Help UUSC rush resources to grassroots Haitian leaders as they address their country’s dire social and humanitarian emergency.

My four-year-old niece is learning to swim.  Riley loves the water, but she is also terrified of it.  On the day of her first swim lesson, she got all gussied up in her bathing suit, bathing cap, and goggles. She … Continue reading →

                                             The theatrical poster for the new film Till .   The new film Till opens wide in theaters today and is already a critical successgenerating an astonishing 98% fresh rating from the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes and is equally impressing its audiencewith PostTrak reporting a 92% positive score, with 87% saying they would definitely recommend it.   It is already generating Oscar buzz.   My wife Kathy and I have already bought tickets for a screening tonight. More importantly, the movie shine attention on the horrific 1955 lynching of young Chicagoan Emmett Till in Mississippi and his mother’s breakthrough crusade for justice.   It follows on the heel of anothe...

“Walking. I am listening to a deeper way. Suddenly all my ancestors are behind me. Be still, they say. Watch and listen. You are the result of the love of thousands.” ~Linda Hogan Sunday, October 30, 10:30 a.m. Samhain Service of Remembrance With Rev. Alice Anacheka-Nasemann Samhain, translated from Old Irish as “Summer’s End,” is a   [ … ] The post Sunday, October 30 ~ Samhain Service of Remembrance ~ 10:30 a.m. appeared first on Unitarian Church of Marlborough and Hudson.

Prayer for the Ancestors - Week of October 31, 2022 Beloved, may we pause to dust the ancestral photographs and tend the ancestral stones, to share the ancestral prayers and meditations, and to make offerings of gratitude, amends, and recognition of ancestral actions good, wrong, and mixed of curse and...

“Although exhausted, I slowly recalled a truth that has helped me to carry on: As I trudged alone through the night hallways, I staggered to a call as old as humankind. That night and every night, mothers and fathers around the world awaken to reassure restless children. That night and every night, grown children arise … Continue reading Tired Bones

The U.N. just issued a report saying that it’s unlikely that world leaders will meet emissions targets, meaning that it’s unlikely that we will be able to keep global temperature rise at 1.5 degrees Celcius. In other words, we’re fucked. Because with Putin on a rampage, and United States political leadership tearing at each other … Continue reading "Gloom"

Pagans recount their magical and sometimes eerie "fairy-led" experiences in the U.K. Continue reading Fairy led: Part two at The Wild Hunt.

In the early days of manual arts training, students were not to decorate their work, as the underlying skill in the use of tools and techniques in the development of form were to be emphasized.  For the younger kids, however, the application of color to what they've made or assembled provides a sense of pride and agency.  Some children will work on the development of patterns, while others emphasize broad and rich strokes appearing random to an adult mind. Each can spend a great bit of time, doing so.  For the woodworking teacher, the coloring of the work allows those students who are a bit slower in the assembly process to catch up. Learning must start with and be maintained by the interest of the child, and this is as much true for ...

Theodore Roosevelt--boyhood idol turned obsession. Brilliant . Bombastic. Explosively energetic.  Arrogant.  Innovative.  Egomaniacal.  Heroic.  Perpetually manic.  Self-inventing.  Those are some of the words and phrases the immediately spring tomind when contemplating the life of Theodore Roosevelt, the man who, among other things, reinvented the Presidency for the 20th Century.  The man who was born into a wealthy and influentialold Knickerbocker Dutch family on October 27, 1858 continues to fascinate103 years after his death in 1919 at the age of 60.  In recent years he was the subject of widely hailed three volume biography by Edmund Morris and several other books examining various parts of his multi-faceted life, studied i...

Would ye build that generations Yet to be may call you great? Would ye have your lives’ creations O’er the ages tower elate? Hearken then a world-old moral,— Abnegation, meek and pure. Build as doth the lowly coral,— Give yourselves. That shall endure. -”A Lesson,” by Ruby Archer What are you building, like the precious … Continue reading Building

New research explores the human genetic mutations that likely resulted from the bubonic plague in 1347-1352. Continue reading A gift of resistance from our ancestors at The Wild Hunt.

The struggle to build a world of justice begins with the intimate partnerships we build.

Karen G. Johnston How much notice would I want ahead of time before I die? Continue reading "Unfinished Business"

If you pay attention to climate issues, you know that not a day goes by without at least one major headline, whether it's a hurricane, wildfire, political posturing, or new technology; climate is in the news. I'll tell you that my heart has been heavy this past week or so because of a headline I saw explaining that animal populations have declined almost 70% since 1970. One of my mentors used to say that focusing on climate change is too small and sustainability isn’t enough.  We also have to think about species extinction, environmental justice, and the many other intersecting social and environmental justice issues. As for sustainability not being enough: You don't want your marriage to be sustainable; you want it to flourish! So ev...

“The secret to freedom is courage.” ~ Thucydides Last month when “belonging” was the topic, I began thinking about how we find courage to choose where to belong and with whom to belong.  When I finished writing, the monthly topic … Continue reading →

  The Charge of the Light Brigade  by Richard Caton Woodville, Jr. Alfred , Lord Tennyson , then the Poet Laureate of England got it exactly and succinctly right when he wrote “Not tho’ the soldier knew, someone had blunder’d... Charging an army, while all the world wonder’d.”   He dashed off what would become the recital piece of every English schoolboywithin moments of laying down the Times with a correspondent ’ s account of a disastrous vainglorious charge by the British Light Cavalry into the teeth of Russian artillery that commanded a long , narrow valley from the heights on both sides as well as the head of the vale .   The poem, The Charge of the Light Brigade was rushed to press and publishedon December 9, 1854, ...

Taken with a Fujifilm X100V Just click on the photo to enlarge it    This photo is straight out of camera using the C202 recipe by Marcel Fraij I took this photo yesterday on a lovely autumn walk across Grantchester Meadows. I post it not only because the view is, quite simply, lovely but because this was the view across from where I was rereading a section from a quite wonderful book by George M. Williams about Shin'ichirō Imaoke (1881-1988). The book is called Cosmic Sage: Imaoka Shin'ichirō, Prophet of Free Religion . Williams has also, very generously, made it available via his academia.edu page but I’d encourage you to buy a paper copy as proceeds from the book go to support indigenous Hawaiian education, culture and religion...

“We pray for those things that give us joy and hope. For those things that we trust in, believe in, will sacrifice for. These are gifts of grace, and perhaps we need not define them in order to savor them, rejoice in them, be thankful for them.” -Krista Taves What brings you joy and hope?

As the leaves continue to fall and the election nears, we’ve been hearing growing worries in the congregation about what Nov. 8 will bring, what the Jan. 6 investigation will reveal, what to do about the divisions in our community. One of the best ways to ... read more . The post Co-Ministers’ Colloquy – Oct. 25th appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

This Sunday, November 30th: Costumes welcome! Please no props. The worship service will honor our ancestors and loved ones who have died, and children are also welcome to contribute photos and mementos to the memory altars. Following worship and classes, gather on the patio for pumpkin ... read more . The post Religious Education News – Oct 25th appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

Let’s read about food, unlikely families, and resilience in November with Mango and Peppercorns; a Memoir of Food, an Unlikely Family, and the American Dream by Tung Nguyen, Katherine Manning, Lyn Nguyen, and Elisa Ung, 2021. Join us on Monday, November 28 at 6:30 for the ... read more . The post November’s BIPOC Book Discussion will explore the book Mango and Peppercorns; a Memoir of Food, an Unlikely Family, and the American Dream appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

As the wheel turns to Samhain and the veneration of ancestors, those who are incarcerated and lucky enough to have access to a Pagan ministry program also celebrate the season. Continue reading Samhain rituals and those incarcerated at The Wild Hunt.

                       During many of the past electoral seasons, I have pulled out Parker Palmer’s “Healing the Heart of Democracy” to read the passage you heard this morning.   In particular I reflect on these words: “Looking at politics through the eye of the heart can liberate us from seeing it as a chess game of moves and countermoves or a shell game for seizing power or a blame game of whack-a-mole. Rightly understood, politics is no game at all. It is the ancient and honorable human endeavor of creating a community in which the weak as well as the strong can flourish [and so too can] love…<span>   And [where] power can collaborate, and justice and mercy can have their day.   ‘We the people’ m...

There are many Festivals of Light celebrated by religions and cultures around the world including Christmas, Chanukah, and Winter Solstice observances familiar in the West.  But none are more colorful or enjoyed with such gleeful abandon a Diwali, the Hindu festival of the victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance.  In most of the Northern Hemisphere the five day holiday began this year on October 23, and reaches its peak on Wednesday, the third day of the celebration.  The large Indian diaspora in the United Kingdom, South Africa, the Caribbean, Canada, Fiji,the United States and elsewhere has spread observances across the globe. Typically, during the celebration, temples, homes, shops, and workplac...

“How do I do that?” It’s a question that, as a parent and sometimes as a teacher, I learned to listen for. It usually came from one of our three children as they reached some place in growing up and … Continue reading →

My great-grandfather, facing a hard life in his village just south of Naples, decided he had to try to make a life in America with his skills as a brick mason. He couldn’t do that if his wife and three daughters were with him, so he went alone, and sent for the rest of his … Continue reading Separation

In this week's Pagan Community Notes: Parliament of the World's Religion's Declaration for the Dignity and Human Rights of Women is re-circulating; due to overwhelming crowd sizes, Salem, MA is asking visitors to leave their cars at home and arrive by train, ferry, or broom; Mountain Rose Herbs announces winners for "Grants 4 Plants" program; burial site of a priestess of Aphrodite found in Russia; and more news Continue reading Pagan Community Notes: Week of October 24, 2022 at The Wild Hunt.

      The 24th of October! I try to notice this day as it rolls around in our calendar. At least for a time, the Western church recalled the Archangel Raphael on this day, the 24th of October. In more recent years he’s been mushed together with Michael and Gabriel and the three together […]

On United Nations Day, we call on world leaders to take bold action to protect the common good.

The first time I heard the word “courage” was as a child watching the Wizard of Oz on TV. I understood the scarecrow’s desire for a brain, the tin man’s missing heart, but even by the end of the movie, … Continue reading →

  25,000 swarmed central Reykjavik for Womens' Day off in 1975, Ah, pluckyIceland, how we love you!   Although you missed the news if you relied on mainstream media, in 2015 Iceland sent 26 of its once powerful bankers to prison for their part in the schemes that led up to the 2008 economic crisis which nearly destroyed the economy.   No country fell harder than Iceland in the worldwide crisis.   But almost alone it did not react by scrambling to bail out the banks whose reckless conduct brought on the disaster.   Instead, the banks were allowedto fail, and new ones were created to serve the domestic economy.   Stockholders and foreign depositors attracted by the old banks’ debt-driven swashbuckling in world financial markets wer...

“Reading is an adventure. Adventures are about the unknown … Literature is a mix of unfamiliarity and recognition. The situation can take us anywhere — across time and space, the globe, through the lives of people who can never be like us — into the heart of anguish we have never felt — crimes we could not commit. Yet as we travel deeper into the strange world of the story, the feeling we get is of being understood — which is odd when you think about it, because at school learning is based on whether or not we understand what […] The post Literature Appeals to the “Better Angels of our Nature” appeared first on BeyondBelief.

“Spirit of Creation, remind me that there is a power in me and within all beings that is greater than anyone or anything. Remind me that I was made for this stuff and can be fully human, vulnerable and delicate and also fierce in the face of adversity. Remind me that I need not sacrifice … Continue reading Both

      INTERSPIRITUAL PRACTICE, ZEN, AND NONDUAL CHRISTIANITY: A Review James Ishmael Ford Embracing the Inconceivable: Interspiritual Practice of Zen and Christianity Ellen Birx Orbis Books, Maryknoll, 2020 I’ve now read Embracing the Inconceivable three times. The first read was fast, the old graduate school read out of a request from the publisher for […]

My new bike came in the mail and I put it together without much trouble. The hardest part was dragging the box in from the porch. It is working great so far and the old bike still hasn’t bit the dust. I dragged it away from the window and will wait for one of my […]

      INTERSPIRITUAL PRACTICE, ZEN, AND NONDUAL CHRISTIANITY: A Review James Ishmael Ford Embracing the Inconceivable: Interspiritual Practice of Zen and Christianity Ellen Birx Orbis Books, Maryknoll, 2020 I’ve now read Embracing the Inconceivable three times. The first read was fast, the old graduate school read out of a request from the publisher for […]

The World Wildlife Federation has released its annual Living Planet report, which notes a startling 69% decline in species populations since 1970. Continue reading Science Sunday: Major decline in populations amid frustrated approaches to climate change at The Wild Hunt.

as preached at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Houston, October 23, 2022 Listen more often to things than to beings,‘tis the Ancestor’s breathwhen the fire’s voice is heard,‘tis the Ancestor’s breathin the voice of the waters. The words come from the Senegalese poet Birago Diop. The music is from Ysaye Barnwell. She is the […]

Please join us on Saturday (29 October 2022) at 3:00 PM for a Samhain ritual with Ár nDraíocht Féin (a Druid Fellowship). The Thistle Grove of Ár nDraíocht Féin invites one and all to their ritual in celebration of Samhain (pronouned SAH-win) — an ancient Celtic festival of the dead that is the source of … Continue reading "Samhain Ritual with Ár nDraíocht Féin (A Druid Fellowship) — 29 October 2002"

Next weekend, we will have a bake sale sponsored by our middle and high school youth group.  The proceeds of this bake sale will go to Holy Cross Hope House: Saturday, 29 October 2022, 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM (during Trunk or Treat Event) Sunday, 30 October 2022, after the 11:00 AM Worship Service Hope … Continue reading "Middle School / High School Bake Sale (29 and 30 October 2022)"

Continuing October's theme of "Courage," a guide to accomplishing one of humanity's most difficult tasks - asking for help.

Please join us for our annual Halloween Trunk-or-Treat event on Saturday (29 October 2022) from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM. Decorate your car – and yourself — bring some candy or something kid-friendly and fun to give away — and if you want, a game or craft for the children to do at your car. … Continue reading "Trunk-or-Treat (29 October 2022)"

Dad and I listened on the car radio when President Kennedy addressed the nation about the Cuban Missile Crisis and his eye ball to eyeball showdown with the Soviets. Note— 58 years ago this week the Cuban Missile Crisis riveted and terrified the American public, including a 13 year old in Cheyenne. This is my recycled memoir of that. I was in my father ’ s car.   I believe it was his official State of Wyoming 1962 Chevrolet station wagon.   We had the radio on.   Dad was doing me a favor.   He was a man of infinite patience that way.   We had just visited the Quonset hut that served as the official headquarters of Wyoming Civil Defense .   I had in my lap a box stuffed full of literature on how to build a bomb shelter, plan an ...

“We think of the prophets… who voiced unpopular opinions, who made personal sacrifices, and sometimes lost their lives, for the sake of justice.” -Marjorie Bowens-Wheatley and Clyde Grubbs Who are the prophets, living or dead, who have inspired you?

Yesterday and today I worked on two boxes and a table for articles in Popular Woodworking Magazine. I did the various set ups and operations, while editor Logan Wittmer took photos. It was challenging work for both of us.  All the work will be finished in my own shop. The boxes are fitted out with a tray and compartments to hold ink, fountain pens and accessories.   Make, fix and create... Assist others in learning lifewise. 

Please join us this Sunday at 11:00 AM for “TBA . . . as in ‘Yet to Be Revealed'” by Rev. Barbara Jarrell. What can we say?  It has yet to be revealed. We will be meeting in the sanctuary for this worship service.  Please join us in person at All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church, … Continue reading "All-Ages Worship (23 October 2022)"

For 23 October 2022, both classes will have a regular classroom session. PreK – 5th Grade will continue Toolbox of Faith this week discussing humor represented by sandpaper (because both can often help to smooth things over). Middle and High School will play a game of UU Jeopardy and also plan for their Bake Sale … Continue reading "Children and Youth Religious Education for 23 October 2022"

Please join us on Sunday (23 October 2022) as we resume our adult religious education class at 9:00 AM for “WhUU Dat” via Zoom and facilitated by Susan Caldwell and Barbara Deger. We are our exploring and discussing readings from the Unitarian Universalist Pocket Guide. This week’s reading includes the Foreward by Melissa Harris-Perry, the … Continue reading "Online Adult Religious Education — 23 October 2022"

Please join us next Tuesday (25 October 2022) at 12 noon for our weekly Zoom lunch. Bring your lunch and meet up with your All Souls friends, have lunch, and just catch up.

William Miller's End of the World prophesy got a lot of ink around the world.  This was from an English illustrated newspaper. Baptist preacher William Miller developed a large following based on his interpretations of the prophecies in the Book of Daniel 8:14 “Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.”  Millerite congregations sprang up after Miller began to preach his doctrine of the Earth scourged by fire and the Second Advent of Christcome to save believers in 1831.  He calculated that Jesus Christ would return to earth and appear to the saved some time in 1843-44.  The movement spread over northern states which had previously been gripped the religious frenzy of the Second Great Awakenin...

Dos más dos es cuatro. Si yo no creía en Satanás, entonces Satanás no era real, y si llegaba a creer, entonces yo todavía ponía las reglas. Yo era Dios. Continue reading Columna: El Muchacho que Retó a Satanás at The Wild Hunt.

The tide coming in below Copperas Woods on the River Stour at Wrabness, Essex  A short  “ thought for the day” offered to the Cambridge Unitarian Church as part of the Sunday Service of Mindful   Meditation (Click on this link to hear a recorded version of the following piece) —o0o— Much thinking about the future of religion in the UK has been done using the metaphor of the withdrawing tide used as it was used in 1867 by the poet and cultural critic, Matthew Arnold (1822–1888), in his famous poem “Dover Beach”, lines 21–28 of which read:  The sea of faith Was once, too, at the full, and round earth’s shore Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furl’d; But now I only hear Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar, Re...

As children, each of my siblings and I were given a small allowance. From it, we were expected to bring a quarter for the offering plate at church each week. I understood it as way to build a habit and expectation to give of myself during the worship service. No matter who was in attendance, … Continue reading Perfect Offering

Please join us on Saturday (22 October 2022) at 10:30 AM for our weekly meditation group with Larry Androes. This is a sitting Buddhist meditation including a brief introduction to mindfulness meditation, 20 minutes of sitting, and followed by a weekly teaching. The group is free and open to all. For more information, contact Larry … Continue reading "Meditation with Larry Androes (22 October 2022)"

Two plus two is four. If I didn’t believe in Satan, then Satan wasn't real, and if I believed, then I still made the rules. I was like a god. Continue reading Column: The Boy Who Challenged the Devil at The Wild Hunt.

as preached at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Houston, October 16, 2022 The Unitarian Universalist theologian Rebecca Parker has always been clear eyed about the purpose of our religious communion. In essay after essay, in book after book, writing alone or with a collaborator, she has told us that we gather in “hope for […]

        It was today, the 21st of October, 1969, that Jean Louis Kerouac, or maybe it was Jean-Louis Lebris de Kerouac, in any case, the person we know as Jack Kerouac died in St Petersburg, Florida. The day before Jack was drinking whiskey and malt liquor while working on a book. He […]

If we could see what was going on underneath the surface of each other’s lives, we would be stunned at how much courage we exercise each day. Action packed movies with their unstoppable heroines and heroes impress upon us that … Continue reading →

Everyone will begin in the Great Hall this Sunday and stay through the Story for All Ages, after which, children in grades K-6 are invited to join Rev. Lynn and Robin for Children’s Chapel fun across the street at Waters House. K-3 Wonderful Welcome: will meet ... read more . The post RE News appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

Happy fall everyone! As Lisa reported in last week’s Circuits, two of the outcomes of the annual Board retreat work are the Annual Focus of Ministry (AFOM) and the Open Questions. This year’s AFOM is “to explore how our differences can strengthen our connections and commitment to one ... read more . The post Message from the Board President appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

After worship and RE classes, kids accompanied by an adult are invited to gather on the patio for pumpkin painting, Halloween stories, songs, and fun! Just bring yourselves, as everything will be provided. Costumes are welcome, too! The post Halloween Fun – October 30th at 12 noon appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

Our Eureka Springs School of the Arts is hosting it's annual fall fun raising Mad Hatter's Ball tonight. Many fine works of art are being sold at auction to benefit the school. You can view and bid through this link, knowing what you spend will support good work.  https://one.bidpal.net/mhb2022/browse/all Among the items is a cabinet I made years ago that was donated by fellow founder Mary Springer. It was made of honey locust and oak in the 1990's. This morning I meet editor Logan Wittmer from Popular Woodworking Magazine to work on two articles. I'll make a box and a table while he takes photos for the articles. Make, fix and create... Assist others in living likewise.

  The most enduring image of the Pentagon march--young people putting flowers in the barrels of Army M-15 rifles.  Note — It is instructive to note the Johnson administration’s massive deployment in defense of the Pentagon during the 1967 anti-war March on the Pentagon and the feeble protection of the Capitol during the January 6, 2021 siege and attempted insurrection. There were other big marches in Washington in opposition to the Vietnam War.  Starting in 1965 they had practically become semi-annual events.  There would be more—and larger—ones later.  But the March to Confront the War Makers on October 21, 1967 was different.  It signaled a new phase in the anti-war movement that incorporated the rising youth counter   ...

Prayer for Democracy - Week of October 24, 2022 Lover of Justice, may we pause to pray a few words for democracy, the kind where people’s votes matter and all who are registered can vote freely without interference and with clear consciences. May we pray for democracy, where we can...

“Our salvation is intimately tied up in each other’s ability to see other people as worthwhile. All human beings as valuable, and possessing dignity. All life as having value and possessing dignity…. How do we create a context where all of that is possible? Where all that human driving and life is possible? That’s going … Continue reading Salvation

Click here for Ival Stratford Kovner's story "The Confused Clown" An aside:   Shekhinah: The Divine Feminine.  Each week on Shabbat the feminine aspects of Hashem are recounted. See  https://www.myjewishlearning.c om/article/the-divine-feminine -in-kabbalah-an-example-of- jewish-renewal/

I got my fifth COVID shot today, the so-called bivalent booster. Getting a COVID shot is boring now. But it didn’t used to be. We got our first shots the day after our age group was eligible. We had to drive an hour to find an appointment. There was an elaborate check-in process. After getting … Continue reading "Fifth shot"

Susan Dana Lawrence , Karin Lin , Nancy Palmer Jones The UU Common Read of Mistakes & Miracles is a four-session discussion series engaging congregations on the road to Beloved Community. Continue reading "Mistakes & Miracles: UU Common Read Discussion Guide"

Pagan mask making workshop utilized found and upcycled items for creating a mask for the upcoming holiday. Continue reading Mask making workshop draws on ancient traditions at The Wild Hunt.

PREFACE Come spirit come, our hearts control. Our spirits long to be made whole. Let inward love guide every deed. By this we worship and are freed. (Hymn, "Though I May Speak with Bravest Fire," 3rd verse)And our spirits do long to be made whole. Even when we understand that we are whole, the world leaves us often feeling that we aren’t. It’s the disconnect. We don’t feel connected with our neighbors. The fragmentation in the nation’s public political sphere produces a fragmentation in our psyches. We need to feel part of something we’re all in together. Then we are whole. Yet we have lost the sense that we’re all in this together. As we approach election day 2022, it’s been six years since the 2016 presidential election r...

It’s been a minute since I last wrote in earnest – between the pandemic and the ramping up of my successful entrepreneurial ministry, I’ve not had a lot of time to just write. Enter sabbatical. Beginning November 1, I’ll be on a four-month sabbatical. There will, of course, be time for rest and rejuvenation. I ... More →

                                        Lydia Maria Child as a young writer. Lydia Maria Child died in her Wayland, Massachusetts home at age on October 20, 1880.  Chances are you never heard of her.  But she may have been the first American woman to earn her living as a professional writer and became one of the country’s leading social reform advocates.  If you remember her at all, it is probably because she penned a classic holiday song still sung by school children. Child was born on February 11, 1802 in Medford, Massachusetts.  Her father Convers Francis was a businessman, banker, and a stern orthodox Calvinist.  The youngest of three children, she received a conventional education at a local dame schoo...

Sunday, October 23, 10:30 a.m. “Soul Matters” Monthly Spirit Circle This circle will be held once a month in lieu of our traditional worship service; please join us in our beautiful sanctuary the rest of the month for our regularly-scheduled worship services! 10:30am – Noon Unitarian Church of Marlborough & Hudson 80 Main St., Hudson, MA      [ … ] The post Sunday, October 23 ~ Soul Matters Spirit Circle ~ 10:30 a.m. appeared first on Unitarian Church of Marlborough and Hudson.

I love going to the movies. When I was a child and I assure you I used to be one many moons ago, movies were rare. I only remember going to the movies around 7 times in my childhood. Yes, … Continue reading →

“Inspired by the beauty and holiness of the Earth, we become more willing to relinquish material desires. We recognize the need for sacrifice as we build a world that is both just and sustainable. We are called to be good stewards, restoring the Earth and protecting all beings.” -UUA Commission on Appraisal, on the 7th … Continue reading Sustainability

This post is a companion piece to a post I wrote in February 2015, “A Conversation Begins with a Lie…” Like a lot of moments in my life, I recently realized something important while listening to the Indigo Girls.   Carri … Continue reading →

Yesterday I visited with woodworking and trades students at North Arkansas Community College and did a book talk and signing in their library. The students were very attentive. Today I taught our Clear Spring School kids how to make flip cars, a tradition at the Clear Spring School. The kids were very excited, and recognizing my age asked if it is OK to call me "Grandpa." I think, being the age that I am, it's OK. The photo is a silly one. Make, fix, and create. Assist others in learning likewise.

How the consumption and production of chocolate impacts the environment in a variety of ways, and the possible changes that could make it more sustainable. Continue reading Honoring Quetzalcoatl’s gift: chocolate and it’s impacts at The Wild Hunt.

Jeff Milchen UU the Vote organized in-person events in two states where voting and human rights are most threatened: Michigan and Georgia.

RSVP to the Auction and Trunk or Treat here.

A memorandum of understanding building on the historic partnership between EqUUal Access and the UUA ensures more resources and staff to address ableism within Unitarian Universalism and to support equity in the engagement of disabled people in society as a whole. Continue reading "Unitarian Universalists Commit to Addressing Ableism: Memorandum of Understanding Between UUA and EqUUal Access Continues Efforts to Promote Disability Justice"

Laura Shay Witnessing the lifecycle of a monarch butterfly has made me a better chaplain. Continue reading "Part of the Mystery"

  John Turnbull's famous 1820 painting of the surrender at Yorktown.  General Benjamin Lincoln accepted the sword from Brigadier Charles O'Hara as Washington looked on.  The French army was on the left and the Continental Army on the right.  The band played  The World Turned Upside Down. The English musicianshad it right when they played The World Turned Upside Down on October 19, 1781.   On that day British forces commanded by Lieutenant General Lord Cornwallis marched out of their fortifications at Yorktown , Virginia between ranks of Continental Army and French troops. Cornwallis, feigning illness, dispatched Irish born Brigadier General Charles O’Hara to do the distasteful duty.   O’Hara attempted to offer the sword of sur...

Courageous people almost never feel that they are courageous. It’s one of the oddities of human experience. We can all probably identify people in our lives whom we consider to be courageous. We know what they have been up against. … Continue reading →

In the context of a theologically diverse audience, and with the coming harvest weighing heavily on my mind, I offered this prayer as part of last Sunday’s service at Denton UU.

As a child, I loved learning how to keep score at baseball games, and my father loved explaining the intricacies of baseball scoring. One of my favorite things to score was the “sacrifice fly,” in which a batter hits a long fly ball knowing that it would be caught, but allowing the runner on third … Continue reading Sacrifice Fly

  A Story             Long ago and far away, there was a girl named Vasilisa.   Sometimes she was called Vasilisa the wise.   She was never called Vasilisa the sad, even though her mother died when she was just eight years old.   Of course, she was sad about her mother’s passing.   But she had fond memories of her, too.             Before she died, her mother called her daughter to her bedside and place a doll in Vasilisa’s hands.   It was one she had carved especially for her.   Vasilisa’s mother said, “Take good care of this little doll and she will take good care of you.”             Vasilisa put the little doll in her pocket.   On the day her mother died, despite her tears she rememb...

I went to the September meeting of the Miami-Dade County School Board along with two of our members, Martha Harrison and Cam McFrederick.    We were concerned about the school board voting down a resolution to: “Recognize and observe October 2022 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) History Month and direct the Superintendent to support policies and practices…that respect and support LGBTQ students and their families throughout the school year.”   In case you didn’t know, this history month did not require anyone in the public schools to participate, did not have any curricula associated with it, and would not have been discussed in the classroom.   The resolution would have simply given the LGBTQ student...

          “There is no such thing as a heartbeat at six weeks,” said Stacey Abrams, who is running a campaign centered on abortion access to unseat Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R). “It is a manufactured sound designed to convince people that men have the right to take control of a woman’s body away from her.” According to obstetrics and gynecology experts, Abrams is correct in saying there is no heartbeat at six weeks. At that stage of the embryo’s development, the chambers and valves of the heart ― the opening and closing of which create the heartbeat sound ― don’t exist yet.   Abrams was arguing against the use of “fetal heartbeat” rhetoric in anti-abortion legislation. The term is used to contest abortion r...

 Story An old woman is nearing the end of her life. As she closes her eyes one night, she sees a bright light and is transported to another realm. She doesn’t pass away just then, instead, she returns to the living world to find her family gathered at her bedside. She smiles and whispers to her children, “I have seen the great hereafter.” “The great whereafter?” Her son asks. “Heaven and hell. I have seen them both.”   The old woman goes on to explain, “I came upon a door, and behind it was hell. What I saw there confounded me. There was a dining hall filled with rows of tables, each table bearing a magnificent stew. It looked and smelled delicious, yet the people seated around the tables were emaciated and sickly, moan...

                   Generally, I am okay being alone.   I have become more aware in the 20 years I’ve been since a Unitarian Universalist minister, that I need time with people and time without people. I am not a fan of multitasking, and yet ministry often is multitasking: preaching, pastoring, teaching, studying, learning, sometimes all at once.   And so alone time is needed to sort through it all, to be quiet, to reflect, to write, to read, to try to understand all that is taking place around and within me.   But there are times, whether I’m with people or taking some alone time, when I feel lonely. Have you felt lonely?    I am going to assume the answer is yes for all of us gathered here.   Perhaps it was whe...

By Helene Atwan | Gayl Jones, the highly acclaimed author who was first “discovered" and mentored by Toni Morrison has twice disappeared from our sight. The first time was after a stellar launch as one of America’s most daring and distinctive literary lights, after two brilliant novels (“Corregidora” and “Eva’s Man”) brought out by Morrison at Random House, and one slim but oh-so-astonishing story collection (“White Rat”), when she went into a self-imposed exile in France, from the late 1970s until the late 1990s. She and her husband had rejected the racism that surrounded them, and Gayl had made the decision to leave her job in academia and her very promising career as a writer, as well as her friends and supporters in...

The Frederick Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans (FCUUPS) gears up for its annual Samhain ritual on Saturday. Continue reading A Samhain journey in Western Maryland at The Wild Hunt.

        When I was planning my stopover in Bangkok on a trip to Bhutan I wanted to visit the Mahayana Buddhist monastery where the English Buddhist John Blofeld’s ashes were interred. My friend the scholar Justin Whitaker connected me to Will Yaryan. Will was a mostly retired professor of religious studies keeping […]

Last year activists lobbied the Illinois General Assembly to end money bail requirements that penalize poverty. Tree of Life Unitarian Universalist Congregation , 5603 Bull Valley Road in McHenry, will host an on-line forum to discuss the truth about the Pretrial Fairness provisions of the SAFE-T Act this Saturday, October 22 at 5pm on Zoom.   “Much misinformation and fear mongering has been spread,” according to Tree of Life Social Justice Chair Patrick Murfin.  “We want to let our community this important criminal justice reform.” Tree of Life is partnering with the UU Prison Ministry of Illinois (UUPMI) and their allies at Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice ( INPJ ) who argue that pre-trial detention for the inability to ...