Shodoka – Song of Realization Yoka-daishi (d.713) Excerpted from Buddhism and Zen Compiled, edited and translated by Nyogen Senzaki and Ruth Stout McCandless (New York: The Philosophical Library, 1953), pp. 32-72. The stanzas italicized were translated from a copy of the original by Nyogen Senzaki, and the commentary following the stanzas was from […]

In honor of MLK, we need to support the radical prophets of today.

On Monday an old college friend of mine took Susanna and me into Suffolk to visit Great Livermere Church and the adjacent mere. All three of us are aficionados of M. R. James’ ghost stories, one of which has its setting at Livermere — A Vignette . James grew up in this village where his father was Rector. Great Livermere is a wonderful and evocative site, hauntological through and through, and I hope these photos capture some of that atmosphere. Enjoy! All photos taken with a Fujifilm X100V Just click on a photo to enlarge

Jeff Milchen Voting rights bills being brought to a vote in the Senate.

Roger Santodomingo, Jeff Milchen This week, we introduce Jeff Milchen: kayaker, democracy activist, and new UU World columnist.

Yesterday I taught a one day box making class for the staff at ESSA. Seven staff members were able to attend and each made a box similar to the box shown.  I supplied ash for the box sides, walnut corner keys and a variety of woods that students could select from for making the lids. It's my belief that no one in the US should be allowed to graduate from high school without having had the opportunity to make something beautiful and useful from wood. A box, lovingly crafted, would hold memories for a lifetime. I thank the staff of the Eureka Springs School of the Arts for joining me in a day of box making. I can train others to share the same experience. My week of teaching at the Clear Spring School was disrupted by a serious spike in c...

For much of the Folsom concert, Cash set on a stool at the front of the stage, his feet propped up on a rail, as close to his audience of cons as he could get. Today is the anniversaryof the two greatest concerts you could never buy a ticket to.  On January 14, 1968 Johnny Cash, the Tennessee Three, June Carter, Carl Perkinsand The Statler Brothers played two shows at an unusual venue—California’s Folsom Prison. The shows were hastily arranged by Cash and executives at Columbia Records for the express purpose of making a live recording in front of an audience of inmates.  The idea was rooted in Cash’s 1955 Sun Records single Folsom Prison Blues .                           Johnny Cash as an Airman. Cash was insp...

A few days ago, I thought it would be exciting to see what a pine needle looks like under a microscope, and found some gorgeous photos of Austrian pine (Pinus nigra) needles, in cross section, from the lab of a Czech scientist named Josef Reischig. (His authorship heirs donated 384 pictures under CC BY SA […]

Sunday, January 16, 10:30 a.m. The Women’s Pages: On Healthism, Appetite, and Domestic History An online service with Lay Speaker Elisa Abatsis Join us as we explore the history of recipes and domestic work, and how old recipe books sometimes clue us in to stories and histories that were not otherwise documented, specifically women’s stories.    [ … ] The post Sunday, January 16 ~ The Women’s Pages: On Healthism, Appetite, and Domestic History ~ 10:30 a.m. appeared first on Unitarian Church of Marlborough and Hudson.

Invitations can be surprises of kindness, caring, and compassion. An unexpected gift of invitation can lift someone’s entire day. Surprise someone with an act of kindness today.

I recently learned that the song “We Shall Overcome” is now in the public domain, due to a 2017 court ruling and a 2018 settlement. A lawyer tells the whole story in some detail here. The short version: In 2017, a federal court ruled that the tune, arrangement, and first verse of “We Shall Overcome” … Continue reading "We shall overcome burdensome copyright restrictions"

      George Fox died on this day, the 13th of January, 1691, 331 years ago. He was born into a Puritan family in Leicestershire, England sometime in July, 1624. His father a weaver and so the family was financially secure. He doesn’t seem to have been formally educated, although he was literate. George […]

New provisional proposals for reform of the law governing weddings may affect Pagan handfastings. Continue reading UK Law Commission findings have implications for handfasting at The Wild Hunt.

Music became both an entrance point and a thread to follow when it comes to my spirituality ... My Pagan station includes more upbeat and active music that reminds me of the joy and deep power of my spirituality. The post The Power of the Playlist appeared first on Nature's Sacred Journey.

You can always forswear magic. You can always go running back to Christianity, or to atheism, or to whatever path tells you it’s all about you anyway. Just know that once you’ve seen the reality of spirits and of magic, you can never unsee it.

Kay Francis, a long, tall, elegant drink of water in an early Warner Bros./First National outing. She was regally tall—at 5 foot 9 inches the lankiest female star Hollywood’s Golden Age—with an impeccable sense of style.   The critics called her a clothes horse.   With large, expressive hazel eyesand dramatic dark hair she was never an ingénue, playing sophisticated society women, sharp businesswomen, and scheming villainesses while barely out her teens.   Her somewhat husky voice lacked the almost British mid-Atlantic accent used by many actresses in similar roles.   But a slight speech defect—a lisp which made her letters r and l sound like w—seemed to audiences to be upper class.   The voice, the height, the sense of s...

When I decided to draw a leaf every day, I had a particular kind of leaf in mind. A particular class of leaf, anyway: broad leaves. Some would be compound, sure, but I’d basically be drawing A leaf or A FEW leaves. Then I opened up the field guide and it began with needle-leaved trees. […]

Sometimes, an invitation to someone else to explain something really invites them to do emotional labor for you. Too often, that emotional labor is given without acknowledgement or compensation. Whose emotional labor are you relying upon today? How can you repay them for that investment in you?

Two recent excavations shed some light on Minoan and Mycenean cultures. Continue reading Mycenaean Tombs and Minoan Courtyards at The Wild Hunt.

In 2022, grassroots groups will be pivotal to rebuilding Haiti and achieving equity for Haitian people.

It’s a rough way to begin the new year, mourning an author and an intellectual powerhouse. Lani Guinier, legal scholar, champion for voting rights, and the first woman of color appointed to a tenured professorship at Harvard Law School, joined the ancestors on January 7. She was seventy-one. Although heartbroken about her passing, we remain honored to have published her work, including “The Tyranny of the Meritocracy,” which she wrote to provide a clear blueprint for creating collaborative education models to strengthen our democracy rather than privilege individual elites. May she rest in power.

Melissa Jeter Every time someone showed up for me, I learned that love is greater than skin deep. Continue reading "Love Is Showing Up"

Valley Nebraska, where my father's store was located, was famous apart from being on the edge of Omaha and trapped between the Union Pacific Railroad lines and the Platte River, that's been described as a mile wide and an inch deep, and that traversed the state of Nebraska from one end to the other.  Valley is also the home of Valmont Industries, originally Valley Manufacturing, one of the early manufacturers of the circular irrigation systems that are in use throughout the world.  Valmont, with an expanded product line remains a major employer. And so it was with many small towns in America. Small towns would grow from unique ideas that had a significant effect on the world at large. As an alternative, we could standardize education a...

                                           Chicago Seed cover--imagining ourselves as revolutionaries.    A few days after last year’s Capitol insurrection I wrote this. From the Sidelines of a Coup Time was long ago             that I imagined myself sometimes             on the barricades of some great General Strike             turning the world upside down             gleefully building that new society             on the ashes of the old. It was easy then to be a romantic revolutionary             to imagine portrayal on some heroic poster                splashed in red and black. Yet in fact I only marched, chanted     

It is a powerful thing to invite someone else to join you in community, in relationship. It is a powerful thing to be invited to join others. Reflect on your experiences of being asked to be a part of something. What did it feel like to be included?

As we write to you on this frigid January day, we are grateful for a heated home and bright sparkling sunshine. It is 9 degrees here, the warmest it has been all day. We know that not everyone in the capital region has a warm ... read more . The post Co-Ministers’ Colloquy – Jan. 11th appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR, HOLIDAY:  On January 17, 2022, the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday will mark the 27th anniversary of the National Day of Service. This day was established to honor the life and legacy of Dr. King, and to encourage all Americans ... read more . The post RE This Week – Jan. 11th appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

The recent surge in cases of the COVID-19 from the Omicron variant creates new challenges for Pagan in NYC. Continue reading For New York’s Magical Community, Omicron a Mixed Bag at The Wild Hunt.

The Rev. Francis Allison, founder of the Corporation for Relief of Poor Widows and Children of Presbyterian Ministers. On January 11, 1759 the first life insurance company in the Colonies was founded in Philadelphia.  It was one of the few innovations in the City of Brotherly Love that Benjamin Franklin did not have his fingerprints on, probably because he was in London at the time serving as Pennsylvania’s Colonial agent.  It was left up to the Presbyterian Synod to create the Corporation for Relief of Poor and Distressed Widows and Children of Presbyterian Ministers.  It was what became known as a benevolent society—a corporation for the benefit of a specific group, usually religious, ethnic, or membership of fraternal organizat...

In no human culture is 60 considered young. At the same time, I feel kinda like I did when I was in my 30s and everyone was complaining about getting old: what’s the big deal?

How do we stay open to new experiences, especially when the world has made us weary? We are invited today to try something new–maybe a new book, or a new food, or maybe something more adventurous even. Try something new today.

Rev. Dr. Michael Tino preached this Sermon on December 5, 2021 in the Church of the Larger Fellowship’s Online Sanctuary Our Universalist ancestors believed that a powerful, radical love awaited them at death, a love so powerful as to be able to cleanse them of even their most vile sins, a love so radical as […]

In this week's Pagan Community Notes: "Nazi Druid" goes on trial, US DoD releases extremism guidelines, Vandals destroy petroglyph, Dogs may be the first nonhuman to detect language, and more news. Continue reading Pagan Community Notes: Week of January 10, 2022 at The Wild Hunt.

Valley Nebraska where my dad's store was located was typical of the situation all across the US as small towns were gradually being gobbled up by the expansion of larger cities. Shopping in Omaha offered a much wider variety of goods than what my father could offer in his store. He did take a lower than normal markup on many things and gave credit to many folks who could not have been afforded credit at the time.  Working in my dad's store put me in touch with people from all walks of life. Louis Siebenaler for example, operated an auto salvage at King Lake, Nebraska, an unincorporated town nearby. He and his son-in-law Coy would come in covered with grease from head to toe. Louis was a large man and Coy small, and it was always apparen...

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

 In 1963 my father and mother bought a small store in Valley Nebraska. My father, having worked for various corporations and as manager of a large hardware and sporting goods store in Omaha wanted a business of his own and a small inheritance from my great aunt Allene, gave my parents some funds to invest.  Valley Home Furnishings, as the store was called featured hardware on one side and a variety of other goods on the other, and I worked in the store with my dad on weekends and summers when I was in high school and summers during my 4 years of college. My mother was teaching kindergarten in Omaha, so my parents kept their home there and my father commuted each day for the 30 mile trip to and from Valley. Valley was sandwiched between...

Dr. Gregory Mobley, an ordained American Baptist minister and author, will be the guest speaker at the 35th annual Knippa Interfaith/Ecumenical Lecture Series at All Souls Unitarian Church, on Sunday, January 30 at 4 p.m. His talk, What the Baptist Minister Learned from the Rabbi: Reflection on Two Decades of Interfaith Dialogue, will be an in person event and will be streamed on All Souls' YouTube and Facebook channels. The post All Souls hosting the Knippa Lecture featuring Dr. Gregory Mobley. appeared first on BeyondBelief.

In January, I try to make two blog posts: one compiling the list of books I read over the previous year and the other listing my most popular blog posts. I usually start with the list of most popular blog posts. Here it is: Most Read Blog Posts of 2021 A Prayer for Democracy The […]

  THE COURAGE TO BE HUMAN January 9, 2022 Rev. Kit Ketcham In 1944, American soldier Master Sgt. Roddie Edmonds found himself the senior officer at a Nazi prisoner of war camp.   He was ordered by the Nazi camp commander to identify all the Jewish soldiers in the camp.    Edmonds told his men “We’re not going to do that”. And 1275 American soldiers stood with him, refusing to identify the Jews among them.   The Nazi commander was furious.   “All of you can’t be Jewish!”   he screamed.   “We are all Jews here” Edmonds responded. “I’m commanding you to have your Jewish men step forward.   You will have your Jewish men step forward or I will shoot you on the spot.” Edmonds replied, “If you shoot, you’ll ha...

    The Five Remembrances & the Path of Heart Maurine Weinhardt Empty Moon Zen I am of the nature to grow old; there is no way to escape growing old.I am of the nature to have ill health; there is no way to escape having ill health. I am of the nature to die; […]

                                      Linda Lovelace in Deep Throat. Linda Lovelace was the first superstar of pornographic films who took them from tawdry peep shoes and dirty bookstores to feature films that played in movie houses across the country.   Her breakthrough Deep Throat showcased her mastery of the title maneuverand went on to be the first mass market video release launching the billion dollar industry of today.   Later she became an anti-porn crusader and Born Again Christian who exposed her exploitation in a memoir. Born as Linda Boreman on January 10, 1949 in The Bronx, New York her life was a template for the lives of all the abused and exploited young women trapped in prostitution , drug abuse ,...

This one has a sweet

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about what it is to invite others fully into my experience (and to accept invitations into others’ experiences). Extending that kind of invitation can be a huge source of connection and witnessing — but also can feel really hard and vulnerable. How can you create safer containers for each … Continue reading Vulnerability

New research takes a turn and finds what archeologists suggest is the famous lost Temple of Hercules. Continue reading Archeologists claim they discovered the famed lost Temple of Hercules at The Wild Hunt.

      MAY YOU LIVE IN INTERESTING TIMESA Meditation on Olympia Brown & Navigating Hard Times James Ishmael Ford A Sermon delivered at theFirst Unitarian Church of Los Angeles 9 January 2022 I come to you today with some bad news. But, not to worry unduly. I also have good news to share. And […]

As well as doing my usual hikes this week I also went on several strolls down memory lane. One of those strolls I take every year. This one was for our 47th anniversary. 47 is a lot of years. We experienced some challenging uphills and some scary downhills along the way, but most of our […]

A quick drive-by update: Not dead, still serving as a health care chaplain. I always wondered what happened to bloggers. Just when things got interesting, people seemed to fall off the internet. Now I know: things got interesting, and the … Continue reading →

We kick off the new year with an exploration on living into intention, as a person and as a community.

  Joan Baez at the 1963 March for Jobs and Justice in Washington, D.C. headlined by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I once sat at Joan Baez’s feet.   Quite literally.   And it was not my finest hour.   It must have been the summer of 1970.   I was on the staff of the old Chicago underground newspaper, the Seed .   Baez was in town for a benefit for the outfitknown as Another Mother for Peace—nice middle class ladies, many of them budding feminists who gave the shaggy, scruffy anti-Vietnam War movement a respectable face.   After all, what cop would split the skulls of the PTA?   We received an unusually elegant invitation to a press open house with Ms. Baez in the lofty digs of some very rich person occupying an aerie in the new ...

The sacred must remain sacred. If it becomes ordinary, it will lose its power to inspire us and to transform our lives. But our Gods can be with us at all times, if we welcome Them and cultivate Their presence.

According to the Audobon guide, “Unlike most pines, this species often produces new shoots or sprouts from cut stumps.” The less typical variety, var. chihuahuana, is the one native to California. I think that must be the one pictured here, because it has three needles in each bundle, whereas the variety found in Mexico has […]

I just uploaded another batch of 26 copyright-free hymns onto Google Drive. This collection of copyright-free hymns now includes a total of 62 hymns, with 38 copyright-free versions of hymns in the two current Unitarian Universalist hymnals, along with 24 other hymns and songs (including classics like “Swing Low Sweet Chariot” and “Michael Row Your … Continue reading "More copyright-free hymns"

I love invitations that feel genuine. What a wonderful sensation it is when someone wants me to be there, valuing my presence. I feel intensely welcomed. When was the last time you invited someone into a space of appreciation?

Please join us on Sunday (9 January 2022) at 11:00 AM for “Friend Me” by Rev. Barbara Jarrell. Our service will be livestreamed on Facebook Live here. We will not be open for in-person worship service during the month of January 2022. Due to how transmissible the Omicron COVID variant is along with breakthrough COVID … Continue reading "Online All-Ages Worship (9 January 2022)"

Several of us are looking into the possibility of forming a group that would sponsor an Afghan refugee family through Sponsor Circles. This is a big responsibility that would take a very intentional group of people and a number of us will be attending a meeting via Zoom this Monday evening (10 January 2022) at … Continue reading "Sponsor Circles Meeting (10 January 2022)"

Please join us on Sunday (9 January 2022) at 9:00 AM for our adult religious education class via Zoom. We are discussing episodes of the podcast Learning How to See with Rev. Brian McLaren, Father Richard Rohr, and Rev. Jacqui Lewis. They are discussing the 13 kinds of bias that Rev. Barbara mentioned recently in … Continue reading "Online Adult Religious Education — 9 January 2022"

We will continue to watch the local COVID numbers.  We feel encouraged by the cooling weather and the possibility of comfortable outdoor activities. We are not resuming regular classes for children and youth at this time because our classrooms are too small to be safe for unvaccinated children, and because we want some time to … Continue reading "Children and Youth Religious Education Updates"

Please join us next Tuesday (11 January 2022) at 12 noon for our weekly Zoom lunch (please note the new day of the week for Zoom lunch). Bring your lunch and meet up with your All Souls friends, have lunch, and just catch up.

Clio Ajana greets the first month of the year as a time to take a pause and recalibrate, enjoying the gifts of Janus. Continue reading Column: The Gift of Janus at The Wild Hunt.

This early anti-Jackson cartoon lampooning his anti-bank policies shows a loyal Martin Van Buren cleaning up after Old Hickory's jackass.  It was one of the earliest, if not the earliest, uses of the donkey as the symbol for the Democratic Party.  But it didn't take immediately.  Anti-Democrat cartoonist Thomas Nash used the Tammany tiger as the party mascot at first.  The Democrats did not embrace the donkey until well into the 20th Century, long after the GOP had adopted the elephant. The Democratic Party was founded at a Baltimore convention 195 years ago on January 8, 1827.  You may celebrate or lament the occasion depending on your viewpoint.  It was cobbled together from elements of the shattered Democratic Republican Party f...

“The Dustman” (1934) by Stanley Spencer (1891–1959)  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— Last week saw the feast of the Epiphany, a name which derives from the Greek word ( epiphainein ) meaning “to manifest”, or “to display.” In the Western Christian tradition, it is a celebration of the belief that on this day some two millennia ago Jesus’ status as the incarnation of God was first made manifest to the Gentiles (i.e. those who were not Jews) in the form of the Persian, Zoroastrian astrologer priests, the Magi, who brought to Jesus gifts of ...

To extend an invitation to someone else takes courage. After all, what if a person rejects your invitation? I once knew a person who was a member of a barbershop quartet for several years. Although being UU was a big part of his life, he seldom talked about it with others. Eventually, he ran into … Continue reading Courage

Trying a very simple outline. It is not easy. This time the name is not a slur. The range of this species does coincide with a lot of Apache territory. Vence the common name. Its scientific name is Pinus engelmannii.

Please join us on Saturday (8 January 2022) at 10:30 AM for our weekly meditation group with Larry Androes. This is a sitting Buddhist meditation including a brief introduction to mindfulness meditation, 20 minutes of sitting, and followed by a weekly teaching. The group is free and open to all. For more information, contact Larry … Continue reading "Meditation with Larry Androes (8 January 2022)"

Lyonel Perabo explores his own lack of experience of a numinous or supernatural aspect to Paganism, and raises the question of Paganism, and religion in general, as being based within human need and experience rather than the divine. Continue reading Column: What If it’s All B.S.? at The Wild Hunt.

      About twice a month I visit an old ministerial colleague. He lives in an assisted living house across the Los Angeles metroplex from where we live, so about an hour’s drive away. More if we push close to LA’s rush hour. He suffers from two things. One is macular degeneration, a disorder […]

Sunday, January 9, 10:30 a.m. Practicing Intention:  An Online Multigenerational Service with Rev. Alice Anacheka Nasemann and Circle RE Director Cynthia Menard   What are your intentions for 2022? Join Rev. Alice and Cynthia this Sunday, January 9, for an interactive and participatory worship service introducing our January monthly theme: Intention. Together we will experience and   [ … ] The post Sunday, January 9 ~ Practicing Intention ~ 10:30 a.m. appeared first on Unitarian Church of Marlborough and Hudson.

I have been trying to wrap my head around making some sort of cogent commentary on the grim anniversary of the treasonous Capitol insurrection.   Pontification seems to be the order of the day followed closely by fuzzy prognostication.   Barrels of ink have been spilled, the talking heads of all stripes exhausted, and the internet has been burning up.   Plenty of stupid, more than a dash of naivety, some calculated misdirection, and more than anything emotional catharsis.   But there has also been wisdom and resoluteness.   Take for example President Joe Biden’s strong and forthright speech yesterday morning—the best of his career and the forthright call to justice we have been longing to hear. But I find myself with nothing new...

A Christmas Meditation           In old Depression times the above could have two meanings: for being so poor that a lump of coal (a precious commodity then) was all a kid could expect in a holiday stocking; or punishment for being bad before Christmas—both harsh lessons in life for youngsters.           Today we’re putting it […]

Like a star . . .

Since I’m at the center of multiple marginalized identities, I often think a lot about the how I will be perceived in spaces. Is only one part of my self invited? Like blackness is welcomed, but not my queer identity. I often experience breaking myself into pieces in order to feel comfortable accepting the invitation. … Continue reading Identities

Have you been watching the Station Eleven tv series on HBO? Or did you read the novel Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel? I read the book when it was published in 2014 because so many people were recommending it. And the tv series, which is a little over halfway through at this point, […]

New research sheds more light on ancient Egyptian mummification rituals and practices. Continue reading CT Scan of Amenhotep I reveals ancient Egyptian funerary practices at The Wild Hunt.

The events of January 6, 2021 reinforce the need to fully support the democratic process.

The New Year has brought snow and frigid temperatures to the unhoused population of McHenry County.  Compassion for Campers, the program that provides camping gear and equipment to the homeless, will have what is needed by those who are sleeping outdoors including warm clothing at the Community Empower Shower event this Friday, January 7 at Willow Crystal Lake, 100 S. Main Street from 10 am to 2 pm.  The following distribution will be held there on Friday, January 21 during the same hour. As winter has closed in they have been serving record numbers of clients at each event. Community Empower Shower which provides wide ranging services for the homeless and those who are facing housing crisis, are held on the first and third Fridays of ...

Statement by the Unitarian Universalist Association on the anniversary of the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the United States Capitol

On the one year anniversary of the failed attempted coup on the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, the UUA issues a statement outlining the continued and growing threats to our democracy and the need for individuals to take action. Continue reading "The Riot Concluded, the Threats to Democracy Grow"

Diana Rajchel’s new book on curse breaking and other countermeasures is suitable for both beginners and experienced practitioners. It’s a very good resource for dealing with curses and hexes in an effective manner.

    Today is many things. For one thing it’s the anniversary of Mr Trump’s little attempted putsch. Lots about that going on. And attention does need to be paid. But in the Western Christian tradition today, the 6th of January is the feast of the Epiphany. And that is what has most captured my […]

                                                       We Three Kings performed by  Mediaeval Baebes.   The Christmas season officially ends today as the Catholic Church and Western Christian denominations that borrow its liturgical calendar observe the Feast of the Epiphany. In the United States and some other countries, the feast is now celebrated on the First Sunday after New Year’s Day which would have been January 2 this year.   Theologically it is a celebration of the revelation to the world of Jesus as the fully human God the Son.   As such it celebrates a facet of the Trinity.   Little wonder that my Unitarian Universalists, who deny the whole Three-in-one God deal, don’t make much of the...

Torrey pine needles are very long–typically 8 to 13 inches–and they are frequently used in woven baskets. With that in mind, as I looked for a large close-up photo of the needles, this one by Susan Beauchemin caught my attention because of the subtle weaving in and out of some of the needles as they […]

Invitation has a connection to hospitality for me. My second job was at the Olive Garden and I had a really good server manager. She talked a lot about “hospitaliano” and how we welcome in people with

In our Spotlight of Traditions, we look at La Befana and some traditions associated with the "Christmas Witch" in Stregheria. Continue reading La Befana – More than just Italian Santa at The Wild Hunt

As we prepare to “grade” President Biden’s first year in office, we see that he still has several key assignments missing.

Where do the words for the hymn “We Sing of Golden Mornings” come from? This hymn appears in the 1955 American Ethical Union hymnal We Sing of Life, and in the 1993 Unitarian Universalist hymnal Singing the Living Tradition. In the latter hymanl, the words are attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson, “recast 1925, 1950, 1990.” … Continue reading "Another not-Emerson hymn?"

Tim Atkins What word might you use as your centering lodestar for 2022? Continue reading "Blossoming into the New Year"

On our travels to and from Worcester MA, I compared the huge Amazon warehouses along the way, with the modest homes on the hillsides in the small towns of Pennsylvania and West Virginia.  Compared to the mac mansions folks build around here now, those smaller homes seem most reasonable and conservative. If people lived in such small homes and at one time raised large families within them we have to wonder where they had put all their stuff. We must also wonder how we've become such willing participants in planetary destruction. We live in immodest times and if we want to save the planet and ourselves, we must reconsider our reliance on cheap, imported, meaningless stuff and return to a simpler relationship to our planet and to each othe...

                                           Hey, Ho, the Wind and the Rain from Shakespeare's Twelfth Night performed by Alfred Decker.   Tonight is the final night of the Twelve Days of Christmas as celebrated in William Shakespeare’s comedy Twelfth Night .   The fantasy romance included a shipwreck , star-crossed lovers , cross dressing , and ultimately a happy ending —an Elizabethan rom-com .   It was first produced on February 2, 1602— Candlemas , the Anglican end of the extended Christmas season —at the hall of the Middle Temple but was set on Twelfth Night , January 5. The play included five songs with lyrics by the Bard .   Although the original melodies were not preserved when the play was fin...

    Mukunda Lal Ghosh was born in Forakhpur, in Uttar Pradesh, on this day, the 5th of January, in 1893. The fourth of eight children. His parents were well to do, his father a vice president of the Bengal Nagpur Railway. Because of his father’s work the family relocated several times, giving young Mukunda […]

Invite others to be part of your world, part of your existence.  Humans are social creatures, we need and depend on interaction with others.  Show concern and compassion for others with an invitation to be part of your daily life.  This can be to a big life event–or just a chance to connect with another … Continue reading Compassion

“The odor of crushed twigs defies exact description,” the Audobon guide says. “The scent has been likened not only to lemons and vanilla, but also to violets, pineapples, and apples.” I sympathize with those who have tried to identify the equivalent scents, as I imagine it is a task comparable to trying to identify the […]

Dr. Margo Wolfe joins Cherry Hill Seminary as the new Academic Dean. Continue reading Cherry Hill Seminary welcomes new Academic Dean at The Wild Hunt.

I post below a link to a representative recording of the Sunday Morning Service of Mindful Meditation used by the Cambridge Unitarian Church which, until the beginning of lockdown in March 2020 was the regular evening service of the church where I am the minister. You can listen to and or/download it by clicking on the following link: Sunday Morning Service of Mindful Meditation To get the most from the meditation, you will find it helpful to either print out the order of service or display it in a second window. Here is the link:  Order of Service for the Mindful Meditation   The expanded Order of Service for the use in the church  Should you wish to have a copy of the text of the Mindful Meditation itself you can find that at the...