As congregants enter, ushers hand each person a golf pencil and slip of paper. Each slip is a quarter-sheet of letter-sized paper, with one of four prompts written on it:
[Worship Leader]: Poetry and spirituality are both practices that ask for trust, vulnerability, and joy. In this service on the spirituality of poetry, I invite you to share a spiritual practice with me. As you each came into this physical space, a member of this community handed you a piece of paper with something written on it, and a pencil. For those of you on Zoom, you will see four phrases in the chat shortly. We will use these prompting phrases for a poetry-writing practice called Thirteen Words.
After this gong chimes, each of us will spend three minutes writing a short poem or reflection, with just thirteen words. On the back of each sheet of paper is a short prompt to guide you. People on Zoom, you can pick a prompt that speaks to you.
A second chime will invite you to share as you are moved. If you are on Zoom, feel free to share your reflection in the chat. If you are here in person, you may turn to a neighbor to share what you have written. When your neighbor has shared their poem or reflection, you may share one word to describe what came up for you in receiving what they shared. This is a practice of trust and vulnerability, trusting that we will be loving and gentle with ourselves and each other. May it also be a practice of joy.
[Chime gong, wait three minutes. Chime gong, wait one minute]
[The worship leader reads the poem they wrote, shares a word reflecting the room.]
This was a practice I designed & offered in a service about the spirituality of poetry at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Ames on 16 July 2023, and at Boulder Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship on 27 April 2025.