I was taught  to put family before myself even though the ones who were teaching me were definitely not doing what they preached. It took a health crisis to realize that I needed to start putting myself before others. If … Continue reading →

A Prayer for Courageous Hopes Dreamer of Courage, cloak us in blessed darkness to nurture our hopes for a world of greater equity, a world where economies are adapting to mitigating climate change rather than accelerating it, a world where we treat each other and this earth with dignity and...

Friendship often asks us to show intimacy to another. To share our emotions with them, and to receive theirs in return. We learn caring and sharing in the context of friendship. This experience of closeness with another is a healthy part of our lives. How have you learned to care for others?

I have to be careful about what I investigate or else I keep running down rabbit holes. Here’s what I intend to look at in the next weeks: I hope also to write at least one article tying up my thoughts on the Kansas Universalist Convention Church, which I didn’t get back to.

Dr. Cornell West famously said, "Justice is what Love looks like in public." At Side with Love, Justice is our primary focus. And we know that in order to keep showing up with our Love in public, we need to ground ourselves in love -- of ourselves and others. Will you join me in our Faithful Grounding to practice love next Thursday? Beloved, do you find yourself in need of grounding in the love that allows you to act for justice? I invite you to join me at this month's Side with Love Faithful Grounding Hour: an hour of spiritual sustenance and grounding with others organizing on the side of love hosted by our Fun & Spiritual Nourishment Squad. Faithful Grounding Hour A MONTHLY GATHERING FOR SPIRITUAL NOURISHMENT Thursday, February 23 4:3...

Pagan advocacy for religious freedom continue to be front-and-center within community groups. Continue reading A Tradition of Advocacy for Pagan Religious Freedom at The Wild Hunt.

By Remica Bingham-Risher | For a long time, I was making a list in my head of the writers who changed me, the ones I had to meet. I started planning too late and missed James Baldwin, who died when I was six. I hadn't yet been gobsmacked by his short story “Sonny’s Blues” then, but read my way through his whole milieu my freshman year of college. I met Toni Morrison (thank goodness) but didn’t get to ask her questions, flanked as she was by other booklovers. Who I regret missing the most is August Wilson, as lines from “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone” and “Jitney” still wake me up some nights.

Neil Clarke, editor of a respected science fiction magazine, reports on his blog that numbers of spammy short fiction submissions are way up for his publication. He says that spammy submissions first started increasing during the pandemic, and “were almost entirely cases of  plagiarism, first by replacing the author’s name and then later by use … Continue reading "“AI” generated writing"

This month's Fine Woodworking arrived this  morning and includes my response to a letter from an interested reader. He had noticed a star knob on the cover of the magazine and wondered about it, directing  letter to me for clarification. Yesterday in the Clear Spring School wood shop the Rainbow Group made treasure boxes. The exercise fit in well as they've been studying pirates. Decorating the boxes with plastic jewels and markers will come next. Make, fix and create.

                                                    Do current books for children about explorers include contributions of Blacks?  Earlier books and school texts erased them. History texts for American school children and high schoolers used to spend a lot of time on explorers.   It was part of a narrative that began with Columbusand saw the New World as something to be conquered and tamed for European use and occupationin which native peoples were seen only as obstacles to be brushed aside or exterminated.   Perhaps that version is obsolete now and some more thoughtful analysis is now taught.   Even so the participation of Africans, slaves, and servants in explorations is generally little more than a ...

I must confess. I’ve been using you, sometimes. I let you walk about the world Flashing back so much in my rear view mirror. I look and find you just so irritating.  You talk too loud. You wear odd clothes. … Continue reading →

  Getting Away & Coming Home: Zen Retreats and a Note on What to Do When You Can’t James Ishmael Ford “Above all things, love silence.” Isaac of Nineveh As an old Zen hand, I’m reluctant to tell non-Zen friends I’m off to a retreat. When I do, too often the response is something along […]

People act as if friendship is somehow “less” than romance, when it is a lifesaving miracle in its own right. How could I have survived any tragedy in life without the help of my friends? Celebrated any victory? Friends are the people who show up when they don’t have to, but they want to, because … Continue reading Lifesaving Miracle

Apokries celebrations trace their roots in Greece back to ancient time and the Dionysia, a festival dedicated to Dionysus. Continue reading Apokries: A festival with Pagan roots heralds springtime and the Christian Lenten season at The Wild Hunt.

I was searching for early Universalist convention records when I happened on a trove of midcentury issues of Universalist Leader and Unitarian Universalist Register-Leader, the magazines which became what is today the UU World. This is really exciting, since documents from the late pre-consolidation and early post-consolidation (1961 onwards) eras are hard to find, at … Continue reading "Found: Universalist Leader"

Valentine’s Day reminds us that love is critical to human rights work.

Sunday, February 12 What Does Love Have To Do With It?   The Unison Affirmation that we recite every Sunday states, “Love is the doctrine of this church.” What does it mean to hold Love at the center of our faith? Join us this Sunday, February 19, as Rev. Alice reflects on a theology of Love   [ … ] The post Sunday Worship: February 19 ~ What Does Love Have To Do With It? ~ 10:30 a.m. appeared first on Unitarian Church of Marlborough and Hudson.

I blogged previously about AI in a post titled “Immigrants Aren’t Coming for Your Job, Robots Are.” So, why am I revisiting this topic now, five years later?  I knew it was time last summer when The Washington Post reported that an engineer at Google was raising the alarm that Google’s AI chatbot had already […]

Elaine McArdle Reflections on the transformational presidency of Susan Frederick-Gray.

A Call for Love and Compassion – February 11, 2023 – Our hearts are heavy as we bear witness to grief and suffering in our local communities and around the world. We feel the weight of the devastation caused by the recent tragedy in Laval, Quebec, the devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, revolution in […] The post A Call for Love and Compassion appeared first on Canadian Unitarian Council Conseil unitarien du Canada.

While making plans for choir anthems for this month, Rev. Jan and I spoke about the possibility of using the hymn “There is More Love Somewhere” from our hymnal. This sounded like a great (and fairly simple, ‘singing something out … Continue reading →

Personal tragedy and four years of the burdens of war visibly aged Abraham Lincoln as shown in his final portrait taken by Alexander Gardner on the   day before his death. Note— We take up the review Lincoln and his racial attitudes today when he was elected President of the United States.  In this conclusion he faces his immediate crisis, and we examine how he used issues of race and slavery to advance his proclaimed war objective of preserving the Union and how his views evolved. If Abraham Lincoln held any real hope that his pledges not to interfere with slavery in states where it was established , and his protestations of racial loyalty would mollify the South he was quickly disabused of the notion.  Before he took the oath of ...

Our traditions are sacred and our virtues are timeless, but how we embody and express them is something every generation has to continually review and revise. What doesn’t change is that our beliefs don’t make us good people. Our actions do.

Today we honor the different kinds of love. Romantic love, yes, but also friendship love. We honor the unconditional love for all beings that inspires us to act, and the love of self that inspires us to set healthy boundaries. What are the kinds of love you can honor today?

Taken with a Fuji X100V using Øyvind Nordhagen’s Modern Negative Fujifilm Recipe Just click on the photo to enlarge it.  This picture was taken only last Saturday in the Common Room of the Cambridge Unitarian Church hall amidst the chaos caused by the need to fix the building’s one hundred-year-old central-heating pipework. It shows the end of the Hibbert Journal which was subtitled A Quarterly Review of Religion, Theology and Philosophy . The bright yellow coloured magazines in the lower far right of the frame are the editions from 1968, whilst to the left and above (all the way to the ceiling on two more, full shelves) are the earlier editions, stretching back to the first in 1902. The slow decline from being a journal with great...

I came to activism late in life after retiring from a career in music and then technology.  I didn't know anything except that I wanted to do something to contribute to making the world more equitable for all.  Armed only with my lofty goals, I reached out to folx in the UU community, a little intimidated but willing to learn.  I was met with welcome, patience, humor and support by some extraordinary folx that had been doing this work for years.    Now I coordinate Side With Love’s Skill Up Series , our monthly trainings on organizing skills to help YOU build stronger teams in your congregation and community.  When I think about our Skill Ups, they mirror my experience:  welcoming, fun, and educational offerings to help all of u...

Spy balloons and other unidentified objects aside, there is a LOT going on in with the sun and other celestial activity this month. Continue reading A week of celestial activity at The Wild Hunt.

This Sunday we’ll have a Faithful Funday session. Children and youth will start in the Great Hall for the first part of the service. Afterward the Time for All Ages, the children in Kindergarten through 6th grade will go to the K-3rd grade classroom, next to the ... read more . The post Religious Education on Feb. 19th, 2023 appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

UUSS Covenant Groups are small groups of people who will meet six times between late February and early April to have conversations about some of life’s big questions. They provide an opportunity to reflect and share thoughts and feelings, to get to know some fellow UUs ... read more . The post Register Now for Covenant Discussion Groups! appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

The LGBTQ group will have its first meeting on March 24, 2023 from 6:30 to 8:30 PM in the UUSS Fireplace Room. The purpose of the group is to create a space for the UU LGBTQ community to come together. If interested in learning more, please contact Jen Pritchard at jeniferpritchard@ymail.com for details. Masks ... read more . The post UUSS LGBTQ Group is Forming! appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

Social Justice Action Fund Grant Application Available We are pleased to announce the annual call for applications for grants from UU Schenectady’s Social Justice Action Fund. We will offer grants between $2,200 and $5,400 for social justice initiatives and activities working towards bringing about ... read more . The post Social Justice Action Fund appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

We are delighted and honored to announce The Frontline’s Campain Director Tiffany Flowers will be the Keynote speaker for our Good Trouble Congregations Celebration on Tuesday, February 28 at 7pm ET/4pm PT. She will join Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray and other special guests, including our Good Trouble Congregations! The Frontline was our lead partner in training crucial Election Defenders in 2020 and 2022, and is a powerful coalition made up of  Working Families Organization, Working Families Party, United We Dream Action, and by the Movement for Black Lives Electoral Justice Project.  RSVP Now “Speak up, speak out, get in the way. Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and help redeem the soul of America.” Late Rep. John Lewis’ ...

EVER AFTER I will not, cannot, love you for some “reason”, Just a momentary season, For a minute, or an instant, Or a solitary in-tent, I must love you past all heartaches, Past all tortured conversations, Past all weary speculations, … Continue reading →

By discord, I don’t mean the unsettled state of being, but the community and communications application, so commonly used in gaming. Trying to get a sense of who uses it, and who might use it apart from gaming. I’ve used it in Esperanto and some religious settings and it seems to a lot of promise, … Continue reading "Discord?"

I was thinking about using the well-known Theodore Parker quote in this Sunday’s service, the one that reads: “Be ours a religion which, like sunshine, goes everywhere; its temple, all space; its shrine, the good heart; its creed, all truth; its ritual, works of love; its profession of faith, divine living.” It didn’t sound quite … Continue reading "Is it Theodore Parker, or not?"

In an effort to clear out a bit of space in my shop, I'm finishing a few things with a hope that they'll sell. The board shown is ash with a fresh coat of penetrating oil finish composed of half and half, tung oil and polyurethane varnish. The beautiful pattern in the wood is from the heartwood of the tree. This table will be featured in an upcoming issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine, and you can make a relatively small investment to have it in your own home. Make, fix and create... Assist others in learning likewise.  

Here we go again... My Facebook news feed predictably erupted on last night with the news of yet another grizzly mass school shooting.  This one was at Michigan State University in East Lancing.  Three are dead and five others critically injured.  The gunman, a 43 year old ex-con with no known connection to the campus was found dead of a self-inflicted wound hours later.  At this writing his motives are unknown.  Perhaps he was just celebrating Valentine Day in a now time honored tradition. Post gun massacre flow chart. We have been through this kind of thing so often the responses were almost entirely predictable—horror and anguish followed by sputtering outrage and the lingering sense of hopelessness that when the last funerals ...

There's a magic thing that happens when a clear penetrating oil finish is applied to wood. And that's one of the pleasures that woodworkers receive in their work.  Yesterday I applied tung oil to two maple table tops and watched the depths of color come forth. The oil also revealed places in the wood that were not quite sanded as smooth as needed, so I used a cabinet scraper to dig a bit deeper into the surface in those spots. After applying an oil finish, sanding is less effective because the oil and sawdust build up in the sand paper. That's not a thing that will affect a cabinet scraper. The closer view shows more of the wood grain and color highlighted by the penetrating oil finish.  You will also note the darker lines of grain pro...

Love and Death: A Small Zen Meditation on Valentine’s Day James Ishmael Ford I notice the semi-sort-of Christian holiday St Valentine’s Day will be followed in a week and a day by the Christian holy day Ash Wednesday. Basically. I love you. And you’re going to die. Works for me. Me. I think a lot […]

Science fiction author Charlie Jane Anders takes on the J.K. Rowling brouhaha in a post to her Buttondown newsletter. Anders asks, can we separate the art from the artist? Or, to be more specific, can we separate Hogwarts from notorious transphobe J.K. Rowling? Anders reminds us that not every artists gets to have their art … Continue reading "Separating the art from the artist"

What is the “path of love” state of consciousness? It is the state that is considered the very core of many spiritual traditions and paths, particularly the ones that are called “mystical”. It is obtained by practices and not creeds, … Continue reading →

We honor of International Internet Friends Day by understanding that friendship does not require physical proximity. Real relationships are built on computers and phones. Reach out to an internet friend to say hello today.

Out of habit I went to uuchristian.org to see the Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship website, but it wasn’t there! Come to find out it is at (and only at) uuchristian.com, at least for the time being. Heavens, but it’s a bit of an archeological site. I have it on good authority that comments about improving … Continue reading "The Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship website is …"

In this Week's Pagan Community Notes, stone monuments defaced in Ireland, Pietas temple events, how to send us your events, Convocation, and other news! Continue reading Pagan Community Notes: Week of February 13, 2023 at The Wild Hunt.

Know Thyself . It’s an Ancient Greek aphorism. Socrates makes reference to it in one of Plato’s dialogues. And, before we’re done today, we will find a Valentine’s Day message in this maxim. Supposedly, “know thyself” was the first of three maxims inscribed at the Temple of Apollo at Delphi – along with "nothing to excess" and "certainty brings ruin." So: know yourself, but not excessively, and, anyway, don’t be so sure. It appears that the ancient Greeks used “know thyself” primarily in two ways. People whose boasts exceeded reality were cautioned to know themselves – because, if they did, they wouldn’t make such boasts. Second, saying “know thyself” was a way to suggest “be true to thyself” – like “y...

What you see in the photo is a tangle of legs and stretchers for two tables that I'd started months ago.  Having allowed them to sit for a few months I found that the thick maple tops had warped and needed to be flattened and re-planed. I had to place wedges on the underside at opposite corners on each end of the tops to pass them through the planer to get them flat.  By lifting the corners at opposite ends with the wedges allowed one side to be made flat. Flipping the boards over then allowed them to planed smooth and flat on the side that had been supported by the wedges. The boards were reduced in thickness by 5/8 in. But that's a fine thing as it leaves the tops appearing much lighter, as though they can actually float above the ba...

What I’ve been drawing for the past few days.

A number of years ago I was ready to board an airplane. I had done my share of traveling, and I anticipated the gate clerk’s questions. I set my bag on the scale and announced: “I packed my bags myself. No one unknown to me has given me anything to take on board the flight.” […]

This grant will help the congregation sponsor an asylum-seeking family.

Alexandra Varney McDonald UUA Executive Vice President Carey McDonald answers questions about proposed changes to the Principles, Purposes, and Sources.

 For the service on 19th February 2023

Learn how congregations are making a difference in the life of an asylum-seeking family and the kind of support and guidance we can offer.

                                     The first authenticated photo of Abraham Lincoln as a Springfield Lawyer in 1847, Note —Yesterday in the first entry in this blog series we noted the removal and vandalism of statues of Abraham Lincoln, charges that he was a racist and white supremist and traced his background and life from his log cabin birth through his formative years in New Salem, Illinois where he established himself as a man of local consequence.  Today, we trace his steady climb as a lawyer and politician. In 1834 Abraham Lincoln was elected to the Illinois legislature and served four terms as a Whig gaining Prominence as one of the Long Nine who brokered the move of the capitol to nearby Springfield .

Yesterday, a new employee—a white guy—walked into the bakery where I work. “Hi,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve met you yet.” He told me his name. “I’m Jabari,” I replied. “Are you American?,” he asked. I hesitated. “Yeaaaaaaaaaah.” “Well, it’s just that your name is very esoteric! Well, it was nice to meet you.” And he left. I’ve been called lots of things because of my name, but never “esoteric.” It’s awkward and frustrating to be othered in this way. I keep telling myself that it has nothing to do with me. Maybe he’s actually really nice but socially […] The post A Story Inherited appeared first on BeyondBelief.

“Let us give thanks for a bouquet of people…. For funny friends, silly as snapdragons, And serious friends, complex as chrysanthemums. For comfortable friends, their gentle presence as soothing as the sweet smell of lilacs. For stormy weather friends, who stand by us in hard times, like lily of the valley that cannot be deterred … Continue reading Silly Friends

  SIDING WITH LOVE Rev. Kit Ketcham, Feb. 12, 2023               The story of Unitarian Universalist advocacy for civil rights for sexual minorities and Marriage Equality for all couples started many years ago, in the 70’s, as we began to question many of traditional religions’ homophobia and outright discrimination toward sexual minorities---and our own shortcomings in that area.              One Source of UUism is the one that states that we draw from Jewish and Christian teachings, which call us to respond to God’s love by loving our neighbors as ourselves.              However, as we considered this deeply, it became abundantly clear that we as a religion were NOT loving our neighbors as ...

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, we have begun to broadcast a livestream video of our Sunday morning worship services. This worship video will be available live and in recorded formats. For our livestream video of our worship services, we are using Facebook Live.  One does not have to log into Facebook … Continue reading "29 January 2023 Worship Livestreaming Video"

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, we have begun to broadcast a livestream video of our Sunday morning worship services. This worship video will be available live and in recorded formats. For our livestream video of our worship services, we are using Facebook Live.  One does not have to log into Facebook … Continue reading "22 January 2023 Worship Livestreaming Video"

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, we have begun to broadcast a livestream video of our Sunday morning worship services. This worship video will be available live and in recorded formats. For our livestream video of our worship services, we are using Facebook Live.  One does not have to log into Facebook … Continue reading "15 January 2023 Worship Livestreaming Video"

Religion News Service (RNS) reports that a recent poll finds that 10% of United States residents are hard-core Christian nationalists, and another 19% are fellow travelers. On the other hand, 29% of U.S. residents reject Christian nationalism. Another 39% are skeptical of Christian nationalism. You can read a detailed report of the PRRI survey here. … Continue reading "Christian nationalists in the U.S."

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, we have begun to broadcast a livestream video of our Sunday morning worship services. This worship video will be available live and in recorded formats. For our livestream video of our worship services, we are using Facebook Live.  One does not have to log into Facebook … Continue reading "8 January 2023 Worship Livestreaming Video"

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, we have begun to broadcast a livestream video of our Sunday morning worship services. This worship video will be available live and in recorded formats. For our livestream video of our worship services, we are using Facebook Live.  One does not have to log into Facebook … Continue reading "1 January 2023 Worship Livestreaming Video"

In the light of a recent decision by several British museums to begin referring to "mummies" as "mummified remains," TWH's editor-in-chief Manny Tejeda Moreno argues that the practice of displaying human remains requires a deep reconsideration. Continue reading “Mummification was to bestow upon her a gift” – agency and colonialism in displays of human remains at The Wild Hunt.

Leona will discuss key considerations that were both left out of the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision, and mostly missing from public discussions of the abortion issue. From a perspective of women's health and from research about the religious objections to abortion that have entered the Dobbs decision, she has found much that counters the common narrative. A Santa Fean, Leona is the author of The Fog of Faith: Surviving My Impotent God. She is a Unitarian Universalist community minister and psychotherapist, as well as a mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother.

There is usually a way through if we keep looking for it. Trees can fall into a stream, creating an obstacle for the water as it journeys toward the sea. The water has to go around, or over unless it is strong enough to break through the log jam. That happens sometimes, it can take […]

We continue our journey down "The Path of Love" with a detour into caritas - charity.

                                            The Emancipation monument removed from Boston. Note — It’s Lincoln’s Birthday, occasion for a three part inquiry.   Although buried in Christmas excitement and rising Coronavirus Omicron dreadthe removal of an iconic monument to Emancipation in 2021 from its prominent location in Boston by the city shocked many, offended some, and caused waves of hypocritical hysteriaacross the racist right wing media echo chamber.   The statue depicting a standingAbraham Lincoln and an unchained former slave was a copy of one by sculptor Thomas Ball erected in Washington, D.C. and paidfor by mostly small donations from ex-slaves and Black veterans of the Union Army.   After a...

New York Times conservative columnist Ross Douthat is right: spiritual experimentation is dangerous. I join him in encouraging everyone to be careful and pay attention. But I have no misgivings about the direction spiritual experimentation is taking.

When dust bunnies abound, when dishes are in the sink, when I have coffee breath, I let my friends in!  For whom do you step away from the fear of judgment, knowing that you will still be loved? That is a true friend. -Beth Murray (CLF) Who do you have in your life who will … Continue reading No Judgment

I finally watched the BBC’s video clip showing the moments when the Republicans heckled Democratic president Biden’s “State of the Union” speech. Looks like heckling has now become a normal part of the “State of the Union” speech. What interests me is the hecklers shouting about lies and lying. The first such heckler, if you … Continue reading "Theatre"

If I’m lucky, they’ll tell stories of the journeys they take across landscapes as alien as anything in Oz. “I ended up in someone’s garden,” they explain. “Only they were a sort of - scarecrow accordion? I apologized, and they let me cut through their house.” “Why did you need to go through their house?” I ask, and they pause, thoughtful. “Because that was the easiest way to get to you.” Continue reading Dreamworld Visitations at The Wild Hunt.

        Recalling the Consecration of Barbara Harris as the first woman to serve as a bishop within the Anglican Communion Barbara Harris was consecrated as suffragan bishop for the diocese of Massachusetts within the Episcopal Church on this day, the 11th of February, in 1989. From her election on September 24th, 1988, […]

Please join us on Sunday (12 February 2023) at 11:00 AM for “How Ought We to Live?  Stars Within Constellations” 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 … Continue reading "All Ages Worship (12 February 2023)"

Building and Grounds Work Day Moving to Next Saturday (18 February 2023) 2023 Pledge Drive — We Need Your Pledge Now

Children and youth will attend the worship service for the first 15-20 minutes and then are dismissed to their classes. After the holiday break, we are now discussing the wisdom of the world’s religions that is one of the six sources of our Unitarian Universalist faith. It’s important that we gain an understanding of teachings … Continue reading "Children and Youth Religious Education Classes — 12 February 2023"

Please join us on Sunday (12 February 2023) as we continue our our adult religious education class at 9:00 AM. Our adult religious education class is still meeting via Zoom. We are now reading and discussing the book God of Love: A Guide to the Heart of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam by Mirabai Starr. This … Continue reading "Online Adult Religious Education — 12 February 2023"

For this month only, we are moving our second Saturday of the month building and grounds work day to the third Saturday of the month. Our monthly building and grounds work day will happen on Saturday (18 February 2023) from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM. We will have tasks available for all ages and abilities … Continue reading "Building and Grounds Work Day Moving to Next Saturday (18 February 2023)"

Please join us next Tuesday (14 February 2023) at 12 noon for our weekly Zoom lunch. Our weekly Zoom lunch is going dual-platform — join us from home using Zoom or in person in the social hall. Bring your lunch and meet up with your All Souls friends, have lunch, and just catch up.

Note:   Interest in the long life of labor agitator and anarchist Lucy Parsons has been rising for some time as the labor movement has begun re-embracing its radical roots and during the spontaneous mass actions around the country represented by the Occupy Movement a few years ago.   Despite her purposefully obscured racial identity, she has also inspired Black women of the Black Lives Matters movement.   A 2017 biography, Goddess of Anarchy: The Life and Times of Lucy Parsons, American Radicalby Jacqueline Jones ramped that interest even higher.   The book, based on new research and discoveries, challenged the commonly accepted story of her origins with mixed Mexican, Native American, and mulatto Texas roots and identified her as or...

A Black Bear (source)   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— Like all of you, I awoke on the morning of Monday 6th February to hear the shocking news, and see some of truly disturbing footage and photographs, of the huge earthquake in Turkey and Syria. As I publish this piece five days later, 24,208 people are dead and many, many more thousands are injured, and these numbers will only continue to rise. After such horrific events, priests and pastors in theistic religions are often expected by their congregations somehow to “justify the ways of god to man

Sara and I are finally back with our list of our favorite shows from the past year! We had hoped to get this to you in mid-January, but the year new year didn’t quite cooperate with us….Still, even a few … Continue reading →

Oh Honey, Stop pretending you are small Just because you are terrified Of your enormity.

When my husband and I were first dating, he expressed to me his desire to have a life not just of memories and hopes but of shared experiences in the present moment. We forged a friendship, and then a partnership, in those shared experiences, and now we get to revisit them in a completely different … Continue reading Shared Experiences

Josiah Royce, in his 1913 book The Problem of Christianity (pp. 213-214, 2001 reprint edition): “No religion can survive unless it keeps in touch with men’s [sic] conscious needs. In the future men’s needs will be subject to vastly complex and rapidly changing social motives. In the future, religion, as a power aiming to win … Continue reading "Noted with a brief comment"

Following my recent inquiry, I thought it might be helpful to survey what Universalist Christian and Unitarian Christian online worship options exist. I’ll start with “mainline” churches, but if you (dear readers) know of others, please leave them in the comments.  I was inspired by the online worship opportunities list from Ohio Yearly Meeting (Conservative). I’m not sure how … Continue reading "Universalist and Unitarian Christian services online"

It was unsurprising to find an article written for new seekers, indeed even targeting people who were exploring astrology, Witchcraft and manifestation, warning them to be cautious as they begin exploring spiritual dimensions. What was surprising was that it was in the New York Times opinion section, written by Ross Douthat, a conservative Catholic. Continue reading NYT prints advice for new Witches – from a conservative Catholic at The Wild Hunt.

I needed this winter afternoon at the beach. We went to Kettle Cove, where it was windy, sunny, and warm–well, in the forties anyway. So now my heart is calmed and refreshed. There is a quiet that comes from the sound of waves and wind, the feeling of our feet walking on sand. We always […]

        Zen, a New Universalism, and Politics James Ishmael Ford Since the nineteenth century, more or less the word “Religion” has come to describe that part of a culture concerned with meaning and purpose. It has two principal expressions. One is about defining and reinforcing the boundaries of a culture. This has […]

A Q&A with Jasmine Brown | In college, I dreamed of becoming a physician and a national leader who would make a positive impact in many people’s lives. But I was acutely aware of how few Black women there were in senior positions within the medical field, such as the dean of a medical school or chair of a medical department. Black women physicians are even underrepresented at the level of professorship in many medical schools. So, I worried that my career would be severely restricted by a glass ceiling imposed upon me due to my race and gender.

Beloveds, In their recently-released draft of the new Article II of our UUA bylaws, the Article II Commission writes, “The purpose of the Unitarian Universalist Association is to actively engage its members in the transformation of the world through liberating Love.” I’ve heard many folks ask, “What do we mean by ‘liberating Love?’” The A2C writes: Love is the power that holds us together and is at the center of our shared values. We are accountable to one another for doing the work of living our shared values through the spiritual discipline of Love. At its core, the work of Side With Love is to be a hub for connection, growth, nourishment and action that allows Unitarian Universalists and our partners to live out our valu...

One of the strange things about researching someone who lived a century ago is that sometimes the very things they worked hardest to keep secret in life have become known, while at the same time, that which would have been easy for his contemporaries to find out has become forever opaque. In 2023, I know […]

Latest mistake by the U.S. government takes two steps back for the movement to hold Burma’s junta accountable for its crimes.

  Bill Pickett bull dogging a steer.. Somewhere in Texas on May 4, 1903 a young cowboy spent a hot afternoonwatching how ranch bull dogs could isolate and take down a longhorn steer who wandered away from the herd.   The dog would “worry” the steer and most would head back to the herd.   But the occasional obstinate onewould keep trying to dodge the dog.   That’s when the dog would close in , jump up, and bite down on the sensitive nose or lip of the steer then bring it down to the ground.   The dog would hold on until the steer stopped struggling. The cowboy, Bill Pickett told the other hands, “If a dog can do that, so can I.” The next time he chased a stray on horseback instead of throwing his lariat around the hornsand ...

A Prayer for Courageous Love Love whisper in our hearts, to help us hold on through trials and tribulations. Love whisper in our hearts and call us back to our essential wholeness, our essential generosity, our essential joy, our essential gifts to bless this world. Love sing to and rock...