So, after sorting and winnowing all winter, I have finally finished with the boxes from my years living in Boston. I managed to go from 11 file-drawer-size boxes down to 4! The four that remain include, loosely: 1. lesbian theology and creative writing, 2. GLBT & social justice activism, 3. Native solidarity activism, and 4. […]

Story Author: Paulo Coelho A young man was standing in the middle of the town proclaiming that he had the most beautiful heart in the whole valley. A large crowd gathered and they all admired his heart for it was perfect. There was not a mark or a flaw in it. But an old man appeared at the front of the crowd and said, “Your heart is not nearly as beautiful as mine.” The crowd and the young man looked at the old man’s heart. It was beating strongly but full of scars. It had places where pieces had been removed and other pieces put in … but they didn’t fit quite right and there were several jagged edges. The young man looked at the old man’s heart and laughed. “You must be joking,” he said. “Compare your heart with mine

Why do I think a bird is more beautiful than a worm might seem like a silly question on the surface; of course, birds with their multiple colors and plumage, flying effortlessly across the sky seem infinitely more beautiful than a slimy brown worm mucking around in the dirt.   As I started thinking about Nurturing Beauty, this month’s worship theme, I started really wondering how and possibly why we think some things are beautiful and others are not?   Is it purely cultural?   Is it only about external characteristics?   And I wonder what is the impact of what we each chose to define as “beautiful” on our psyches, our social lives, and our spiritual/ethical journeys. Let me share a few images with you.   These are random image...

Despite pledges to end it, the Title 42 policy is still sending people to harm and must be stopped.

People I respect have called me out, and I am sitting with a big, steaming pile of unwanted self-knowledge. I feel deeply disappointed in myself (oh no, I hurt people!), afraid (oh no, people won’t like me!), discouraged (didn’t I do this work already?), angry at myself (why did it take such pointed, public criticism […]

           I attended an Open House at the Kendall Mosque last week and broke the Ramadan fast after evening prayer with the members of that faith community.   As I watched the prayers, I thought of how we, Unitarian Universalists, draw wisdom and spirituality from sources as diverse as science, poetry, scripture, and personal experience.   And the world’s religious and spiritual traditions offer much to us as we search for truth and meaning.   The stories/myths they offer, are rich for those seeking meaning and purpose from their own life experiences and for those seeking discernment about how to live an ethical and/or spiritual life.   In some ways Unitarian Universalists are fortunate to draw from so many diverse tradit...

Janice Marie Johnson , James Ishmael Ford , Abhi Prakash Janamanchi , Amanda Poppei Nuanced, surprising, and beautiful, Unitarian Universalism joins together myriad sources and experiences.

Each of us should have the power to decide what does and doesn’t happen to our bodies at every moment of our lives because consent and bodily autonomy are holy. And when disparities in resources or freedoms make it more difficult for certain groups of people to exercise autonomy over their own bodies, our faith compels us to take liberatory action.” The post UUWF: Statement on the Potential Overturning of Roe v. Wade appeared first on BeyondBelief.

  Gifts from our Mothers and our Other-Mothers By Rev. Kit Ketcham, May 8, 2022 Interesting, isn’t it, the juxtaposition of the Supreme Court’s draft on abortion rights and a day honoring the role of Mothers, mothers who may not have had access to birth control or control of their own bodies.  I’m not going to address that issue now but it will doubtless be open season during coffee hour!   It’s taken me a long time since my mother’s death in 1994 to understand better my relationship with her, a relationship that often made me feel guilty that I wasn’t more patient with her, that I didn’t come to visit her more often, that I couldn’t be with her as she was dying.   And yet it was also a relationship of great joy, time...

Growing up my mother insisted that the secret ingredient in her cooking was Love. I wholeheartedly believed in this, in a literal sense, like my mom had the power to jar Love and keep it in the spice rack. -Marin Smith (CLF) When was a time someone fed you with love?

Men arrested at Mrs. Clap's Molly House and others hung in a public execution at Tyburn in 1726. On May 9, 1726 five unfortunate patsies were strung up and publicly hanged on the notorious gallows at Tyburn, the rural execution spot not far outside the walls of London.   Or it may have been just three.   Accounts differ.   Confusion may have arisen because the busy gibbet often accommodated several hangings at once and there may have been other common criminals dangled with them.   A woodblock print purporting shows the execution shows seven victims. At the time hanging was a popular public amusement regularly drawing large crowds of witnesses.   The list of capital crimes was long and included not just murder and highway robbery bu...

I’m sharing this Braver Angels Podcast about abortion featuring an all-women panel — two Reds and two Blues. The episode is helping lots of people navigate this painfully divisive issue with family, friends, and community members. The post Can We Talk About Abortion? appeared first on BeyondBelief.

New research suggests that the stereotype of medieval kings feasting ostentatiously on meat and alcohol while peasants starved may be overblown. Continue reading New research challenges belief about medieval feasts at The Wild Hunt.

Rev. John reopens the Question Box for all your queries, curiosities, and posers.

This week I did a particularly challenging hike on Mount Tam that I really wanted to do. It was one I hiked when I was in my 20’s and I remember it being very beautiful and also living up to its name: Steep Ravine. Part of the trail, which follows a creek through the redwoods […]

      For those of us familiar with Julia Ward Howe’s original vision of Mother’s Day as a celebration of peace, how do we honor that original intent? How do we look for peace, and, hopefully find peace? And, maybe, wouldn’t it be wonderful, spread the heart of peace out into the world? And, […]

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

The love we may have felt for and from family members is storge. It is a nurturing, caring, protective love. We are all worthy of nurturing, and all capable of giving this to others. Share a memory of being nurtured.

I have no need to convert people who think abortion is a terrible sin. They’re free to believe what they want and to order their lives around those beliefs. I just want to live my life, let others live theirs, and be free to go to brunch. And I can’t.

Note — This is becoming my default Mothers’ Day post instead of a pedantic recitation of the history of the celebration.  A version first appeared in August 2015. My wife, Kathy was noodling around on   Ancestry.com and discovered that my birth mother, Margaret High, died in June 2014 in Cheyenne, Wyoming. She was 91 years old. I never had any contact with her and only discoveredher identity through the diligentresearch by my late brother’s ex-wife Arlene Brennan a few years ago. Ruby Murfin holds Timothy and W. M. Murfin holds me at our baptism in Dillon, Montana, December 1949. Margaret High came from a pioneering Montana ranching family in aptly named Twin Bridges in the remote high country of the Missouri Brakes.  She served...

If fortune favors me, I am about midway along the journey of my ministry, and this awareness, plus a growing preoccupation with my own mortality and the dangers facing our planet, has caused me to reflect on what I want to do and be during the second half of my career. I’ve found the answer […]

The worship Service this week at the Tree of Life UU Congregation in McHenry. I was asked to do the Chalice Lighting this Sunday morning at the Tree of Life Unitarian Universalist Congregation in McHenry, Illinois.  If you are not familiar with a Chalice Lighting, it is one of the few U.U. worship rituals.  A short reading usually accompanies ignitinga flame in a chalice, the symbol of our faith, which help set the tone of the service.  At our congregation we have monthly themes for worship.  This month that theme is Beauty.  Instead of searching out an apt quotation from literature or by some minister, I undertook a short original poem. Rev. Jenn Gracen with her wife Virginia and daughter Adalee at a protest of the upcoming Supreme...

Please join us on Sunday (8 May 2022) at 11:00 AM for “Bearers and Forebearers” by Rev. Barbara Jarrell. We will be meeting in the sanctuary for this worship service.  Please join us in person at All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church, 9449 Ellerbe Road, Shreveport LA  71106 if you are able to do so. Our service … Continue reading "All-Ages Worship (8 May 2022)"

Please join us on Sunday (8 May 2022) at 9:00 AM for our adult religious education class via Zoom. This Sunday we continue 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 — 8 May 2022"

On this Sunday (8 May 2022), children and youth religious education classes will continue to meet in person during our 11:00 AM worship service. We have resumed 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 their … Continue reading "Children and Youth Religious Education (8 May 2022)"

Please join us next Tuesday (10 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.

Despite the commercialization of Mother's Day, some of the best tributes however are a sincere understanding of what mothers sacrifice for their children. Mothers often changed the course of history just through their choices although history might not acknowledge it until years later. Continue reading Column: Mamie Till-Mobley’s Choice at The Wild Hunt.

Now that Roe v. Wade is likely to fall, we all have to think carefully about electronic privacy and abortion. Big Tech is already tracking everything you do. The data they steal from you can easily be used to find out whether you (for biological females) or your partner (for biological males) is pregnant. The … Continue reading "Phone privacy and abortions"

When: Saturday May 7, 2022 Time: 9 AM to Noon Where: Unitarian Church of Los Alamos Patio, 1738 N. Sage St. MASK OPTIONAL Please bring plants you wish to give away, and take home any you can use. All unclaimed plants after the swap will be donated to the Master Gardeners’ Plant Sale on June …<p> 2022 Community Plant Swap Read More »

This review came out yesterday. https://www.frontporchrepublic.com/2022/05/your-brains-are-in-your-hands-doug-stowe-on-forming-mind-hand-and-culture/ It is written by fellow woodworker Josh Pauling. Make, fix and create...

The birth of Siddhartha Gautama, known to most as the Buddha, is celebrated at this time of year throughout East and South Asia, but the exact date of the celebration varies from country to country. The Southeast Asian festival of Vesak, which includes this day, starts tomorrow. One of the central rituals of Vesak is … Continue reading Buddha’s Birthday

The highlight of a trip to Ano Nuevo State Park is supposed to be the sight of hundreds of Elephant Seals. But when Carol and I visited the park today, what I enjoyed most was seeing Bank Swallows building nests in a bluff high above the beach. I watched through binoculars as the swallows whizzed … Continue reading "Bank Swallows"

Please join us on Saturday (7 May 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 (7 May 2022)"

Lyonel Perabo reviews the new film "The Northman," directed by Robert Eggers, which features striking historical fidelity in its story of Viking Age revenge. Continue reading Review: “The Northman” – What evil steals the hearts of brave young men? at The Wild Hunt.

Bring out your flower bouquets and your brunch reservations! This Sunday is Mother’s Day, and we’re bringing the books to take you into the weekend and beyond. These books show how every kind of mother needs to be valued and supported in the catch-all societal stew we call the US. Mothers of color. Immigrant mothers. Mothers who become parents at a young age. Mothers separated from their families because of incarceration. Mothers challenging the medical establishment about misconceived notions of disability.

Please join us as we join our friends at UUCSW, 64 Main Street in Westborough, where we’ll explore together the ways in which Nurturing Laughter can help us to not only survive but thrive in an uncertain and sometimes less-than-lovely world. Online option is also available; please visit www.uucsw.org for more information. Next week: Join us   [ … ] The post Sunday, May 8 ~ Visiting Westborough appeared first on Unitarian Church of Marlborough and Hudson.

Beloved,  Are you tired? I am. Are you mad as hell? Me too. Are you figuring out how to get out of bed, go to work, and carry on while day after day you are stunned by the cruelty of our leaders and our laws? If I am honest, I too have chosen a nap instead of a meeting. I have reached out to connect with friends, instead of taking every action that falls into my inbox.  And that’s ok. We are a movement, not a machine. Caring for ourselves, our communities, and our spirits are essential to sustaining our movements.  Our work is as complex as our movements. But there is nothing complicated about injustice. We are clear that Christian nationalism, white supremacy, and extractive capitalism are the forces that threaten our democracy, ou...

    I missed it as it passed, but, yesterday, the 5th of May was a signal moment in the history of liberal religion in the United States. And, I want to take a moment to pause and reflect on it. To this moment I have a vivid memory. I was working at Wahrenbrock’s Book […]

Prayer for Possibility, Change, and Transformation May 8, 2022 Lover of Possibilities, Change, and Transformation blow through our lives more gently, please. Or at least give us a reminder to have a go bag and a charged phone and the contacts of this four-times-removed-friend’s-seventeenth-cousin. Lover of Possibilities, Change, and Transformation...

Two people I know affectionately refer to each other as their “movie spouse.” Each of them has a partner who does not share their taste in movies–so they go to the movies together. -Michael Tino (CLF) Do something fun with a friend today.

I was just on retreat at Villa Maria del Mar for two days. It is in Santa Cruz, on a cliff right on the beach. When I texted my daughter to say that I had gone tidepooling that morning before breakfast, she asked if I had drawn any critters from the tidepools for her. I […]

First published on 6th June 2021 but republished on May 6th 2022 because, a) it is still relevant and, b) it stands as a good holding post while I take two weeks of leave. I return to work/blogging/podcasting on Wednesday 18th May. Thanks to everyone who reads this blog and, from time to time, corresponds with me or turns up on a Sunday morning. I hugely appreciate the engagement. Thank you.  Right, I ’m off to have a rest . . . Adieu. —o0o— Back in 1983/84 in Bury St Edmunds, I bought a secondhand copy of the “Selected poems and prose of Michael Roberts” (ed. Frederick Grubb, Carcanet Press,1980). Michael Roberts (1902–1948) was an English poet, writer, critic and broadcaster who made his living as a teacher. He is most we...

Focus talk: Susan Nulsen. Click here to listen. Susan Nulsen’s Bio Both of Susan Nulsen's parents were born in the Depression and had been brought up in country Western Australia. Her mother's parents were farmers. Her father's father had drowned when her father was a baby and her father's mother had become a hairdresser in a country town (where she had little competition) to support them both. Neither of Susan's parents families had been particularly well-off. Although the Depression hadn't hit the farmers too badly, subsequent droughts had had more of an effect . Her mother's family had been forced to move to the city where her grandfather had worked as a dustman for some time. Susan's parents were both twenty-two when she was born. ...

On my way home from a ministers’ retreat this afternoon, I stopped at Ano Nuevo State Park. The reason most people visit the park is to view the Elephant Seals that live there. And what’s not to like about these charismatic megafauna? Today’s visit was too short. I’ve already convinced Carol to accompany back to … Continue reading "The obligatory Ano Nuevo State Park Elephant Seal photo"

Yes! The robin has been sitting on the nest more consistently and today I confirmed that she has laid three eggs! She stays in place when we go out the back door, as long as we go down the steps near the driveway, which is on the opposite side of where she is nesting. But […]

Truthfully, I didn’t learn much from being locked down for two years.  I suspect that I had the virus early on, before it was even on people’s radar back in January of 2020.  After flying through Las Vegas and the Guadalajara airports, we were in Chapala, Mexico, enjoying the warmth and a bit of street food. The symptoms appeared one night in the form of spiking fevers, violent chills and joints aching so terribly that I simply wept with no relief.  I was sick for two days and then it was over.  What did I learn from that?   Not everything bad that happens occurs for a reason or to teach us a lesson.  I know some people think otherwise.  But I am of the opinion that random stuff messes with us mercilessly, and the evolving mu...

The nation's wetlands while providing a large range of benefits and resources continue to be threatened by development, pollution, and the erosion of environmental protections. Continue reading American Wetlands Month is underway at The Wild Hunt.

UU Women’s Retreat on May 7th! Registration is now OPEN! Young Women Welcome! 13 years and up! When: Saturday, May 7th – 9am-3pm Where: UU Church of Los Alamos Registration Fee to pay for lunch and supplies: $20. (If you are in need of a scholarship, please let Tina DeYoe know!) Registration link: https://forms.gle/mQrUHS3EatqcC5tDA Retreat …<p> UU Women’s Retreat on May 7th! Read More »

Another request. I’m looking for lovely samples of orders of service. Necessarily available in a downloadable format online, and preferably from a small church (of whatever stripe) or one that works with a tight budget. Feel free to chime in, even years from now. There’s something dispiriting to visit a church and find something that … Continue reading "Lovely examples of order of service?"

        Today is Cinco de Mayo. I usually offer a reflection on this day about why I think it is in fact a holiday we in the United States should be observing. With, I quickly add, some serious caveats. I acknowledge a pretty good measure of discomfort at how the holiday has […]

A few years ago I experienced the abrupt end of two unrelated long term friendships.  I felt such acute pain and loss. It was difficult to work through that pain when other folks in my life thought I was overreacting because it was not romantic love. I wish for us to be comfortable recognizing the … Continue reading Losing a Friend

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 […]