Jim Burklo

Driver’s License/Licence Blessing — Jim Burklo, USA

This blessing of the Driver’s Licence/license* might be held at home or in the gathering place of one’s faith community. Ritual has great power to infuse a sense of deeper connection among people. Recognizing the sacred responsibility that comes with a driver’s licence can invest a young person with an inner motivation to drive safely […]

Fat Tuesday Word Jazz – Jim Burklo, USA

Twixt twelve and thirty years, who was Jesus, we ask? The Bible says nothing worth taking to task. A square or a rounder? – we’re all left to wonder How hearty he partied, how much did he blunder? ‘Twas the night before forty long days and dark nights When Jesus went wandering way out of […]

14 Questions: Stations of the Cross – Jim Burklo, USA

A tool to use while walking through Lent: the Stations of the Cross, responding to 14 questions from Jesus Ideas for using this tool during Lent: Idea: engage with the questions by contemplating them as Stations of the Cross. Participants might be invited to write their reflections on papers and put them in baskets or […]

Interlude for Gratitude – Jim Burklo, USA

Thankfulness is the fruit of humility and gratitude plants the seed of deeper humility that opens hearts and minds to more for which to be grateful Giving thanks to another human being ennobles the giver and the receiver dignifies everyday exchanges and clears the way for love Giving thanks for what is received from a […]

Fall Equinox in Ojai – Jim Burklo, USA

The sun slips a bright note under my door: Its announcement of the season’s arrival. I stare at it reverently. A quietude falls over the valley: All is caught in a hush, a pause, Languid in autumnal bliss, Receiving the blessing of the bowing sun. The sandstone boulders in the canyons Are bathed in the […]

Eddies in the current of life — Jim Burklo, USA

Along the dirt path, past golden grasses nodding in the breeze and stubby juniper trees studded with pale blue-green aromatic berries, through narrows the water rushes, falling over steeps in smooth sheets. Around bends it tumbles, creating backflows that spin into eddies. We are whirlpools in the stream of the universe, eddies consisting of eddies […]

Creed for Christians — Jim Burklo, USA

God is Love, the cosmic creativity present everywhere and in everything, Gently urging all toward the good. To transcending Love, we raise our awestruck praise! Jesus embodied the Love that is God. He loved the poor, the sick, the outcast, He loved the unpopular, and even his own enemies. He loved so completely, he loved […]

What we believe, responsive reading — by Jim Burklo, adapted

A Statement of Faith appropriate for Trinity Sunday, or any time. To be read responsively. God is Love. God is the cosmic creativity present everywhere and in everything. God gently urges all toward the good. To transcending Love, we raise our awestruck praise! Jesus embodied the Love that is God. Jesus loved the poor, the […]

Ash Wednesday Meditation — Jim Burklo

On my forehead, A sign of the cross, Smudged in ash from the fire That burned down the McMansion of my hubris, And, with it, The money I should have given away, The screens I stare at to numb my senses, The carpet I should have been called on, The doors I should have opened […]

Before you know it — Jim Burklo, USA

Before you know it, your kid’s childhood is over and she’s gone off to college. Before you know it, your vacation is over and it’s time to go back to work. Before you know it, the storm has passed and the sky is clear. Before you know it, way too much of your life has […]

But or And? a sketch/skit — Jim Burklo, USA

But or And? A slightly-adapted skit by Jim Burklo, USA (‘Use freely – with attribution.’) This is written to use as a springboard for a sermon or conversation. Stage directions for online [Zoom or recorded] Spotlight the two screens: BUT and AND. BUT – hold a cross just off-centre on your screen and each time […]

Feast and Fast, for Lent — Jim Burklo, USA

Let us feast on simple pleasures, and fast from all that gets our bodies and souls out of balance. Let us feast on kindness, and fast from sarcasm. Let us feast on compassion, and fast from holding grudges. Let us feast on patience, and fast from anxiety. Let us feast on peace, and fast from […]

The Ten Amendments — Jim Burklo, USA

Exodus 20:1-17 Jim writes… ‘The ten commandments endure as a foundation for morality, after thousands of years. But just like other guiding/governing documents, from time to time we need to add amendments to them. The ten commandments are a short list, and that is a very good thing. They mostly tell us what not to […]

Progressive Christian’s statement of faith — Jim Burklo, USA

I’m a progressive Christian who: keeps the faith and drops the dogma experiences God more than I believe in any definition of God thinks that my faith is about deeds, not creeds takes the Bible seriously because I don’t take it literally thinks spiritual questions are more important than religious answers cares more about […]

Collection of Children’s Messages — Jim Burklo, USA

Jim writes, ‘Use freely. All I ask is attribution!’ Breaking Free – a flower becomes a butterfly – and learns to appreciate flowers The Clay Bird (an interfaith message – Christian/Muslim) Elephant Eggs – pure silliness! punch line: what you need is probably already here. Of Seeds and Stardust – a poetic science-based creation story […]

This is my body…2020 Words for communion — Jim Burklo, USA

‘This is my body…’ This is the body of Christ. This body knows what it is like to long for a hug, but not be able to get one when it needs it the most. This body knows how to feel a hug through a window or a screen. This body knows what it is […]

Feast & Fast, Lent in a time of epidemic — Jim Burklo, USA

Let us fast from hugging and handshaking And let us feast on bowing and waving. Let us fast from hoarding food and toilet paper And let us feast on the food in the back of our pantries. Let us fast from gathering physically And let us feast on communing virtually. Let us fast from obsessing […]

Wisdom for my Grandchild — Jim Burklo, USA

Written to welcome a newborn grandson, Jim’s beautiful and wise words can be adapted easily for any grandchild. My dear grandson, Jacob – Precious crown of creation swaddled in a blanket, Sleeping deep in heavenly peace – To the Love who is God I give thanks for your birth, And on behalf of this world […]

To Be a We — Jim Burklo, USA

The I I think is what I am Is actually a we The what I am is what you are There is no separate me For I don’t weigh a single pound Nor look a single see I can’t be touched, I can’t be found My body I can’t be And so it is with […]

Just as You Are, A Progressive Christian Welcome — Jim Burklo, USA

We follow the way of Jesus. He opens our hearts To know that our true selves are one with God, who is Love. Jesus saves us from fear, from selfishness, from meaninglessness. He leads us to serve with compassion and act for justice. He moves us to curiosity and creativity. He brings us together in […]

Communion Institution — Jim Burklo, USA

You bring alive what once seemed dead Your word becomes as real as bread Your love we taste in sips of wine Your meal reveals the life divine Jim Burklo, Associate Dean of Religious Life at the University of Southern California, writes regularly for the ProgressiveChristianity.org liturgy project. Many of his liturgical materials can […]

Call to Worship: A Credo for Christians — Jim Burklo, USA

May be read in unison as a Call to Worship I worship and adore God, source, essence, and aim of all things, spirit that enlivens all beings. I follow the way of Jesus, who found God in himself and shared a way for others to find God in themselves. He was born […]

Benediction, May the peace of God… — Jim Burklo, USA

May the peace of God surround you Like the trees of the forest May the peace of God warm you all over Like the sun in the sky May the peace of God swell and roll over you Like a wave in the sea May the peace of God fill you Like the cool wind […]

Virgin Monologue — Jim Burklo, USA

“‘God did it,’ isn’t an explanation,” said Joseph. He got no account for the baby’s chromosomes, No description of the mechanism that Transmuted the divine shadow into royal blood. “‘The devil made me do it’ would have sounded better to me,” said Joseph, Though it never did him any good When he said it to […]

Credo for Christians — Jim Burklo, USA

God is Love, the cosmic creativity present everywhere and in everything, Gently urging all toward the good. To transcending Love, we raise our awestruck praise! Jesus embodied the Love that is God. He loved the poor, the sick, the outcast, He loved the unpopular, and even his own enemies. He loved so completely, he loved […]

Group blessing of baptismal water — Jim Burklo, USA

Let us prayerfully focus on this water, as I pour it into the bowl, and as we do, let each of us infuse it with our commitments to share with (this child / name) the unique gifts that God has given us, gifts (this child / name) will need from us as s/he goes along […]

Progressive Baptism Liturgy (for a child) — Jim Burklo, USA

We are here to praise God for the life of /Name/, our young friend, who in such a short time has brought us so much joy. Through /Name/ we have experienced birth again in a new and more conscious way; in him, God has created the world again, opening us to wonder and possibility that […]

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