Prelude Melodia Africana I by Ludovico Einaudi
Opening Words by Mark Hutchinson, based on Theodore Parker
Here may we hold in prayer the world’s sternness and severity,
the sorrows that stain our face in tears.
May we hold hearts that run over with sadness and distress.
Some sufferings may never bring a lesson.
Let alone a lesson of gratitude.
Let our prayer of compassion hold this in our hearts right now.
May there be emerging comfort from the darkest moments,
holding us through a world turned cold,
as our perhaps hardened eye approaches the fading mortal,
or that of another falls to the necessary empty seat.
May we seek comfort, release and occasional hope in memory.
May the strength of the Spirit of Love be.
Chalice Lighting (you may wish to light a candle in your own home at this point). Words by Mark Hutchinson, based on Theodore Parker
Beloved, deep within a spiritual faculty touches us,
that in darkness there is something of the morning light,
and when all else fails it breaks through the clouds
reminding us of peace and hope.
Beloved, here is comfort, here is rest.
Beloved, this belief, this depth, strengthens us in weakness,
enlightens in ignorance, warning in temptation, comforting in sorrow.
Opening Prayer
Spirit of Life and Love,
be with us as we gather for worship,
each in our own place.
Help us to feel a sense of community,
even though we are physically apart.
Help us to care for each other,
in this world in which the clouds
of war, poverty, and climate change hover.
May we keep in touch however we can,
and help each other, however we may.
Help us to be grateful for the freedoms we have
and to respect the wishes of others.
May we hold in our hearts all those
who are grieving, lost, alone,
suffering in any way,
Amen
Reading from Two Sides of Darkness by Richard Rohr, Daily Meditation 14th July 2025
Experiences of darkness are good and necessary teachers. They are not to be avoided, denied, run from, or explained away. Even if we don’t experience clinical or diagnosed depression, most of us will go through at least one period of darkness, doubt, and malaise in our lives. I hope during these times we can reach out to someone – a therapist, spiritual director, friend – to support us. And when we feel strong, may we be the shoulder someone else can lean on.
There’s a darkness where we are led by our own stupidity, our own sin (the illusion of separation), our own selfishness, by living out of the false or separate self. We have to work our way back out of this kind of darkness with brutal honesty, confession, surrender, forgiveness, apology, and restitution. It may feel simultaneously like dying and being liberated.
But there’s another darkness that we’re led into by God, grace, and the nature of life itself. In many ways, the loss of meaning here is even greater, and sometimes the loss of motivation, purpose, and direction might be even greater too. It really feels like the total absence of light, and thus the saints and mystics called it “the dark night”.
Alternative Lord’s Prayer
Spirit of Life and Love, here and everywhere,
May we be aware of your presence in our lives.
May our world be blessed.
May our daily needs be met,
And may our shortcomings be forgiven,
As we forgive those of others.
Give us the strength to resist wrong-doing,
The inspiration and guidance to do right,
And the wisdom to know the difference.
We are your hands in the world; help us to grow.
May we have compassion for all living beings,
And receive whatever life brings,
With courage and trust. Amen
Reading from Two Sides of Darkness by Richard Rohr, Daily Meditation 14th July 2025
Yet even while we may feel alone and abandoned by God, we can also sense that we have been led here intentionally. We know we’re in liminal space, betwixt and between, on the threshold – and we have to stay here until we have learned something essential. It is still no fun – filled with doubt and “demons” of every sort – but it is the darkness of being held closely by God without our awareness. This is where transformation happens.
Of course, the dark night we get ourselves into by our own “sinful” choices can also become the darkness of God. Regardless of the cause, the dark night is an opportunity to look for and find God – in new forms and ways. Neither God nor goodness exist only in the light, but permeate all places, seen and unseen. It seems we have to “unknow” a bit every time we want to know in a new way. It’s like putting your car in reverse in the mud and snow so that you can gain a new track and better traction.
Periods of seemingly fruitless darkness may in fact highlight all the ways we rob ourselves of wisdom by clinging to the light. Who grows by only looking on the bright side of things? It is only when we lose our certainties that we will be able to deconstruct our false images of God to discover the Absolute Reality beneath all our egoic fantasies and fears.
Prayer by Mark Hutchinson, based on Theodore Parker
Spirit of Life and Love,
May we be open and true to our gift.
In darkness may our heart hold us,
nor despair for a moment that there is goodness, there is truth.
May we fix our eyes on the true, the right, the holy, the beautiful and good,
fix our eyes here until love affirms and moves beyond any threat of defeat.
May we be willing to be taught to be blameless in our daily life,
large in our conduct that transcends the human into timeless being and acting.
Help us to love therefore everything in front of us equally or more than ourselves.
To love as created justice, to love in sharing truth,
and allow this love everywhere.
When we are weak, be willing to receive strength.
When we fall from our highest aim, even for the thousandth time
may we humbly return our hearts open once more.
This open heart can then hold every passion that wars against our soul,
in an ever expanding universe.
One that shows us eagles wings, showers us in a rain
to dissipate unhealthy temptation and to nourishes duty and action to serve
All That is around, within and beyond us.
Amen
Reading For Courage by John O’Donohue, from Benedictus
When the light around you lessens
And your thoughts darken until
Your body feels fear turn
Cold as a stone inside,
When you find yourself bereft
Of any belief in yourself
And all you unknowingly
Leaned on has fallen,
When one voice commands
Your whole heart,
And it is raven dark,
Steady yourself and see
That it is your own thinking
That darkens your world.
Search and you will find
A diamond-thought of light,
Know that you are not alone
And that this darkness has purpose:
Gradually it will school your eyes
To find the one gift your life requires
Hidden within this night-corner.
Invoke the learning
Of every suffering
You have suffered.
Close your eyes.
Gather all the kindling
About your heart
To create one spark.
That is all you need
To nourish the flame
That will cleanse the dark
Of its weight of festered fear.
A new confidence will come alive
To urge you towards higher ground
Where your imagination
Will learn to engage difficulty
As its most rewarding threshold!
Time of Stillness and Reflection from Lead Me from Death to Life, from Falsehood to Truth by Elizabeth Birtles (adapted)
There are dark and painful times
when we know a dying inside,
a dying of the soul perhaps,
when all our spiritual energy is drained,
when we have nothing left to give.
We need to find the strength
to move from these times
to choose life, to affirm life,
to begin to feel
once again fully human, fully alive.
There are sad and painful times
when we cannot be wholly honest.
when we are too weak to be willing to speak out,
when we compromise our feelings rather than face a person honestly,
when we fudge and blur lines which we know to be clear and straight.
We need to find the strength
to hold on tightly to what we know is true,
to speak the truth even though we risk hurting others,
to be more open and honest even though we risk being hurt.
Lead us, O God, towards Life and Truth.
Lead us from Despair to Hope, from Fear to Trust.
There are dark and painful times
when we are filled with despair,
We sit in meetings where people do not listen to each other
or we hear politicians mouthing empty words about things for which we care deeply,
and we realise our powerlessness and we are overwhelmed by despair.
We need to have our hope rekindled,
to share with others in the sowing of seeds of hope,
to work with others in nurturing hope,
to witness with others the growing signs of hope,
to carry with us a strong vision of hope.
There are dark and painful times
when we are filled with fear,
We need to break through the frozenness of our fear,
to help others break through the many different barriers of fear.
Lead us, O God, towards hope and trust,
Lead us from Hate to Love, from War to Peace.
There are sad and painful times
when our despair and anger becomes hate.
It is hard sometimes not to hate those
whose views and actions are different from our own,
whose views and actions fill us with fear, despair and anger.
We need to find the strength to turn away from hating towards love.
We need to open our hearts
to the pervading power of the loving spirit that connects all people.
Although we may disagree with the views and actions of the politician
or the soldier,
We need to respect, to cherish, and to love the person.
There are dark and painful times
when the inevitability and the imminence of the threat may lead to war.
Most of us have not experienced war,
but we have known conflict and the paralysis of fear in the face of conflict.
At the moment when we are confronted with violence
we need to unfreeze our hearts and minds,
to allow peace to enter in,
for hope and trust to be reborn.
We need to be empowered by that of God in us.
Lead us, O God, towards Love and Peace.
Let Peace fill our hearts, our world, our universe.
[silence]
Peace begins with us.
We must start with our own hearts and minds.
We need to practice the skills necessary for living in a world at peace,
the skills needed to avoid or resolve conflicts.
The place to begin our work is in our own homes,
in our personal relationships, in our places of work, in our churches.
Peace begins with us.
and works outward,
nurtured by the pervading power of the loving Spirit
which connects all people.
Lead us, O God.
Musical Interlude I Giorni by Ludovico Einaudi
Address Darkness and Light
We are living in sad and difficult times, Between the various wars going on, with their consequences of violence, death, and hunger, failing crops in hotter countries, climate change and large scale extinction of species, both animal and plant, it can be hard to find something to feel happy about, hopeful about. And that is not to mention the deep grief of losing family members or dear friends, which happens far too often. It can feel much easier to succumb to sadness and despair.
Yet as Richard Rohr reminds us, “Experiences of darkness are good and necessary teachers. They are not to be avoided, denied, run from, or explained away.” Some are self-inflicted (to an extent) but he also explains, “there’s another darkness that we’re led into by God, grace, and the nature of life itself. In many ways, the loss of meaning here is even greater, and sometimes the loss of motivation, purpose, and direction might be even greater too. It really feels like the total absence of light, and thus the saints and mystics called it ‘the dark night.’”
When we are in this dark place, there is only one way forward, and that is through. Rohr even says that “Periods of seemingly fruitless darkness may in fact highlight all the ways we rob ourselves of wisdom by clinging to the light. Who grows by only looking on the bright side of things? It is only when we lose our certainties that we will be able to… discover the Absolute Reality beneath all our egoic fantasies and fears.”
I love the words of Elizabeth Birtles’ beautiful meditation, Lead Me from Death to Life, from Falsehood to Truth, which formed our Time of Stillness and Reflection. They are a reminder that even in the darkest times, there is a sliver of light, a twinkle of hope, to be found. Or, as John O’Donohue so beautifully puts it, “Search and you will find a diamond-thought of light.”
The American poet, John Vance Cheney, once wrote, “The soul would have no rainbow, had the eyes no tears.” Which is another lovely way of reminding us that darkness and light are both essential parts of our lives, and that hope does come in the morning. In Chapter 9 of Genesis, God promises Noah to care for the earth and everything in it, and sets a rainbow in the sky as a reminder of that promise. “I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature.”
And ever since, the rainbow has been a symbol of hope. I know there is a scientific explanation. The Met Office’s website explains: “Rainbows are formed when light from the sun is scattered by water droplets… through a process called refraction. Refraction occurs when the light from the sun changes direction when passing through a medium denser than air, such as a raindrop. Once the refracted light enters the raindrop, it is reflected off the back and then refracted again as it exists and travels to our eyes.”
But for me, and I guess for many of us, the rainbow is a thing of beauty, a wonderful natural phenomenon that lifts our spirits. And Cheney’s point is that without the raindrops, without the tears, we wouldn’t be able to experience the rainbow. If there was no contrast, no sadness in our lives, we wouldn’t be able to appreciate the wonderful, happy times. If all our experiences had the identical emotional impact on us, we would have no sense of sadness and grief, but also no sense of light and joy.
Human beings are wonderfully complex, usually able to experience a whole range of emotions. When we are sad, grief-stricken, angry, we might wish this was otherwise. And on the other hand, it can feel very vulnerable to allow ourselves to feel unalloyed joy, because we know that it cannot, will not, last. But honestly, I do believe it’s worth it; such peak experiences can stay with us forever, reminding us to hope in less happy times.
So there is always, always the other side of the coin. Light is with us. The golden sunlight filtering through the tree canopy above and around me when I walk in Salcey Forest at this time of year is one of my favourite sights. I feel a rush of happiness when I see these ‘God rays’, as they are sometimes called.
They remind me of the words of the 19th century American short-story writer, historian and diplomat, Washington Irving, who once wrote, “Happiness shines back like the light of heaven.” I understand what he means, as I have sometimes experienced this for myself. I hope you have too. When I have been particularly happy, the world seems to come into clearer focus – everything I see around me is illuminated by its own inner light, which I am willing to believe is not objectively true, but a result of my state of mind influencing my vision. I think that for me, that is what makes a place, a memory, sacred. In my memory, it is lit by the rays of God, the light of heaven.
I am so grateful for eyes to see, ears to hear, a nose to smell, a mouth to taste, skin to touch, and a heart and soul to interpret and understand. I believe it is our senses which bring the glory of God into our experience, and our hearts and souls which enable us to be ready to receive it. It is what we perceive through our senses which brings us happiness, which reflects the light of heaven into our lives, even in the darkest times. And it need not be limited to natural beauty – I have felt the same sense of awe and wonder and joy when beholding the face of a friend or a family member, when listening to something which speaks to my condition, or to beautiful music.
Like I said, we are complex creatures, and our responses to events and places and people will be unique to each of us. But I do believe that when we are awake to them, they can also point us to the presence of the Divine in our world. Our hearts can be lifted by visions of light – which can fill us with wonder at the beauty of God’s universe.
In our Unitarian services, we light a candle, a chalice light, at the beginning of each service. The symbolism of this is deep and wide-ranging. It is a symbol of life, and shared community, and also of the hope that comes from being in community, together.
And the Quakers in particular frequently speak of the “Light of God”, of “holding yourself and others in the Light” and about “experiences of the Light”. And one of the Christian views of Jesus is as the Light of the World.
I find this way of referring to the Divine Other, to God, helpful. My imagination can picture God as a warm, yellow Light which is all around us and also emanating from us, because I believe that God is both transcendent and immanent, both “here” and “everywhere”. And in some special way, it also holds us – holds the divine essence of who we are as individuals.
In our reading, Richard Rohr explained, “There’s a darkness where we are led by our own stupidity, our own sin… our own selfishness, by living out of the false or separate self. We have to work our way back out of this kind of darkness with brutal honest, confession, surrender, forgiveness, apology, and restitution.”
One of the Quaker advices (no. 32) suggests that we “bring into God’s light those emotions, attitudes and prejudices in yourself which lie at the root of destructive conflict, acknowledging your need for forgiveness and grace.” Which I guess is why psychologists and spiritual teachers call the process of acknowledging our inner failings “shadow work”. It is our job to bring the bits of ourselves we would much rather ignore out of the shadows into “God’s light” so that we can be helped to acknowledge them and overcome them, to integrate them, so that we can become whole.
This divine Light is deep within each of us, waiting to be noticed, and attended to. I also believe that a similar divine spark resides deep within every single human being – old, young, male, female, non-binary, of whatever sexual orientation, class or race. A part of each of us that has never been wounded, never suffered grief. And I believe that it is our job, while we are here in this life, to recognise the divine spark, that of God, in others, and reach out to it in recognition and joy. And to tend the flame within ourselves, so that we are not overcome by darkness and despair.
So easy to write, so very hard to remember, sometimes… Yet the attempt must be made, if we are to live full and rounded lives, and be strong enough to become a Light to others.
Closing Words by Sue Woolley and Mark Hutchinson
Spirit of Life and Love,
our time together is drawing to a close.
In any moment of darkness teach us to remain open.
May we keep our faith shining even in this darkness,
yes a beacon that is home, a haven in every storm.
May this openness allow strength for chosen and given duties on this day,
with a hope that sustains offering joy at each stage of trial.
May we return to our everyday world refreshed,
may we share the love we feel,
may we look out for each other,
and may we keep up our hearts,
now and in the days to come, Amen
Postlude Stella del Mattino by Ludovico Einaudi