In our worship, we recognize that sometimes we arrive in community with joys bursting forth from us. We celebrate those joys so that we are all lifted up by them. We celebrate those joys to remember that life can be more than it is in this moment. -Michael Tino (CLF) What joys are bursting forth … Continue reading Bursting Forth

Taken with a Fuji X100V using Justin Gould’s Daido Moriyama film recipe Just click on the photo to enlarge it

The inclination to create beautiful and useful things is a human universal. It can be found in every culture. It is rooted in relationship. We do good work because we are trained to expect it of ourselves, that we may be seen by others as caring. On the other hand, you can tell folks a thing or two, and lay verbal claim to your moral superiority, with it being revealed at some point as total bull.   Now with  artificial intelligence to supplement the ridiculousness of what folks can make up, we'll have launched ourselves further off the deep end. Imagine someone wants to create an image of Donald J. Trump wearing a tutu and on point. AI will do it in seconds and folks will believe it to be true. I lay the problem's source on our educa...

According to tradition, Rev. John Brown, the minister in Cohasset during the Revolutionary War period, gave a stirring reading of the Declaration of Independence from the pulpit of the meeting house to the gathered townspeople not long after July 4, 1776. I haven’t been able to find out the exact date when Brown read the … Continue reading "Declaration of Independence reading"

                                        Sometime in March of 1845, Henry David Thoreau’s friend the poet Ellery Channing famously advised him, “Go out upon that, build yourself a hut, & there begin the grand process of devouring yourself alive. I […]

                                               Uncle Sam Dozing by  J.C. Leyendecker .  

  This weekend, millions of Americans will enjoy the fireworks, but others will take a knee on Independence Day.  Why celebrate?  In her Pulitzer Prize-winning 1619 Project,  Nikole Hannah-Jones argued that the primary purpose of the American Revolution was to promote and preserve slavery.  But it’s important to get the history right.   In 1775, Virginia’s English Governor, Lord Dunmore, proclaimed that slaves who deserted their American masters would be welcomed into the British army as free citizens.  Multitudes did so, and soon Dunmore had a black regiment at his command to quell unrest in the colonies.  It was only then, Hannah-Jones’ argument goes, with the prospect of losing their enslaved property, that delegates in...

  A single blue whale can weigh 400,000 pounds.  But suppose you could put every kind of mammal on your bathroom scale, not as individual organisms but as a species. Cattle would physically weigh the most, according to a new study by the Wiezman Institute of Science.  In a paper titled “The Global Biomass of Wild Mammals,,” published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science last March, researchers determined that dogs–our family pets–collectively weigh about as much as all 4,805 wild species of mammals combined.  Cats tip the scales at double the tonnage of savannah elephants.   Watching Nature on PBS, with its migrating wildebeests, foraging bears and wallowing hippos gives a seriously distorted impression tha...

(Reposted from July 4, 2014–despite that this was 9 years ago, this post speaks poignantly to where we are currently) Today, in the United States, we celebrate the birth of our nation.  The Declaration of Independence, drafted, signed, and ratified … Continue reading →

  Congress Voting Independence by Edward Savage circa 1800. Note —This essay was first posted two years ago but remains on point. Today is the great patriotic holiday of the United States.   We call it the Fourth of July, or just the Fourth.   But that is just a date.   The official Federal holiday is called Independence Day in celebration of the adoption of the document that proclaimed separation from England, its King, and Parliament.   The Fourth was the date that wrangling over the wording of the document was completed and the final draft was dispatched to the printer.   The actual vote to approve independence had been cast by the Continental Congress two days earlier, July 2 , 1776 and John Adams, the prime mover of the reso...

The act of kneeling, in some cultures and for those who are able to do so, can be part of a spiritual practice of humility that asks us to recognize something larger than ourselves. What do you recognize as larger than you are that is worth a practice of humility before?

This child has always climbed everything she could. It should have come as no surprise when she wanted to join a climbing gym last year. After an afternoon of taking in art at the Zurich Kunsthaus, she was literally ready to climb the walls. This one was outside a very expensive-looking gated estate with sculpture […]

In this week's Pagan Community Notes, Rev. Selena Fox and Circle Sanctuary help resist attacks on LGBTQI+ rights including an event tonight, July's supermoon, dolphin baby talk (what more do you want?), upcoming events and more news. Continue reading Pagan Community Notes: Week of July 3, 2023 at The Wild Hunt.

                                  Today, the 3rd of July, the Roman church marks out as the feast of St Thomas, called the Doubter. The Orthodox tend to prefer October 6th. The Episcopal church marks his feast on the 21st of December, and […]

Staff Writer In this excerpted version of his now-classic 1852 oration, Frederick Douglass casts Fourth of July celebrations as an offense to the enslaved population of the United States, and all who yearn for true freedom.

(Reposted from September 6, 2013) In bullfighting, the place in the ring where a wounded bull retreats from the matador to regain his strength and prepare to return to the fight is known as “querencia”.  The matador fears the time … Continue reading →

Spirit of Life and Love,In this time of uncertaintyOf fear and angstOur nation holds its collective breath In this timeWhen rhetoric blusters aboutAnd words are used as weaponsOur nation clenches its fistsTightens its shouldersEyes squeezed shutSome are preparing for a fight May we remember we are a people of resilienceWe have faced uncertainty beforeWe have weathered stormsWe have been consumed by flamesWe have risen like the phoenix from the ashesAnd we will againWe the people May we remember our shared humanityOur universal kinship; our interdependenceAs we unclench our fists and breathe togetherBreathing in love and breathing out peaceMay we recognize […] The post Seeking That Which Unites Us appeared first on BeyondBelief.

This fanciful depiction of the arrival of Samuel de Champlain at the site of the future Quebec City was painted in 1808 by George Agnew Reid.  The local Algonquian tribes did not adorn themselves in plains Indian war bonnets and were not known to have dispatched such a welcoming committee. On July 3, 1608 French explorer Samuel de Champlain founded Ville de Québec—Quebec City— at the site of Stadacona, a long abandoned St. Lawrence Iroquoian settlement.   It was the first permanent settlement in North America built outside of Spanish possessions.   The town was built in an easily fortified position on the top of bluffs on the north side of the St. Lawrence River where it narrows considerably.   It is surrounded by a low plain—...

  [Hello from July 2, 2023. This one sat in my drafts for a long time and I just saw it tonight. I am eminently more “okay” today than I was when I wrote it. We aren’t post-pandemic but I just went to the crowded Market Basket today and while I was masked, I wasn’t … Continue reading "(How Are You?) Are You Okay?"

I get bristly around the topic of humility because all my life I’ve been told to humble myself by making myself smaller, being quiet, not making waves. I’ve spent many long years (and many therapist $$) to unlearn that type of false humility and learn honest humility. A humility which loves questions and embraces change.  … Continue reading Waves

Carol and I went for walks in two wildlife sanctuaries today: the Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary and the North River Wildlife Sanctuary, both in Marshfield, Mass. Usually when we walk in wildlife sanctuaries I spend most of my time looking at plants, especially flowering plants. But today, without trying at all, we wound up seeing … Continue reading "Encounters"

"Am I seeking, or am I being sought?" Meg Elison reviews J. Lee Thompson's EYE OF THE DEVIL (1966), a classic of pagan horror that revolves around the myth of the Sacred King. Continue reading Classics of Pagan Cinema: Eye of the Devil at The Wild Hunt.

We spent 3 nights in Tahoe Vista this week, on the north shore of Lake Tahoe. And of course we hiked. My favorite hike near there is Spooner Lake to beautiful Marlette Lake. It is the third time we have done that hike and I love it. It was 12.6 miles with a 1632 elevation, […]

                                        When the Heart of Compassion walked through the gate of Wisdom, she looked into the body of the world and each of us, seeing that each of us and the world itself is boundless. And […]

Cecil, the majestic and photogenic lion in happier days with one of his harem and as a victim of a feckless dentist with a bow. Note— This recycled post would ordinarily not see the light of day again as it was pegged to specific news articles.   I rediscovered it, however, and thought that most readers would remember the news stories cited.   Besides, I like the message.   As predicted the original post did rouse some apoplexy and I was un-friended on Facebook by some seething animal lovers.   Hyper-sensitive White guys were also not happy.   One commentator on the original post took pains to complain that Black Lives Matter “only when they are shot by police” and not when Blacks murder each other—a patented accusation that...

Today we took over space at the Eureka Springs Community Center for the launch of the Museum of Eureka Springs Art. Eureka Springs has long been known as an art center. Our downtown has a number of art galleries, and we have more artists per capita than most small communities in the US. For many years our artists have participated in art and craft shows throughout the US, spreading the word about this wonderful place. Years ago local artist Louis Freund had proposed a major expansion of our historic museum to accommodate the arts, and while that never worked out, we are paying homage to the artists of our past and present by building a collection that will be exhibited in our newly acquired space. One of the reasons I've worked toward th...

As I sit at the midpoint of my human life, in the sacred year of 40, amid many transitions, a spiritual truth is emerging: I’m not so important or unique, AND Life is infinitely miraculous and precious. As many have noted, I am made of stardust, and to that dust I shall return – and … Continue reading Humility

On Juneteenth of this year, my wife and I finished watching the fine documentary “Summer of Soul”. I loved it. I felt inspired with both wonder and happiness. The film does a perfect job of summarizing a quintessential and positive moment in the history of our nation. My heart lifted to hear music and names […]

Weekend Editor Eric O. Scott reviews this season's U.S. Supreme Court decisions. Continue reading Editorial: SCOTUS conjures conservative rulings out of thin air at The Wild Hunt.

Please join us on Sunday (2 July 2023) at 11:00 AM for “Know-How and Imagination” by Rev. Barbara Jarrell. Join us as we welcome Rev. Barbara back to the pulpit and hear a special performance from the All Souls Choir. We will be meeting in the sanctuary for this worship service.  Please join us in … Continue reading "All Ages Worship (2 July 2023)"

During the summer, our children and youth participate in various fun artistic and creative activities. On this Sunday (2 July 2023), we are bringing back origami for the first time in many years with teachers Noah Jarrell-Wagstaff and Ash McLain. Children and youth will learn to make a crane and other folds from this ancient … Continue reading "Origami — Summer Activities for Children and Youth (2 July 2023)"

  A short  “ thought for the day” offered to the Cambridge Unitarian Church as part of the Sunday Service of Mindful   Meditation. A pdf of the revised order of service in which this address was given, and about which it speaks, can be found at this link.   (Click on this link to hear a recorded version of the following piece)   —o0o— One Sunday morning in Tokyo, sometime in 1973, at a meeting of his small, free religious community, Kiitsu Kyokai , Imaoka Shin’ichirō gave a brief talk on the subject of “Religion in No Religion” (see pictures at the end of this post for the Japanese version of the text of which a solid English translation has not yet been made). I thought it would be interesting to bring to your atten...

There will be no adult religious education class this Sunday (2 July 2023). Please join us next Sunday (9 July 2023) for our adult religious education class at 9:00 AM.  We are taking a break for the Fourth of July holiday weekend — please have a safe and fun holiday weekend. Our adult religious education … Continue reading "No Online and In-Person Adult Religious Education This Sunday — 2 July 2023"

We are not having Zoom lunch this Tuesday (4 July 2023) — our next Zoom lunch will be on Tuesday, 11 July 2023, at 12 noon. Please have a safe and fun Fourth of July holiday. Our weekly Zoom lunch is going dual-platform — join us from home using Zoom or in person in the … Continue reading "No Zoom Lunch This Tuesday (4 July 2023) — Zoom Lunch Returns on 11 July 2023"

Each month we dedicate all of our non-pledge income to an organization doing the work that best embodies our Unitarian Universalist principles and values. For the month of July 2023, we choose North Louisiana Interfaith (a community organization of institutions of which All Souls is a member). Interfaith allows our congregation to accomplish many things … Continue reading "North Louisiana Interfaith — July 2023 Give-Away-The-Plate Recipient"

                                Last night we arrived at mom’s in Tujunga in Los Angeles, which for all practical purposes means we are home. This morning after our Empty Moon Zen sitting we’ll return the rental car. It was a lovely ride down […]

I need to begin photographing boxes for the cover of my new book, so I'm applying finish. As usual, I've made more boxes than is needed, so I'll have some to sell when the book is completed. I think readers will enjoy making these boxes.  Make, fix and create... Assist others in learning likewise.

This Landmark book for young adults and a Classic Comic Book both fired my boyhood hero worship of Theodore Roosevelt.  The cover illustration turned out to be inaccurate.  Roosevelt was wearing his blue field shirt not his khaki officer's tunic and completed the charge on foot after he lost his horse.  But it did show one Black trooper in the lower right of the picture--more credit than Buffalo Soldiers usually got. When I was a kid, Theodore Roosevelt was my hero.   I know, incredibly dorky.   But Teddy had been a fat, bookish kid with glasses, sort of like me, who grew up to have an exciting life.   For a couple of years or so in my pre-teens I took to pinning the brim of my cowboy hat to the crown on one side with a U . S . Arm...

Please join us on Saturday (1 July 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 (1 July 2023)"

Today, we celebrate the end of LGBTQIA+ Pride Month with “Proud,” by Heather Smalls. Click the link and have yourself a dance party, beloved! “I step out of the ordinary I can feel my soul ascending I’m on my way, can’t stop me now You can do the same, yeah.” -Heather Smalls What have you … Continue reading Proud

Today TWH presents three science stories from around the world, including the banning of cruel animal traps in Wales, new images of Saturn from the James Webb space telescope, and new research into octopus sleep habits. Continue reading Unleash the Hounds Science Edition – Snare bans, Saturn, and octopus dreams at The Wild Hunt.

The UUA Board has provided a statement, Post-GA 2023, regarding the divestment reparations. Continue reading "UUA Board Statement, Post-General Assembly 2023, Regarding Divestment Reparations"

The UUA condemns the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in 303 Creative LLC vs. Elenis, a case that will erode the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community in this country. Continue reading "The Unitarian Universalist Association Condemns U.S. Supreme Court’s Decision on the 303 Creative LLC vs. Elenis Case"

Earlier this week, Carol and I walked on a beach in Maine where we saw two endangered bird species, Piping Plovers (Charadrius melodus) and Least Terns (Sternula antillarum). Both these species nest on the beach above the high water mark. Nesting in the sand was a useful evolutionary adaptation for most of these birds’ existence. … Continue reading "Endangered"

It was a Saturday morning in May. In the middle of a conversation in rainy Trafalgar Square I raised my finger to try to politely indicate to the person I was talking to that I was going to join the Lord's Prayer that I just realised was starting through the loud speakers. My conversation partner paused for a moment, and I closed my eyes and joined in with the congregation in Westminster Abbey in

A series on UUSC’s partners in Eastern Europe.

Henry II of France. On June 30, 1559 King Henry II of France met an unfortunate accident while pursuing a popular hobby.   More on that in a bit. If your French history is not up to snuff here is a thumbnail of Henry’s biographical highlights. Was born in 1509 as a younger son of Francis I . After his pop was captured by the Hapsburg Holy Roman Emperor in a disastrous battle in 1524 young Henry and his older brother , the heir apparent , were shipped off as hostages to be held by the Hapsburg King of Spain in their father ’ s stead. Catherine de Medici,  Henry's Queen and connection to Papal power and privilege. After being sprung Henry was married to Catherine de Medici.   Both were 14 years old at the time.   But Catherine had ...

My father grew roses in our yard when I was growing up. He had a magical way with them, tending them carefully, treating them when there was blight, removing Japanese Beetles when they descended on them every summer, and gently … Continue reading →

A Prayer to Co-Create Time - Prayer for Week of July 3, 2023 From our first breath to our last, Beloved, we are time incarnate, co-creating time and our sense of it, of wasted time and tasted time and blessed time and cursed time and slow time and metered time...

How much stuff does one need for two months’ travel? Well, you can’t pack 65 changes of clothes, so the question is really: how often will you be able to do laundry? With a washing machine in most of our lodgings, and a little bottle of laundry soap for hand washing as needed, all we […]

Two Evangelical writers claim that Paganism is somehow inauthentic because it doesn’t exactly match the Paganism of our ancient ancestors, and that the appealing parts of modern Paganism were cribbed from Christianity. Neither claim is true.

A tiny stream, meeting with the edge of a rock, becomes a magnificent waterfall. What are you on the edge of becoming today?

JB, a friend from high school, just had a piece published in The Concord Bridge titled “The Watergate Nerds: Fondly recalling a high school reenactment.” Here’s his lede: “On June 17, 1976, on the fourth anniversary of the Watergate break-in, seven students at Concord-Carlisle Regional High School re-enacted the operation by bungling a break-in at … Continue reading "A history of “history nerds”"

Officials near Wuhan inspect bookstores to prevent the selling of unauthorized religious material. Continue reading Chinese authorities search for illegal religious literature at The Wild Hunt.

A PDF of the whole text which follows can be downloaded at this link  I A BEGINNING   A recorded version of Part 1 is available at this link The theme of the conference for which this piece was originally written in 2016 was, “Religion—Where Next?” It seems to be an important question to ask because, at least in Europe and North America, the state of our formal religious traditions appears ever more parlous and, at least in denominational terms, perhaps terminal. But was this, in fact, precisely the right question to pose? I asked this because over the twenty-two years of my ministry with a small liberal religious community in Cambridge it has struck me more and more that a better question to ask might be “Religion—Where ...

When people suggest that real friendships might not be possible in online space, I tell them about Harry Potter for Grown-ups (HPfGU). I joined that Yahoo group in late 2000, and during the three years that I was active, made several friends there with whom I’ve remained connected and even close. Most notably, I met […]

                                      Thomas Henry Huxley died this day, the 29th of June, in 1895. I kind of think of it as a feast for a new universalist kind of saint. Huxley was a biologist and anthropologist, today best […]

By Christian Coleman | We took the crushing news pretty hard. The TV adaptation of Octavia E. Butler’s “Kindred” didn’t get a fair chance when it was cancelled nearly a month and half after all eight episodes were uploaded in December 2022 to stream on Hulu. With the blessing of Butler’s estate, playwright and showrunner Branden Jacobs-Jenkins made bold choices—some of which might make Butler purists gasp—to modernize and expand upon Butler’s classic while staying true to her message.

When I think about my days, I see how it’s full of small delights. Little things that I accomplish. I have mobility issues and I have long term effects of chemotherapy. All of these things limit me in many ways. … Continue reading →

  A young Emma Goldman  in her mug shot after her arrest for conspiring with her lover Alexander Berkman  in an assassination attempt on steel baron Henry Clay Frick. Note— I have posted this poem before, but the two women are particular favorites of mine and I immodestly think that the poem is one of my better efforts.   I also think that they would be astute commentators on the attempted re-subjugation of women by the Supreme Court and Red State governors and legislators.   Emma, of course, a champion of free love and sexual liberation, would never have had faith in the courts to protect women.   An advocate of militant direct action, she would be loudly calling for a real revolution.   Helen, the Wobbly and Socialist, might b...

LGBTQIA+ Pride is an act of resistance, and has been since before the first brick was thrown at Stonewall. Claiming all of who we are as beautiful and worthy in a society that devalues us daily is worth being proud of. -Michael Tino (CLF) What are the negative messages you need to resist today?

The Valley of the roses in Kazanlak hosts an annual rose festival with Pagan origins. Continue reading The Pagan Roots of Bulgaria’s Famous Roses at The Wild Hunt.

The UUA is celebrating the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the Moore v Harper case that rejected the “independent state legislature” theory, which will have a significant impact on voting rights across the country. Continue reading "The Unitarian Universalist Association Applauds U.S. Supreme Court Decision to Protect Voting Rights in Moore v Harper Case"

Delegates Vote to Advance Changes to Article II & Elect First Out Queer Individual & First Woman of Colour to be President June 28, 2023 On June 22, 2023, the outgoing President of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA), Susan Frederick-Gray, delivered her final report to members at General Assembly, the  annual gathering  where the UUA […] The post UUA Embraces Change at General Assembly 2023 first appeared on Canadian Unitarian Council Conseil unitarien du Canada. The post UUA Embraces Change at General Assembly 2023 appeared first on Canadian Unitarian Council Conseil unitarien du Canada.

By Eva Saulitis | Morning. Late June. Daytime breeze already ruffling the passage. While doing calisthenics on the beach, Olga spotted three blows threading upward in rapid succession against Gage Island, across the passage. Humpbacks. Some days, a particular quality of light, wind, and humidity made spouts stand out. Ralph, Mary, and I loaded up Whale 1. Since Elli was still sleeping, Olga stayed behind at camp. A few moments after departing, I spotted smaller, fuller blows off Squire Point. “Stop!” I yelled. The three of us stared through binoculars until the whales surfaced again—three orcas slinking close to shore, heading toward camp.

                                          John Wesley, the Anglican priest and founder of the Methodist movement, was born today, the 28th of June, in 1703. His father Samuel was also a priest. He was also a poet, and probably […]

Erika Hewitt Every relationship is an ongoing story that unfolds between people. Continue reading "Where Healing Begins"

If it’s not obvious this week, my final reflections on “delight” have me out in nature.  A couple of weeks ago, I took my morning coffee out into our back yard which faces into the woods. The sun was just … Continue reading →

                                          A prop cannon firing under the  Globes thatched roof set the straw on fire.  Folks who have been involved in theater, amateur or professional, love to swap yarns about various disasters in front of live audiences.   Ask me sometime about when the set fell on my head in the middle of Jules Feiffer ’ s Little Murders at Shimer College.   But even the most grizzled theatrical veteran would have a hard time topping what happened to the cast of Henry VIII on June 29, 1613.   During a performance a cannon sparked a fire in the Globe Theater ’ s thatched roof, burning the theater structure to the ground.   Fortunately, no one was seriously injured, although one actor w...

Sometimes, in the rush and hurry of our lives, things fall between the cracks. Sometimes, they bloom there, in that transitional, stuck space. What in your life has fallen between the cracks? How might it bloom?

From the news story “Coast Guard opens Titan implosion probe,” in USA Today, June 27, 2023: “OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, who was piloting the Titan when it imploded, had complained that regulations can stifle progress.”

Elaine McArdle From inspiring speakers to impassioned voices, here are the highlights of this year’s multiplatform UUA General Assembly.

Taken with a Fuji X100V using Øyvind Nordhagen’s Kodak Ektar 100 Recipe   Just click on the photo to enlarge it.  

At its annual meeting, TrothMoot, the Troth announced some changes to its policies and activities., including the addition of interfaith work. Continue reading The Troth updates policies and creates Interfaith Committee at The Wild Hunt.

We’re Taking Summer Worship on the Road! We are delighted to announce that we are collaborating with several of our UU neighbors this summer for shared worship services. Below is a brief outline — stay tuned for more details! 7/2 4th of July – No Sunday service. 7/9  “Sharing Circle” @ UCMH – led by our   [ … ] The post 2023 Summer Worship Info appeared first on Unitarian Church of Marlborough and Hudson.

Marking the third anniversary of the COVID lockdown, I'm using this blog to reflect on this time and to point towards the audio archive Doorstep Revolution, a project I was part of putting together as part of Gentle/Radical.The eleventh episode contains reflections on the pandemic experiences of work, redundancy, unemployment, furlough, working from home, adaptation, work, rest, and balance. You

This little guy showed up at our back door recently the day after our daughter had been visiting from North Carolina. The synchronicity of his appearance (first rabbit I’d seen all spring or summer) immediately became a joke for us. … Continue reading →

The Stonewall was a dive bar operated by the Mob in New York's Greenwich Village.  It's patrons were outcasts and the most flamboyant of a rough streets scene--young hustlers, drag queens, butch lesbians.  It was also an inter-racial scene that attracted police attention.  Wealthier and more respectable Gays gathered and partied more discretely in posh clubs that authorities usually ignored. Fifty four years ago on the night of June 27, 1969 something snapped when New York City Police made one of their regular raids on a Gay bar.  Instead of meekly submitting to arrest, the denizens of the Stonewall Inn, a Greenwich Village bar operated by the Mafia and patronized by the most marginalized of folks—homeless street kid hustlers, drag...

“In this great turning we shall learn to lead in love.” -Karisha Longaker, MaMuse, “We Shall Be Known” The Great Turning describes the necessary shift of human society from one that exploits and colonizes to one that is sustainable for all life on Earth, from a way of life based in violence to one based … Continue reading Great Turning

In this week’s Pagan Community Notes: Red Album released, ECER hosted by Latvijas Dievturu Sadraudze, The Troth elects officers, Author Amy Blackthorn donation, stunning find in Nemi, the Black Hills demonic portal (yeah, you read that right) and events and more. Continue reading Pagan Community Notes: Week of June 26, 2023 at The Wild Hunt.

It was a reprise of the 2007 ice-storm when we were without power for nine days. This time we had no power for four and half days. Difference between the two major events is that the first was in December with freezing rain, saturated ground, and a declining interior temperature when I was able to get enough power to run the sump-pump (hand bailing the sump every few hours is annoying), the refrigerator, the gas furnace, a few lights, and the Internet; this time it is summer, so not enough power to run the AC—only fans, the refrigerator, a few […] The post Weathering the Storm appeared first on BeyondBelief.

There is a phrase I’ve seen online that applies to Margy and I–we are “still COVIDing.” It means that we know the COVID virus is still circulating, still dangerous especially to elders and those with other health issues, and we are still taking all precautions. This despite the end of the declared public emergency and […]

At General Assembly, the annual gathering of UUs where the UUA conducts business and explores the theological underpinnings of the UU faith, the Rev. Dr. Sofía Betancourt was elected to serve as President of the Unitarian Universalist Association. Continue reading "Unitarian Universalists Elect Rev. Dr. Sofía Betancourt to Serve as President of the Unitarian Universalist Association at General Assembly: Multiplatform annual business meeting brought more than 4,000 Unitarian Universalists together online and in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Delegates also voted to advance changes to association bylaws on core religious values."

  In 2015, Ethan Song was only 15 years old when he was unintentionally shot and killed with an unsecured gun in his best friend’s house. Tragically, Ethan is not alone. Every day, eight children and teens are unintentionally injured or killed due to family fire, which refers to a shooting caused by someone having access to a gun from the home when they shouldn’t have it. This includes children as well as those who display behavior that indicates they read more... The post June Action Alert: Promote Safe Gun Storage appeared first on Promise the Children.

  William Boyd as Hopalong Cassidy on his white stallion Topper. Summer days more than 60 years ago in Cheyenne , Wyoming we spent our days recreating in detail elaborate cowboy sagas that lasted all day—or even all week.   The we were my twin brother, Tim, a rotating cast of neighborhood kids—principally Joe Miranda and his assorted younger siblings—and when she was in town our cousin from Des Moines, Linda Strom .   For authenticity real prairie started abruptly at the end of our block complete with sagebrush, tumbleweeds, and low button cactus.   But the back yards the neighborhood with their lilac caves, wild rose hedges, palisade fences , brick walls, window wells , and the low flat roofs of car ports provided plenty of lo...

Aside from the Rembrandt etchings that particularly drew me to the National Gallery of Slovenia, two things I saw there said “Draw me.” One was “Drama,” a life-size bronze sculpture by a Slovenian artist named Franc Berneker (1905). It appears to be of a family: a man sprawled on the ground on his front, a […]

These beautiful, almost fluorescent orange and purple, Echinaceas (aka Coneflowers) began blooming in our yard recently. One day, it was just a bed of green, mostly mint, with these flowers hiding in the camouflage, and the next these outrageous and … Continue reading →

Our children literally march in the streets begging us for Abolition, in the form of gun control. Our scientists beg for Abolition, in the form of climate justice. Our Black and Indigenous peoples demand Abolition, in the form of reparations. And our Incarcerated siblings demand the Abolition of Slavery, in the form of Prison and … Continue reading Abolition

Metelkova was a military installation of the Yugoslav army until shortly after Slovenia left Yugoslavia. The complex left behind has an interesting status in the city–have a look at the website. The munchkin had read about it and asked if I wanted to see it. What public art lover could resist? Munchkin came ready to […]

Join us for a mix of live music and recorded sermon, as we view portions of Sunday morning worship at General Assembly, featuring a sermon from the Rev. Manish Mishra-Marzetti, senior minister at the First Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Ann Arbor.

  Dear PUUF friends, As I get closer to my moving date, I want to express my gratitude to you for your love, your cooperation, your energy, your smiles and encouragement, your interest in my life and future, and also to make it clear(er) what our relationship will be from now on. As of July 1, I will not be your minister; Rev. Mira will be your minister and I will be part of your history.  This is the way ministers and congregations have parted for a long time.  I have a professional duty to my colleague Rev. Mira to stand aside and let her create her own relationships within PUUF. In a small community like ours, it's hard to let a close relationship change, but change it must.  I need to let go and so do you, to make it the best pos...

I was busy with church stuff this week so we only got in one 12 mile hike. That long of a hike wore me out some, but then I was sitting most of the rest of the week in front of my computer attending the Unitarian Universalist Association’s General Assembly as an online delegate. It […]

Today all the robin babies fledged from the nest. When I woke, there was just this one left. Its parent came by to check on it, not bringing food, but flying up to the nest and then back down, as if to say, here is what you do now. Shortly after, I saw it take […]

“‘You should dream more, Mr. Wormold. Reality in our century is not something to be faced.'” — Graham Greene, Our Man in Havana, 1958

Probably  the most oft repeated gag in comix history--Ignatz mouse bouncing a brick off love-sick Krazy Kat's noggin. Yet it never grew old . On Sunday, June 25, 1944 the full page color comic Krazy Kat made its last appearance in American Newspapers ending a thirty-one year run as a stand-alone strip.   That was exactly two months since the death of the odd, surrealistic strip’s creator, George Herriman on April 24 at the age of only 63.   Krazy Kat had amused and mystified the public for generations.   Many simply did not know what to make of it, or Herman’s regular defiance of conventions of both comic form and substance.   In fact, it regularly polled among the least popular Sunday strips with the public and more than one lo...

Many transitions are necessary for us to build a better world together. Our economy must transition away from exploitation of people as capital. Our industry must transition away from reliance on fossil fuels and carbon dioxide production. Our society must transition away from rugged individualism and toward community care. What are the transitions your community … Continue reading A Better World

Please join us on Sunday (25 June 2023) at 9:30 AM for brunch and at 10:00 AM for a group viewing of the Sunday morning worship at this Sunday’s Unitarian Universalist General Assembly. You can use this link to watch this worship service at home. Join us to be part of the largest annual gathering … Continue reading "All Ages Worship and Sunday Brunch (25 June 2023)"