreciative of how our community works to make our candles about joys and sorrows, not announcements or political opinions. Maintaining this boundary of speaking from our hearts is what keeps this practice focused on building beloved community.

Our candle time includes our children, and I also am always amazed at how rich and deep their sharing is and how important it is for them to be able to participate and be recognized as part of our community. For me, including our youth is one of the most important reasons to continue this practice.

As many of you know, Candles of Community are no longer practiced in many of our Unitarian Universalist churches. In fact, they are generally not recommended as a viable worship element. They have been disbanded in some churches because they were abused by members who could not keep from making inappropriate statements and also, sometimes, because the candle time took too long and there wasn't time for the rest of the service! There are stories of preachers not giving their sermons because time ran out -- time becomes particularly important in churches which have two morning services.

As we grow in size, the time taken for Candles of Community also will become a factor for us. Our congregation does not expect the service to end in exactly one hour, but our ability to hold all the elements of our service together needs to be in balance.

I have used the word "practice" several times in describing this sacred time, and that's because it is a practice to learn to share and pray together in community. The word "prayer" is very broad in my interpretation -- it means the movement of your heart. When your heart is moved by a deep joy or sorrow, you pray. As you light a candle, the candle symbolizes that prayer, and, as you share, we enter into your heart space and join with you in our hearts and we then carry you with us in the week ahead.

All spiritual practices also have disciplines. Seeking balance, being succinct so that others may share, being true to the purpose of this communal practice, openly including our children are all part of the discipline at Prairie.

Over and over again, people have asked me (and others of you) to light a candle for them when they are in the hospital, when they must travel to a family memorial service, when they or their family are sick, when they have lost a job or suffered a loss. It matters that we hold one another in prayerful, communal silence, sending love, hope and healing thoughts.

This practice also creates the bonds of our community, so strong that we have seen many first-time visitors share, as well, knowing that they also will be heard and held. Community is built one person at a time, with each person bringing his or her own tender heart to the endeavor -- and every child and every adult counts. In community, when one person suffers, we all suffer, and when one person celebrates, we all participate in the joy.

At Prairie, we build the fabric of our community most strongly, Sunday after Sunday, with the stories told during Candles of Community. It is a sacred and special time and I am always touched by how careful everyone is to tell their stories of sorrow and happiness, leaving time for others to share as well. I also am deeply appreciative of how our community works to make our candles about joys and sorrows, not announcements or political opinions. Maintaining this boundary of speaking from our hearts is what keeps this practice focused on building beloved community.

Our candle time includes our children, and I also am always amazed at how rich and deep their sharing is and how important it is for them to be able to participate and be recognized as part of our community. For me, including our youth is one of the most important reasons to continue this practice.

As many of you know, Candles of Community are no longer practiced in many of our Unitarian Universalist churches. In fact, they are generally not recommended as a viable worship element. They have been disbanded in some churches because they were abused by members who could not keep from making inappropriate statements and also, sometimes, because the candle time took too long and there wasn't time for the rest of the service! There are stories of preachers not giving their sermons because time ran out -- time becomes particularly important in churches which have two morning services.

As we grow in size, the time taken for Candles of Community also will become a factor for us. Our congregation does not expect the service to end in exactly one hour, but our ability to hold all the elements of our service together needs to be in balance.

I have used the word "practice" several times in describing this sacred time, and that's because it is a practice to learn to share and pray together in community. The word "prayer" is very broad in my interpretation -- it means the movement of your heart. When your heart is moved by a deep joy or sorrow, you pray. As you light a candle, the candle symbolizes that prayer, and, as you share, we enter into your heart space and join with you in our hearts and we then carry you with us in the week ahead.

All spiritual practices also have disciplines. Seeking balance, being succinct so that others may share, being true to the purpose of this communal practice, openly including our children are all part of the discipline at Prairie.

Over and over again, people have asked me (and others of you) to light a candle for them when they are in the hospital, when they must travel to a family memorial service, when they or their family are sick, when they have lost a job or suffered a loss. It matters that we hold one another in prayerful, communal silence, sending love, hope and healing thoughts.

This practice also creates the bonds of our community, so strong that we have seen many first-time visitors share, as well, knowing that they also will be heard and held.

It is my hope that as we continue to grow, we are able to continue to buck the trend and keep our beautiful practice of Candles of Community with each person speaking in his or her own voice and words from their own hearts.