Hong Kong Liberal Religious Forum

Global Chalice Lighting is an International Council of Unitarians and Universalists (ICUU) project.

All ICUU-affiliated groups have been asked to submit brief chalice lightings for the project. Every month, a reading will be distributed to Unitarian and Universalist congregations around the world. We ask each congregation to use the reading for at least one worship service in the designated month, identifying it as the "Global Chalice Lighting" for that month and naming the group which submitted it. Readings will be circulated in English and, where different, in their original language.

It is hoped that the ICUU Global Chalice Lighting Project will enhance the worship experience in our congregations and raise awareness of the international dimensions of our religious movement.

Global Chalice Lighting for July 2008

The International Council of Unitarians and Universalists announces the 59th in its monthly series of global chalice lighting readings. Congregations worldwide are invited to participate.

All ICUU-affiliated groups have been asked to submit brief chalice lightings for the project. Every month, a reading will be distributed to Unitarian and Universalist congregations around the world. We ask each congregation to use the reading for at least one worship service in the designated month, identifying it as the “Global Chalice Lighting” for that month and naming the group which submitted it. Readings will be circulated in English and, where different, in their original language.

It is hoped that the ICUU Global Chalice Lighting Project will enhance the worship experience in our congregations and raise awareness of the international dimensions of our religious movement.

This Global Chalice Lighting, in Danish and English, is to be used during July 2008.

Lad denne lille flamme symbolisere den guddommelige livsgnist,
som findes i alle levende væsener.
Må dets flamme lede os til større viden og tolerance.
Må dets varme lede os til dybere kærlighed og omsorg.
Og må dets lys lede os mod større visdom og forståelse.
Ja, hver for sig er vi kun en lillebitte flamme.
Men tilsammen kan vi oplyse verden!

Let this flame symbolize the divine spark of light
embedded in all living beings.
May its flame lead us to greater knowledge and tolerance.
May its warmth lead us to deeper love and compassion.
And may its light lead us toward greater wisdom and understanding.
Yes, each of us is but a tiny flame.
But together we can enlighten the world!

-submitted by Lene Lund Shoemaker
Danish Unitarian Church
www.unitarisme.dk

Global Chalice Lighting for August 2008

This Global Chalice Lighting, in Swahili and English, is to be used during August 2008.

Kenya kuwakisha mushuma
Eshima Na Upendo
Muzee simkemee, Bali umwonye Kama baba:
Vijana Kama ndugu;
Wanawake wazee Kama mama
Wanawake vijana Kama ndugu
Wanawake vijana Kama ndugu wa kike;
Mwaheshimu wajane waliowajane kweli, kweli
Mukifanya hivo roho senu shitaku safi
Shikisan nyinyi Kwa nyinyi
Amani iwe nanyi

Do not rebuke an old man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father; treat young men as brothers, old women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity; and give proper recognition to those widows who are really in need.
If we endure in these our hearts will remain pure.
Listen to each other.
Greet those who love us in the UU faith.
Grace be with you all.

-Alice Magara
Unitarian Universalist Church in Kenya

Global Chalice Lighting for September 2008

This Global Chalice Lighting, from the Religious Education Director of the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville, is to be used during September 2008.

We are safe.
We are together.
We are loved.
And so it will be.

-Brian Griffin
Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations



Alex's note: Gun shooting killed two at Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church (TVUUC) on the 27 July 2008 Sunday service. An unemployed man was accused of opening fire and killing, apparently targeted the congregation out of hatred for its support of liberal social policies, police said.

Global Chalice Lighting for October 2008

This Global Chalice Lighting is to be used during October 2008.

Bless the work that we do,
And the silence that falls upon us,
And the joy that stirs within us.
And let praise rise to our lips
Naturally out of the fullness of our hearts.

-Sheila Crosskey
British General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches

Global Chalice Lighting for November 2008

This Global Chalice Lighting may be read responsively. Presented here in Spanish and English, it is to be used during November 2008.


Que este cáliz, que encendemos juntos aquí, impregne e ilumine este lugar, aclarando en nuestros corazones la dirección a tomar, que solemos olvidar durante la semana que va a partir.

Que sus haces de luz brillen profundamente en el alma, prendiendo en su interior sabiduría nueva y nuevos proyectos. Que simbolicen la luz del deber y el entendimiento y el esplendor de la justicia, la verdad, y que nos den calma.


May this chalice, that we are lighting here together, pervade and light this place, showing in our hearts the right direction to take, that we not forget during the following week.

May its rays of light shine deeply in our souls, kindling new wisdom and new projects inside us that symbolize the light of duty and understanding and the magnificence of justice and truth, and bringing peace to us.


-from the Coruña congregation
Unitarian Universalist Society of Spain
http://uuespana.googlepages.com

Global Chalice Lighting for December 2008

This Global Chalice Lighting, in Khasi and English, is to be used during December 2008.


Ha kane jingiaseng jongngi,
Ngi ieng ban nguh ha kjat jong Phi;
Ai ba baroh jongngi ki mon,
Ha ka Mon jong Phi kin dem ngon.

Ha kane jingiaseng, A Blei,
Ai jingmut kin thanda, kin palei;
Da jingjemnud ngin iashahshkor,
Ia ki ktien Jingshisha kordor.

Ka spah bad jingsngewbha pyrthei,
Kim lah ai jinghun da lei lei;
Ka jingsuk batam eh iangi,
Long ban ieit bad shaniah ha Phi.


We rise to bow before You, Almighty,
With gratitude and in humility;
May our individual wills
Be one and bow before Your Holy Will.

As we congregate here this day,
May our thoughts be simple and noble;
With receptive hearts may we heed
The precious words of Truth.

Worldly riches and pleasures
Give but momentary satisfaction;
But everlasting peace for us will be,
When we love You and trust in You.


-Khasi hymn #56 by Hajom Kissor Singh
Unitarian Union of North East India

Global Chalice Lighting for January 2009

This Global Chalice Lighting is to be used during January 2009.


Recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.

-from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948
Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office www.uu-uno.org

Global Chalice Lighting for February 2009

This Global Chalice Lighting is to be used during February 2009.


With malice toward none, with charity for all,
with firmness in the right,
as God gives us to see the right,
let us ... achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace
among ourselves, and with all nations.

Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address
submitted by European Unitarian Universalists
www.euu.uua.org

Global Chalice Lighting for March 2009

This Global Chalice Lighting is to be used during March 2009.


A truth worthy of complete devotion may not be provable by reason, but it will not insult our intelligence, nor will it be alien to our experience.

If God is, then there is no place God is not—be it in temple or telescope. May we take to heart the injunction to question, listen, respect, and understand, and live the beauty of our faith.

Samuel Trumbore
Unitarian Universalist Association
www.uua.org

Global Chalice Lighting for April 2009

This Global Chalice Lighting is to be used during April 2009.



We light this chalice to honour those before us
Whose courage to challenge dogma
Has made our path easier.

We ask that the light from this flame
Inspires us all to make our journey
Towards truth, love, beauty and justice.

We pray that the warmth from this flame
Reaches those who feel threatened
By living their heretical beliefs.

Derek McCullough
Australian and New Zealand Unitarian Universalist Association
www.anzua.org/anzua_alt

Global Chalice Lighting for May 2009

This Global Chalice Lighting, in Chinese and English, is to be used during May 2009.



老 子:  「道 德 經」 : 第 一 章
 
道 可 道 ， 非 常 道 。 名 可 名 ， 非 常 名 。
無 名 天 地 之 始 ﹔ 有 名 萬 物 之 母 。
故 常 無 ， 欲 以 觀 其 妙 ﹔ 常 有 ， 欲 以 觀 其 徼 。
此 兩 者 ， 同 出 而 異 名 ， 同 謂 之 玄 。
玄 之 又 玄 ， 眾 妙 之 門 。

The tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao;
The name that can be named is not the eternal Name.
The unnamable is the eternally real.
Naming is the origin of all particular things.
Free from desire, you realize the mystery.
Caught in desire, you see only the manifestations.
Yet mystery and manifestations arise from the same source.
This source is called Mystery.
Mystery within Mystery,
The gateway to all understanding.

Chapter 1, Tao Te Ching, written by Lao-tzu
Modified from a translation by S. Mitchell

submitted by Spiritual Seekers Society, Hong Kong

Alex wrote:Global Chalice Lighting for May 2009

This Global Chalice Lighting, in Chinese and English, is to be used during May 2009.



老 子:  「道 德 經」 : 第 一 章
 
道 可 道 ， 非 常 道 。 名 可 名 ， 非 常 名 。
無 名 天 地 之 始 ﹔ 有 名 萬 物 之 母 。
故 常 無 ， 欲 以 觀 其 妙 ﹔ 常 有 ， 欲 以 觀 其 徼 。
此 兩 者 ， 同 出 而 異 名 ， 同 謂 之 玄 。
玄 之 又 玄 ， 眾 妙 之 門 。

The tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao;
The name that can be named is not the eternal Name.
The unnamable is the eternally real.
Naming is the origin of all particular things.
Free from desire, you realize the mystery.
Caught in desire, you see only the manifestations.
Yet mystery and manifestations arise from the same source.
This source is called Mystery.
Mystery within Mystery,
The gateway to all understanding.

Chapter 1, Tao Te Ching, written by Lao-tzu
Modified from a translation by S. Mitchell

submitted by Spiritual Seekers Society, Hong Kong

Quoted in a French Unitarian website:
http://eglise.unitarienne.francophone.o ... 31515.html

Global Chalice Lighting for June 2009

This Global Chalice Lighting, in many languages, was written for the International Convocation of Unitarian Universalist Women and is to be used during June 2009.


English:
We light our chalice, recognizing that our bodies and our beings, our insights, actions, and hopes all come from the essential elements of existence. In our worship today, we honor the elements of earth, air, fire, and water.
- Carol Huston


Hungarian:
Meggyújtjuk a kelyhet, és érezzük, hogy testünk, létünk, ösztönös megérzéseink, cselekvéseink és reményeink létezésünk alkotóelemei. A mai áhítaton a föld, a levegő, a tűz és a víz elemét tiszteljük.
- Zsofi Sztranyiczki


Spanish:
Iluminemos nuestro cáliz, reconociendo que nuestro cuerpo y nuestro ser, nuestra perspicacia, acciones y esperanzas provienen de los elementos esenciales de la existencia. En este día de adoración, honoremos los elementos tierra, aire, fuego, y agua.
- Maria Romero y Angeles


Swahili:
Tunamlika wema wetu, tukifahamu kuwa miili yetu na ubidamu wetu, undani wetu, matendo yetu na matumani yote hutokana na mambo muhimu ya maisha.
Katika maombi yetu leo tunaheshimu ulimwengu, mazingira, moto na maji.
- Alice Kemunto


Tagalog (Filipino):
Ating iniilawan ang chalice na ito bilang simbulo sa pagkilala na ang ating katawan, pagkatao, pananaw, kilos at pag-asa ay galing sa mga payak na elementong bumubuo sa ating pagkatao. Sa ating pagsamba sa araw na ito, ating binibigyang pugay ang elementong lupa, hangin, apoy at tubig.
- Lenna D


Japanese:
Watashi tachino karada to jitsuzon, satori, koudou, to kibous subeteno sonzaiga juuyouna youso toshite ninnshiki shinagara, kono chalice ni tomoshibi o ataeru.
Kyouno reihai dewa dewa tsuchi, kuuki, hi, to mizu no yousoni keiiwo.
未来の地球的チャリスのともし火：四つの要素をすべて含む
私たちの体と実存、悟り、行動、と希望全ての存在が重要な要素として認識しながら、このチャリスにともし火を与える。今日の礼拝では土、空気、火、と水の要素に敬意を。
- Kathy Matsui


translation project coordinated by Dorothy Emerson
International Convocation of Unitarian Universalist Women www.icuuw.com

Global Chalice Lighting for July 2009

This Global Chalice Lighting, in English and French, is to be used during July 2009.



A LIVING TRUTH
I have not come to give you Truth,
nor have you come to give truth to me.
We have come together to recreate the truth,
and only a living truth can blossom,
and thus become large enough to embrace the wholeness of our lives.

UNE VÉRITÉ VIVANTE
Je ne suis pas venu pour vous transmettre la Vérite,
Et vous n’êtes pas venus m’imposer la vôtre.
Mais nous nous sommes rassemblés pour le bâtir ensemble.
Parce que seule une vérité vivante,
et seule une vérité vivant peut sèpanouir
et devenir ensuite universelle pour englober la totalité de nos vies.

Rev. John Baros-Johnson
Canadian Unitarian Council www.cuc.ca