Library: Poetry and Meditation Collection: InSpirit Series

All books in the Poetry and Meditation Collection are kept in the Meditation Room on the 7th floor at Meadville Lombard.

InSpirit Series

Every spring, Skinner House Books proudly publishes a new collection of inspirational reflections from a leading Unitarian Universalist writer. Comprising the inSpirit series, these thin, elegant volumes of poetry, prose, and/or prayers provide Unitarian Universalists and others with fresh readings to use in worship and for personal contemplation.

The series continues a tradition dating back more than 170 years, when the Unitarians and Universalists began publishing prayer collections. At one time the books were called Lenten Manuals and Advent manuals, then later Meditation Manuals when the two denominations consolidated in 1961. The series name changed again in 2015, while the tradition lives on. The many rich meanings of the word inSpirit—including to hearten, to enliven, to bestow with strength or purpose, to fill with spirit—reflect the many ways these books tend to us and our faith lives.

Each author in the series brings to it their own distinctive style. Whether formal or chatty, whimsical or weighty, their words always help us explore ways to live, worship, question, learn, grow, and deepen in spirit. They offer a gentle invitation into a Unitarian Universalist way of moving through the world and growing our souls.

Authors are selected from among the vast array of worship leaders across our faith. Skinner House issues a call for submissions in the fall, with information on how and when to send proposals for consideration.

- From Skinner House

Sonata for Voice and Silence by Mark Belletini
ISBN: 9781558965362
Publication Date: 2008-05-01
A collection of poetic prayers about human connections, the search for stillness, and the mysteries of life and death. As the title suggests, Belletini's poetry is shaped by the theme of sound and silence. Listen to moon songs, chirping crickets and chanting bees. Experience the silence of love, friendship, snowflakes, and creation. Fifty-four poems in total.
Been in the Storm So Long by Mark D. Morrison-Reed (Editor); Jacqui James (Editor)
Publication Date: 1991
First published in 1991, this stirring volume features more than 40 selections from the spirited voices of 29 African-Americans. Contributors include David H. Eaton, Marjorie Bowens-Wheatley, Rosemary Bray McNatt, Thandeka, Egbert Etherlred Brown and more.
In the Holy Quiet of This Hour by Richard S. Gilbert
Publication Date: 1995
These gentle prayers remind us that we can find the sacred and profound in every day by taking the time to stop and absorb the holy quiet.
We Build Temples in the Heart by Patrick Murfin
Publication Date: 2004
As the author warns, “this is not your mother’s meditation manual!” Author Patrick Murfin has many voices, ranging from the gentle reflective poet to the fierce social activist. This unique collection represents a wide variety of tones, including transcendent observations of nature and clarion calls to justice. Seasoned with stark images of war and good-natured jibes at liberal religious posturing, Murfin’s poetry is infused with the same passion that has driven his lifetime of social activism.
Spilling the Light by Theresa I. Soto
Publication Date: 2019
At once deeply compassionate and spiritually empowering, this volume of the inSpirit Series by Rev. Theresa I. Soto tends to our souls and emboldens us to become our truest selves.
Without Apology by Forrester F. Church (Editor); A. Powell Davies
Publication Date: 1998
A. Powell Davies (1902-1957) gained national renown from the pulpit of All Souls Unitarian Church in Washington, DC. These previously unpublished meditations convey timeless truths with vigor, candor and stunning simplicity.
Instructions in Joy by Nancy Shaffer
Publication Date: 2002

A Long Time Blooming by Marta I. Valentín
Publication Date: 2014
In the 2014 inSpirit title, Marta I. Valentín reflects on the spiritual dimensions of her intersecting identities as a Latina, lesbian, feminist, God-praising Unitarian Universalist minister. With candor and insight, she probes what is universal in her own very particular history and what it means to strive for beloved community in the face of marginalization and cultural misunderstanding.
Voices from the Margins by Jacqui James; Mark D. Morrison-Reed
Publication Date: 2012
In Voices from the Margins, Jacqui James and Mark Morrison-Reed have compiled a remarkable collection of reflections and meditations from voices often left unheard in Unitarian Universalism. These writings remind us of both what we miss when we don't listen to marginalized voices and the amazing insights we stand to gain when we do.
Out of the Ordinary by Gordon B. McKeeman
Publication Date: 1999
Everything from truck drivers to apples can become part of an everyday spiritual consciousness that will feed the hungry seeker and soothe the weary caretaker. Part of the UUA Meditation Manual Series.
Morning Watch by Barbara Pescan
Publication Date: 1999
34 poems and prayers on love, spirit, and the extraordinary significance of daily life. In her signature elegant verse, Barbara Pescan helps us step out of our routine existence and reflect on that which matters most. Whether musing about February weather, Memorial Day, or the meaning of a blessing, she distills her many years of ministry into a timeless, lyrical wisdom.
Miles of Dream by Vanessa Rush Southern
Publication Date: 2015
Reverend Vanessa Southern returns with a new collection of meditations for personal and congregational use. With her familiar light touch and deep insight, Southern ponders life passages, ways of looking at the world, and the many possibilities for building a life of meaning. Her reflections, at once playful and poignant, remind us that we can come to a deeper awareness about living well by looking more closely at our daily lives.
Blessing the Bread by Lynn Ungar
Publication Date: 1995
Looking at nature and our creations to see the transcendent in our inner selves, Ungar helps us us find spiritually in all that surrounds us. These 40 poems tie the commonplace with the profound, providing breathtakingly fresh perceptions on the depth of ordinary existence.

Walking Toward Morning by Victoria Safford
Publication Date: 2003
One of the most beloved of the inSpirit series, Walking Toward Morning captures the human spirit in finely-crafted prose. Victoria Safford's insightful commentary and observation will bring thought, illumination, and joy into your life.
Breaking and Blessing by Sean Parker Dennison
Publication Date: 2020-06-01
In Breaking and Blessing, the 2020 volume of the inSpirit Series, Rev. Sean Parker Dennison imagines letters from angels, draws on the natural world, and reflects on love and calling. They chart a path, moving here and there, as if across a constellation—connecting mathematics to love, stars to saplings, and breaking to blessing. Rev. Dennison’s striking debut will serve as both solace and flame to readers looking for them in equal measure.
Green Mountain Spring by Gary A. Kowalski
Publication Date: 1996
Mediations on nature, human nature and the cycles of the year: Mud Season, the Perseids, Graduation, Father's Day and more.
Amethyst Beach by Barbara Merritt
Publication Date: 2007
"I have heard that when something is valuable and worthwhile, you are not apt to find it lying around in great heaps. Diamonds and gold are rare. Lions do not congregate in large numbers. So it is that God is not easy to find. Truth is not easy to put your hands on. But the saints, in all religious traditions, say that there is something about the search itself that instructs us, humbles us, informs us. Just because our own life sometimes appears to be empty of spiritual treasure, doesn't mean that this treasure doesn't exist. People do find amethysts! People do experience the reality of God." — from Amethyst Beach
Stone Blessings by Robert R. Walsh
Publication Date: 2010
To Wake, to Rise by William Sinkford
Publication Date: 2017
The 2017 edition of the UUA inSpirit series is an anthology of 29 poems, prayers, and reflections about resisting oppression and keeping the faith in social action work. Written by a range of contributors, including ministers and lay leaders, these readings are ideal for both private contemplation and for use in worship. Collected and introduced by a former president of the UUA,and the first Black person to hold that position, these meditations are both a support for activists and a call to action in a new era of political and social division.

Dancing in the Empty Spaces by David O. Rankin
Publication Date: 2000
ncing in the Empty Spaces is the product of thirty years of disciplined meditation. It presents a variety of topics, but is purposefully diverse, nonlinear, and devoid of ultimate resolutions. Like Zen, it revels in the mystery of paradox and celebrates the intensity of the present moment. I hope each piece leads to further thought, since the search for truth is truly never-ending.
Love Beyond God by Adam Dyer
Publication Date: 2016-05-01
Powerful, poignant, and prophetic poems from one of the rising literary talents in Unitarian Universalism today. This timely collection explores faith, race, love, identity, and more, and invites us to think deeply about our place and role in contemporary society.
For All That Is Our Life by Gene Pickett; Helen Pickett
Publication Date: 2005
The writings in this anthology are largely personal. They speak in a wide variety of voices, represent various theological points of view, and are written in different styles and forms--poetry as well as prose. All of them give expression to the familiar hymn lyrics, "For all that is our life we sing our thanks and praise."
In the Simple Morning Light by Barbara Rohde
Publication Date: 1993
In contemplating illness and recovery, family and church life, Rohde's personal reflections and wry observations shed new light on life's unique occurrences.
Consider the Lilies by Stephen M. Shick
Publication Date: 2003
Admire the Moon by Mary Wellemeyer
Publication Date: 2005
With or Without Candlelight by Victoria Safford
Publication Date: 2009
These meditations, sung in many voices, echo the song of the human soul. In poetry and beautiful prose, writers reflect on the magical, day-to-day dance of the holy and the ordinary. Here are selections for common worship, small groups and for solitary reflection. Celebrations of the spirit, lamentations of the heart, elegant observations of the natural world and eyewitness accounts of the moral universe, these poems and readings offer wisdom and laughter, comfort and pathways to deeper questions.