Why is it, when one problem is solved another takes its place?  Why me? Why always me? Well, that’s my anxiety talking to me. It always overwhelms me by telling me nonsense. The thing is most of the time I … Continue reading →

Cheyenne in the Blizzard of 1949.  It was a worse storm than the one in '56, but ours seemed epic enough. Note —Here in the boonies of McHenry County, Illinois we got our first real accumulating snow since November yesterday—just two or three inches. Light snow showers with temps hovering around freezing today and tomorrow then a real storm with up to six inches this weekend followed by plunging temps just in time for Groundhog Day.  Considering the pasting broad swaths of the country have experienced this year, we are feeling a little bit guilty.  But for me it brings to mind an epic blizzard from my childhood in Cheyenne. It was one of those storms that dive down from Canada along the Front Range of the Rockies and run smack int...

I woke up around seven o’clock. We were still in Pennsylvania. The sky was a dull gray. My roomette was on the north side of the train, and I kept hoping for a sight of Lake Erie. I finally thought I saw the lake in the distance. It started snowing. The blowing snow made verything … Continue reading "Lake Shore Limited to Framingham"

“I ignite my flame of justice and shine a light on this scar because the healing is not done. The healing is not done because we are still called to do the work of dismantling white supremacy culture and decentering whiteness from our bones: from our congregations, from the ways in which we interact and … Continue reading Healing

Recent finds by detectorists further the connection between Roman and Celtic deities in the U.K. Continue reading Roman gold found by detectorist and other finds connected to Roman deities at The Wild Hunt.

Sunday, January 29 Finding Our Center: UCMH Through the Years   As we end our focus on the monthly theme of Finding Our Center, we bring our attention to our own congregation. Join us this Sunday, Jan. 29, as Rev. Alice and members of the church share reflections on what they have experienced as the heart   [ … ] The post Sunday Worship: January 29 ~ Finding Our Center: UCMH Through the Years ~ 10:30 a.m. appeared first on Unitarian Church of Marlborough and Hudson.

Melissa Jeter Let us be grateful for the vital force that wakes us and moves us. Continue reading "Inspired by My Ancestors"

Not being afraid Of what I don’t know I unanxiously await the emergence. Nikki Giovanni, Space What I don’t know.  It can keep me tossing and turning in the bed, unable to surrender my over-thinking mind to sleep. It can … Continue reading →

I wound up with a 7 hour layover in Chicago. The nice thing about train travel is that when you have a layover, you can leave the terminal. And when you have a layover in Chicago, you’re downtown, right in the Loop. The Art Institute is closed on Tuesdays, so I went to Exile in … Continue reading "Chicago"

Registration is now open for the winter/spring 2023 Covenant Groups! Each small group will include a trained facilitator, be comprised of between 5-9 people, and will meet six times between February and April for conversations based on a shared curriculum. Covenant Groups (sometimes called Chalice Circles or Small Group Ministry) are: • A way ... read more . The post Covenant Groups Begin Soon! appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

Side With Love is thrilled to announce 30 Days of Love 2023! Our annual month of spiritual nourishment, political grounding, and shared practices of faith and justice, 30 Days of Love will go from Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (January 16) through Valentine’s Day (February ... read more . The post Side With Love’s Spiritual Nourishment for the Long Haul appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

Read on into February with the classic Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Huston. We will gather by zoom on Monday, February 20, for a book discussion. We welcome all newcomers to the book read and discussion. If you’d like to lead a discussion or ... read more . The post Their Eyes Were Watching God, the February read for BIPOC Book Discussion Group appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

Publishing Imprint of the Unitarian Universalist Association Begins New Distribution Relationship with Consortium® Book Sales & Distribution, an Ingram Content Group Brand, in Spring 2023 Continue reading "Skinner House Books Enters Distribution Agreement with Ingram Content Group: Publishing Imprint of the Unitarian Universalist Association Begins New Distribution Relationship with Consortium® Book Sales & Distribution, an Ingram Content Group Brand, in Spring 2023"

“We light this chalice—symbol of our faith alive in this world— naming our vision of collective liberation, and daring to re-member each other into beloved community.” -Deanna Vandiver Light a candle (or a chalice) today and name your idea of collective liberation out loud.

Children in Kindergarten through 6 th grade will start in the Great Hall for the first part of the service. Afterwards, these children will meet in the K-3 rd grade classroom next to the dining room for a Faithful Funday session. Faithful Fundays are Sunday ... read more . The post Religious Education News appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

What puts me out of whack? Well, actually a lot of things. I’m going to tell you about the one thing that is the hardest to deal with and that’s my health. It is with me wherever I go. It’s … Continue reading →

New research using LiDAR technology suggests Mayan society on the Yucatan peninsula may have been more complex than previously thought. Continue reading The complex organization of the Pre-Classic Maya at The Wild Hunt.

Sunday was the fiftieth anniversary of Roe v. Wade. On January 22, 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7–2 that the Constitution protects the right to choose to have an abortion. As Jamal Greene notes in his book How Rights Went Wrong, it is perhaps surprising to remember that that majority opinion was signed by […]

For generations, UUs have been jailed for our conscience in resisting systems of oppression. As our tradition becomes more justice oriented, rates of UU arrests are on the rise. How does our conscience also call us to be there for those whose bodies are on the line? Learn how UUs are building capacity to support and share the load in the face of mass arrest. Find out more about how to organize support for those who are arrested and jailed as a conscientious form of protest. Join our virtual training on February 7 at 4pm - 5:30pm PT / 7pm - 8:30pm ET. Presenters: Rev. Karen Van Fossan, Antoinette Scully, Rev. Dr. Clyde Grubbs, and friends. Register Now UUs have been engaged in social change efforts, including nonviolent civil disobedience...

Mary Tyler Moore in her self-titled TV show. Mary Tyler Moore died six years ago today in Connecticut.  The star of two of television’s most beloved, iconic, and influential sit-coms, a shrewd businesswoman and powerful producer, Oscar nominee for a type cast shattering dramatic role, philanthropist, activist, and feminist was 80 years old.  She had been suffering complications of Type 1 diabetes in recent years which had left her nearly blind.  Few actresses have been as loved by fans and show business insiders alike, Moore was born on December 29, 1936 to a comfortably middle class Catholic family in Brooklyn, New York.  When she was eight years old the family moved to Los Angeles where she decided to become a dancer at age 17 wh...

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

I hope you will enjoy this first interview on the topic of my new book Wilde Nights & Robber Barons. In it, I talk about the discovery of letters from Lord Alfred Douglas to his “Darling Pretty” Maurice Schwabe, Schwabe’s long-hidden role in Wilde’s downfall, Schwabe’s life of espionage and crime and the murder that […]

I remember sitting in an upper level undergraduate philosophy class back in 1982, when we were discussing nihilism. This was a time when the Cold War was frighteningly real to my twenty year old self. In this class discussion, I pointed out that there was a very good chance of a nuclear war wiping out … Continue reading "Unexpected optimism"

The collective liberation of humanity requires collective effort. We are all in this together. Perhaps you are doing this work and need others to join you in getting others free. Invite them to join you. Do you want to invite CLF members and friends to your liberatory work? Visit https://bit.ly/liberation-invitation to invite us.

In this week's Pagan Community Notes: "so-called" returns and an adjective, Imbolc and other announcements, Crossings of the Veil, and more news. Continue reading Pagan Community Notes: Week of January 23, 2023 at The Wild Hunt.

Susan Frederick-Gray UUA President Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray respond to news of yet another tragic shooting. Unitarian Universalists are ready to work with elected and community officials to support responsible gun legislation measures. Continue reading "From the UUA President: We Mourn with the People of Monterey Park, CA"

Our friend Finchley, as my wife calls our friendly finch, is back! At least, I think it’s him. I’m not much of a birder, but I heard a familiar chirping around the house that made me say to Joy just this morning, “I wonder when the finches will come back.” And there one was a […]

In this clip Matt Baume delves into the history of the 1948 Hitchcock film “Rope,” which was based on the real-life Leopold and Loeb muirders. What particularly caught my interest was the description of the miscast Jimmy Stewart as “the Oscar Wilde character,” Rupert. The stage play, on which the film was based, was set […]

  I let the anniversary slip by yesterday.  On January 22, 1973 the Supreme Court decided the case of  Roe v. Wade  holding that a woman’s right to privacy in the 14th Amendment lets her terminate her pregnancy for any reason “up to the point of viability of the fetus” and for the sake of her health even later. While what was once considered settled, abortion rights are under daily attack by “a death of a thousand cuts” by emboldened Republican led state governors and legislators and the recent Supreme Court Decision that undermined abortion rights and signaledstates that there might be no limit to draconian laws to outlaw it and criminalizewomen, medical staff, and even anyone who supports them. The fight ...

We completed two new woodshop benches in the machine room at ESSA with the addition of butcher block tops and bottom shelves made from the tops of old benches. The old benches were one's I'd built out of scrap materialback in the days when we were concerned about having enough money to finish the project. These will serve well for many years in the ESSA wood shop. Make, fix and create...

Succumb to the warmth In the heart Where divine fire glows. Axioms for Wildness, John O’Donohue If someone were to say to you–where are you? Think about how you would respond. The most likely simple response would be almost unconscious:  … Continue reading →

We went out for a walk along the river that runs through Oshkosh, Wisconsin, today. A Bald Eagle soared overhead, landed in a tree, and soared off again when we got too close. Then a couple of minutes later, there was another Bald Eagle ahead of us, sitting in a tree. It was breathtaking to … Continue reading "Eagles"

Lunar New Year celebrations begin today throughout East Asia. In the Chinese calendar, we welcome in the Year of the Rabbit, which is thought to be a sign of peace and hope. What can you do to make the year ahead more peaceful and hopeful?

    Zen at the MarginsMonastic, Priestly, Secular, Jewish, and Christian Zens James Ishmael Ford A non-believer opened his heart to the Buddha, saying, “I am not asking about words, I am not asking about the wordless.” The world honored one sat quietly.The non-believer replied to this, “With your wisdom and heart you have parted […]

Italy has made an application to UNESCO to designate the Appian Way, the road that connected Rome to its empire, as a World Heritage Site. Continue reading The Queen of Roads seeks UNESCO recognition at The Wild Hunt.

A sermon considering the proposed covenant of the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Houston. The post Our Covenant appeared first on Colin Bossen.

One of our favorite after-service events is returning! Join us for Soup & Bread Sunday on January 22nd. Bring a crockpot of soup, loaf of bread, or dessert to share. Questions contact Barb Fronzak. 

The stream of atmospheric rivers has finally paused for at least a bit and we were able to get out on the trails a few times this week. But the damage from the storms was widespread and obvious. This bridge leads to a trail that you can’t see for the downed trees. It is a […]

As we recognize the 50th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision, which was overturned this summer, All Souls member Barbara Bannon reminds us of the importance of continuing to fight for reproductive justice. When a person’s reproductive organs are controlled by the State they are owned by the State! If we want to remain free citizens capable of making our own family planning and reproductive choices we are apparently going to have to band together and be considerably more vocal about our desire to remain free. This isn’t just about abortion. The draconian bills and laws that […] The post Forced Birthing appeared first on BeyondBelief.

Come join UUs this Sunday, January 22, to celebrate and learn about the Lunar New Year. KokHeong McNaughton will lead this fun class from 9:30 – 10:15 AM at the church. All ages are welcome! See you there!!!

I’m doing my best to avoid that cliche, pamphlet-fodder question, “What are the Unitarian Universalists?” It may not be a meaningful or knowable question anymore, and the answer usually says more about who’s answering than it ought. Instead, I’ll ask other questions; first, where are they found? Where is this community found? Conventionally, this would … Continue reading "Where are the Unitarian Universalists?"

“Grounding ourselves into a deep gratitude for the miracle of our bodies - however they look, move, and interact with the world around us - includes not only a celebration of our individual physical beings, but also a deep reverence for the intimacy of our connections. After all, our bodies do not exist in a vacuum - we physically interact with countless structures, systems, and communities each day that impact, and are impacted by, our flesh, bones, and spirit. For some of us, these interactions are predominantly empowering moments of welcome and respect. And for some of us, we encounter confusion, denial, and outright rejection as our norm. As Unitarian Universalists, we have historically embraced the breadth of our lived experiences...

Today is the festival that celebratesthe beginning of a new year on the traditional Lunar Chinese calendar—the Year of the Rabbit.   It is the fourth in the twelve-year periodic cycleof animals that appear in the Chinese zodiac.   The rabbit is a symbol of intellectand cautiousness. Traditional lore holds that the rabbit was among the 12 animals who raced to the Jade Emperor in a cosmic contest that ultimately determined the order of the zodiac signs. Though it was a weak swimmer, the rabbit used its brain, opting to cross the river portion of the course on a raft.   This year, like the animal, it is important to approach everything in a smart, deliberate way. In China, the festival is commonly referred to as the Spring Festival sin...

If you liked Psychic Witch and you want to take the next step on your magical journey, read Mastering Magick and work through the exercises. Truly mastering magic is the work of a lifetime, but this book will help you make substantial progress on this path.

Here are the last few days’ stages of the same drawing. I don’t quite want to call it done yet, even though I’m playing with other things as well.

“By no means are we [Unitarian Universalists] perfect; we often fail as much as we succeed. Yet even when ‘we have broken our vows a thousand times,’ we return to this essential work of justice and liberation for all.” -Rosemary Bray McNatt How do you deal with failures along the road to freedom and liberation?

Over the years I have come to understand that the informal work is equal in importance to the formal, as it grants us the opportunity to expand the “reach” of our magical consciousness into our “mundane” lives. Continue reading The Magic of a Regular Practice at The Wild Hunt.

When a minister is removed from fellowship, or resigns from fellowship with the Unitarian Universalist Association, the Ministerial Fellowship Committee sends out email announcing the minister’s name, and the reason for removal from fellowship, or the reason for resignation. These emails go out to all other ministers, and also, I believe, to key congregational lay … Continue reading "Stressed out"

In the September, 1829, issue of The Congregational Magazine, a cranky correspondent complains about an innovation of which he does not approve: “To the Editors.— … Many of your friends were surprised and amused to read, in your number for June, of a minister being ‘installed’ over the Congregational Church in Belfast, and of an … Continue reading "Innovation"

Please join us on Sunday (22 January 2023) at 11:00 AM for “The Forest or the Trees” 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. … Continue reading "All Ages Worship (22 January 2023)"

For thousands of years, the word “minotaur” meant only one thing; it was the singular creature of King Minos.  That beast had the body of a man but the head of a bull (some ancient sources said it was more like a centaur, with a bull’s body and a human head, but I give them […]

Barack Obama was unusually active with clemency orders and pardons in his last days in office. In 2017 Barack Obama spent the last days of his Presidential term churning out sentence commutations.  Hundreds were given to non-violent drug offenders facing draconian sentences under the exceptionally harsh Federal Sentence Standards, the most vindictive in the world.  But there are so many of those victims of the failed war on drugs that the commutations hardly made a dent in the American gulag.  Also given leniency were some white collar criminals, the kind of offenders that drew the more stingy grace of Obama’s predecessor George W. Bush.  Even a beloved baseball icon, Willie McCovey of the San Francisco Giants who was convicted on ...

Shreveport / Bossier City World Religion Day Celebration (2:00 to 5:00 PM on Sunday, 22 January 2023) Matsiko World Orphan Choir — Free Concert (26 January 2023) Congregational Business Meeting (immediately after worship on Sunday, 29 January 2023) Although the deadline for turning in 2023 pledges has come and gond, we still need your help … Continue reading "Upcoming January 2023 Events Reminders for 21-22 January 2023"

Please join us on Thursday (26 January 2023) at 6:30 PM for a free concert by the Matsiko World Orphan Choir. We’ll be hosting the choir at the church where they will sleep in sleeping bags. We will be feeding them Wednesday and Thursday evening. Watch your email later today for an opportunity to sign … Continue reading "Matsiko World Orphan Choir — Free Concert (26 January 2023)"

Children and youth will attend the worship service for the first 15-20 minutes and then are dismissed to their classes. After the holiday break, we are now discussing the wisdom of the world’s religions is one of the six sources of our Unitarian Universalist faith. It’s important that we gain an understanding of teachings and … Continue reading "Children and Youth Religious Education Classes — 22 January 2023"

Please join us on Sunday (22 January 2023) as we continue our our adult religious education class at 9:00 AM. Our adult religious education class is still meeting via Zoom. We are now reading and discussing the book God of Love: A Guide to the Heart of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam by Mirabai Starr. We … Continue reading "Online Adult Religious Education — 22 January 2023"

Please join us next Tuesday (24 January 2023) 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 (21 January 2023) 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. Please note that this group is still meeting via Zoom.  You will need … Continue reading "Meditation with Larry Androes (21 January 2023)"

Alan D.D. relates his decision to resume therapy after ten years, and writes about how Witchcraft and therapy can work together, but neither is a substitute for the other. Continue reading Witches Also Go to Therapy at The Wild Hunt.

Alan D. D. relata su decisión de reanudar la terapia después de diez años y escribe sobre cómo la brujería y la terapia pueden funcionar juntas, pero ninguna es un sustituto de la otra. Continue reading Los Brujos También van a terapia at The Wild Hunt.

“Do not be alone right now. Any liberation—all liberation—is collective liberation. My freedom is bound with yours and yours with mine. Inextricably.”-Karen G. Johnston Seek some company that reminds you of your inherent worth.

Hitchhiking near Vicksburg, Mississippi in 1936, photograph by Walker Evans   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— Many years ago I came across a metaphor (see the very end of this piece) which suggests that when we join a religious community we’re doing something like catching a moving train and that, together, we’ll be on our way. Now, many traditional religious traditions think that this metaphor fits them well. This is because not only can they point to the historical track lying behind them that has got them to the particular point in time when a ne...

Sunday, January 22 Finding Our Center: Reflections in Rhythm   Led by Dave Curry There are many practices that can help people become grounded and centered, such as meditation or yoga or walking in Nature.  Dave Curry approaches the act of centering through drumming and rhythm.  Like chanting a mantra, rhythmic drumming can be used as a   [ … ] The post Sunday Worship: January 22 ~ Finding Our Center: Reflections in Rhythm ~ 10:30 a.m. appeared first on Unitarian Church of Marlborough and Hudson.

On the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v Wade decision that legalized access to abortion, Unitarian Universalists remain committed to reproductive justice, despite the changed legal landscape. Continue reading "On the 50th Anniversary of Roe v Wade, Unitarian Universalists Remain Committed to Reproductive Justice"

Faith leaders and congregants are expanding their abortion-rights curriculum, partnering with clinics and abortion funds, and ramping up spiritual counseling services for pregnant people who want abortions. For that reason, we are back again with our transformative three-part Reproductive Justice Congregational Organizing Series.   This work is not new. It is part of a long history where people of faith work to protect reproductive freedom. For this series, we are strategically identifying teams within congregations to be part of a mobilization strategy to support abortion care networks. In many of our religious traditions, our sacred texts always depict sacred people who resist unjust laws to do justice and to show kindness and c...

I was scrolling through Reddit last night; one of the subreddits (themed communities) I read is called r/DataIsBeautiful. One post had a ranking of the favorability of United States religions and the Unitarian Universalist came out quite low: net negative 10%, nestled between the Falun Gong and the Seventh-Day Adventists. Oof. So I went to … Continue reading "YouGov and the Unitarian Universalists"

We cannot eliminate hunger, but we can feed each other.  We cannot eliminate loneliness, but we can hold each other. We cannot eliminate pain,  but we can live a life of compassion. “Accepting This” by Mark Nepo Sometimes the overwhelm, … Continue reading →

                                Edgar Allan Poe in rare daguerreotype. He may be the most widely influential American writer ever .  He is certainly among the most widely read.  More than two hundred years after the birth of Edgar Allan Poe on January 19, 1809 he is easily the most widely read writer of the 19th Century, and not by just captive college studentsbut by ordinary readers who continue to plunk down hard money for collections of his stories and poems.   He is credited with inventing the modern detective story.  In The Murders in the Rue Morgue his hero, C . Auguste Dupin was a brilliant eccentric who undertook the investigation of the grisly and baffling murders of a woman and her daughter after reading...

Prayer of Choosing Love - Week of January 22, 2023 Courageous Grace, may we notice our choices in how and whether we love, that love is not some place we can send a postcard from, but a verb, to be renewed everyday by our doing. Love is a feeling, nourishing...

“In the United States, Protestantism has been both the privileged religious discourse and the discursive frame privileged in efforts to define both ‘religion’ and race,’ alongside a host of other modern categories. Such was the case even as race, framed as secular, modern discourse, was hailed as the principle of social organization that trumped religion … Continue reading "Noted without comment"

“We cannot submit ourselves to a system that does not serve us nor anyone but a few elite who care about nothing but our death and subjugation. We must engage our sovereignty. We must learn of our own power and strength through the resiliency our ancestors have passed to us.” -Jaque Fragua, Indigenous (Walatowa-Jemez Pueblo) … Continue reading Sovereignty and Resiliency

Researchers in Norway have uncovered what they believe to be the oldest example of runic writing at a site near Tyrifjorden dating back as far as 1,800 to 2,000 years. Continue reading “The most sensational thing:” The oldest runestone discovered in Norway at The Wild Hunt.

Jeff Milchen Responding to the effects of the June ruling that voided key elements of Roe v Wade requires us to build a lasting movement focused on cultural transformation and justice.

More than 3,000 volunteers from 400 Unitarian Universalist congregations from across the country contacted more than 2 million voters as part of UU the Vote’s nonpartisan civic engagement efforts in 2022. Continue reading "UU the Vote Reached 2 Million Voters During the 2022 Elections: UUA’s Nonpartisan Civic Engagement Initiative Emphasized Strengthening Democracy, Organizing for Justice and Accountability in 12 States and Across the Country"

Editor’s note: This is a candle meditation and centering practice. If you can, light a candle and place it in front of you. Sit with the candle and its flame for a few minutes becoming aware of your breath and … Continue reading →

It confirms what we’ve known for the past two years—and then some. The January 6 committee’s report shows that our former despotic cheetoh in chief incited a mob with false allegations of voter fraud to storm the US Capitol and overturn the results of the 2020 Presidential election. Talk about moving the goal post of being the sorest loser. In the most violent way possible, too. Available to the public, the testimony and findings stacked against him are steep—over 800 pages worth.

  First British press report of a German Zeppelin raid. They were the pride of Imperial Germany, the very symbol of the industrial and technological superiority that was destined to make it the undisputed supreme world power and absolute master of Europe .   The giant Zeppelin airships designated with unsentimental Teutonic efficiencysimply L3 and L4 were hauled from their enormous hanger sheds in the dawning of January 19, 1915 in Fuhlsbüttel.   Each was laden with enough fuel for more than 30 hours in the air and armed with eight explosive bombs and 25 incendiaries and then cast off on a fateful mission. That mission was personally approved by Kaiser Wilhelm II himself.   The war which touched off with the assassination of the hei...

I awakened in the middle of the night and looked out the window of the upper berth. Rain blurred the view. The GPS on my phone said we were in Buffalo, but I saw nothing distinctive. I had gone to bed before nine o’clock, so it was no surprise when I awakened at half past … Continue reading "Lake Shore Limited — Hiawatha Service"

Taken with a Fuji X100V Just click on the photo to enlarge it.   Taken this afternoon on a much needed walk along the River Cam from the city centre to Fen Ditton.

By Samira K. Mehta | I have never worn a “Meat Is Murder” t-shirt to Thanksgiving dinner. Clearly, I have thought about doing it, and while I would like to be able to claim that I have not done so because it would be rude or because I have deep-seated reservations about Morrissey, really, I have not done so because I have never been quite enough of a Smiths’ fan to have ever made the jump from buying CDs to buying t-shirts.

“Because love is an act of courage—not fear—love is a commitment to other people.  No matter where the oppressed are found, the act of love is a commitment to their cause—the cause of liberation.  And this commitment, because it is loving, is dialogical…. Only by abolishing the situation of oppression is it possible to restore … Continue reading Loving the World

A decrease in the projected rise of global temperature, reduction in cost for utilizing solar and wind energy, and the inclusion of Indigenous Peoples at the World Economic Forum could all indicate shifts in the politics of climate change. Continue reading Is there a new era of Climate Change Politics on the horizon? at The Wild Hunt.

Play with Giant Froebel blocks at the Clear Spring School   Make, fix and create... Assist others in learning lifewise.

Open Creativity Studio Facilitated by:  Elisa Abatsis Date/Time:  Monthly on 1st and 3rd Thursdays, beginning 2/2 Cost:  $5/class suggested donation Location:  UCMH Union Hall Is there something you’d like to create in 2023? Give yourself the gift of dedicated time to work on your project in the company of fellow creatives. Bring your novel-in-progress, your half-knitted   [ … ] The post SGCC: Thursday, February 2 ~ Open Creativity Studio ~ 7:00 p.m. appeared first on Unitarian Church of Marlborough and Hudson.

  Zen as a Way of Magical Realism James Ishmael Ford Yangshan Huiji had a dream. In it he traveled to Maitreya’s hall, where he was led to the third seat. No sooner had he sat than a senior monk struck the bell and announced, “Today the one sitting in the third seat will preach.” […]

Quilting is a spiritual, mental and physical practice for me. While I quilt, my internal chatter quiets down. I focus on one seam, then another seam until individual pieces become a whole creation. Sometimes, because to “err is human,” all … Continue reading →

Susan Frederick-Gray The current changes being proposed to Article II of the UUA Bylaws, which contains the seven UU Principles and Purpose, are part of a longer history of ongoing reflection and change as we live into the fullness of our living tradition. Continue reading "From the UUA President: Why Change Our UU Principles?"

Christine Slocum Life doesn't have to be ever-upward in order to be well-lived. Continue reading "Necessary Stillness"

Erika A. Hewitt Celebrate 100 Years of the Flower Ceremony! The first Flower Ceremony was held in Prague, in June 2023, led by Rev. Norbert Čapek. Continue reading "Flower Ceremony Centennial"

                                             The Rev. Joseph Tuckerman. With all due respect, Jane Adams, move over.  Adams, the legendary founder of Hull House in Chicago is popularly credited as the original American social worker.  That was never quite true, although she did help make it a profession.  Nor did she quite invent the settlement houseconcept for serving the needs of immigrants, although Hull House certainly set the standard.  Decades earlier a Unitarian minister was doing similar work in the slumsof Boston.  Although nearly forgotten today, the Rev. Joseph Tuckerman probably deserves the title of our first Social Worker. It did not seem a likely career path.  Tuckerman was born to a very c...

Imbolc has several themes, all good and valuable traditions. But for me, Imbolc is first and foremost a time to honor the Goddess Brighid.