Affirmations 

We affirm the unfailing renewal of life. 
Rising from the earth and reaching for the sun, 
  all living creatures shall fulfil themselves. 
We affirm the steady growth of human fellowship. 
Rising from ancient cradles and  reaching for the stars, 
  man the world over shall seek  the ways of understanding. 
We affirm a continuing hope, that out of every tragedy 
  the spirit of man shall rise to  build a fairer world. 

We affirm the goodness of life 
  available to all the children of men, 
  and realized in human love. 
We celebrate the joy of life 
  in the splendours of the outward world 
  and in the fellowship of friends. 
We engage in the journey of life 
  accepting the demands of labour 
  and the discipline of duty. 
We revere the mystery of life 
  in birth and death, in activity and stillness, 
  and in powers greater than we  can comprehend. 

We affirm our loyalty to lovely things, 
  to quiet places of earth given to us as home, 
  and to the busy places where  our work is done. 
To the deep confidences of friendship 
  and all true human sympathies. 
To the subtle achievements of art, 
  to the crisp facts of science, 
  and to the solid strength of great character. 

Religion spoke in the flame of ancient altars 
  and still shines in the candle of our devotion. 
It shaped the solemn temples and the soaring spires 
  and still we build its sacred spaces. 
Its words of inner command are  penned on ancient scroll 
  and more, are graven in the heart. 
We will not diminish our devotion 
  nor shrink in spirit. 
We affirm the powers that made us 
  and the potency within. 

Let religion be confidence in the centre of every life 
  and love at the core of our communities. 
Let its voice be raised in gladness 
  for the glorious light of day 
  and for the splendid silent night. 

Unbelief 

Bold antiphony is the  background music of our time. 
Seeing the dust risen to man; 
  seeing the ungainly foot transformed 
  into grace of horse upon a plain; 
  seeing the puny weeds of time exalted 
  to the beauty of a rose at dawn; 
I believe. 

An eagle, mighty and  imperial, cleaves the sky; 
  a tiger keeps his burning watches 
  in the forest and the grass; 
  unearthly fish plumb the  ocean's deeps; 
  earth is peopled, niche and cranny, 
  with intense living and valiant dying; 
I believe. 

Yet eagle is merciless when  swooping to his prey; 
  the tiger pulls down a   gazelle, unmoved 
  by the liquid pathos in her eyes; 
  the rose's beauty will soon pass, 
  hanging limp, discarded on its stem. 
Help thou my unbelief. 

Summer and winter will long continue; 
  blooms will breathe on desert air; 
  oceans will roll their undying chant. 
Wiser men, chastened by the tremors of our time, 
  will learn to live in peace and plenty 
  beyond imagining; 
I believe. 

But when the swelling sun shall reach beyond 
  its present girth, and shall have swallowed up 
  in vapour the glory and the  striving of the earth; 
Help thou my unbelief. 

In subtle forces borrowed   from the giant gestures 
  of the universe, flowing into fingers 
  and into wit of man; 
  in high intelligence that  lets us grasp 
  enduring truth, and touch  the nearby miracle; 
I believe. 

But when hands grow cold  with no more fashioning; 
  when eyes are closed with  no more seeing; 
  when mind ceases to study and to scan, 
  and all its gallantry is  gathered to the grave, 
  or dismembered by the  purifying fire; 
Help thou my unbelief