We continue our coverage of the Parliament of World's Religions 2023 program by sharing speeches given by two Witches at the event. Continue reading Two Witches deliver speeches at the Parliament of Word’s Religions at The Wild Hunt.

The UUSC's CAPAS Podcast, launching September 5th, unveils the powerful stories of asylum-seekers and the communities supporting them on their journey to hope and new beginnings.

A couple of weeks ago, we went to my sister-in-law’s family lake house in Maine. Spending time in nature reminds me of play. We played in the water with pool noodles, played a word game, and an outside game that was kind of like outdoor bowling. And we got to witness nature with wonder, like … Continue reading outside

As it happens, today, the 24th of August, back in 1662, the English Parliament enacted an Act of Uniformity, enshrining the then current edition of the Book of Common Prayer as the only appropriate prayer manual within the churches of the kingdom. As a practical consequence the church became a bit less comprehensive than it […]

Elaine McArdle , Horizon S. A collection of photos of Unitarian Universalists from around the country who joined the call for civil rights.

Robert Nelson West The 1963 sermon Rev. Robert Nelson West presented to his congregation on an event “of profound significance in the history of our nation and in our own lives.”

Reposted from Nov. 14, 2013 I have heard that the world is made up of two kinds of people – those who see the glass as half-full, and those who see the glass as half-empty.  Those who see it as … Continue reading →

The Eruption of Vesuvius by Edward Turner, early 19th Century. On August 23, 79 AD, by traditional accounts Mount Vesuvius near the shores of the Bay of Naples erupted destroying of the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum .  The destruction of the cities was known through an eyewitness account of the eruption from across the bay by then 17 year old Pliny the Younger, later a noted historian in his own right, in letters to the historian Tacitus .  The letters described the fate of his uncle, Pliny the Elder, commander of the Roman Navy on the bay, who attempted to rescue friends by boat but was trapped on land by unfavorable winds and died the next day, probably of inhaling the toxic fumes of the eruption.  The Elder was only one o...

Pagan Attendees at the share some of their experiences in the first part of our series covering the events at the Parliament of World's Religions. Continue reading “Wonderful & powerful:” Pagan voices at the Parliament of the World’s Religions at The Wild Hunt.

What happened to someone who attempted a coup against the Russian government, with Putin in charge: He and whoever else was on his plane were summarily killed. What happened to 19 people who attempted a coup against the people and government of the United States: They’re duly indicted after a grand jury investigation, allowed to […]

“Playing a game together actually builds up bonds and trust and cooperation. We actually build stronger social relationships as a result. ” -Jane McGonigal How has play helped you form relationships of trust and cooperation?

          As it happens, today, the 23rd of August, in 1335 is the anniversary of the death of Heilwige Bloemardinne, also known as Heilwijch Blomart. Born to wealth in Brussels Heilwige was a popular spiritual teacher and mystic. While throughout her lifetime she was protected, appears to have authored a book, […]

A simple jig allows making symmetrical shapes using the bandsaw. Some sanding is required. I’m making these for use as drawer pulls on a large jewelry box and for lift tabs for boxes in my new book Designing Boxes that will come out in the spring 2024, published by Taunton Press. Much of the fun of designing boxes starts with designing the jigs that make them possible. Following the bandsaw, the same jig can be used with a disc sander. Make, fix and create... assist others in learning likewise.

                                             Edgar Lee Masters as a young man. Edgar Lee Masters was the author of one of the greatest single volumes of American poetry ever— The Spoon River Anthology .   That book in which the denizens of a small 19th Century Illinois village graveyard tell their stories, is still a shock and an eye opener for anyone who bought into the Disney version of small town life as a kind of perfect idyll. Masters was born on August 23, 1868 in Kansas where his father had briefly established a law practice.   When that failed the family moved back to his grandparents farm near Petersburg in Menard County, Illinois.   In 1880 the family moved again to nearby Lewistown where the boy...

Reposted from Nov. 13, 2013 “The light constantly changes, and that alters the atmosphere and beauty of things every minute.” ~ Claude Monet . On this date in 1840, the French impressionist painter Claude Monet was born.  Monet’s paintings are … Continue reading →

The Before Columbus Foundation (BCF) was founded in 1976 “dedicated to the promotion and dissemination of contemporary American multicultural literature.” Their annual award, the American Book Award, is given by writers to other writers. Though not as well known as the National Book Award, winning this award puts you in august company. Previous recipients of … Continue reading "UU author wins award"

As a follow-up to yesterday’s post, I took some more photos this morning of the renovation of First Parish in Cohasset’s 1721 Parish House. No more surprises today. The cladding that was removed yesterday — 5/4 pine milled to mimic stone — is associated with Colonial Revival, an architectural style of the mid- to late … Continue reading "More photos from the renovation of a 1721 house"

We’re completing the final stage of renovations on our historic buildings. The renovation began in 2021 with extensive repairs to the 1747 Meeting House. Now we’re working on repairing the crumbling facade of the Parish House, which was built in 1721 by Nehemiah Hobart, the first minister of First Parish. The Livingstone Company arrived today … Continue reading "Renovating a 1721 building, and what we found"

A grave found off the Cornish coast bring contentious reactions about the "warrior" woman buried there. Continue reading Warrior women of the Scillies proves contentious at The Wild Hunt.

Reposted from Nov. 11, 2013 Where is your storehouse of wisdom?  When you need help, guidance, direction and clarity, what is the storehouse that you go to? I am confident that the many people reading this will have varying answers. … Continue reading →

One of my best friends is a 5 year old. Her favorite thing to do is terrorize me with spiders. Little drawn spiders on scraps of paper, hand spiders through FaceTime, even a fluffy stuffed spider! The joy on her face when I fake scream makes me laugh and laugh. By the time we are … Continue reading fear

This probably fanciful depiction of the balloon bombing of Venice show bombs carried by multiple balloons exploding over the city raining shrapnel down on the population. On August 22, 1849 a British newspaper carried a somewhat garbled account of an unusual attack on Venice. It fell to—and on—the unlucky people of Venice to be the first targets of bombs dropped from the air in war .   It was on July 15, 1849 and the lovely old city of canals was under siege by the Austrians who were upset that romantic rebels had proclaimed the Republic of St . Marks to establish independence from Hapsburg dominance .   The proud old city, once a world power on its own that nearly dominated the Mediterranean and challenged the mighty Ottomans, was...

In this week's Pagan Community Notes: Parliament of the Word's Religions concludes, beloved Toki dies, tree hugging championships and more new events Continue reading Pagan Community Notes: Week of August 21, 2023 at The Wild Hunt.

  I've placed some boxes on sale on my Etsy site, offering 40% off for a limited time. https://www.etsy.com/listing/1535254964/aluminum-top-hardwood-box These are offered in white oak, cherry or walnut. The sides are mitered with the grain matching at the corners and strengthened with contrasting keys. The top panels are aluminum bonded to mdf, and the inside of the lid is veneered in a contrasting color. The bottom of the box is lined, Make, fix and create... Assist others in learning likewise.

It’s the things we play with and the people who help us play that make a great difference in our lives.”-Fred Rogers Help someone play today and make a difference to them.

Gregory Garrison, a Compassion for Campers client seen here from a CD album cover a few years ago will headline Compassion for Campers is Counting on You! Compassion for Campers (C4C), the program that provides essential gear and equipment to the unhoused and underhoused, is presenting a special benefit program.   Compassion for Campers is Counting On You will be held at Crystal Lake Brewing, 190 North Main Street, Crystal Lake on Wednesday, August 30 from 6 to 9 pm. A Woodstock based musician, composer, arranger, and synthesizer player who performs as G Man— A Kaleidoscope of Sounds produced by Gregory John Garrison will be main featured performer.   Garrison is a Compassion for Campers client who was made homeless after a series of...

I teamed up with Ngoc Dupont and Matt Mulder, two professional educators, to bring the Ecojustice Camp concept to the South Shore of Boston last week. We didn’t have the best of weather for the camp, with rain showers almost every day, and a tornado alert for early Friday morning. The tornado alert meant that … Continue reading "Ecojustice Camp comes to Cohasset"

Noelle K. Bowles reviews "Nimona," an animated fantasy from Netflix with themes of queer identity and acceptance of fluid identities. Continue reading Review: Netflix’s “Nimona” – a story of fluid identity and queer acceptance at The Wild Hunt.

Reflections on themes of family, food, and authenticity in the critically acclaimed 1996 film, Big Night . (Join us on Saturday, 8/19, for "Dinner and a Movie Night" - an Italian feast and a viewing of the film.)

When my kids were young, other parents and I would often arrange “play dates” for our kids. I think those playdates were just as much for the adults as they were for the kids. It was fun to have a designated time where the focus was play. When our kids got older, they didn’t want/need … Continue reading play date

Sometimes it is hard to get above the tree line, to a place where the horizon opens up. If the fog has lifted and the air is relatively clear, one can sometimes see for miles. Most of life seems like is merely wandering under a canopy that blocks the sky. We watch where we put […]

Yesterday Mike Taylor from Taylor Tool Company demonstrated their new sharpening system for Megan and I at ESSA. The system works and is far simpler than other systems. It breaks through the assumptions that keeping hand tools sharp is difficult. It does require a special kind of 3M Cubitron™sanding disks, a drill press and a shop made jig. I made three jigs in advance of Mike's arrival, as I wanted one for use at ESSA, one for use in the Clear Spring School workshop and one for my own shop. Making the jig might be the hard part for many woodworkers, but clear plans are included.You can watch the system at work here: https://youtu.be/w3Y1AANySkY The system may seem too simple and inexpensive to be true, but it really does work. https:/...

Patheos has a new feature on The 100 Most Holy Places on Earth. Rather than argue about the rankings and the sites that were left off, I’d rather discuss more basic questions: what makes a place sacred, and what do we do when we visit one?

                                   The clipping that jarred a memory. It didn’t take much to jar the memory.   Stored long ago and jammed tightly in the closet of a dusty recess of my mind, it fell to the floor and rolled to my feet when shaken by a mild tremor.   I picked it, popped the twine, and peeled back the layers of yellowed newsprint that had wrapped it.   There it was.   60 some odd years old and only somewhat dinged and nicked, a small part snapped off here and there,   but whole and hefty in my hands. What shook it loose was of photo posted on a Facebook page for nostalgic old denizens of Cheyenne, Wyoming, the place where I grew up.   It was a .jpeg of a newspaper clipping with the grainy image o...

It was about ten years ago, as Joy and I were enjoying a Taiko performance at an art museum in the Pacific Northwest, that I first thought, “I have to do that someday. “ It was three years ago, during the pandemic, that I looked up a local dojo and noted that,  with a schedule […]

Please join us on Sunday (20 August 2023) at 11:00 AM for “So What Do We Do Now?” 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 … Continue reading "All Ages Worship (20 August 2023)"

During the summer, our children and youth participate in various fun artistic and creative activities. On this Sunday, our children and youth will explore the interdependent web by observing patterns in nature and creating art to reflect them.

Please join us on Sunday (13 August 2023) for our adult religious education class at 9:00 AM. Our adult religious education class is now a dual-platform class — meeting in person in the church social hall and also on Zoom. As we gather input and prepare for our next multi-session unit, we are taking a … Continue reading "Online and In-Person Adult Religious Education — 20 August 2023"

Please join us next Tuesday (22 August 2023) at 12 noon for our weekly Zoom lunch. Our weekly Zoom lunch is going dual-platform — join us from home using Zoom or in person in the social hall. Bring your lunch and meet up with your All Souls friends, have lunch, and just catch up.

I received these gifts today, made by Mike Taylor of Taylor Tool Company, http://taytools.com. Are they too lovely to use? Or are they too lovely to not use. While visiting Mike demonstrated their new sharpening system using an interesting shop made jig, a drill press and unique sanding disks. I'll publish more about that later. While many woodworkers are nervous to sharpening their tools, Taylor Tools new method should put them at ease. Make, fix and create... Assist others in learning likewise.

The witch was a figure of both disgust and fear, but, paradoxically, also of sexual desire and temptation. The witch represented that which was forbidden in all its forms. And for that, she was reviled, even as she titillated the minds of the repressed. Very queer, indeed. Continue reading Opinion: The Queer Craft, Old and New at The Wild Hunt.

So many people seek to justify play because it helps us work harder, or because it helps us learn things. And yet, there is no justification needed for play. It is simply good for our souls, and necessary for our wholeness as people. Don’t let our unhealthy systems commodify play, just have fun. -Michael Tino … Continue reading no justification needed

Andrew Whitehead, who grew up an evangelical Christian, is now associate professor of sociology at Indiana University and Purdue University Indianapolis. In an opinion piece on Religion News Service, he writes: “After years of examining Christian nationalism as a social scientist, I’m convinced the greatest threat to Christianity in the United States is not outside … Continue reading "Another take on White Christian nationalism."

  Crews tried to dig fire breaks to contain the 1910 fire but high winds carried embers from tree top to tree top jumping the lines and sometimes trapping the fire fighters. The   Maui fire in Hawaii with the largest number of fatalities since dry timber fed firestorms destroyed Peshtigo , Wisconsin in 1871 ranging over thousands of square miles on both sides of Lake Michigan and fresh brush fires around   Whitehorse in the Canadian Yukan send new waves of smoke pollution across the U . S . Fires are another reminder of the devastating consequences of Global warming and climate change . Welcome to the new normal thanks to the pitiful inaction to avert catastrophe.   What modest steps toward reducing greenhouse gas   emissions and sh...

Please join us on Saturday (19 August 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 (19 August 2023)"

It’s a heart-thumping kind of game: I pulled off the tape that was holding this in place, put away the pastels and other materials, signed it, and propped it up, all while averting my eyes. Then I left the room and came back in, glancing over at it from the doorway, as if I had […]

Alan D.D. nos guia a través de un playlist creada con fines mágicos, con música de Lindsey Stirling, Green Lads, and The Sidh. Continue reading Crear un Ritual de Música at The Wild Hunt.

Alan D.D. walks readers through a playlist created for magical purposes, featuring music from Lindsey Stirling, Green Lads, and The Sidh. Continue reading Creating a Music Ritual at The Wild Hunt.

Sunday, August 20, 10:00 a.m. The Gift of Renewal Soul Matters Summer Sharing Circle The Unitarian Church of Marlborough & Hudson invites you into a time of spiritual reflection with our Soul Matters Sharing Circle. Once a month, in lieu of a formal worship service, we will gather in Union Hall to create safe, sacred space   [ … ] The post Sunday, August 20 ~ The Gift of Renewal ~ 10:00 a.m. appeared first on Unitarian Church of Marlborough and Hudson.

My life always feels infinitely more balanced when I spend regular time with little kids. While that time is always about both care and play, the play is central to how it feeds me — children invite us into finding the joy and fun that always exists right in this moment (and then this one, … Continue reading little kids

Welcome! Welcome to Quest, welcome to the Church of the Larger Fellowship, and welcome to Unitarian Universalism. This is a special issue of Quest meant specifically for those who are new to the Church of the Larger Fellowship (CLF) and Unitarian Universalism, and want to learn more about both.

Our Unitarian Universalist faith is bound by covenant — the sacred promises we make to one another — instead of by creed or dogma.

In the 1940s, as the German army began to impose its totalitarianism across Europe, many people fled in fear of their lives.

Despite the theological diversity within Unitarian Universalism, there are many things that we agree on and hold sacred within our communities.

                              Young Philo T. Farnsworth in Utah. Inventor Philo T . Farnsworth was born in a log cabin on his grandfather’s remote ranch in southwest Utah on August 19, 1906.  His family was of early settler Mormon stock.  Despite the classic 19th Century pioneer circumstances of his birth, Farnsworth would help reshape the modern world with his inventions. By 1918 the family was ranching on its own in southern Idaho .   The new homestead had its own small generator and was primitively wired for lighting and some farm equipment.  Young Philo, a tinkerer in the great tradition and a devotee of Popular Mechanics was soon busy adapting other gadgets and appliances to being run by electricity. Farnswor...

This is a repost from May 3, 2014 If you have flown in an airplane more than once, you have likely had the frustrating experience of loading onto the plane only to be told that for some reason the flight … Continue reading →

Honey in the Rock, may we embody generosity every day, this giving and receiving that nurtures and thickens connections with good feelings and enoughness and more than enoughness. May our generosity ensure the armor of supremacist notions no longer fit our frames, too binding, too tight, as they have been...

The following image traced the history of the Church of the Larger Fellowship from the first Unitarian “Post Office Missions” in the 1800s, through to the present day. To view a larger version of this visual timeline, click on the image below, or on this link.  

As a Unitarian Universalist congregation with no geographical boundary, we create global spiritual community, rooted in profound love, which cultivates wonder, imagination, and the courage to act. —Church of the Larger Fellowship Mission Statement

Playfulness is often a silly act between two people done by one to make the other smile…for example, sneaking quietly up to someone who is waiting for you and tapping them on the shoulder opposite where you are–they turn and don’t see who did it, but when they turn and see you, you both smile.  … Continue reading silly

This morning I deliver a box to the Walton Art Center in Fayetteville for an art show that will feature works by Northwest Arkansas Artist.  The box they selected for the show is made of maple with a lid made of spalted maple. The keys at the corners are walnut. The lid opens without hinges. Make, fix and create... Assist others in learning likewise.

A repost from May 4, 2014 Are we there yet?  The age-old cry from children in the back of the car, impatient to reach the intended destination.  Weary, cranky, eager to get this part of the trip over with so … Continue reading →

                                                         Fantasmagorie --the first hand drawn animation film. Animated films are big business today.   They dominate family audience releases on the big screen which now sees dozens of films released each year from major American production companies and others from around the world.   These days most are either computer generated or stop action clay modeling.   Many are in 3-D.    Only a relative handful are animated by hand in the laborious process of shooting individual cells.   That process still dominates television cartoons from prime time network and cable shows like The Simpsons and Family Guy and kiddy fare on popular basic cable networks .

Correspondent Elyse Welles discusses recent findings from the continuing excavation at Pompeii and images of visit to the site. Continue reading Hearth shrine found in Pompeii points to new understandings of ancient Roman beliefs: the largest Pompeii excavation in a generation at The Wild Hunt.

This small lift lid box is intended to illustrate how color can be used to create a sense of unity within a box. The black lines of spalted sycamore invited the use of a black shaker knob on top and black stained dowels to interlock the mitered corners. These three things were purposely related to each other in my process of design. Note also how the darker grain of the ash box mirrors similar tones to be found in the lid. Note also how the chamfer on the top edge of the box captures and reflects more light, framing the lid in light. A sense of unity in a box is created by an interplay of design elements. Color and line are powerful forces in design. An interesting thing about the chamfer used along the top edge of this box. A roundover ...

By Naomi McDougall Jones | Because filmmaking is hard—for anyone, even in the best circumstances—I am well aware that there are still skeptics about whether there is discrimination against women in Hollywood at all. Thus far, I’ve built the case, I hope, for what is happening. But if you work long enough and hard enough at it, you could suggest reasons why discrimination wasn’t at the heart of each anecdote and career story I’ve provided. Let’s zoom out, then, to look at the wide shot of what is happening to women and their careers in Hollywood. Let’s look at the data.

“Fashion should be playful.” -Paloma Picasso How have you expressed your playfulness through clothing or style?

Teachers and activists Harriette and Harry T. Moore were killed in a Ku Klux Klan terror bombing. File under outrageous injustice—a day late and a dollar short.   On August 16, 2006 Florida Attorney General Charlie Christ, a Republican who later served a term as Governor and who ultimately became a Democrat after endorsing President Barack Obama for re-election, announced that four white men had been identified as likely responsible for the house bombing that killed Civil Rights champions Harry and Harriette Moore on Christmas 1951.   All four men were conveniently already dead. Their identities were hardly an impenetrable mystery for all of those years.   One man, Joseph Cox, committed suicide in 1952 the day after FBI agents inter...

Vocalist and guitarist Carrie MacDonald will be a featured performer at the Compassion for Campers is Counting on You benefit at Crystal Lake Brewing. Compassion for Campers (C4C), the program that provides essential gear and equipment to the unhoused and underhoused population of McHenry County, has scheduled a special benefit program.   Compassion for Campers is Counting On You will be held at Crystal Lake Brewing, 190 North Main Street, Crystal Lake on Wednesday, August 30 from 6 to 9 pm. According to C4C coordinator and spokesperson Patrick Murfin, the program which distributes its supplies at the Community Services Days at Willow Friendship Center, 100 South Main Street in Crystal Lake on the first and third Fridays of every month ...

This is a repost from May 5, 2014 On any given day, I do not spend much time on philosophy. Don’t get me wrong, philosophy is a fine and noble subject, and someone needs to study it… just not me. … Continue reading →

    As it happens it was today, the 16th of August in 1930, that’s 93 years ago today, that Ub Iwerks produced his first theatrical cartoon short since a fight with Walt Disney and leaving employment with Disney studios earlier that year. Featuring his character Flip the Frog, Fiddlesticks was the first cartoon filmed […]

We did not have an in-person worship service on Sunday, 25 June 2023. Since church staff and church members were attending the 2023 Unitarian Universalist General Assembly (GA) in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, we had an all-ages potluck and watched the livestream video of the Sunday GA worship from Pittsburg instead. You can watch the GA worship … Continue reading "25 June 2023 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 "18 June 2023 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 "11 June 2023 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 "4 June 2023 Worship Livestreaming Video"

We grieve deeply the tragic fires on Maui. Our sorrow is sharp as we consider all that has been lost, that we as a species are losing in this season of weather events that are dangerous, even catastrophic. What is precious enough to commit to ... read more . The post Co-Ministers’ Colloquy – Aug. 15th appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

The 2023 Parliament of the World’s Religions flew largely under the radar of local media when it opened a packed agenda for the week at Chicago’s McCormick Place on Monday despite being the largest and widest international assembly of religions from every continent and faith tradition.   It also has historic roots in one of the city’s seminal events—The World Columbian Exhibition of 1893. Officially the seventh gathering since a centennial revival in 1993—the 2021 gathering had to be held on-line due to the global coronavirus pandemic—the theme this year is “A Call to Conscience: Defending Freedom & Human Rights.”   It attracts participants from more than 200 diverse religious, indigenous, and secular beliefs from more ...

The waxworm is a honeybee pest that may offer some new ways to manage plastic pollution. Continue reading Honeybee enemy may offer a solution to plastic pollution at The Wild Hunt.

Remembering Maiken (Dani) Cooper August 15, 2023 Last November, Maiken (Dani) Cooper was shot by the RCMP, resulting in an investigation by the Independent Investigations Office (IIO) of British Columbia. In its recently released report (August 3, 2023), the IIO announced that it found no wrongdoing by the RCMP officer involved in the shooting. Maiken […] The post Remembering Maiken (Dani) Cooper first appeared on Canadian Unitarian Council Conseil unitarien du Canada. The post Remembering Maiken (Dani) Cooper appeared first on Canadian Unitarian Council Conseil unitarien du Canada.

Just a listicle. I’m still kind of jetlagged. Five Things That Are Great About Being Home Luna She seems very pleased also. Photo by Munchkin. Being able to read all the books I’ve been ordering all summer. Most are for the grad school class that starts next month. I opened all the packages from Better […]

“It’s sort of a mental attitude about critical thinking and curiosity. It’s about mindset of looking at the world in a playful and curious and creative way.” -Adam Savage What sparks your curiosity?

 Gratitude and Prayer - an audio reflection

Heather Cox Richardson in her daily newsletter, Letters from an American noted a significant court finding in Montana, concerning the violation of the state's constitution by the state's continued and continuing support for the fossil fuel industries. In 1972 the state of Montana adopted an amendment stating,"    “[t]he state and each person shall maintain and improve a clean and healthful environment in Montana for present and future generations," and thus commanding the state legislature to make rules protecting the environment.  In a rare court case on behalf of the children of Montana, a federal judge, as described by Richardson, agreed with the children that " the state’s support for coal, oil, and gas violated their constit...

This is a repost from May 6, 2014 The mountains of north Alabama are home to me, and there are many beautiful places there to visit, still largely untouched by developers or even park fences.  There is a spot in … Continue reading →

      In Japan today, the 15th of August, is marked as a time to celebrate the life of the second founder of Soto Zen in that country, Keizan Jokin. He’s a fascinating figure, one I wish was a bit better known among Zen students in the West. He is, among other things, the […]

The pop star Chynna Phillips (from the group Wilson Phillips) was on Family Feud a while back, and just before she had to answer questions to win money for a charity she needed to psyche herself up, so she started … Continue reading →

For a long time, Job agrees with Stephen Colbert.  You know, Job. The one whose life was the epitome of #blessed. That is, until he lost everything.  His money. His land.  All ten of his children. Even his own health. By … Continue reading →

In this week's Pagan Community Notes: Parliament of the World's Religions begins, Cherry Hill Seminary has new mission and vision statements, cosmic question marks and more events and gatherings. Continue reading Pagan Community Notes: Week of August 13, 2023 at The Wild Hunt.

Taken with a Fuji X-T2 using Kevin Mullin’s “Parr” recipe Just click on the photo to enlarge it  

This is a repost from May 7, 2014 About a week ago I went for a walk with my ten year-old son and our next door neighbor’s nine year-old daughter, in our surrounding neighborhood.  Before we even got off our … Continue reading →

                        Memory is such a tricky thing. I have a memory that some gnostic schools, perhaps it was the Valentinian school, which required potential initiates to compose their own gospel. However, I’m having a little trouble finding the citation. And I notice among the […]

Who’s a good dog? Yes, you’re a good dog. Who’s the best dog? Yes, you’re the best dog. Be a good dog.

When you have a church that is bound together by a promise rather than a belief system, you free people to be honest about what they believe and don’t believe. At All Souls Unitarian Church, in Tulsa, over 2,000 members are united by a covenant of love and service. That means that we have Christians, Jews, Buddhists, agnostics, atheists, and people who draw from a mixture of faiths and philosophies, all together in one community. One member said recently, “After listening to the sermons for two years, I realized it isn’t Jesus that I don’t like; it is the version […] The post Love Beyond Belief appeared first on BeyondBelief.