It turns out private equity firms are buying up hospice providers. And it turns out the for-profit hospices do not, in general, provide as much care for dying patients as the nonprofit hospices, according to Kaiser Heath News: “Patients in nonprofits had more nursing, social worker, and therapy visits. For-profit hospices, the report found, had … Continue reading "Why you should seek out a nonprofit hospice provider"

When I was 8 or 9 years old, I used to write short stories. I imagined a collection of stories called, “The Adventures of Judy.” However, as a kid, I thought the sound of cooing parents (“Ahhhhh…”) was spelled “Awe.”  When Judy’s baby brother took his first steps, the family exclaimed, “Awe…!”  When Judy made … Continue reading Delightful Reverence

JB, a friend from high school, has been living in London for a number of years. His essay titled “The Mood in London” published by nonprofit news organization Who What Why helps explain to us Yanks what it’s like to be in England right now.

While this year's list for Banned Books Week is dominated by books that contain LGBTQ+ subject matter, the list also includes titles that involve Witchcraft. Continue reading Banned books include regular list of Witchcraft titles at The Wild Hunt.

Super editor Maxwell Perkins. In American letters there have been figures who nurtured the writers who became the voices of their generations.  There was the Sage of Concord, Ralph Waldo Emerson himself and his circle of acolytes and admirers.  William Dean Howells presided at The Atlantic and hobnobbed with Mark Twain and fostered the realist novelists who lifted the genre from genteel diversions for ladies and epic adventure yarns to a mirror of American life.  Ezra Pound in London and Paris and Harriet Monroe in Chicago nurtured a brood of modern poets.  These folks were writers themselves who mentored and encouraged other writers, most often through periodicals that they edited or controlled. But the man who revolutionized the Am...

When I write the word awesome, I always want to accentuate the letters “awe.” When I experience something as ‘awesome,’ what I am feeling first and foremost is the awe and wonder of whatever I am engaging with. When I hear a song that touches my heart and reminds me of a powerful memory, it … Continue reading AWEsome

In this week's Pagan Community Notes, White House religious conferences fails to include Pagans or Pagan-adjacent faith, 5K run changes story to prevent misunderstanding of Wicca, the 7th Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions took place in Astana, and more news. Continue reading Pagan Community Notes: Week of September 19, 2022 at The Wild Hunt.

      I find myself recalling the American Zen Master Kyogen Carlson, who died eight years ago, yesterday. Kyogen was one of the senior Zen teachers in North America, respected and loved across the continent. He was also my friend. My history of Zen in the West, Zen Master Who? contains the bare outline […]

President James A. Garfield being treated by doctors at the White House after being shot.  The wound was serious, but should not have been fatal.  Attempts to probe for the bullet--often with unwashed hands and fingers, widened the wound, caused more bleeding, pierced his liver, and ultimately led to a deadly and painful infection. On September 19, 1881 President James A. Garfield died in agony on the Jersey Shore 78 days after being shot in the back by a disappointed office seeker in a Washington train station.  He had only been in office a total of 199 days, almost half that time incapacitatedby his injury.  One of the bullets fired the morning of July 2 by Charles J. Gateau grazed the President’s arm.  The other lodged in his b...

I never belonged to any group during my childhood. My mom is Puerto Rican. My father is a first generation Mexican-American. You would think that I would have a rich Latin heritage, but I don’t.  My mother decided not to … Continue reading →

We're beginning our fall semester in style with music from King Cabbage, billed as Oklahoma's only brass band, and a Louisiana-inspired boil for dinner. We'll have activities for the whole family, so bring the kids and come prepared for a great time. The post Wednesday Connections Kicks Off This Week appeared first on BeyondBelief.

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, we have begun to broadcast a livestream video of our Sunday morning worship services. This worship video will be available live and in recorded formats. For our livestream video of our worship services, we are using Facebook Live.  One does not have to log into Facebook … Continue reading "7 August 2022 Worship Livestreaming Video"

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, we have begun to broadcast a livestream video of our Sunday morning worship services. This worship video will be available live and in recorded formats. For our livestream video of our worship services, we are using Facebook Live.  One does not have to log into Facebook … Continue reading "31 July 2022 Worship Livestreaming Video"

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, we have begun to broadcast a livestream video of our Sunday morning worship services. This worship video will be available live and in recorded formats. For our livestream video of our worship services, we are using Facebook Live.  One does not have to log into Facebook … Continue reading "24 July 2022 Worship Livestreaming Video"

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, we have begun to broadcast a livestream video of our Sunday morning worship services. This worship video will be available live and in recorded formats. For our livestream video of our worship services, we are using Facebook Live.  One does not have to log into Facebook … Continue reading "17 July 2022 Worship Livestreaming Video"

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, we have begun to broadcast a livestream video of our Sunday morning worship services. This worship video will be available live and in recorded formats. For our livestream video of our worship services, we are using Facebook Live.  One does not have to log into Facebook … Continue reading "10 July 2022 Worship Livestreaming Video"

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, we have begun to broadcast a livestream video of our Sunday morning worship services. This worship video will be available live and in recorded formats. For our livestream video of our worship services, we are using Facebook Live.  One does not have to log into Facebook … Continue reading "3 July 2022 Worship Livestreaming Video"

For I am a creature of the Universe, small but infinite A momentary body in the sea of life, and also the sea itself I am a gathered bit of energy, and one who gathers A creation and a creator Let me not hold too tightly to one form and lose the other -from “Imperfectly … Continue reading Both

The critics unleashed their hate on Bailey playing the little mermaid because they claim Disney has violated the integrity of the source material. No. It’s because they're racists. Continue reading Editorial: The Little Mermaid and the racists at The Wild Hunt.

A sermon reflecting on the nature of religious dissent in the 21st century United States.

A men’s group, aimed at learning about feminism, was composed of five men who all tend to be a bit geeky and who wanted to identify how misogyny had surreptitiously infiltrated our attitudes, communications, and actions.

It was cooler this week – we even got drizzled on during one hike! Not enough to pull out the poncho I didn’t have, but enough to have to dry off my glasses. We did two 5 milers and one 12. 12 is a bit much for me, although I love the trail we hiked […]

        In some ways this blog is where I process my inner life. A lot of it turns on expressing the depths of my gratitude for the Zen way while at the same time seeking to clarify precisely what it is within Zen that has been so transformative for me. Another part […]

New York City embarked on a plan to plant 20,000 new trees a year and already the addition of trees is having its effects on neighborhoods. While I'm grateful to live in a forest, even a single tree in an urban environment can make a difference, as reported in the New York Times.  On one block in East New York, a line of trees, planted in 2009, has grown into a canopy. Neighbors gather for cards, dominoes and barbecue. “When they first came, I could touch the tops of the trees,” Jaytee Spurgeon, 55, recalls. “It makes the neighborhood better.” When it comes to human effects on climate, scientists speculate on a "tipping point" at which the effects of CO2 become irreversible and begin accelerating out of control. If we assume tha...

Nathaniel Bacon leads his interracial forces on Jamestown and burns the Capital in the romanticized illustration by Howard Pyle in in  Harper's Encyclopaedia of United States History: from 458 A.D. to 1905. The episode named Bacon’s Rebellion is a mere footnote in American Colonial history, yet some historians have claimed to divine the early stirrings of the spirit of liberty.   More have placed the blame on the ego clash between a stubborn and out of touch Royal Governor and a reckless upstart schemer.   While the latter is more likely, the fact was that despite the manifest defects of the rebellion’s leader, his cause united the genuinely discontented from all parts and levels of Virginia society from a disgruntled planter eli...

Gods have people. In the past, those people were likely to be from a single culture, or from related cultures. In some cases they still are. But in others, Gods are calling people from a wide variety of backgrounds to worship and work with Them.

"Looking back at that boy who didn’t feel he could ever fit in Venezuela, the young man who was in danger and resented all of Venezuela, I came to think about a healing exercise: healing with the flag of that same country." Continue reading Opinión: Sanando con la Bandera de Venezuela at The Wild Hunt.

"Looking back at that boy who didn’t feel he could ever fit in Venezuela, the young man who was in danger and resented all of Venezuela, I came to think about a healing exercise: healing with the flag of that same country." Continue reading Opinion: Healing with the Venezuelan Flag at The Wild Hunt.

Everything begins on the verge of awareness. The dawn is not and then is. Sleep is and then is not. In between is the awakening. The passage of thin light, between, breaks open the day. The passage of thin sound, between, flows into the day. Too soon the numbing rumble of traffic swells, the day … Continue reading On The Verge

I went quiet when I finished my six months of daily leaves and got COVID the same week. It took me a while to get my energy back, and a while longer to settle into my new practice. It has finally taken its form for the rest of the year: to do art first thing […]

Please join us this Sunday (18 September 2022) at 11:00 AM for our annual Homecoming Service with Rev. Barbara Jarrell. We will recognize member milestones and include a memorial tribute to those we’ve lost since our last in-person homecoming. We will also have a blessing of the backpacks for all ages.  Kids and grownups — … Continue reading "All-Ages Worship (18 September 2022)"

Please join us on Sunday (18 September 2022) at 9:00 AM for “WhUU Dat (yeah, we did that . . . join us anyway)” via Zoom and facilitated by Susan Caldwell and Barbara Deger. This Sunday we will continue our exploration of Unitarian Universalist theology and take a look back to the early Christian Church to … Continue reading "Online Adult Religious Education — 18 September 2022"

As the church year begins, our classes will be meeting separately for activities and discussion around our Unitarian Universalist principles and how they fit into our history and our daily lives. For most weeks, they will be joining together for part of the hour to continue work on the updated mural in the middle and … Continue reading "Children and Youth Religious Education for 18 September 2022"

Please join us next Tuesday (20 September 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.

Please join us on Saturday (17 September 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 (17 September 2022)"

                                   Charles Lewis Tiffany as a young man. 185 years ago today, September 18, 1837, Charles Lewis Tiffany and John B.Young opened a new establishment, a “stationery and fancy goods emporium.” That covered a lot of possibilities but was a sign that the merchants were aiming squarely for the deep pockets of the carriage trade.  They set up shop in Lower Manhattan and after some initial struggles were soon doing very well, thank you.  After picking up another partner were operating successfully as Tiffany, Young and Ellis and expanded their line to include such luxury items as Bohemian glass and porcelain, fine clocks, cutlery, and, oh, Jewelry. Charles Tiffany was born on February 12...

      A monk said to Dasui, “When the thousands of universes are altogether and utterly destroyed in the kalpa fire — I wonder whether this perishes or not.” “This perishes,” said Dasui. “If so,” persisted the monk, “does it follow the other?” “It follows the other,” said Dasui. Blue Cliff Record, Case 29 […]

Loving intra-actions between humans, a dog, and some fish swimming in the River Cam    A short  “ thought for the day” offered to the Cambridge Unitarian Church as part of the Sunday Service of Mindful   Meditation  (Click on this link to hear a recorded version of the following piece) —o0o— Last week, I had reason to cite Jesus’ so-called “new commandment” found in the Gospel of John (13:34) that we “love one another.” Whilst I have never had an issue with the commandment itself — indeed, it remains absolutely central to my own religious faith, phenomenally hard though it always is to fulfil — I was, for many years, baffled, put-off even, by the claim made, perhaps by the gospel’s author rather than by Jesu...

The times I have found myself experiencing awe are when I witness people coming to the aid of other people without hesitation. Back when I spent my summers working at a boat launch, an intense storm hit the lake, and suddenly every boat was trying to exit the water at once, creating traffic and mayhem. … Continue reading Helping

Storm Faerywolf reviews books by Ivo Dominguez Jr., Mhara Starling, anf Vincent Higginbotham. Continue reading Three books on my nightstand: Ivo Dominguez Jr, Mhara Starling, Vincent Higginbotham at The Wild Hunt.

Sunday, September 18, 10:30 a.m. The Values of the Newport Folk Festival   The Newport Folk Festival’s unofficial motto is “Be Present. Be Kind. Be Open. Be Together”. These are words we live by for a weekend while enjoying incredible music in beautiful Fort Adams, RI and words we should carry with us the rest of   [ … ] The post Sunday, September 18 ~ The Values of the Newport Folk Festival ~ 10:30 a.m. appeared first on Unitarian Church of Marlborough and Hudson.

When our daughter, Amy, died in an automobile accident, I became a lifelong member of a group no one wants to be a part of, grieving parents. For months, I attended meetings of The Compassionate Friends, where membership consisted of … Continue reading →

Mattie Bergström warned that those who's hands are left untrained will be left "values damaged," and what he meant by that is that they will be left without the full and normal range of human values, and incapable of perceiving the deeper meaning of things. Values like care for the natural environment, historic preservation, art, craftsmanship and real love for each other will ring hollow for those who've been sequestered from engagement in life though failure to develop skills hands-on.  I am reminded of the Bonwit-Teller Building in New York, that was torn down to build the Trump Tower. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4XWoirFToYn John Baron (really Donald Trump with his voice disguised) claimed that the Art Deco sculptures Donald Tr...

Prayer for Week of September 19, 2022 - Prayer for Peace Lover of Peace teach us to grow out of inequity into greater equity, to move from co-creating injustice to co-creating justice, to shine boldly with gladness to be together and to cultivate the trust that underlies that. Lover of...

      The 16th of September, 1885, is the birthday of the noted Neo-Freudian psychoanalyst Karen Horney. I’ve noted this a few times over the years and taken advantage of the moment to reflect a bit on her and her connections to Zen Buddhism. It’s been a couple of years and I thought I’d […]

Back in 2015 Lisa Haderlein, the McHenry County environmental maven, preserver and restorer of wild places, and currently a Democratic candidate for Congress in the Illinois 16th Congressional District posted the accompanying photo on Facebook.  It was taken outside the Starline Gallery in Harvard.  It got me to thinking and I posted this seven years ago on this date. The Lovely Corpse Monarchs, they say, are a dying breed. Not the superfluous Royals of Windsor             or oil rich Arabs. They will disappear, too, in their own good time but are not our business here today.   I am talking about those golden orange and black             zephyr riding marvels that by the millions             us...

Rev. James Ishmael Ford returns to the First Unitarian Church in Los Angeles in a big way for the 2022-23 church year with Second Thursdays with James starting tonight at 7pm PDT!  This season he’ll be exploring practical spirituality and covering a wide spectrum of spiritual topics. His first topic “Finding the Spiritual In and […]

Awe is the result of seeing the beauty in the average. We exist in a space of consuming so many things, but when we take a moment to really take in something as simple as a leaf, we can appreciate all that it takes to create it. -JeKaren Olaoya (CLF) Notice the beauty in something … Continue reading Beauty

The South African Pagan Rights Alliance raises concerns regarding the Witchcraft Suppression Act which has been under legal review since 2010. Continue reading The Witchcraft Suppression Act at The Wild Hunt.

The International Council of Unitarians and Universalists (ICUU) is now defunct, another victim of COVID. According to Inga Brandes, ICUU President in 2021, “With the Covid Pandemic, the climate Emergency, and underlying funding issues, ICUU is facing major problems of sustainability and impact.” And so we now have the International U/U Collaboration. This is sad, … Continue reading "Global chalice lightings"

Goddess,May the air I breathe be touched by magicMay I be filled with loving kindnessMay I be of service to myself and othersMay I choose my thoughts and words with intentionMay I cultivate inner peaceMay I be a loving and present partner, parent, and friendMay I forgive myself for being humanMay I offer others the […]

“There is a place where the sidewalk ends, and before the street begins.” ~ Shel Silverstein, Where the Sidewalk Ends (p.64) Belonging is a hard theme to grasp. Welcoming, even harder.  There are people I need to welcome and show … Continue reading →

On the International Day of Democracy, U.S. must get out of the way of the Haitian people’s struggle for a free and inclusive government

Revolution and religion mix in this homage to Padre  Miguel Hidalgo with the banner of the Virgen de Guadalupe and an angel bending to kiss his brow. Note:   Versions of this have run previously in this blog, I’m posting it again as a public service.  Mexico has a real history and tradition that is deeper than a taco and tequila festival favored by Gringos.  Quick, what’s Mexican Independence Day?  If you answered Cinco de Mayo, you’d be wrong.  That is a minor provincial holiday in Mexico that has become a celebration of Mexican pride in the United States.  It celebrates the victory of the Mexican Army over the French Empire at the Battle of Pueblain 1862, during the French invasion of Mexico.   The correct answer is Diez ...

Robust and meaningful theology is never the product of any one person. It’s always the product of a group of people in conversation with each other. Contemporary polytheism needs dialogue among its practitioners and thinkers.

      I’ve been thinking about ministry of late. In the Christian tradition there are two general views of ministry, the technical terms are ontological and functional. The ontological view is the high view, it is seen as a shift in the nature of a person conferred by ancient rites. The functional view is […]

The U.K.'s Ministry of Defence and archaeologists are working together to learn as much as they can from Flower’s Barrow hillfort before the site is lost to the sea. And many residents and visitors to some of the U.K.'s historical and notable sites relate their unearthly experiences. Continue reading Flower’s Barrow and spectral legions at The Wild Hunt.

How does one address a mystery? Reverently—let us go with a sense of awe, a feeling of approaching the powerful holy whose lightning slashes the sky, whose persistence splits concrete with green sprouts, whose miracles are present in every place and moment. -Excerpted from “How Does One Address a Mystery,” by Gordon B. McKeeman How … Continue reading Reverence

Glen Thomas Rideout I rise on the shoulders of ancestors whose names I can not know. Continue reading "Retracing My Steps"

Adolf Diesterweg was a 19th century German educator and friend of Friedrich Frobel. I was reminded of him as I was perusing my recently published book Holtzwerken mit Kindern, translated from English and in which only a few words from all that German are decipherable by me.  Diesterweg was responsible for a part of the theory Otto Salomon's Theory of Educational Sloyd in its recognition that learning must move from the known to the unknown, from the easy to more difficult, from the simple to the complex and from the concrete to the abstract. What he was describing would later become known as "scaffolding." In building knowledge in this manner, it would be essential for the teacher to understand the needs and interests of the child. And ...

We had an appointment with a professional who was helping us do some estate planning. They sent us an email the day before reminding us of the appointment and included a helpful message: give yourself some extra time.  Our building … Continue reading →

A Butterfield Overland Stage departing San Francisco in 1858. On September 15, 1858 two new Concord Coaches, one in Saint Louis,Missouri and one in San Francisco,California set off in opposite directions two cross more than 2/3s of the continent.  They were inaugurating a new contract with the Post Office for transcontinental mail service operated by the Butterfield Overland Mail.  It would take 23 days for the California service to arrive at its eastern terminal—two whole days before its projected time.  The west bound routewould make similar time.  Both traveled the indirect Ox bow route that dipped south to cross Indian Territory and kitty-angle across Texas before heading west along the Rio Grande River and through the rugged m...

    In the broad middle of the Twentieth century there were a number of writers exploring a synthesis of Eastern and Western approaches to the spiritual life. I would hazard the best known of these was Alan Watts. For good and ill have to count him among my teachers, if some of that was […]

Abigail Eliot was a member of the Unitarian Universalist church I grew up in. I have only vague memories of her, but somehow knew she was someone important. I didn’t realize just how important she was until I read No Silent Witness: The Eliot Parsonage Women and Their Unitarian World by Cynthia Grant Tucker. It … Continue reading "Thinking about Abigail Eliot"

We did not have an in-person worship service on Sunday, 26 June 2022. Since church staff and church members were attending the 2022 Unitarian Universalist General Assembly (GA) in Portland, Oregon, we had an all-ages potluck and watched the livestream video of the Sunday GA worship from Portland instead. You can watch the GA worship … Continue reading "26 June 2022 UUA General Assembly Sunday Worship"

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, we have begun to broadcast a livestream video of our Sunday morning worship services. This worship video will be available live and in recorded formats. For our livestream video of our worship services, we are using Facebook Live.  One does not have to log into Facebook … Continue reading "19 June 2022 Worship Livestreaming Video"

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, we have begun to broadcast a livestream video of our Sunday morning worship services. This worship video will be available live and in recorded formats. For our livestream video of our worship services, we are using Facebook Live.  One does not have to log into Facebook … Continue reading "12 June 2022 Worship Livestreaming Video"

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, we have begun to broadcast a livestream video of our Sunday morning worship services. This worship video will be available live and in recorded formats. For our livestream video of our worship services, we are using Facebook Live.  One does not have to log into Facebook … Continue reading "5 June 2022 Worship Livestreaming Video"

Taken with a Fujifilm X-T2 Just click on the photo to enlarge it   This photo was taken on the August Bank Holiday whilst visiting my parents who live just a couple of miles outside Harwich. At the surface level, it simply shows a very familiar, happy and peaceful, sunny Bank Holiday scene centred on a family picnic-cum-fishing trip to the seaside. Although, strictly speaking, this view shows the riverside at the confluence of the Stour and Orwell rivers just before they run out into the North Sea to the right of the frame.  But, firstly, take a look at those cranes across the river in Felixstowe Port (the busiest container port in the UK) . . . they are all upright and there are no ships to be seen. This is because, for the first ti...

Like the cosmic dust following after a great Perseid meteor, we are the living remnants of time and all that has come to pass in its wake—briefly shining lights on the way to eternity. We are only visible to the naked eye for an instant. Take this moment to shine like the stardust you are. … Continue reading Shining

An update on yet another twist in the case to protect and preserve Chi’chil Bildagoteel in Arizona as the 9th Circuit considers whether to rehear the case, en banc. Continue reading Fate of Chi’chil Bildagoteel and Apache Stronghold await decision on case being reheard at The Wild Hunt.

It was a busy weekend at UUSS! After lots of activities on Saturday, it was good to hear the choir rehearsing as we prepared for worship, and then to see all the folks in the circle, and those who attended online. We are grateful for ... read more . The post Co-Ministers’ Colloquy – Sept. 13th appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

The 9/11 Children’s Chapel was such a delight! Our first Children’s Chapel in 2.5 years. A great big THANK YOU to Stephanie Maslanka for joining us to share her time and storytelling talents with Juliana Post-Good, me, and 9 Children! Turns out, we have a ... read more . The post Religious Education News – Sept. 13th appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

Canadian Unitarian Universalists Honour Death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II – September 8, 2022 – It is with a momentous sense of an era passing that the Canadian Unitarian Council (CUC) and Unitarian Universalist Ministers of Canada (UUMOC) acknowledge the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at Balmoral Castle in Scotland on September […] The post Canadian Unitarian Universalists Honour Death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II appeared first on Canadian Unitarian Council Conseil unitarien du Canada.

The McLeod Ganj Psalter RSV, Week 4 Ken Ireland (Ken was Ivy League and Jesuit trained, and for some years a member of the Society of Jesus. He currently lives in Dharamshala. Ken’s a long time Zen practitioner and a friend. He’s taken an interest in my current deep dive into the Psalms project, and […]

The Queen is dead – now what? Whether we are Americans, Britons, or otherwise, electing better people to run the governments we have is far simpler and more likely than changing our form of government.

Several years ago, I published a blog, “Rev. Prep” as my personal, public statement affirming that one can be religious and gay and sexual and engaged in promoting safer sex.  Although I use a different medication now (Descovy), I am still on and committed to PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis i.e. anti-HIV medication) as a non-gendered, non-political, […]

Niles West High School in the 1960s. I was a senior that fall at Niles Township West High School in 1966.   It was a good year for me.   I was finding myself.   After arriving from Cheyenne, where I was something of a pariah as a bookish kid, the year before, I had discovered that at least in some circles my interests were valued and shared.   I had friends.   I was active in drama and was cast in good parts.   I had my own allegedly humorous column The Wind from the West in the school newspaper and my short stories and poems had been published in the literary journal Apotheosis .   I competed in Forensics. Outside of school I was part of a circle of kids from all three schools in the district who were interested in things like ci...

I was born into a non-practicing Baptist family. We did celebrate Easter and Christmas but not much else. That was my religious upbringing. I had to go on my spiritual journey alone.  When I was a teenager, I was an … Continue reading →

In this week's Pagan Community Notes: a legal challenge for choice in Indiana includes Paganism, the Native Polish Church announces the passing of Mazur Kazimierz, Egyptian artifacts scheduled for return, and more news. Continue reading Pagan Community Notes: Week of September 12, 2022 at The Wild Hunt.

Realizing that you are a tiny speck in a universe with no end strikes our sense of wonder and awe. The perspective that follows can make you feel holy. What gives you a perspective that feels holy?

A few photos from an early autumn walk by the River Cam through Grantchester Meadows All photos taken with a Fuji X100V and are straight out of camera Just click on a photo to enlarge

Restaurant and market reviews from Spain.

Would you give a dozen 8th graders $10,000? Seriously?? That’s exactly what happened last year at Monroe Demonstration Academy! The Ed Darby Foundation and Tulsa Changemakers teamed up to offer hands-on experience for twelve 8th graders with $10 grand. Subsequently, the adults were blown away. Identifying the Needs The novice philanthropists started by identifying six topics most important to the Monroe community: Basic needs, menstrual products, classroom supplies and décor, youth voice, special events and mental health. Then they cleaned out a school closet and organized it into a pantry for food, clothing and hygiene products. They held a drive […] The post PIE ala Mode appeared first on BeyondBelief.

“Hey, we’re making music twice as good.By playing what we’ve got!” ~ Shel Silverstein, Ourchestra, Where the Sidewalk Ends (p. 23) In this century we are all connected somehow, and for many of us, those connections are everything. We can’t … Continue reading →

  Horses in the Lascaux Cave complex. On September 12, 1940 four teenage boys chasing their dog Robot into a partially obscured cave mouth came upon something extraordinary.   Marcel Ravidat, Jacques Marsal, Georges Agnel, and Simon Coencas stumbled upon a vast trove of paintings on the walls of the cave complex near the village of Montignac, in the Department of Dordogne , France. The dog Robot who sniffed out the hidden entrance to Lascaux, with two of the human-co-discoverers The Lascaux Cave complex was eventually found to include several rooms or galleries including those designated as the Great Hall of the Bulls , the Lateral Passage , the Shaft of the Dead Man , the Chamber of Engravings , the Painted Gallery , and the Chamber o...

  REMEMBERING AND HEALING FROM TRAUMA Sept. 11, 2022          Where were you when the planes crashed into the World Trade Center, into the Pentagon, and into an empty Pennsylvania field?  Speak that place into the silence as we listen.        It was a Tuesday.  It was 5:14 a.m. here in the PNW.  It was the first or second week of school for many children and youths.    And teachers.  It was a week after the celebrations of Labor Day.  It was a perfectly ordinary sort of day---until the news reports came rolling in, the TV screens flashing horrifying photos of people jumping out of the World Trade Center, planes obliterating parts of the Pentagon and two of the towers,  brave passengers cooperating to divert their hi...

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, we have begun to broadcast a livestream video of our Sunday morning worship services. This worship video will be available live and in recorded formats. For our livestream video of our worship services, we are using Facebook Live.  One does not have to log into Facebook … Continue reading "29 May 2022 Worship Livestreaming Video"

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, we have begun to broadcast a livestream video of our Sunday morning worship services. This worship video will be available live and in recorded formats. For our livestream video of our worship services, we are using Facebook Live.  One does not have to log into Facebook … Continue reading "22 May 2022 Worship Livestreaming Video"

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, we have begun to broadcast a livestream video of our Sunday morning worship services. This worship video will be available live and in recorded formats. For our livestream video of our worship services, we are using Facebook Live.  One does not have to log into Facebook … Continue reading "15 May 2022 Worship Livestreaming Video"

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, we have begun to broadcast a livestream video of our Sunday morning worship services. This worship video will be available live and in recorded formats. For our livestream video of our worship services, we are using Facebook Live.  One does not have to log into Facebook … Continue reading "8 May 2022 Worship Livestreaming Video"