It was on this day, the 19th of November, at the dedication of a graveyard at Gettysburg, after the keynote speaker the remarkable Unitarian clergyman Reverend Edward Evertt held forth for two hours; that President Abraham Lincoln stood and spoke two hundred and eighty five words…

Ralph Chaplin, then the editor of the  Industrial Worker,  wrote this poem, later set to music.  Pictured is Frank Little, the tough IWW hard rock miners organizer who was lynched in   Butte, Montana in 1917. For many of us November is a melancholy month .   Often slate gray skies silhouette naked trees in a chilling wind.   Death seems at hand.   But so is its handmaiden—remembrance.   After all, the month begins with All Souls/Day of the Dead when the memories of ancestors and loved ones are honored.   English school children still chant “Remember, Remember the Fifth of November,” now a harmless nursery rhyme about Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot but was once an annual call to riot and mayhem against Catholics not only...

“As drops of rain that find each other and build to become a track, a rivulet, a stream, a river, a sea, so are we drawn together; so are we fortunate to find each other; so are we bound together, on this shared passage toward an unknown ocean and eternity.” -Elizabeth Lerner Maclay Who are … Continue reading Bound Together

Please join us for the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance Service on Saturday (19 November 2022) at 2:00 PM in the All Souls sanctuary. Join us as we remember those lost to violence in 2021 and 2022. Because their spirits live on when we speak their true names in love. The service is offered by … Continue reading "Transgender Day of Remembrance Service (19 November 2022)"

Please join us on Saturday (19 November 2022) from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM for our monthly building and grounds work day. There will be tasks for all ages and abilities — indoors and out.

Please join us on Saturday (19 November 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 (19 November 2022)"

In an interview with Religion News Service, author Liz Bucar talks about the difference between religious (mis)appropriation, and religious borrowing: “Religious borrowing has always existed. It’s certainly a big part of the way religion in America is experienced and consumed, especially if you think about the spiritual but not religious or the nones. Some forms … Continue reading "Borrowing vs. appropriation"

By Meghan Privitello and Abbey Clements | When a child hears gunshots, she will say Mom is beating the pots and pans. She will say It sounds like home. Let’s keep it this way; our children misinterpreting the sound of dying as a crude percussion.

Alan D.D. shares a folk story about a ghostly mule and the lessons it teaches about discernment. Continue reading La Mula Maneada: Corruption, Hate, and Forgiveness at The Wild Hunt.

Alan D.D. shares a folk story about a ghostly mule and the lessons it teaches about discernment. Continue reading La Mula Maneada: Corrupción, Odio, y Perdón at The Wild Hunt.

UUSC commemorates the lives of those lost to anti-trans violence globally.

      When the song of the angels is stilled,when the star in the sky is gone,when the kings and princes are home,when the shepherds are back with their flocks,the work of Christmas begins: to find the lost,to heal the broken,to feed the hungry,to release the prisoner,to rebuild the nations,to bring peace among the […]

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— I belong to a long-standing, liberal, free and inquiring religious tradition that has continually hoped it would be possible to create an as inclusive and simple a form of religion as possible. Within this tradition the idea got its initial impetus from the example of Jesus who, perhaps building on the example of Rabbi Hillel, attempted radically to simplify the voluminous and complex commandments and teachings of his own Jewish faith as follows: “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your ...

There is nothing quite as special as knocking on your neighbors door to borrow a cup of sugar and they send you home with sugar and a slice of homemade red velvet cake. -JeKaren Olaoya (CLF) How can you reach out to a neighbor today? No hay nada tan especial como tocar a la puerta … Continue reading A Cup Of Sugar

                         Joe Hill in a photo taken in prison awaiting his execution. One hundred and seven years ago on November 19, 1915 Utah authorities took Joe Hill from his prison cell, tied him to a straight back chair, blindfolded him and pinned a paper heart on his chest.  Then, in accordance with the local custom a firing squad of five men, four of them with live rounds in their rifles and one with a blank, perforated that paper valentine. No one was better at setting words to popular or sacred songs for use in educatingand rousing up workers than Joseph Hillstrom, a Swedish immigrant who drifted into the migratory labor life of the American West shortly after the dawn of the 20th Century. He was born as Joel Hä...

Coming and going My life is change The religion of my childhood Rearranged Coming and going My belief not clear My questions need answers Whispers sound near Coming and going Where is my song Where do I fit Will I … Continue reading →

Prayer for the Very Sure - Week of November 21, 2022 Lover of the Fallible, the Imperfect, and the Fearful-of-Being-Found-Not-Enough, invite us again to put down the posturing and lean into the reality of our enoughness without perfection, our lovableness without needing to know everything, our belonging without needing to...

As many of you will know from many of the pieces on this blog (often given as Sunday addresses/thoughts for the day to the congregation of the Cambridge Unitarian Church) I have again and again foregrounded the need for our liberal, free and enquiring religion consciously to adopt a philosophy of motion/movement so we can engage ever more effectively and appropriately with the world as it is now showing up to us through the modern natural sciences. Just type the word “motion” in the search box on this blog to pull up a few of the more explicit examples of what I have written, or simply click on THIS LINK which will do the same thing. A key figure for me in my exploration has been Thomas Nail who has written extensively on the subject...

Several new research studies involving bees have plenty to buzz about! Continue reading Electric honeybee swarms, bumblebee toys, and more buzz: Unleash the bees! at The Wild Hunt.

The UUA joins a coalition of religious organizations and members of clergy to oppose Alabama's SB 184, a bill that criminalized providing gender-affirming medical care for trans youth. Continue reading "UUA Files Coalition Amicus Brief to Support Trans Youth Seeking Gender-Affirming Care in Alabama: Amicus Brief Supports Plaintiffs in Eknes-Tucker et al v. Gov. of the State of Alabama et al."

Thank you so much for signing up for “Community Conversation”, the third and final workshop in our series on “Climate Resilience through Disaster Response & Community Care”. Whether you attended in real-time or plan to watch the recording later, we are grateful for your commitment to building communities of care in the face of climate disasters. View the recording Recording and materials for Session 1 Recording and materials for Session 2 Next Steps How can we continue to grow community around climate disaster preparedness and response?  What do UUs need to foster communities of care in the face of climate change?  How can we work together to cultivate thriving communities?   Tell us what you need!   Thank you for engaging i...

“I put my faith in you. I put my faith in every one of you who woke up this morning with the weight of loss—manifesting as numbness, anger, fear, or an alienating, aching pain. I put my faith in you, and I pray you will put your faith in me. We need one another now, … Continue reading The Weight of Loss

My mental health has been compromised. Ah! The changes my mind has gone through is overwhelming. My mind can be my worst enemy.   I take antidepressants and antianxiety pills. I didn’t need the pills before cancer. The pills keep me … Continue reading →

                                           This illustration gives William Tell the full 19th Century Romantic treatment. On November 18, 1307 Wilhelm Tell, who may or may not have existed, allegedly shot an apple off the head off his trembling son with his trusty crossbow on the orders of a tyrannical local Austrian official or Bailiff who may, or may not, have existed.  Subsequently Tell may, or may not, have assassinated the villain and led a rebellion that led to the creation of the Old Swiss Confederacy.  Or so the story goes. Known to the English speaking world as William Tell and Napoleonic Era European romantics as Guillaume Tell, he became a heroic symbol of Swiss independence, revolutionary resistanc...

    Click here for Karen Sheahan's deeply personal story about her and her sisters.

    Click here for MaryMargaret Halsey's beautiful personal story of "Nature"

Some links from my recent web browsing: Are We Allies? Foluke Ifejola Adebisi has an excellent blog post on “the concept of allyship against injustice.” In other words, what does it mean to be a “white ally,” or any other kind of ally? Adebisi makes an intersting disctintion between allyship as being, and allyship as doing: … Continue reading "Recent web browsing"

Today my Kindergarten students (our rainbow group) made boxes to hold the sets of Froebel blocks that they made last week. They have been using Froebel blocks that my older students made in their classroom so these blocks will be ones that they can take home. Make, fix and create... Assist others in learning likewise.

A recently discovered bronze artifact called the Hand of Irulegi may offer insights into the Basque language and the ancient tribe called Vascones. Continue reading “When they told me what it was, tears flooded my eyes:” Discovery may hold secrets of the Basque language at The Wild Hunt.

Yesterday felt like the true turning of the seasons, from warm autumn 70 degree days to a chilly, almost winter, high of 40 degrees. We had a freeze overnight and the pond surface was wrinkled with ice forming. I went around the yard putting away the last garden hose, the five-gallon buckets, the little tables […]

Sunday, November 20 Visiting Stow/Acton ~  Services at 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. Join us in person (masked) or online. Links and details below. “This is a time of celebration for you – celebrating an anniversary of a beginning for the White man in America. A time of looking back, of reflection. It is with a   [ … ] The post Sunday, November 20 ~ Visiting Stow/Acton ~ 10:00 a.m. appeared first on Unitarian Church of Marlborough and Hudson.

There is a scene in Shakespeare’s Macbeth in which a character approaches the three witches, asking them to foretell his future. He implores, If you can look into the seeds of time, And say which grain will grow and which will not, Speak then to me…. (Act 1, Scene 5) There are so many ways […]

JD Stillwater Little changes can snowball into massive impacts. Continue reading "Small Decisions"

The United States’ new climate commitments at COP27 may sound promising, but their actions behind the scenes tell a different story.

A lot of ministry is done not in the congregation but out in the community. Chaplains attend to the spiritual health of patients in hospitals and servicemembers in the military. Community ministers feed the hungry, house the homeless, and heal the sick. They educate, advocate, and agitate. We honor all of the ways that community … Continue reading Community Ministry

On the spiral path, Change is embraced As a necessary part of growth As we circle around each season again We notice the subtle ways we have changed And the wisdom we have gained We celebrate and grieve The gains … Continue reading →

I’m not going to tell you where I plan to move – the right place for me may not be the right place for you. Instead, I want to talk about the process of deciding where to move: for opportunities, for politics, and to avoid the worse of climate change.

        Last year on this day, the 16th of November, I wrote a small appreciation of Alan. Watts. He died on this day in 1973. And I find it not a bad time to pause and think of him. Watts remains an important figure in my life. And, more important I think […]

  Taken with a Fujifilm X100F Just click on the photo to enlarge it    One of my favourite walks from the centre of Cambridge takes me through Ditton Meadows by the River Cam an on into the small village of Fen Ditton. This photo, taken in May 2021, looks back at Ditton Meadows from the village at the very end of the High Street. It was as near a perfect spring day as it is possible to experience here in dear Old Blighty. 

Back then the culture took a sometimes amused, sometimes encouraging view of children fighting.  Boys will be boys, that sort of thing, and a feeling that it would "toughen 'em up"   and that the victims of bullies could only be redeemed by standing up to their tormentors. Note— This Cheyenne memoir peace originated and was adapted from a presentation at a Panel on Peace at what was then still the Congregational Unitarian Church of Woodstock on November 30, 2008 and which was first posted on the blog in this form in 2012.  I pretty much defined the word dork. That was the preferred term, way back when, for guys who would now be called nerds.  Back in the sixth grade at Eastridge Elementary School in Cheyenne, Wyoming, I was the pa...

November 15 is "America Recycles Day" but how do Pagans and others think about recycling when it comes to personal and spiritual practices? Continue reading America Recycles Day: Pagan research on Eco-Friendly Behavior at The Wild Hunt.

“From the light of days remembered burns a beacon bright and clear, guiding hands and hearts and spirits into faith set free from fear.” These words by Mary Katherine Morn call us to acknowledge the past that we have inherited. The beacon hasn’t always been ... read more . The post Co-Ministers’ Colloquy – Nov. 15th appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

Jan Gartner The UUA offers a Congregational Salary Program as a service to congregational leaders. We're introducing a fresh approach, including an emphasis on process and a new structure for our Recommended Salary Ranges. Continue reading "Congregational Salary Program"

The Rev. Dr. Sofía Betancourt has been nominated for UUA President by the Presidential Search Committee. Learn more about the candidate and find links to the candidate's website and social media. Continue reading "Candidate for UUA President: the Rev. Dr. Sofía Betancourt"

The UUA Presidential Search Committee announces their nomination of the Rev. Dr. Sofía Betancourt, an experienced leader and theologian in Unitarian Universalism, for UUA President for the 2023-2029 term. Continue reading "Presidential Search Committee Nominates Rev. Dr. Sofía Betancourt for UUA President"

The UUA Board shares its thoughts on the Presidential Search Committee's nominated candidate for UUA President. Continue reading "Board Statement on the Presidential Search Committee's Nomination for UUA President"

(Or a depression pit, As my wife half-jokingly calls it, Hoping to remind me Not to get to comfortable, that I can’t stay too long) But the nice thing is If you tuck yourself in just right, If your toes are all covered and you’re properly warm and cozy and finally starting to calm down […]

I’ve noticed that sometimes when we talk about the 8th Principle, the whole idea of decolonizing our minds or actively challenging systems of oppression in ourselves and our institutions can seem super daunting. The way we have all been raised in white supremacy culture is a truly daunting issue, but it’s important to remember that […]

World leaders gathering in Egypt for the annual UN climate summit must reject corporate-backed false solutions.

Maplewood Shop is helping schools adopt woodworking in schools and is featured in this video from CBS in NYC. A great demonstration of its value. In the meantime I'm getting things ready to teach box making with the Sunflower Woodworker's Guild in Wichita on Saturday and a presentation on Friday night. Make, fix and create.

    In this world there have always been many opinions about faith and salvation. You need not think alike to love alike. There must be knowledge in faith also. Sanctified reason is the lantern of faith. Religious reform can never be all at once, but gradually step by step. If they offer something better, […]

On this day after the election, we are feeling so grateful for all of you who participated in #UUtheVote, writing cards and letters, text banking, phone banking, knocking on doors, registering voters, being a poll worker, painting messages on stones to “rock the vote”, and ... read more . The post Co-Ministers’ Colloquy – Nov. 9th appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

The Green Sanctuary team is collecting the following items requested by the Schenectady Community Ministries: 2023 calendars, holiday/ Christmas cards their guests can send out, Children’s books, and yarn for their Hamilton Hill Senior Knitting Circle. You may bring donations to the Green Sanctuary table ... read more . The post Green Sanctuary Collecting 2023 Calendars for SiCM appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

Once again D4$ will deliver homecooked Lasagna meals to raise money for people in need. We will reach out to girls around the world who struggle to stay in school during their menses. The MoonCatcher Project provides free reusable menstrual kits to change the lives of ... read more . The post 16th Annual Dining for Dollars Benefit December 13-14, 2022 – Volunteers needed! appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

                                          Kindly looking King C. Gillette's visage became the trademark of his products. On this date in 1904 King C. Gillette secured a patent on a safety razor and the disposable blades to use in it.   The products quickly changed the lives of American men and the and the culture.   Men were liberated from straight razors which required daily stropping to keep sharp and except in the deftest of hands apt leave minoror major cuts—a day without blood on the towel was a victory for many.   A major victim of the safety razor was the ubiquitous neighborhood barbershopsand the ones that were in virtually every major office building and many factories where many men gathered daily ...

I’m going to write about the most difficult change that life has given me. It’s an absolutely unwanted change. It changed me in every way mentally and physically. I will write about the changes of my physical self. In January … Continue reading →

Community is your place in the world.  It’s those with whom you share your hopes and dreams and fears.   We both derive and provide support from our community. We all need community–people need people. -Judy DiCristofaro (CLF) How can you make your needs known to others today? La comunidad es tu lugar en el mundo. … Continue reading People Need People

    In this world there have always been many opinions about faith and salvation. You need not think alike to love alike. There must be knowledge in faith also. Sanctified reason is the lantern of faith. Religious reform can never be all at once, but gradually step by step. If they offer something better, […]

Religion New Service reports on religiosity trends in the US, as found in the 2021 General Social Survey (GSS). The GSS concluded that religious participation declined rapidly during the COVID pandemic. But Michael Hout, professor of sociology at New York University, and two colleagues raise questions about that conclusion. Participation in organized religion may have … Continue reading "“The quarrel is with the organized part…”"

In this week's Pagan Community Notes: Pietas builds a temple to Neptune, Ventura Country Spirit Walk, Circle Sanctuary events, Hurricane Nichole exposes human remains, and more news Continue reading Pagan Community Notes: Week of November 14, 2022 at The Wild Hunt.

The White House keeps see-sawing on immigrant rights, when what’s needed is a clear and steady commitment to the rights of people in migration.

I went to bed last night eager to get up this morning to write this post.  I was excited because with the approaching 10 year anniversary of the Sandy Hook shooting, I realized that it would be extremely important for me to put a message about embodiment in the context of gun violence.  Then overnight, […]

Yesterday I finished a 3 day class with North Arkansas Community College, and lots of beautiful boxes were made. Each student went home with 3, all made with Arkansas hardwoods. Lots of learning took place.  Make, fix and create.

I believe happy people have integrated themselves into many different positive communities.  It’s human nature to want and need to belong to a group of others.  Where we are employed, our hobbies and interests and especially our struggles.  I’ve found great reprieve from my personal struggles through connecting with others who fight the same battles. … Continue reading Struggling Together

I love to move the furniture around in my house. Seriously, it’s a thing. I suddenly become bored with whatever arrangement I have and decide, no, actually that chair doesn’t look good there. Shouldn’t we buy a bookcase maybe? What … Continue reading →

    It was on this day, the 14th of November in 1890 that the remarkable and almost too amazing to be believed, but carefully documented so so very much real Nellie Bly embarked on her famous trip around the world. Her journey was measured against the fictional Phileas Fog’s trip around the world in […]

It seems like a good day to resurrect a poem that appeared in a slightly different form in my 2004 collection We Build Temples in the Heart published by Beacon Press, Boston. The poem came to me early one morning on my daily walk from the Metra train stationin Cary, Illinois to Briargate Elementary School where I was the Head Custodian.  After I opened the building and classroomsand hoisted the Flag outside, I grabbed a cup of bad coffee in the Teachers’ Lounge and set down to scribblea first draft.   Mid-November Dawn   The time has come,             I know, I know.   The soft frosts that fade             at the first blush of light             are over.             The grass snaps now

As we went around Oshkosh this afternoon, I stopped to photograph six buildings that house religious communities. It was strange to see how deserted most of these buildings looked on Sunday afternoon. The Christian churches presumably had a lot of activity this morning, but by afternoon the building were dark, the parking lots empty. Even … Continue reading "Buildings of religious communities in Oshkosh"

Does "Paganism" take a capital letter? It's a more important question than it might seem at first, an artifact of the ongoing rivalry between Christianity and Pagan religions, argues TWH's editor-in-chief, Manny Tejeda-Moreno, who argues the case for the capital P. Continue reading Editorial: a Capital problem resurfaces on Wikipedia at The Wild Hunt.

as preached at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Houston, November 13, 2022 This past summer, I had the opportunity to hear the Commoners Choir in concert. The show was part of their Hope & Anger tour. They are a British folk choir that sings all original compositions. Our choir sang one of their pieces, […]

Change happens. Sometimes we made it happen, and sometimes it happens to us without warning. How do we prepare ourselves for the unexpected? How do we respond to the changes that come without our bidding?

      The Five Ranks of Dongshan Liangjie Comments by Thomas Cleary Five Ranks, Three Roads, Three Falls, Three Leaks, Four Types of Different Kinds The Five Ranks The five ranks may be viewed as a progression of stages of development or an analysis of different degrees of integration. In the first, called the relative […]

I have said more than once, that if you want to know where you are going, it helps to know where you have been. Of course we never know what is ahead of us. Trails can erode or a fallen tree can block our path. But still, checking that compass and looking back can keep […]

I'm ready for day three of box making with seven students from North Arkansas Community College with the class being held at our Eureka Springs School of the Arts. Students have 3 boxes in the works to be completed today. Student ages range from twenty up to as old as I am. make, fix and create. Assist others in learning likewise.

This interesting article from the New York Times describes how our participation in social media (and computer gaming also), are distorting us one quick tweet at a time. The principle is called operant conditioning and it's distorting and poisoning everything from politics to our relationships with each other. This weekend I'm teaching a class on box making for students from North Arkansas Community College. The class is being held at ESSA and is part of our on-going effort to expand the reach of what our school offers to the community at large. Last week we had faculty and administration from the college attending for lessons in art welding. A simple remedy for the poison that's destroying us is to join together in doing real things. ma...

Community can be the network of relationships that calls us to work for collective liberation. When we are bound in community, we find liberation together–for all of us or for none. How have you experienced working for collective liberation in community? La comunidad puede ser la red de relaciones que nos llama a trabajar por … Continue reading Liberation

Here’s a lighthearted look some of the things people believe in – or not – and how strongly I do or don’t believe in them.

This 2014 mural by Richard K. Yazzir commemorates the Cherokee Trail of Tears and the Long Walk Home  some members of the nation made from their new settlement land in Indian Territory (today's Oklahoma) back to their homelands in the Carolinas, and Georgia.  In Illinois and Wisconsin members of the Sauk and Fox tried tried to return to their hunting grounds from reservations in Iowa but were defeated and expelled again after the Black Hawk War . November is Native American Heritage Month in the United States.   The designation was inspired by the false narrative of the First Thanksgiving myth and in recognition of the true history of the genocidal displacement of aboriginal peoples and nations by the European settler invasion and con...

Please join us this Sunday (13 November 2022) at 11:00 AM for “Delighted Without Hope” by Rev. Barbara Jarrell. We will be meeting in the sanctuary for this worship service.  Please join us in person at All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church, 9449 Ellerbe Road, Shreveport LA  71106 if you are able to do so. Our service … Continue reading "All-Ages Worship (13 November 2022)"

At a time when so much is in question, including the holiday itself, it would be tempting either to pass it by completely, or to continue to celebrate without confronting difficult truths. Neither path is a solution. Instead, we do pause to give thanks for all we have in this life, including our right to … Continue reading "Thanksgiving Service, Ritual of Gratitude, and Potluck Feast (20 November 2022)"

This Sunday (13 November 2022) — “Understanding the Bible” Adapted for this age group from a curriculum based on the book by John Buehrens (Understanding the Bible: An Introduction for Skeptics, Seekers, and Religious Liberals). This week — Session 1 — “Why Bother with The Bible?” The group will explore the reasons we study the … Continue reading "Middle and High School Youth Religious Education"

This Sunday (13 November 2022) — “Noah and the Ark” Children and youth are with us in the sanctuary for the first 20 minutes and then are dismissed to their classes. The elementary class (Pre-K through Grade 5) begins their season of focus on our Jewish and Christian heritage looking at the story of Noah and … Continue reading "Children’s Religious Education (13 November 2022)"

Please join us on Sunday (13 November 2022) as we continue our adult religious education class at 9:00 AM for “WhUU Dat” via Zoom and facilitated by Susan Caldwell and Barbara Deger continuing our discussion of the Unitarian Universalist Pocket Guide. This week’s readings include the sections entitled, “Our Worship,” and “Our Religious Education.”

Please join us next Tuesday (15 November 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.

When one can visit the Temple of Athena, one must visit the Temple of Athena. Continue reading Pilgrimages: A Visit to the Parthenon (in the Athens of the South) at The Wild Hunt.

By James Baldwin | I first saw “The Exorcist,” in Hollywood, with a black friend of mine, who had his own, somewhat complex reasons for insisting that I see it: just so, one of my brothers had one day walked me into the film “The Devils,” which he had already seen, saying, cheerfully, as we walked out, “Ain’t that some shit? I just wanted you to see how sick these people are!” Both my friend and my brother had a point. I had already read “The Devils”; now, I forced myself to read “The Exorcist”—a difficult matter, since it is not written; then, I saw the film again, alone. I tried to be absolutely open to it, suspending judgment as totally as I could.

You may have heard of the meltdown at Twitter, and also may have heard of one option Twitter users have been going: Mastodon.  I don’t have a lot of love for Twitter, but until this week I didn’t see a lot of alternatives. The influx of people to Mastodon led me to dust off my … Continue reading "I’m on Mastodon"

In the May, 2022, issue of “St. Anthony Messenger,” a publication of Franciscan Media (Roman Catholic), there was an article by Mark P. Shea titled “I’d Like To Say: Stop Weaponizing the Eucharist.” For those of us who take a pro-choice position, this article contains some observations that we could perhaps agree with. Like this: … Continue reading "Finding common ground"

Early in November 1970, a 45-foot long, 8 ton sperm whale beached itself near Florenceon the central Oregon Coast.  This turned out to be fatal for the unfortunate whale which, which, based on its size—about half the length of a full grown bull, was likely an adolescent female. Sperm whales were still being actively hunted by several countries, most notably the Japanese, Soviets, and Norwegians though their numbers had been reduced to the point where the species was threatened.  Although the United Stateswas out of the business, its fleets of whalershad roamed the globe from New England ports from the late 18th Century to the early mid-20th Century and had taken the biggest toll on the population of the world’s largest toothed pred...

Community is our natural state, the reality opposed to the illusion of capitalist individualism, and what keeps people alive during disasters and emergencies. As an atheist, it’s the higher power beyond myself; as a Black person, it’s my culture and way of life. -Cir L’Bert, Jr. (CLF) How do you experience the higher power of … Continue reading Reality

    On Social media there’s a meme that’s going around, at least in my small corner of that world. I’ve seen a couple of versions. One is part of a larger poem by Damien Barr: I heard that we are in the same boat.But it’s not that.We are in the same storm, but not […]

Religion News Service (RNS) reports on some preliminary conclusions from the the 2020 U.S. Religion Census. This decennial census has been carried out since the 1950s, by the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies. As expected, the number of “adherents” (persons affiliated with a local congregation) has declined since the last such census. But … Continue reading "2020 U.S. Religion Census nears completion"

This is why I tend my altars so often: things change. I have a tendency to forget things that I do not put my hands on occasionally. Continue reading Column: Tending the Altar at The Wild Hunt.

Admiral Sir Rosslyn Wemyss, First Sea Lord, and Marshal Ferdinand Foch (standing), the French leader of the Allied forces,  accept the German surrender ending fighting in the Great War. Note:   A return of a semi-regular post.   But it will be new and news to some of you. 11/11/11 .  That’s how Americans remembered the Armistice that went into effect on November11 , 1918 at 11 a.m. local time in France ending hostilitieson the Western Front in what was up to that time the most catastrophicallybloody war in history.  The German High Command signed the armistice just two days after revolutionaries in Berlin overthrew Kaiser Wilhelmand proclaimed a Republic. The shooting part of the Great War was over.  It would not officially end u...

Prayer for the Weary - Week of November 14, 2022 Lover of the Broken-hearted, the Weary, and the Down-trodden, give us space to breathe today, to breathe with peace and freedom from terror and fear, to breathe with wonderment and freedom from others’ rage, to breathe with gratitude and freedom...

In her book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing, Marie Kondo writes, “People cannot change their habits without first changing their way of thinking.” (pg. 15) Good heavens Marie, that sounds like work, … Continue reading →

Perhaps you are somewhere where today is celebrated as Armistice Day, honoring the end of World War 1. Perhaps you are honoring veterans of the armed services today. Wherever you are, take some time to pray for peace around our world. Pray for peace today. Quizás estés en algún lugar donde hoy se esté celebrando … Continue reading Peace