Mathew Sherling of Infinite Weird interviews Zen teacher James Ishmael Ford The illustration of James Ford is by Adrian Worsfold

In this week's Pagan Community Notes, Pagans remember Thich Nhat Hanh, Announcements, two positively Noteworthy stories. and more news. Continue reading Pagan Community Notes: Week of January 24, 2022 at The Wild Hunt.

The White House is asking for our views on separating migrant families—let’s tell them!

Many educational theorists complain about the toys made for kids.  They note that most of the creativity is put in by the designers and manufacturers leaving little to exercise the creative imaginations of kids.  So today we did a simple experiment with each student being given 8 blocks. The idea was for them to observe their own creativity. Each came up with something different to made from their 8 blocks. When done with one project the students asked for 8 more to build something else. Of course this experiment was derived from Froebel's Kindergarten. One of our objectives is to develop a set of project kits that the kids can sell in their study of small business. You can buy kits for children to assemble at Lowe's or Home Depot, and...

I have learned to appreciate other people's lives and to be grateful for my own good fortune. I am grateful for the ability to help women who experience difficult situations in their lives. The post Centennial Awards: Sue Ames appeared first on BeyondBelief.

Certainly, it’s good practice to treat your dog as person-like – as having beliefs and desires entitled to a certain degree of concern and respect. It may be the case that your dog's person-like-ness is another pretend belief -- that they don't really have the feelings we attribute to them. But keep in mind that you and I might also not REALLY have the feelings we attribute to each other and to ourselves. So it's still unclear how much of a distinction to draw between human and canine emotional lives. Psychology professor Lisa Feldman Barrett argues that emotions are mostly socially constructed. There are, she says, two biological continua that are "real." There's the pleasant to unpleasant continuum, and there's the the high arousal...

Although it had an official premier at the Hollywood Theatre back on November 27, 1942 to make it eligible for the 1943 Academy Awards, Casablanca went into general release 79 years ago today on January 24 .  That coincided with the last day of the Casablanca Conference with President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill which mapped out the general strategy for the Western Front in Europe and was a little more than two months since the city was liberated by the British in Operation Torch. Both events made the title instantly significant to war-time movie goers. Although Casablanca misses the top ranks of most lists of the “greatest” films of all time, it never fails to score at or near the top of list...

Office Administrator Position Open as of 1/16/2022 The Unitarian Church of Los Alamos is hiring a part-time Office Administrator. The Office Administrator will support the life of the church by tending to day-to-day operations of the church office. Essential functions include bookkeeping, communications, and managing room rentals. Please visit this link for a complete job …<p> Now Hiring Read More »

“I invite you now to join me in that promise: to continue the struggle for life, liberation, and justice even when it’s hard, when it feels impossible, when it hurts so badly we’re sure that we’ll die. This invitation to eat and drink does not rest on any identity, does not rest on perfection, but … Continue reading Continuing

This month the Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Montclair, New Jersey’s focus is on the meaning of intention. This is part of the January Soul Matters’ theme of “Living with Intention.” Intention is essentially your goal, what you want to happen. When Pagans prepare spells, we put our intent into them. I try to explain this […] The post A clear concise intention is vital for spells and life appeared first on Nature's Sacred Journey.

Weekend Editor Eric O. Scott reviews the new film by Joel Coen, "The Tragedy of Macbeth," adapted from Shakespeare's play. Continue reading Review: “The Tragedy of Macbeth” at The Wild Hunt.

Going through the old boxes from Boston are taking a long time. The other day, I came upon a few folders from the part-time private practice I had in feminist therapy for women. Of course, most of my notes from that practice were previously shredded for confidentiality’s sake. But a few notes and cards from […]

Not much to say today, but there is something I think about just showing up as promised. I have committed to weekly postings, so here it is. L’Chaim! My average weight this week is up 1 pound for a total loss of 162.2.

I’m interested in what we believe. In particular, I’m interested in those things that we believe but don’t really believe – the things we pretend to believe. And why we do that. Do you talk to your car? “Come on, start.” Or: “Please, please make it to the gas station.” St. Francis of Assisi talked to "Brother Sun," and "Sister Moon" -- to "Brother Wind," "Sister water," "Brother Fire," and "Sister Earth." He was liable to talk to any creature he encountered, calling it a sibling. If Francis had had a car, I imagine he would have talked to it, too. We don’t really believe our cars hear us, or understand, or in any way care about whatever we may be saying. A lot of us know our cars don't hear or care, yet we talk to our c...

Sometimes, even with our best intentions, we cause hurt and distress we might not mean. This week, we close out our exploration of intention with the need to understand how we impact the world around us.

      I’m touched by a small peculiarity within the announcement of the Vietnamese Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh’s death. He died on the 22nd of January in Vietnam. But the announcement was received here in North America on the other side of the international date line, on the 21st of January. There’s a saying […]

We enter week two of 30 Days of Love lamenting the immoral blocking of the Freedom to Vote and John Lewis Voting Acts. It is disheartening to witness our elected leaders sided with vote suppression and against democracy. As a faith community committed to showing up for justice and for our communities, this will not stop us.   Join us for Week Two of 30 Days of Love . From January 24-30 we are focusing on Democracy & Voting Rights. This week’s offerings include multigenerational resources, healing meditations, political education, and collective action to support our community in our democracy and electoral work.  Our live events this week include: Action: Phonebank for Voting Rights on January 30. Political Education: January 27: We...

If you’re called to help establish or re-establish the worship of a deity for whom there is little lore, you’ve got a lot of work in front of you. But it’s doable work. What an amazing opportunity to make a difference for the future.

Native from southwestern Oregon to Baja California. From the Audobon guide: “The whorls of many knobby, closed cones help identify this species. Since the cones may become imbedded within the wood of the expanding, trunk, this species has been called ‘The tree that swallows its cones.’ When fires kill the trees, cones as much as […]

Shoichi Yokoi in police custody after his 1972 capture on Guam. On January 24, 1972 Shoichi Yokoi, a sergeant of the Imperial Japanese Army, was discovered on Guam.   He had spent 28 years hiding in the jungle despite learning twenty years earlier in 1952 that World War II was over, and Japan was defeated . On the other hand, he missed being toasted by a flame thrower or being a POW and collected his back pay. Amazingly, he was not the last Japanese hold out.   Second Lieutenant Hiroo Onoda had to be relieved from duty by his former commanding officer on March 9, 1974 in the Philippines and Private Teruo Nakamura , a member of an indigenous Taiwanese tribe and a colonial draftee, was captured by the Indonesian Army on December 18,1974 ...

“May we, now or anytime, here or anywhere, alone or with any number of others, focus on affirming what we love, what we cherish, what inspires us no matter what; putting fear on notice that our hearts, minds, and spirits will not accept its invitation. For that is what faith is: focusing on what one … Continue reading Fear

Please join us on Sunday (23 January 2022) at 11:00 AM for “It Ain’t Easy Lookin’ Up” by Rev. Barbara Jarrell. Our service will be livestreamed on Facebook Live here. Our virtual coffee hour after worship is back. Sol in Minneapolis will be hosting the virtual coffee hour using the Jitsi open-source videoconferencing platform.  You … Continue reading "Online All-Ages Worship (23 January 2022)"

Please join us on Sunday (23 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 — 23 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 (25 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.

Storm Faerywolf examines the concept of passion and its many effects in Witchcraft and Pagan practice. Continue reading Column: Passion And The Creative Value of Conflict at The Wild Hunt.

Sat, 09:22: Whole Foods seems caught in the #GreatResignation No express lanes but a long line to wait in! https://t.co/LM929xPrBn Sat, 10:34: RT @POTUS: Jill and I are saddened to hear two NYPD officers were shot last night — one fatally. We’re keeping them and their families in o…

Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk known for popularizing the concept of “Engaged Buddhism,” has just died. (He died Jan. 22 in Vietnam, on the other side of the International Date Line, which was Jan. 21 here in the U.S.) He had been incapacitated by a stroke in 2014, and in 2018 finally received … Continue reading "In memoriam: Thich Nhat Hanh"

Get involved in the Article II Study Commission's work, participate in these resources and provide your feedback. Continue reading "Getting Involved with the Article II Study"

      Similar to Zen’s Ten Ox Herding pictures, Vajrayana Buddhism offers an illustration of the spiritual path using elephants. As with the Ox Herding pictures there are several different versions to the Elephant pictures. I stumbled upon a commentary by the Householder Dharma teacher Piya Tan Being Sin. I love the different angles […]

My father and I have an article in the most recent issue of KATALOG–Journal of Photography & VIdeo. “Life played out in images: The self-portraiture of Libuše Jarcovjáková” is our second piece for the publication. It is also a teaser for an exhibition of Jarcovjákova’s work that we’re planning for FotoFest 2022. KATALOG is a […]

Celebrating the Life of Barbara C. McLaughlin  Aug. 9, 1932 – June 12, 2021 Celebration of Life for Barbara McLaughlin Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady January 22, 2022      Gathering Music           ... read more . The post Order of Service appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

"Thus old Orion does his somersault/   across the heavens..." Today we blow the electron dust from the blog archives for two January entries with poems.  The first from this date way back in 2013 can be copied exactly as originally presented—the conditions described are virtually identical today. It’s the second really cold nightof the year here in McHenry County.  Still no snow on the ground but the weather guy on one channel says that if we cross our fingers and toes we could get a dusting tomorrow and the sleeveless weather babe on the competition sweeps her arms gracefully in front of the green screen and agrees. I stepped on the porch to crush some cans for recycling and took in the night sky.  There was a light thin and pat...

I believe the UUA’s “Copyright & Permissions for Hymn and Reading Use in UU Worship” may incorrectly lists two hymns as public domain or fair use. Jubilate Deo, hymn #393 — words and music are stated to be “fair use or public domain.” The words clearly are in the public domain. However, the music is … Continue reading "Two hymns not in the public domain"

The notion of “invitation” also draws me back to the biblical parables from my upbringing about welcoming the stranger and the church being open to all people. How do you make strangers feel welcome in your presence, and in institutions where you belong?

Please join us on Saturday (22 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 (22 January 2022)"

Alan D.D. reviews the new Disney Villains Tarot Deck and Guidebook, written by Minerva Siegel and illustrated by Ellie Goldwine, from Insight Editions. Continue reading Review: Divining the future as a Disney villain at The Wild Hunt.

Alan D.D. reviews the new Disney Villains Tarot Deck and Guidebook, written by Minerva Siegel and illustrated by Ellie Goldwine, from Insight Editions. Continue reading Crítica: Adivinando el Futuro como un Villano de Disney at The Wild Hunt.

      The International Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism has announced that today, the 22nd of January, 2022 (in Vietnam) the  beloved teacher Thich Nhat Hanh passed away peacefully at Từ Hiếu Temple in Huế, Vietnam. He was 95. Nguyễn Xuân Bao was born in Huế in central Vietnam. At sixteen he entered […]

The Unitarian Universalist Association, along with other investors and members of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, recently co-filed a shareholder resolution with Chevron triggered by human rights abuses in Myanmar.... Continue reading "Responding to shareholder pressure, Chevron to exit Myanmar over human rights abuses"

In this week's Pagan Community Notes: Observance of MLK Day, Witchual Workout, Scotland Witches, and more news. Continue reading Pagan Community Notes: Week of January 17, 2022 at The Wild Hunt.

      Out in social media universe I saw a posting about Zen Christians from my old friend on the way Ken Ireland. He provided a list of Christian clergy who are authorized in formal Zen lineages. And in the middle of the pack, there I was. I wrote him a query and he […]

One of the main things that Dr. King dedicated his life to was making sure that everybody had the right to vote. This year, considering everything that’s happening in our country and our democracy, to celebrate and commemorate the legacy of Dr. King, I’ve called on our congregation to bring signs to the MLK Parade, calling for Voting Rights and against voter deterrence and suppression. That is the message of our church and the focus of some of our justice teams again this year. The post Voter Fraud vs. Voter Deterrence: A call for Voting Justice appeared first on BeyondBelief.

Note:   I have posted this in one form or another on or around the Martin Luther King Day Federal Holiday for 11 years.   Long time readers may be sick of it.   Some of those who were offended in earlier rounds have left the building in a huff—or come to see that maybe it was not so far off the mark after all.   The thing is, year by year, it becomes more relevant.   Today is the Federal Holiday celebrating the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King , Jr. He was born on January 15, 1929 and was asasinated on April 4, 1968 in Memphis , Tennessee.   It was a long, hard fought effort to create a federal holiday, following proclamations in several states.   President Ronald Reagan signed the legislation creating the holiday in 1983 and it was ...

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” -Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. How are you expressing and understanding your role in the mutual destiny of all people today?

A collection of 28 Cambodian artifacts, including what may be a famous statue of Ganesha, are returning home after being surrendered by Netscape founder James H. Clark. Continue reading Looted relics, including a monumental statue of Ganesha, to be returned to Cambodia at The Wild Hunt.

In this sermon in honor of MLK's birthday, I consider where we might find revolutionary love today.

Sometimes you just get lucky – like I did this week on the Tomales Point trail. The elk were posing and I was able to capture the above image. It doesn’t really do justice to how awe-inspiring it was. The elk were all over the area that day, not just gathered around one waterhole. The […]

Dr. King and the work of perseverance.

    It was today, the 16th of January in 1786, that the Virginia General Assembly adopted Thomas Jefferson’s Statute of Religious Freedom. Jefferson was a brilliant and troubled man. In my circles the troubled is mostly recalled in the moment. As it should be. There were some truly ugly aspects to whom the man was. And […]

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

Thank you for your interest in my website and my work! If you would like to use a poem, blessing, or Time for All Ages posted on this site for a worship service/other professional UU use, the cost is $50 for one-time use. (This does not apply to the few pieces also posted here on […]

Retired Marine Corps Major General Smedley Butler, a veteran of multiple wars and two-time Medal of Honor recipient was tapped to lead a Fascist coup against the United States Government and President Franklin Roosevelt  The coup backers picked the wrong man. In 1934 a shadowy figure approached a highly decorated retired Marine Corps Major General with a startling proposal.  The officer was offered the opportunityto lead a force of thousands of Veterans largely recruited from the ranks of the American Legion on a march onWashington intended to depose President Franklin D. Roosevelt.  As the “Man on the White Horse” the General would be installed as a figurehead dictator taking orders from a cabal of wealthy bankers and industriali...

Worshipping and working with deities from different pantheons isn’t as simple as filling your plate from different sections of the super buffet. It requires mindfulness and care, and a lot of work – sometimes double the work. But it can be done.

An invitation – whether it be to a party, or a new job, or even a chance to voice your opinion – means so much more when it is stated that “we want you.” Not a “Feel free to join us,” or “stop by if you can.” It’s a subtle difference but changes the whole … Continue reading Directness

Please join us on Sunday (16 January 2022) at 11:00 AM for “Free At Last?  Reflections on the Life and Legacy of Dr. King” by Dr. Jennifer Russell. 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 … Continue reading "Online All-Ages Worship (16 January 2022)"

Please join us next Tuesday (18 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.

Please join us on Sunday (16 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 — 16 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"

“If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck and swims like a duck, it can’t possibly be a bird.” Keep that statement in mind. I will get back to it. There is a reason why, as old wags say, “a lie can travel halfway ‘round the world while the truth is still […] The post “It Can’t Possibly Be a Bird: Todd Eklof’s Ignorance of Covenantal Theology” appeared first on Dennis McCarty.

1 Text of Eklof’s sermon, “Correction: Ours Is a Liberal Religion, Not a ‘Covenantal’ One,” may be found at https://uuspokane.org/WP2/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/CorrectionLiberalNotCovenantal.pdf It is worth nothing that, in the YouTube video of this sermon, Eklof repeatedly departs from the script and says things that are not in the text. The web addresses for the Fifth Principle Project’s […] The post “It Can’t Possibly Be a Bird: Todd Eklof’s Ignorance on Covenantal Theology” FOOTNOTES appeared first on Dennis McCarty.

"When I got some energy back, I sat down to tend my altars. The small chores of cleaning, sorting, and reorganizing took all of my attention. As I worked, I couldn’t shake the feeling that the tattoo had changed something, had somehow shown that I was serious enough to have some credit." Luke Babb writes on the lessons and absences that made up their December holidays in 2021. Continue reading Column: Season of Light at The Wild Hunt.

    Today at our Saturday morning Empty Moon Zen gathering we were engaged in our once a month book discussion group. Currently we’re reading that classic text in our emerging Western Buddhism, When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chödren. When discussing one of the points, Tom Wardle, one of our senior dharma teachers called […]

This Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend, there is so much weighing on our hearts. Our nation is again in the grips of an enormous surge in Covid cases, overwhelming our hospitals and destabilizing schools, businesses, and more. Voting rights legislation is being held hostage yet again by elected leaders who refuse to protect us from election sabotage and voter suppression. Cultural battles are making their way into courtrooms, legislative sessions, and school board meetings, with opponents to abortion care, transgender rights, and honest conversation about race and white supremacy dominating the news and social media.  If ever there were a time our spirits needed nourishment, it is now. So in the midst of all that is hard, Side With Love i...

We had a great time on Thursday at the Eureka Springs School of the Arts as members of the staff and I made boxes. Shared experience in a common venture builds a sense of commonality, that we're all in this together, and even though each person in class was working on their own box, the journey through the process required taking turns at the saw and allowing for the needs of each other.  At one point I looked around the room at my students and each was holding their box as though it was a small child to whom they'd just given birth. That's directly a part of the nature of such things. In selecting woods for lids, the students would take a board and work out with each other which portion would become the lid of their box. If anyone out ...

  Note:   Today is the actual birthday of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.   The public Holiday in his honor will be held next Monday, January 17.   I will have more to say about that then in my annual rant.   Today I a resurrecting a post in which Dr. King reminds us himself how truly revolutionary he was. When the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. was being held in jail in Alabamain 1963 he received a letter signed by several well-known White self-proclaimed racial moderatesand liberal ministers who decried the unpleasantness and social disruption of the on-going campaign against racial discrimination in Birmingham.   Since he had unaccustomed time on his hands he took the time to patiently, even lovingly explainthe situation in A...

Willie May’s baseball glove 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— In 1974, the liberal, process-theologian, Bernard Loomer (1912–1985) told a story about his father. One day, after overhearing the young Loomer complain in the playground about the thinness of a baseball glove he’d inherited from his older brothers, his father asked him what the glove was for, a question to which the young Loomer replied, “To protect his hand.” Loomer’s father continued that, although he’d never played baseball himself, it seemed to him that one should be able to c...

I love when I get automatic invitations sent to my computer’s calendar. I am given the options of “accept,” “decline,” and “maybe.” In am invited to ponder that response and give the one that is most appropriate. What are you accepting, declining, and saying “maybe” to today?

Weekend Editor Eric O. Scott looks at a small news item surrounding a coal-fired power plant in Labadie, Missouri, and argues for why Pagans should pay attention to these local-scale stories about the environment. Continue reading Editorial: Don’t trust fossil fuel plants with the honor system at The Wild Hunt.

Please join us on Saturday (15 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 (15 January 2022)"

Please join us on Saturday (15 January 2022) from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM for our monthly building and grounds work day. There are tasks inside and out — as weather permits — for all ages and abilities. Wear your mask and stay safely distanced from each other as you work together to spruce up … Continue reading "Building and Grounds Work Day (15 January 2022)"

By Thomas Hitoshi Pruiksma | Twenty-two years ago, when I first lived in Madurai in the state of Tamil Nadu, I went to visit the home of a student at the college where I was teaching. Meenakshi Sundram lived on a narrow lane not far from the Meenakshi Temple in this venerable and beautiful South Indian city. His home was only a few rooms, but they filled with family, friends, and neighbors, all eager to greet the teacher from abroad who could somehow speak a little Tamil.

A navigator/explorer sets out with royal backing to find a passage to India, and comes nowhere near it. He disembarks far from his objective, sees brown-skinned people and cries, “Look! Indians!” From thence he is known as a great discoverer and the rest is a ball of twisted history.           Columbus discovered nothing. He wandered […]

The UUA is very pleased to announce the appointment of Shige Sakurai as Director of Equity, Belonging and Change. Shige succeeds Taquiena Boston in the role, who retired in December 2021 after over two decades of service on UUA staff. Continue reading "UUA Appoints Shige Sakurai as Director of Equity, Belonging and Change"

    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...