A typically culturally sensitive promotion for American Cinco de Mayo revelry. Note:  This is at least tenth year I have run essentially the same post with a little tinkering on the margins. I keep running it because the same shit happens again every year and my Mexican and Chicano friends keeps asking me to bring it back. Today is, as every hearty partyer will tell you, is Cinco de Mayo.  In the U.S. in recent years it has become kind of second St. Patrick’s Day decked out in sombrerosand serapes instead of emerald green, toasted to with Coronas with lime and shots of tequila instead of Guinness and Jamison’s,and laid out with two-for-one taco deals instead of corn beef and cabbage plates.  It is celebrated without apparent irony...

I’ve started reading Michelle Huneven’s church memoir Search, about her experience with a ministerial search in a California Unitarian Universalist congregation. The details are altered to create a cloak of anonymity, though it doesn’t take much effort to pull back the veil. (I don’t know how much is fiction; the author and the protagonist have … Continue reading "Reading “Search”"

Yesterday I had a visiting woodworking teacher from Indiana who had come to observe classes at the Clear Spring School. Glenn Smith teaches wood shop and Chess at Forest Ridge Academy in northern Indiana up near the great lakes. I put him to work assisting students while he was here. It is always rewarding to commune with other woodworkers, and with other teachers, and when with both, it's a special treat. Today my Kindergarten students, (the Rainbow Group) began making Froebel gifts number 4. When the blocks are cut they will have both sets 3 and 4 in their collections. It is obvious when playing with gift number 4 that it was the one most useful in developing Frank Lloyd Wright's love of architecture. I could show you a picture, but it...

The camphor tree was introduced to California (and numerous other states) from East Asia, where some of us have encountered it in the movie My Neighbor Totoro by Hayao Miyazaki. Satsuki and Mei’s father says he decided to buy the house when he saw the enormous camphor tree close by, and when Mei investigates the […]

By James Baldwin | Let’s begin by saying that we are living through a dangerous time. Everyone in this room is in one way or another aware of that. We are in a revolutionary situation, no matter how unpopular that word has become in this country. The society in which we live is desperately menaced, not by Khrushchev, but from within. So any citizen of this country who figures himself as responsible—and particularly those of you who deal with the minds and hearts of young people—must be prepared to “go for broke.”

Tania Márquez Blessing something or someone is a way of expressing my gratitude and reverence for them. Continue reading "To Bless and Be Blessed"

The love we have for friends is philia. It requires trust and vulnerability, shared concern and memories. How do you make a friend?

I knew this was coming. I’ve thought about what I’d say when it did, but I can’t write any of those words right now. I’ll try to be reasonable tomorrow. Today I’m too angry.

The poverty stricken Black and Irish neighborhood of Five Points in New York City in 1827 by painter George Catlin, later famous for his authentic American Indian paintings. In 1835 the New York neighborhood known as Five Points was centered on an intersectioncreated by Orange Street, now Baxter Street; Cross Street, now Mosco Street, and Anthony Street, now Worth Street which ran northwest direction, dividing one of the four corners into two triangular blocks. After London’s East Endit was the most densely populated , disease ridden , and squalid slum in the Western World.   Built around 1811on reclaimed land where the Lenape Indians once had a fishing village, it began to sink back into the mire and was plagued by disease carrying...

Part of me wants to start blogging again. Part of me says that the blogging age is over and that almost nobody would care. I’m putting this out there not to cultivate sympathy, but to get a sense of whether anyone would read anything I write, and if so (and this is the important part) … Continue reading "What would you want to see?"

The recent leak of a first draft of the possible overruling of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court has ominous implications for the future. Continue reading A future without Roe at The Wild Hunt.

It has not gotten any easier for educators. If the pandemic was not enough, many are picking up the slack for unfilled job openings, riding on the fumes of burnout, and consequently, leaving the profession or retiring early since the start of COVID. Which goes to show how much they are unthanked and undervalued for all they do to nurture wisdom, curiosity, and critical thinking in students at a time when societal consensus at large would rather shepherd us toward an uneducated nation. We need to show up for them!

In a statement, UUA President Susan Frederick Gray promises we "will continue to fight for abortion access."

Heather Beasley Doyle Important for people to ‘feel a sense of agency, empowerment, and choice.’

Elaine McArdle Unitarian Universalist programs seek not only social justice in the wider society, but cultural transformation within.

“Civil liberties are under attack! What do we do? Rise up fight back!” These words and other variations of them are often shouted, call and response style, at marches, vigils, protests, and other events calling for some form of justice. The nation is so divided that ... read more . The post Co-Ministers’ Colloquy – May 3rd appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

Though we often think of the masters, what is actually true is that everyone is creative. Any one of us can create (or destroy) using our imagination, our resources, our will, and our connections. What we do with our creative impulses can inspire, transform, offer ... read more . The post May Theme: Creativity appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

Join UU Schenectady member and mindfulness Buddhist practitioner, Tamara Geveci, and our co-ministers, for four sessions of shared in-person meditation. All are welcome for any or all of the spring sessions, May 9th, 16th, 23rd, and June 6th – 2:45-3:30pm in the Emerson Room (or ... read more . The post Mid-day Monday Meditations – May 9, 16, 23, & June 6 appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

Vote in every election: local School Board elections are May 17. Contact the Board of Elections to check your registration status, find your polling location, or apply to be a poll worker. Share what you are doing with us! Whatever your interest in participating in UU ... read more . The post UUTheVote FYI: School Board Elections are May 17th appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

Elaine McArdle Bylaws as a whole, Article II, and governance top the list of priorities.

Out of the Office…</p> Director of Lifespan Religious Education Robin Ahearn will be on vacation 4/29-5/11.  If you have any urgent RE concerns in her absence, please contact Congregational Life Coordinator Kristin Cleveland at clc@uuschenectady.org.  Robin will resume checking emails 5/12. ∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞ Happy Mother’s Day! ∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞ UPCOMING RE CLASSES: K/1st/2nd ... read more . The post Upcoming RE programming – May 3rd appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

Since well before Roe v. Wade, Unitarian Universalists have declared unequivocally that we support every person’s right to make decisions about their own bodies and reproductive health, including the choice to seek abortion care. Throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, UUs have supported movements working to make abortion accessible and affordable and to destigmatize abortion within our society. Given that legacy, today is a heartbreaking day for all of us who believe that our bodies, and the choices we make about them, are sacred.  Yesterday afternoon, Politico broke the news that through an unprecedented breach in Supreme Court security, they had obtained an early draft of the SCOTUS majority opinion in Dobbs v Jackson–a case in w...

Sometimes another blogger says what you want to say, but better, and more concisely. Earlier today, Scottish blogger and science fiction author Charles Stross wrote about how the Supreme Court of the United States intends to overturn Roe v. Wade, saying in part: “It is unwise to underestimate the degree to which extreme white supremacism … Continue reading "Out of the mouths of Scots"

In response to a leaked draft Supreme Court decision apparently upending nearly 50 years of abortion access, the UUA reaffirms its commitment to reproductive justice. Continue reading "UUs Remain Committed to Supporting Reproductive Justice, Will Continue to Fight for Abortion Access"

      Peter Seeger was born on this day, the 3rd of May, in Manhattan, in 1919. He would become a fixture of the Folk scene through the larger part of the twentieth century, and a stalwart of the social justice movement. Looking through my files I see I wrote about him a dozen […]

  A Civil War era illustration of Winfield Scott's  Anaconda Plan to win the war against the Confederacy. On May 3, 1861 aged Lt. General Winfield Scott , Commanding General of the United States Army, presented President Abraham Lincoln and his Cabinet, with his Anaconda Plan to conduct the war against secessionist rebel states.    The plan was widely derided by the press and public, which believed that a quick , decisive battle with the main Confederatearmy in Virginia would win the War of Rebellion.  Scott knew better .  He anticipated a long and bloody conflict.   Lincoln may have wished for a short , glorious war, but the former Black Hawk War militia Captain had read everything on military strategy and tacticsthat he could ...

It’s always interesting to me when one word can be used for so many different feelings. Love is one of them. I love my husband, I love pollo fricase, I love my children, I love Dr. Pepper, I love my friends, and I love churros. So what is the abiding connection? They all touch a … Continue reading Many Kinds of Love

You were called for a reason. You said yes for a reason. The world has changed in the past five years, but the essence of the human condition and the essence of the Gods have not. If you wait for things to get “back to normal” you’ll be waiting forever.

Also known as California bay, Oregon myrtle, or pepperwood. Broadleaved trees tend to be deciduous, but the laurel is evergreen.

In this week's Pagan Community Notes, US Supreme Court says the City of Boston must allow a Christian group's flag, a round-up of Beltaine events, and more news. Continue reading Pagan Community Notes: Week of May 2, 2022 at The Wild Hunt.

I saw the first frog in the pond this morning! I came to sit quietly earlier, saw nothing, and then when I came back a while later, there she was, sunning herself on a stone. I almost missed seeing her. She’s a darker color than the ones from last year, but still in the green […]

Rev. Lewis's extended presence will facilitate a transition in our ministry team. Rev. Barbara Prose, our Executive Minister, will be moving to the Pacific Northwest next year. She will continue with All Souls through the 2022-2023 church year. The post Transitions in our Ministry Team appeared first on BeyondBelief.

        King James (the sixth of Scotland and first of England) not long crowned planned a conference for November, 1603, to discuss sundry matters involving the church of which he was now head. Due to an outbreak of plague the Hampton Court Conference in fact met in February, 1604. The king and […]

Eid al-Fitr is the Muslim celebration of the end of the holy month of Ramadan. It is a feast of gratitude and reverence to the holy. How can you show gratitude today?

BOAC passengers celebrate as they board the Comet's first Transatlantic service in front of a large crowd of dignitaries, DeHavilland and BOAC executives, and the press. The modern era of passenger jet travel was inaugurated with great celebration on May 2, 1952 by British Overseas Airway Corporation (BOAC) on its long London to Johannesburg route.  They were flying the De Havilland DH 106 Comet.  It was an aerodynamically sleek aircraft with four powerful turbojet engines buried in the root of its swept back wings near the commodious fuselage.  It carried 36 passengerswith plenty of leg room and reclining seats for the long flights arranged four abreast with a center aisle.  The lucky passenger could view the world far below them th...

“As I grew older, I realized that it was much better to insist on the genuine forms of nature, for simplicity is the greatest adornment of art.” — Albrecht Dürer I came upon this quote courtesy of the acrostic puzzles I frequently solve online. I shy away from any absolutes such as “the greatest,” but […]

A review of my Guide to Woodworking with Kids should be arriving to subscribers of Woodcarving Illustrated any day now. Watch for the Summer issue, or subscribe at this address: http://woodcarvingillustrated.com Supplies of the book are in short supply as the publisher awaits another printing that's due for distribution in June. In the meantime Amazon has it for sale at above list price. We're working on an article about kids whittling in school to be published in the Fall edition of Woodcarving Illustrated . Make, fix and create...

Happy Beltaine, Blessed Samhain, and Merry May Day! Continue reading Merry May 2022 at The Wild Hunt.

as preached at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Houston, May 1, 2022 I want to begin by thanking everyone who contributed to last night’s fundraiser. It was a wonderful celebration of First Houston and our musical program. Thanks to Dr. Rocke and Chelsea, the choir, the string band, Paige Powell, Jim McGehee, Karoline Mueller, […]

Theresa will talk about how labeling individuals or groups can lead to assumptions, based on one's past experience or knowledge, that may not be true. Theresa has been a member of the Unitarian Church of Los Alamos for about 25 years and is currently a youth leader and serving on the Board of Directors.

Some might say that an easy life is like a long walk on the beach. But I have to say that walks on the beach are not always like “a walk in a park.” Beautiful yes, and if you look I think you can find beauty most anywhere. But on a pristine beach on a […]

  There are so many things that could be noted about May 1st. But, me, as usual, I’m going whole hog for Beltane! It’s a holiday in the calendar of my ancestors, or, some of them, anyway. In ancient Celtic cultures it’s the beginning of summer. And so its the time cattle were taken to […]

Elaine McArdle On our theology’s leading edge (+video) Continue reading "Q&A: Public Theologian Jé Exodus Hooper"

Back in the 1980’s in Eureka Springs, local artists Louis Freund and Don Kennett regularly attended Eureka Springs Chamber of Commerce meetings, attempting to give voice to the artists of our community in the shaping of our local economy. Their point was that the arts might become recognized as the driving force for a more prosperous future. Their vision fell upon rather stony ground, while in the meantime, Eureka Springs artists, selling their wares at craft shows throughout the US and in galleries downtown were busily promoting an understanding in the world at large that we are first and foremost, an arts community.  We do, after-all, have far more professional artists and serious non-professional artists per capita than almost any ...

Beltane is the Celtic name for the holiday midway between the spring equinox and the summer solstice, in some cultures celebrated as the beginning of summer. The rituals of the day are meant to celebrate and bring forth growth, fertility, vitality, joy, and passion. How can you encourage growth around you today?

Arizona madrone, to be precise: Arbutus arizonica. The colors, which ranged through magenta, orange, and green, were tempting, but I’ll have many other days for drawing leaves with this coloration.

It May Day!   This year I will forego the detailed history of the day.   Those who have been around this joint for a while have seen it.   If not check this out.   Suffice it to say that this is officially celebrated as Labor Day in almost every country except the United States, where the whole thing began in commemoration of the of a Chicago eight hour day strike which led to a police attack on a protest rally on May 4 where a bomb was thrown, probably by an agent provocateur in 1886.   That led to the trial of eight labor leaders, mostly immigrant German anarchists .   Four were hung, one committed suicide in his jail cell during the trial, and the other four were sentenced to prison and were ultimately pardoned by Illinois Gover...

Please join us on Sunday (1 May 2022) at 11:00 AM for “Survival Within You and Without You” by Rev. Barbara Jarrell. We will also hear a guest presentation on Ramadan and the celebration of Eid al Fitr which happens this week. We will be meeting in the sanctuary for this worship service.  Please join … Continue reading "All-Ages Worship (1 May 2022)"

The 39th Annual Holocaust Remembrance Service of Northwest Louisiana will happen on Sunday (1 May 2022) from 3:00 PM to 4:30 PM at Broadmoor United Methodist Church.  This service will also be livestreamed on the Broadmoor UMC web site. This service is a multifaith service in remembrance of the Holocaust in honor and memory of … Continue reading "Holocaust Remembrance Service of Northwest Louisiana (1 May 2022)"

It’s the first Sunday of the month and Melissa Lewis will be in the grove  in front of the church from 2:00 to 4:00 PM on Sunday (1 May 2022) collecting food for the Noel United Methodist Food Pantry. This month’s requests: Spaghetti sauce Canned tuna Canned chicken Saltine crackers You can either bring your … Continue reading "Noel Food Pantry Donation Drive This Week (1 May 2021)"

Please join us on Sunday (1 May 2022) at 9:00 AM for our adult religious education class via Zoom. This Sunday we begin our work through the book Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad. As the author says, “This is not a book you read, this is a book you do” and we … Continue reading "Online Adult Religious Education — 1 May 2022"

On this Sunday (1 May 2022), children and youth religious education classes will resume in person and will happen during our 11:00 AM worship service. We will resume our pre-COVID practice where the children and youth will join us in the sanctuary for the first 15-20 minutes and then we will sing them out to … Continue reading "Children and Youth Religious Education (1 May 2022)"

Please join us next Tuesday (3 May 2022) at 12 noon for our weekly Zoom lunch. Bring your lunch and meet up with your All Souls friends, have lunch, and just catch up.

Our give-away-the-plate recipient for May 2022 is the United Way of Northwest Louisiana. 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. This time-honored national organization works locally to help children succeed in school, beginning with their participation in Dolly … Continue reading "United Way of Northwest Louisiana — May 2022 Give-Away-The-Plate Recipient"

I’ll be drawing numerous members of the genus Quercus, I think, and this is the first. It looks more like a willow leaf to my layperson’s eye: untoothed, long and ovoid and slender. But it’s an oak. This is the underside, and that’s what the name refers to; the tops of the leaves are a […]

After several chilly windy days, we finally had a sunny warmer day today, and I worked on tending the pond. I rinsed off the soil from the two potted Marsh Marigolds I purchased last weekend, and “planted” them in the stones of the plant shelf in the pond. The blue flag irises nearby are shooting […]

Does the value of religiosity as response end at the line of the sacred circle drawn by practitioners, or does it truly make a difference outside of that circle? Beyond therapeutic effects for the practitioners themselves, are we just doing a form of that most ineffective and overly online form of religiosity in the face of violence and horror, the sending of “thoughts and prayers”? Continue reading Column: Will Anything Happen? at The Wild Hunt.

My publisher placed an ad for my new book in Fine Woodworking as you see here.  In my wood shop I've been inlaying box lids, a thing I expect I'll be doing even in my 80s.  Make, fix and create...

Red Wheel/Weiser has dropped plans to publish a book by Thelemite social media star Georgina Rose after a controversial tweet followed allegations of ties to far-right groups. Continue reading Weiser drops Georgina Rose after allegations of far-right connections at The Wild Hunt.

Prayer for the Week of May 1, 2022 Lover of Being thank you for waiting while I catch my breath, resting with me amid the hustle, the restlessness, the fearfulness that keeps us from slowing down, pausing to savor the day, pausing to greet and find out more about one...

Mother’s Day 2022 Prayer Nourisher of Being, may we pause to consider those who mother, regardless of their gender, Mothers of communities and in community, Mothers of courage who are also mothers who fear, Mothers who glitter and skinned-knee mud-splattered mothers, Mothers who know what they’re doing some of the...

“In honor of the risk takers, those that hold the vision with clarity and charge forward with optimism even in the face of others’ doubts. You are our lamp lighters and our guides; may we never forget the courage it takes to lead the way forward.” -Amanda Schuber Who are the risk-takers who inspire you … Continue reading Risk

  So called Open Up America protestors had taken to the streets to claim their time in the lime light while progressives and true patriots others wouldn't or couldn't out of respect for pandemic protocols.  It was just the beginning of a movement that now terrorizes school boards and health care workers in the name of some kind of freedom to spit in everyone else's face. I was preparing a final post for National Poetry Month when I rediscoveredthis ultimate post from 2000.   The Coronavirus was new, the whole nation was hunkered down.   We had no idea that would still be going on or that we would be so weary and jaded by the whole thing and we pretendit is over.   And we were still reeling from the aftermath of attempted coup d’et...

View from Raddon Top, Devon 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 2015, one of the key texts which guided me as I put together the current liturgy which surrounds our time of mindful meditation was Mary Oliver’s short poem, “What I have learned so far” and, in a moment, I’ll read that for you. It stands as a powerful aide-memoire of what it is we are doing together each week; namely, practising a liberal religious discipline that is designed to help us grow ever more fully into what the Unitarian minister Tom Owen Towle described as “freethinking...

Please join us on Saturday (30 April 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 (30 April 2022)"

There is nothing strange and unapproachable, to me, about the fear of stepping outside my own door. There is nothing more sacred than the relief of coming back.  There is nothing more sacred, to me, than the relief of stepping outside my own door. There is nothing strange or unapproachable about the fear of coming back. Continue reading Column: Trioditis, Goddess of the Alleyway at The Wild Hunt.

A Q&A with Raquel Salas Rivera | Not all my work is meant to be translated, but when I do self-translate, the flipbook is perfect for a bilingual edition. It doesn’t give priority to either language, and that feels truer to both my process and my readership. In many ways, my readers in Spanish and those who read me in English don’t always overlap but they do correspond, to borrow a term from Jack Spicer.

      The Buddhist Temple of Toledo & the Future of Zen in North America James Ishmael Ford This past weekend I flew out to the Midwest to attend two events in Toledo. One was to join as a witness to the denbo ceremony (full dharma transmission) of Karen Do’on Weik. The other was […]

The Eliot School in Jamaica Plain, MA has been working with the J.F. Kennedy Elementary School in their town to provide woodworking lessons to all the kindergarten kids. It's a joyous experience that all schools should offer. The screen shot shows a kindergarten class in action. You can read about it here: https://mailchi.mp/eliotschool/read-the-november-eliot-school-newsletter-today-671181 Make, fix and create...

“Let us celebrate together in love; that as we travel away, we take with us the memory of golden hours together among the flowers.” -Elizabeth M. Strong Whose memory do you hold close to your heart today?

John Paul Wright--musician, poet, labor activist. As we near the end of National Poetry Month and approach May Day , the true International Labor Day it is appropriate we turn to a representative of a truly overlooked demographic — working class white men .  John Paul Wright certainly fits the bill , but he also stretches and confounds all preconceptions and stereotypes . Wright comes from a family of working class radicals and activists including his father and immigrant mother and a stepfather .     Mom came out as lesbian in a hostile border state Kentucky community and imbued her son with a love of music , verse , and a daring to explore . An activist since high school , he self-educated himself on working people’s struggles i...

Focus talk: Barbara Villandry.  Click here to listen. Main lecture: Lizabeth Cohen.  Click here to listen. —Lizabeth Cohen Lizabeth Cohen is the Howard Mumford Jones Professor of American Studies and a Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of History at Harvard. From 2011-18 she was the dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. In addition to Saving America’s Cities: Ed Logue and the Struggle to Renew Urban America in the Suburban Age , which won the 2020 Bancroft Prize in American History, previous books include Making a New Deal: Industrial Workers in Chicago, 1919-1939 , also winner of the Bancroft Prize and a finalist for the Pulitzer, and A Consumers’ Republic: The Politics of Mass Co...

After two years of being absent due to pandemic restrictions, Beltane celebrations in the U.K. have come roaring back. TWH's Liz Williams has rounded up a list of some of the events taking place across the U.K. Continue reading The return of Beltane Bashes in the U.K. at The Wild Hunt.

A pending decision from the Supreme Court could have major implications for human rights

Susan Frederick-Gray UUA President Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray shares a statement of UU solidarity and support for workers and the labor movement. Continue reading "Unitarian Universalists Honor Workers’ Dignity and Support the Labor Movement"

Dr. Anthony Fauci has declared that we are now “out of the full-blown explosive pandemic phase” of COVID. This doesn’t mean that COVID is gone. It just means that “we’ve now decelerated and transitioned into more of a controlled phase,” according to Fauci. This tallies with my own observations. COVID is still a threat, but … Continue reading "Post-pandemic singing"

      While Zen has been in North America for quite a while now, it started reaching into the larger population through books and missionaries in a significant way starting in the 1950s. Since then representatives of most Zen schools from, I’m pretty sure, all countries with historic Zen lineages have at least visited. […]

Yesterday in the woodshop at the Clear Spring School, my Kindergarten students, our "Rainbow Group," made toy boats. They loved the project, as did I. The level of enthusiasm they bring to the woodshop is an amazing thing. Make, fix and create...

“The Akan tribe in Ghana has a word, Sankofa, symbolized by a bird with its head turned around to take an egg from its back. The Sankofa heron illustrates a Twi proverb: se wo were fi na wosankofa a yenkyi. Translated, it says, “It is no sin to go back and fetch what you have … Continue reading Sankofa

We live in the most religiously diverse society in the history of humanity, where many people are actively trying to find the “right” religion for themselves. We need to make sure those who want what we have and do can find us.

  Billy Collins reading in 2008. Billy Collins is one of the best loved and most widely read contemporary American poets .   He was an exceptionally high profile United States Poet Laureate from 2001-03.   He disdains obscurity and embraces a plain spoken , conversational style .   To read , or better yet listen to him read one of his pieces is to feel that you are engaged in a wonderful conversation with a witty friend . His topics are often seemingly mundane , reflecting on ordinary life and its sometimes surprises .   He stands outside any literary movement .   All of this has made him suspect to many academics , some of whom seem to regard widespread popularity with general readers as proof of shallowness . A Christmas Eve flig...

The leaves are so varied on this tree. At one stage, it has long, untoothed, simple leaves like the ones we’ve seen the last couple of days, but then there are these compound leaves. As Erp pointed out in her recent comment, common names are often misnomers. But this tree really does grow on Catalina […]

On Good Friday morning, I was driving in my car and I saw the purple cloth draped over a cross at a local Catholic church. It reminded me that it was Easter. I keep a notebook in my car, to jot down thoughts and phrases that come into my head. “It is a time of […]

New advances in the development of solar power offer hope for the future and green energy. Continue reading New advances in solar power at The Wild Hunt.

By Christian Coleman | He is hailed as a literary giant whose prolific writing career has made him a New York Times best-selling author. His novels include “The Master,” “The Magician,” “Nora Webster,” and “Brooklyn.” “Brooklyn” was, in fact, adapted as a feature film nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture, so he has movie-vetted cred, too. Now we get to see Colm Tóibín flex as a poet in his debut collection, “Vinegar Hill.”

Kay Ryan. Former Library of Congress Poet Laureate Kay Ryan has spent much of her successful career writing deceptively simple verse about nature and especially animals — short pieces that trip the reader and redirect expectations .  Her work echoes that of her youthful inspiration , Marianne Moore . Ryan was born on September 21, 1945 in San Jose , California and was raised in several areas of the San Joaquin Valley and the Mojave Desert .  After attending Antelope Valley College , she received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English from University of California , Los Angeles ( UCLA ).  Since 1971, she has lived in Marin County and has taught English part-time at the College of Marin in Kentfield . Where her life partner Ca...

“Forgiveness is connected to memory and time. It asks us to engage our feelings about something in the past in order to change our experience in the present, and move into the future. Forgiveness is an act of vulnerability – both from the one seeking forgiveness and the one offering it – as it reveals … Continue reading Forgiveness

I started drawing these beautiful leaves and got really annoyed by how fussy I was getting. Deeply lost in the weeds of tiny variations in color. Was any of the light coming through? So I started again, determined to use just a few colors and keep the shapes and shades simple. Actually, now I think […]

        I was on the interwebs and my social media feed offered a meme featuring a quote attributed to Marcus Aurelius “Meditate often on the interconnectedness and mutual interdependence of all things in the universe.” I thought, oh my. And I asked my friend Doug Bates, who knows a lot about such things, […]

On this final week of April, and National Poetry Month, we share a poem from UUSS member Cammie Trotter, with gratitude for a congregation that can support each of us on our spiritual journeys, and where creative gifts are celebrated! To Each Other, by Cammie Trotter The ... read more . The post Co-Ministers’ Colloquy – April 26th appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION Out of the Office…<br> Director of Lifespan Religious Education Robin Ahearn will be on vacation 4/29-5/11. If you have any urgent RE concerns in her absence, please contact Congregational Life Coordinator Kristin Cleveland at clc@uuschenectady.org. Robin will resume checking emails and will be ... read more . The post RE This Week – April 26th appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

If you are among those of UUSS who felt a desire to follow up the wonderful Earth Day service on Sunday, April 24, Green Sanctuary is here to help you! Rev. Wendy ended the sermon by recommending that we make our voices heard on the issues ... read more . The post Green Sanctuary invites you to follow up our Earth Sunday service appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

The Social Justice Action Team (SJAT) has decided to adopt UUtheVote as the Congregational focus through the November elections as the Team continues its work to seek a focus our longer term justice action agenda. UUtheVote is a nationwide effort to fight for fair elections, advance voting ... read more . The post UUtheVote established as the UUSS Social Justice Focus appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.