(New opening words for this year – just to change things up…)

You have come

to be with others who care about

what it means to live on this beautiful blue-green world

You have come to be with your innermost self,

to feel the deep wells within you

brimming with courage and vision.

You have come to rest, and to be quiet,

to be renewed by not having to be anyone other than

who you are right now.

You have come to cry out, to rattle the walls

that contain all the prisoners of injustice and

greed and isolation, and when the time comes,

to tear the walls down.

You are well come.

The world needs a few people

who are honest, even to the point of accepting their imperfection;

the world needs a few people who are brave enough to risk

individual comfort for the sake of a larger love,

the world needs a few people who honor their own pain

as well as their ability to somehow transform pain into compassion,

the world needs a few people who step into the unknown

carrying enough love to make things interesting.

The world needs a few people who are ready to come alive.

The sign-up sheets are not on any wall,

but wait eternally within the human heart.

Let us gather in peace,

and let us make room for the infinite possibilities

of the spirit.

Welcome, friends, to this hour.