Message by Colleen Appel and Ray Crespo

Beth Ross has a story about the Buddha.

The Buddha said, “If you knew, as I do, the power of giving, you would not let a single meal pass without sharing some of it.” …Generosity is this powerful for very good reason. Because it is characterized by the inner quality of letting go or relinquishing, it reverses the forces that create suffering. It is a profound antidote to the strong habits of clinging, grasping, guarding, and attachment that lead to so much pain and suffering. Generosity brings happiness at every stage of its expression: we experience joy in forming the intention to give, we experience joy in the action of giving, and we experience joy in remembering that we have given. As Gandhi said, “The fragrance remains in the hand that gives the rose.”

For All That is Our Life
Performed by Emily McKinney
by Johannes Brahms
Public domain

Be That Guide
Congregational Hymn
Carl G. Seaburg
Music: Thomas Benjamin
Permission given, UUA

When Giving Is All We Have
Alberto Ríos

“…You gave me blue and I gave you yellow.
Together we are simple green. You gave me
What you did not have, and I gave you
What I had to give—together, we made
Something greater from the difference.”