This is the fifth of the lectures in Paul Dean’s 1832 A Course of Lectures in Defence of the Final Restoration, an homage to celebrate the Universalist minister’s 240th birthday. The numbers in brackets are the beginning of the page in the original. LECTURE V. ANOTHER OBJECTION CONSIDERED. TITUS II. 11, 12. “FOR THE GRACE … Continue reading "Paul Dean’s Lectures: the fifth lecture"

Today in the wood shop I'm cutting dovetails using the Moxon vise that I made for an article in Quercus to hold the stock. It works well. I'm also using a dovetail marking gauge I developed with the help of Veritas tools to mark the lines along which to cut.  This marking gauge is unlike the other marking gauges on the market in several ways. It has a scale allowing the dovetails to be scaled up or down from a central mark. That mark can be seen rather than hidden by the body of the jig. So instead of measuring this side and then that side, measuring for each pin or tail is reduced to one mark. Another advantage is that with the outside edges being square, it serves also as a square in laying out the other marks required. Veritas chose ...

          On its first day, April is all about fools. What is it that we so love being fools or making fools of others? Google this if you really care but it’s been practiced by virtually every nation and culture. The ancient Romans did it. And St. Pat’s day should move to April, given those […]

We are allowed to get tired while we work to build a world of liberation. We are allowed to rest, to catch our breath. What we can’t do is stop. Our persistence in demanding the reality we want for the present and future is what keeps us on track. Our persistence helps us to bring … Continue reading Rest But Don’t Stop

Jeff Milchen All of our voices are needed to stop a wave of hateful bills.

It was about 25 years ago when I went searching for a new therapist that I recognized some deep vulnerability … and some gifts. I knew going into my relationship with the therapist I’d been seeing for many months that … Continue reading →

A Prayer for Dreaming A World Made Whole with Racial Justice - Week of April 2, 2023 Shelter, Refuge, and Home of Justice, Equity, and Compassion, invite us to dream daily and work daily and dwell daily in the co-creation of making this world whole in regards to racial justice....

Abigail Adams, painted here as the first mistress of the Executive Mansion in Washington D.C., kept up a frequent and detailed correspondence with her husband John while he was in Philadelphia attending the Continental Congress. Note —This has become a semi-traditional wind-up for Women’s History Month here. On this date in 1776 as the Revolutionary War was still young and Boston was besieged by George Washington Abigail Adams sent a letter to her husband John who was in Philadelphia as a Delegate to the Continental Congress from their home in Braintree, Massachusetts.  The success of the war against the most powerful empire in the world was far from assured and the Declaration of Independence, of which John was a prime mover, was ...

The Parish House of First Parish in Cohasset is directly opposite Cohasset Common. I’ve seen small groups of two or three Wild Turkeys skulking around in the bushes at the edges of the Parish House grounds. But today I saw about fourteen Wild Turkeys making their way across the common, out in the open, as … Continue reading "Turkeys on the Common"

Todd Eklof — a former Unitarian Universalist minister who was removed from fellowship with the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) over disagreements on approaches to anti-racism and other matters — is the new president pro tem of the recently-organized North American Unitarian Association (NAUA). The NAUA joins the American Unitarian Conference (AUC) as a group that … Continue reading "Another Unitarian group in the U.S."

New research in social psychology examines how cultural differences impact how heroes and heroism are perceived. Continue reading Researchers find that Heroism is framed by cultural differences at The Wild Hunt.

By Gabel Strickland | The proud subversiveness of a pirate’s lifestyle often makes them a heroic figure for the marginalized. For the politically, socially, and economically oppressed, pirates are a vessel (get it?) through which to see their own liberation, representation, and revolt against the powers that be. At sea, the enslaved can be free, the disenfranchised can vote, people can even create new identities—and legends—around themselves.

This is the fourth of the lectures in Paul Dean’s 1832 A Course of Lectures in Defence of the Final Restoration, an homage to celebrate the Universalist minister’s 240th birthday. The numbers in brackets are the beginning of the page in the original. LECTURE IV. DURATION OF PUNISHMENT CONSIDERED. GENESIS XVIII. 25. SHALL NOT THE … Continue reading "Paul Dean’s Lectures: the fourth lecture"

“Loving Spirit of Life, Thank you for this world where beauty so abounds, and for all our many fellow souls, whose beauty we sometimes forget to honor. Grant us the strength, wisdom, and persistence to keep beauty alive, and help us learn to shine with so much love and determination that any that seek to … Continue reading Keeping Beauty Alive

Focus —Barbara Villandry Barbara began her career working for Shawmut Bank, first in operations and then in Human Resources handling employee communications and activities.  Shawmut awarded Barbara a scholarship to Simmons College to attend a specially designed undergraduate management program sponsored by the National Association of Banking Women.  She continued at Simmons earning her Master’s degree in Communications Management.      Barbara moved to academia when she became Assistant Director of her graduate program at Simmons College.  From there, she became Chair of the Communications Programs at Hesser College in Manchester, NH where she developed and managed a program in radio and television broadcasting, and a program ...

If we asked the writers here who have been reflecting on vulnerability during the month of March, I suspect they would tell you that this has been a hard and challenging theme. Some of the themes we write about seem … Continue reading →

I want my intestine healed So for the third time They gave me a temporary Gave me a temporary stoma Which I cover with an Cover with an ostomy bag To collect all of the The poo that it excretes And I change it every 4 days or when needed I want my intestine healed … Continue reading I Want My Intestine Healed

Tomáš Masaryk,    Founder and first President of Czechoslovakia. It is never a good sign when your national legislature cannot agree on the name of your country—or the punctuation of the name.  It is a worse sign when the argument gets so nasty that the world press begins to mock it as the Hyphen War.  It was certainly not a good omen for, as Prince might have constructed it, the Nation Formerly Known as the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic.  The nation came into existence in the tumultuous aftermath of World War I.  Its boundaries, as established by the Treaty of Versailles, included the largely ethnic Czech lands of former Bohemia and Moravia in the west, and Slovakia which also encompassed significant areas ethnic Poles to th...

TWH correspondent Elyse Welles shares the magic of her spiritual travel to Ireland and Brigid's Well. Continue reading Pilgrimages: Brigid’s Blessing at The Wild Hunt.

presented at the Unitarian Church of Quincy, Illinois March 26, 2023 When an ostrich buries its head in the sand as danger approaches, it very likely takes the happiest course. - Charles Sanders Peirce One of the things I learned growing up in Quincy is that news happens somewhere else. Years later, I heard ESPN anchor Kenny Mayne capture the experience perfectly with a twist on an old sports cliche. On paper, he said, it was obvious who would win the upcoming game. “But football games aren’t played on paper, they’re played inside TV sets.” That was my experience of the news: It all happened inside a TV. The images on the screen might be of DC or New York or some city on the other side of the world, like Saigon or Tel Aviv. Occas...

Nelson Mandela Raises his Fist: A Meditation on a Zen Koan James Ishmael Ford The Case Zhaozhou Congshen went to a hermit’s cottage. At the entrance he called out, “Anybody in? Anybody in?” The hermit appeared in the doorway and lifted up his fist. Zhaozhou replied, “The water is too shallow for a ship to […]

The Unitarian Universalist Association’s climate justice programming was named a top ten finalist in ecoAmerica’s American Climate Justice Leadership Awards for 2023. Continue reading "UUA Named Top 10 Finalist in ecoAmerica’s American Climate Leadership Awards: Side With Love’s Climate Justice Programming Highlighted; Award Winners to be Celebrated on March 30th"

I gave a sermon about vow three years ago. It’s been a while, and it’s an important – indeed, a vital – matter. I think we need to revisit the question: what is the great vow of your life? As I said then and remind you now: we are defined by our commitments, our promises, our vows. In that previous sermon, I didn't mention the 13-century Sufi Muslim poet Jalaluddin Rumi, but this time let me begin there -- because it's Ramadan, and because of Rumi's line about breaking our vows. I need to preface the verse from Rumi, though, with a moment to honor what is popularly overlooked about Rumi. He was Muslim – profoundly so. He probably had the Koran memorized. His major work, the Masnavi , Rumi described as “the explainer of the Ko...

This is the third of the lectures in Paul Dean’s 1832 A Course of Lectures in Defence of the Final Restoration, an homage to celebrate the Universalist minister’s 240th birthday. The numbers in brackets are the beginning of the page in the original. LECTURE III.OBJECTION II. HEBREWS XII. 14. FOLLOW PEACE WITH ALL MEN, AND … Continue reading "Paul Dean’s Lectures: the third lecture"

The Gareth Knight Conference held its second annual event in Glastonbury which is centered on Knight's influential and immense body of work concerning esotericism, occult and magical studies and practice. Continue reading Second annual Gareth Knight Conference held in Glastonbury at The Wild Hunt.

UUs have long been part leaders in powerful multifaith movements fighting for trans and queer rights and liberation. Join UPLIFT Action and Side With Love staff for this webinar, lifting up the faithful work UUs are engaging in right now in the context of the wave of hateful legislation and violence against trans and queer people. We'll hear stories from congregations and State Action Networks on the ground, and point toward ways you and your community can take meaningful action. View the recording Speakers included: Rev. Erin Walter, Texas UU Justice Ministry Rev. Jami Yandle, Texas UU Justice Ministry Alex Kapitan, Transforming Hearts Collective Rev. Elizabeth Mount, UU Church of Cheyenne, WY Congregational Leaders from Tennessee Valle...

Sunday, April 2, 10:30 a.m. The Peace of Trees “The rush and pressure of modern life are a form, perhaps the most common form, of its innate violence,” wrote Trappist monk and peace activist Thomas Merton. “The frenzy of our activism neutralizes our work for peace. . . . It destroys the fruitfulness of our own   [ … ] The post Sunday Worship: April 2 ~ The Peace of Trees ~ 10:30 a.m. appeared first on Unitarian Church of Marlborough and Hudson.

Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Grant me justice against my … Continue reading The Persistent Widow

DeEtte Waleed How can I be love instead of being anger and fear? Continue reading "How Can I "Be Love"?"

On Monday, three adults and three children were killed at an elementary school in Nashville, TN in a mass shooting that also left the shooter dead. With rage and heartbreak, we acknowledge this horrific act of violence: both the unique, precious lives taken and the all-too-common manner in which this violence was perpetuated. Our hearts are with the loved ones of those who were killed; with the school and the community who must pick up the shattered pieces in the wake of tragedy; and with all those for whom this latest act of violence will re-expose layers of trauma and grief caused by too many other similar atrocities.  As a nation, we have developed patterns when it comes to acts of mass gun violence generally (this is the 130th so fa...

Elaine McArdle  Association offers a leading voice in the media and new resources.

I just started doing water aerobics and walking in the riverwalk at my local aquatic center. I love water aerobics because I feel free. I can run, jog and do jumping jacks with very little pain. I can hop and … Continue reading →

The Cambridge Unitarian Church, taken from Christ’s Pieces in February 2023 A short  “ thought for the day” to be offered to the Cambridge Unitarian Church following the Sunday Service of Mindful   Meditation, on the 19th April, at the church’s Annual General Meeting(AGM)   (Click on this link to hear a recorded version of the following piece) —o0o— For many years now, in my annual report prepared for the AGM of the Cambridge Unitarian Church, I have talked about us being in a transitionary time between old and new ways of doing church. This is still true today but, and it is a vitally important “but,” we are now clearly right on the cusp of beginning whatever the new way of doing church is to be. In the late nineteen...

It is only 11 days until Easter Sunday, so we are well into Lent and I was reminded that there is at least a mild rashof interest in and even observance of the season of personal sacrifice and contemplation of the Holy among my fellow Unitarian Universalists.  It was not always so. As heirs of the Radical Reformation and step siblings Unitarianism and Universalism as they evolved in the United States instinctively rejectedwhat they regarded as Popish trappings, liturgy,and anything that stood betweenhumans and a direct relationshipwith God.  While both remained in the 19th Century avowedly Christian in the Protestant  tradition that meant eschewing the priesthood,Episcopal authority, the mass, saints,the liturgical calendar and holy d...

In January, we moved into a subdivision that backs up to a Salt River tributary. Our backyard overlooks the canal and, on the other side of that, is an elementary school. Some days I go in the backyard just to listen to the sounds of children at play, to hear the sounds of children being […]

In this March session, we will make a simple stir-fried Shrimps with Broccoli using an induction cooktop. Los Alamos County is phasing out natural gas usage so, that by year 2035, new buildings will no longer be built with gas lines. Email KokHeong at kokheong@comcast.net for the Zoom link and to be put on an email …<p> Cooking with KokHeong Read More »

Taken with a Fuji X100V using Øyvind Nordhagen’s OWH Film recipe Just click on a photo to enlarge it A Cambridge street scene taken in February 2023

The Gareth Knight Conference held its second annual event in Glastonbury which is centered on Knight's influential and immense body of work concerning esotericism, occult and magical studies and practice. Continue reading Second annual Gareth Knight Conference held in Glastonbury at The Wild Hunt.

In this congregation, there are people with a variety of the(*)logies and Unitarian Universalism draws from many sources including direct experience of transcending mystery and wonder, the world’s religions, Jewish and Christian teachings on God’s love, humanist teachings of reason and science, prophetic people, and ... read more . The post April Theme: Earthly Journeys appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

This is the second of the lectures in Paul Dean’s 1832 A Course of Lectures in Defence of the Final Restoration, an homage to celebrate the Universalist minister’s 240th birthday The numbers in brackets are the beginning of the page in the original. LECTURE II. OBJECTION I ROMANS XI. 5. EVEN SO THEN, AT THIS … Continue reading "Paul Dean’s Lectures: the second lecture"

It was SO wonderful to be with many of you this past Sunday, for multi-platform worship, after being away for ten weeks! We were grateful to get to share a few things that we learned and experienced while on sabbatical, and to share in a ... read more . The post Co-Ministers’ Colloquy – March 28th appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

Children in Kindergarten through 6 th grade will start in the Great Hall for the first part of the service. Afterwards, they will meet in their own rooms: Wonderful Welcome (K-3 rd grade) in the classroom next to the dining room Love Connects Us (4 th -6 ... read more . The post UUSS Religious Education on Sunday April 2 appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

ZEN COMMENTS ON AN ANCIENT KOAN Baofu and Changqing Go on a Picnic Blue Cliff Record, Case 23 Ken Ireland (Reprinted with permission from Koan Conversations by my old friend Ken Ireland. Ken is someone to know. Ken began meditation practice in the early 70’s while a Jesuit. Claudio Naranjo introduced him to zazen as […]

This is the first of the lectures in Paul Dean’s 1832 A Course of Lectures in Defence of the Final Restoration, an homage to celebrate the Universalist minister’s 240th birthday The numbers in brackets are the beginning of the page in the original. LECTURE I. QUESTION STATED, AND ITS IMPORTANCE. ACTS III. 20, 21. AND … Continue reading "Paul Dean’s Lectures: the first lecture"

Advisory opinion would do a lot for nations struggling with the climate crisis.

Following on from my last post, here is another interview with Rob Reiman. Although the interview begins in Spanish, Rieman speaks throughout in English. Highly recommended, by me anyway, as are his two books: To Fight Against This Age: On Fascism and Humanism and Nobility of Spirit: A Forgotten Ideal .  

(Zen) Buddhism and the Coming Revolution Gary Snyder I first shared this essay four or five years ago. For some of us I think it a timely re-read. For others maybe it can be a useful first read. It was originally published as “Buddhist Anarchism,” in the first of the four issue run of the Journal […]

Persistence often requires having goals that we’re working towards. Sometimes we start with goals that seem impossible, and have to muster all of our persistence to keep going when they’re far away. What goals have you set for yourself?

Yesterday I finally got outside and pruned one of the cherry trees in our little orchard. Pruning has always baffled me. My trees never look like the trees in the pruning guides, and though they are dwarf trees, they grow quickly long and gangly. I wish I didn’t have to prune, but experts say it […]

Today is the 240th birthday of Universalist minister Paul Dean. He is much less well remembered than his Boston colleague and contemporary Hosea Ballou, and when I recently learned that Dean (and his wife) have an unmarked grave in the same cemetery that Ballou has a grand monument with a statue. I’ve started transcribing his … Continue reading "Paul Dean at 240"

                                     Henri Fabr é on the dock beside his invention. The Wright Brothers may have been first, but for a number of reasons within the first decade of flight the French leapt ahead of the Americans and their chief rival Glenn Curtis in technical innovation and the advancementof aviation.   It was not really so surprising.   In the early decades of the 20th Century French science and engineering led the world in many areas. Perhaps one of the most important advancements in aviation was the development of a floatplane—an aircraft that could take off and land on water.   Everyone knew that such a development was crucial in making air travel practical over long distances and commercial...

We are easily and deeply influenced beings, and that’s a big if not subtle part of our vulnerability. We all know how being around other people can make us feel. Depending on the company we find ourselves with, we may … Continue reading →

In this week's Pagan Community Notes, an update on the Apache Stronghold case, Four Dances site defaced with Nazi symbols, antiquities returned and more news. Continue reading Pagan Community Notes: Week of March 27, 2023 at The Wild Hunt.

The sermon celebrating the start of the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Houston's 2023-2024 stewardship campaign. The post Widening Love’s Circle: Stewardship appeared first on Colin Bossen.

Susan Dana Lawrence Parenting practices to strengthen our children for better Earth stewardship.

The book about which Rob Reiman is talking in this video, To Fight Against This Age: On Fascism and Humanism , and also his first, Nobility of Spirit: A Forgotten Ideal , are, I think, excellent, important and accessible books. I post this video and these links here because I think that many readers of this blog will be interested in, and value highly, Rieman’s take on these subjects.

At All Souls, youth in the 9th & 10th grade are encouraged to enter the Coming of Age program. Coming of Age (CoA) is a year-long spiritual journey where our Youth discover and develop their own religious and spiritual identity while fostering their own religious and spiritual growth. Throughout the year we explore Unitarian Universalist History, and the deeds of our ancestors. Through prompts, ancestral quotes, and journaling, our youth explore UU history and different theologies and ways of worship—all while discovering their own value system and belief system and the multiple ways they are interconnected. This age of discovery […] The post Coming of Age appeared first on BeyondBelief.

“Change never happens at the pace we think it should. It happens over years of people joining together, strategizing, sharing, and pulling all the levers they possibly can. Gradually, excruciatingly slowly, things start to happen, and then suddenly, seemingly out of the blue, something will tip.” -Judith Heumann (1947-2023) How can you strategize to make … Continue reading Change

[This is an edited version of a service reflection.] I would like to share my path to ecological awareness through the lens of  two related concepts, vulnerability and grace.   I see vulnerability as the condition of being exposed to … Continue reading →

This is an excellent view of the meaning of craft. Modern employment leaves workers moving from one thing to another without the grounding in the development of skill that our humanity demands. Things are made ever more "user friendly" without an understanding that we thrive best by doing difficult things that challenge our own personal growth. When things are made user friendly, we are deprived of an understanding of how things work. Make, fix and create.  Assist others in learning lifewise.  

  A diorama at Horseshoe Bend National Military Park depicts the members of the 39th Regiment of U.S. Infantry breaching the Creek fortification during the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. In 1814 Andrew Jackson took a little trip.   But despite the memorable ballad, he never came “down the Mighty Mississip.”   Well before he got to New Orleans he and an army of Tennessee Volunteers , Army Regulars, and a few hundred Cherokee and other native allies plunged deep into the Alabama wilderness in pursuit of a “renegade” faction of the Creek Nation  or Muskogee  known as the Red Sticks .   He found them at a place called Horseshoe Bend and fought them in the most important American battle you have probably never heard of.   Historians...

        Recalling the Western Zen MasterCharlotte Joko Beck Charlotte Joko Beck was born on this day, March 27th, in New Jersey, in 1917. Sadly, I can say little more about her early life. She attended Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and spent some years as a pianist and piano teacher. She married. They […]

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 "26 March 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 "19 March 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 "12 March 2023 Worship Livestreaming Video"

….[A]s Zora Neale Hurston said, ‘If you are silent about your pain, they’ll kill you and say you enjoyed it.’…</p> The post No Silence about Our Joy appeared first on Taking Up Space.

Popular culture often equates courage with spectacular feats of heroism. But quiet acts, performed by all of us, may be the kind of courage most needed now. Such acts may even determine if democracy – or life on this planet – survives.

I have never considered myself either a woman or a man. From the first days of my exploration, I was very clear that my identity was something else, a trickster-slick and shifting thing that slipped past both words and into uncharted lands. It was, by definition, dangerous. Continue reading Visibility at The Wild Hunt.

Don’t confuse me with the facts, please. My head hurts. It has been 2 1/2 weeks and I am still congested and woke up again last night with a coughing fit after the 4 hour generic NyQuil wore off. I am taking Mucinex during the day time and sucking on Halls cough drops. That all […]

Join UUs and James Carroll for our Biblical Scholarship Class the 4th Sunday of the month.

We are fast closing in on April 4, Spring election day for municipal and local government  units in Illinois.  Early voting and vote by mail are both open.   Unfortunately, Democrats and progressives are notorious for sitting out non-presidential elections.  But this year they need to bestir themselves as right-wingers are running both stealth and overt campaigns to take over local school boards, library districts, and other bodies in a coordinated attack on LGBTQ rights, basic science,  immigrants, and honest U.S.history.  They are rallying their basewith an attack on the “left’s woke agenda” in hopes of stirring up a virtual or real civil war. Chicago Mayoral candidates Paul Vallas and Brandon Johnson. The hotly contested ...

Popular culture often equates courage with spectacular feats of heroism. But quiet acts, performed by all of us, may be the kind of courage most needed now. Such acts may even determine if democracy – or life on this planet – survives.

      Marking the First Publication of the Book of Mormon The Book of Mormon was first published on this day, the 26th of March in 1830, in Palmyra, New York. The Book is one of various sacred texts to be first published here in North America in European languages. There are a number. […]

Every day for the past two years, I have done online Spanish lessons using a popular language learning program. Each day, I learn new words, and new ways to express myself in a language I did not grow up speaking. Each day, I get a little closer to the goal of honoring my Spanish-speaking siblings … Continue reading Learning Spanish

This is a small, short, tightly-focused spell book. It contains sigils, spells, prayers, and rituals for resisting oppression. It includes magic for protection, for resistance, and for vengeance. Because sometimes love and light just won’t get the job done.

  HELL IN THE CHRISTIAN TRADITION Some Notes for a Larger Reflection on Universalism James Ishmael Ford After creating the Heavens and the Earth, God created a garden east of Eden and populated it with everything that is good to eat and is pleasant to see. The Divine also planted the tree of everlasting life […]

Please join us on Sunday (26 March 2023) at 11:00 AM for “The Writing on the Wall” by Claudia Harris. Join us as we welcome Claudia Harris back to our pulpit with a message encompassing social justice and our anxiety concerning change. We will be meeting in the sanctuary for this worship service.  Please join … Continue reading "All Ages Worship (26 March 2023)"

Easter Worship Service and Egg Hunt (9 April 2023) Announcement of Special Congregational Meeting (16 April 2023) 2023 Pledge Drive — We Need Your Pledge Now

I read accounts of the Old Way in its day with love and longing. I am profoundly moved when I read the sayings of Odin, whether by myself, in communion with the kindred, or discussing them with college students. I see the lore as touchstones for righteous living, guidelines for right action, and comfort in the darkness. We can deeply care about all of this without pretending that we can go back and do like they did. Continue reading Boxing with Thor at The Wild Hunt.

Please join us on Sunday (26 March 2023) as we continue our new series in our our adult religious education class at 9:00 AM. Our adult religious education class is still meeting via Zoom. We have several persons in the adult religious education class who are new to our faith tradition and others who would … Continue reading "Online Adult Religious Education — 26 March 2023"

Children and youth will attend the worship service for the first 15-20 minutes and then are dismissed to their classes. We are now discussing peace, social justice, and the interdependent web and these ideas connect to our Unitarian Universalist faith. Elementary class with Ash McLain and Kevin Henry will explore “Friendship with People Different from … Continue reading "Children and Youth Religious Education Classes — 26 March 2023"

Some people here at the retirement community in Wisconsin measured up to 15 inches. But the temperatures are above freezing now, and the snow on Ed’s balcony is already starting to slump. People who live here are saying, “This is the last storm of winter. I hope.”

On Easter Sunday (9 April 2023) at 11:00 AM, we will have a worship service focusing on rebirth and renewal including a communion ritual that is open to all which focuses on shared community. After the service, we will have an Easter egg hunt for toddlers throught 5th grade.  Our middle and high school youth … Continue reading "Easter Worship Service and Egg Hunt (9 April 2023)"

Please join us next Tuesday (28 March 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.

My first comment about NAUA — and possibly my last — is in response to a comment made on an old article about the Rev. Todd Eklof. What is NAUA?

As soon as I finished my business, The Way of the River, I thought, “One day I’ll blog again.” And…</p> The post The Space My Story Takes Up appeared first on Catharine Clarenbach.

I'm home from having spent 5 days in Portland with the Guild of Oregon Woodworkers, and one of the things we discussed was teaching and learning styles. To help students through the process of cutting miter key slots in the corners of boxes, we used a team approach and got through safely. One at the saw would cut the corners while the last one to have gone through would help. Having someone on the other side of the cut to lift the box and return it lessened the risk of dropping the box, and gave an additional opportunity to observe the process from a different angle. Each got a turn at cutting and assisting. Please note how Daniel carefully rotates the box to its next cutting position before handing it back. In medical school they say, "...

“The heart can think of no devotion Greater than being shore to the ocean— Holding the curve of one position, Counting an endless repetition.” -Robert Frost, “Devotion” To what or whom are you devoted?

Police and bystanders watch helplessly as more victims jump to their deaths to escape the flames of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory on the upper floors of the Asch Building. It was a sunny but rawday in New York City, a late Saturday afternoon and the streets near Washington Square in the immigrant Greenwich Village neighborhood were teaming with traffic.  Around 4:45, as the many garment industry sweatshops were preparing for their “early” Saturday closing, pedestrians began to notice smoke billowing from the upper floors of the Asch Building , at 29 Washington Place. Crowds gathered to watch as horse drawn fire engines and ladder trucks pounded to the scene.  Soon witnesses watched in horror as one after another young women leapt...

Ed died this morning, peacefully in his sleep. Here’s a picture of him when he was 32, sitting next to his four year old daughter: His daughter doesn’t like this photo. She said: no one should be allowed to give little girls hair cuts like that. But since she never looks at this blog, I … Continue reading "Ed"

Never ones to miss an opportunity to teach, my guides use the magic of midnight darkness to summon a TV screen image of Dorothy, finally safe at home in Kansas, trying to convince the adults in her life that her liminal journey really happened. I hear her voice as she says: “And you, and you, and you, and you were there.” Continue reading Ruby Slippers at The Wild Hunt.

Please join us on Saturday (25 March 2023) 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. Please note that this group is still meeting via Zoom.  You will need … Continue reading "Meditation with Larry Androes (25 March 2023)"