PRAYER:
Spirit of Life and Wonder,
We come carrying questions we barely know how to ask.
In a world that rewards quick answers and sharp certainty,
something in us is still hungry for questions that leave us hanging and unknowing.
Stir in us a living curiosity.
When we meet what is unfamiliar, turn our fear into wondering.
When we feel the pull to shut down, grant us one more honest question.
May we notice anew what we have walked past a hundred times.
May we listen for stories we have never heard before.
May we meet this day not as a problem to solve
but as a mystery to explore.
And my this help us better know the mystery that is us.
Amen and blessed be.
The prayer above is from my colleague Rev. Michelle Collins, offered in connection with the Soul Matters theme for the month of May: “Awakening Curiosity.”
This theme is very UU. We are a people who do not feel satisfied with established answers or familiar ways of thinking; we are questioners. For me, a favorite thing to say when welcoming newcomers on a Sunday morning is, “please talk to us at coffee hour where we would love to answer any questions you may have—and to question any answers you may have.” Another way that I say it is: that we are all seeking truth and meaning, and none of us has found all the answers. Curiosity, you might say, is a core trait of Unitarian Universalists.
One line from Rev. Michelle’s prayer reminds me of my former profession. “May we notice anew what we have walked past a hundred times,” says the prayer. When I was a writing teacher I would say this to my students: “a poet is someone who notices, and is extremely taken by, a thing that other people walk right past.” There are things of great beauty, great interest, and great mystery all around us. The invitation is for us to cultivate a mindset of noticing and wondering.
And Rev. Michelle ends the prayer with a new idea: being curious about ourselves. Being curious about the outside world is one thing—curiosity about a flower, why and how it grows; curiosity about God and religion; curiosity about my fellow citizen who holds views very different from mine. But curiosity about myself has a different feeling. We think that we know ourselves and largely we do—but there are depths to our rational minds, our emotional feelings, and the physical workings of our amazing bodies, that we can still be surprised by.
May we engage with curiosity in the life-long quest of knowing ourselves and seeking to be the best version of ourselves that we can be.
Amen.
Rev. Drew Frantz
April 28, 2026
Spirit of Life and Wonder,
We come carrying questions we barely know how to ask.
In a world that rewards quick answers and sharp certainty,
something in us is still hungry for questions that leave us hanging and unknowing.
Stir in us a living curiosity.
When we meet what is unfamiliar, turn our fear into wondering.
When we feel the pull to shut down, grant us one more honest question.
May we notice anew what we have walked past a hundred times.
May we listen for stories we have never heard before.
May we meet this day not as a problem to solve
but as a mystery to explore.
And my this help us better know the mystery that is us.
Amen and blessed be.
The prayer above is from my colleague Rev. Michelle Collins, offered in connection with the Soul Matters theme for the month of May: “Awakening Curiosity.”
This theme is very UU. We are a people who do not feel satisfied with established answers or familiar ways of thinking; we are questioners. For me, a favorite thing to say when welcoming newcomers on a Sunday morning is, “please talk to us at coffee hour where we would love to answer any questions you may have—and to question any answers you may have.” Another way that I say it is: that we are all seeking truth and meaning, and none of us has found all the answers. Curiosity, you might say, is a core trait of Unitarian Universalists.
One line from Rev. Michelle’s prayer reminds me of my former profession. “May we notice anew what we have walked past a hundred times,” says the prayer. When I was a writing teacher I would say this to my students: “a poet is someone who notices, and is extremely taken by, a thing that other people walk right past.” There are things of great beauty, great interest, and great mystery all around us. The invitation is for us to cultivate a mindset of noticing and wondering.
And Rev. Michelle ends the prayer with a new idea: being curious about ourselves. Being curious about the outside world is one thing—curiosity about a flower, why and how it grows; curiosity about God and religion; curiosity about my fellow citizen who holds views very different from mine. But curiosity about myself has a different feeling. We think that we know ourselves and largely we do—but there are depths to our rational minds, our emotional feelings, and the physical workings of our amazing bodies, that we can still be surprised by.
May we engage with curiosity in the life-long quest of knowing ourselves and seeking to be the best version of ourselves that we can be.
Amen.
Rev. Drew Frantz
April 28, 2026
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