Unitarian Universalists are a people of faith, seeking to nurture our spirits and help heal our world. For building peace in our world, here are 10 practical steps and the critical

principles that support them.

Water Communion celebration: As we bring together the waters of our separate beings and our diverse experiences and join them in our community, we reflect also on the

words of the prophet Amos: "Let peace flow down like waters . . ."

Some wisdom for today from the ancient Chinese religion, Daoism, and its beloved central text, the Dao De Jing.

Economies and ecologies are both in trouble. With a major shift to new sources of wealth and different ways of living, life can be richer and more economically secure -- and also more sustainable.

The writers of the Beat Generation (Kerouac, Burroughs, Ginsburg, Ferlinghetti, Snyder, et al.) struggled to push aside the mind-claw of the predominant culture and create the space in which they could find an authentic voice and discover their true self. We need the Beats--now as much as ever. They still guide us on our journeys of the spirits.

The Humanist movement emerged among Unitarians in the 1920s and 30s and has evolved with the passing decades. It's still a vital part of who we are today.

What are the stages of faith, and how can our community coach us in each stage? And what does this have to do with the classic Western movie? It's all about the religious journey, there, pilgrim!

Forty years after the first Earth day, we continue to explore the ways that environmental stewardship and spiritual awakening are mutually reinforcing.

Does the celebration of cultural and ethnic difference obscure our yawning economic divide? Does our enthusiastic affirmation of differences mask our neglect of a difference that matters most -- the one between rich and poor? What do we make of the charge that diversity fails to offer a premise for social justice?

On this Martin Luther King day weekend, we look at what we might say about the nature of evil, and what light can be shed on the social evil that is racism.