One of these days I'll have real boxes to share with you. I actually have two large jewelry boxes in the works, but they take time, and my work on them is proceeding at a snail's pace. Tomorrow I have  book signing at the Two Friends Book Store in Bentonville, and I hope a few friends show up. Scroll down to an earlier post for details. The small cube box illustration shown is one that was featured on the cover of my book Basic Box Making.  https://www.amazon.com/Basic-Box-Making-Doug-Stowe/dp/1561588520/ It is made with a keyed-miter joint and mixing and matching woods is an ideal way to add additional interest. The design principle involved is contrast. Contrast lures the eyes into deeper engagement with the object. Make, fix and cre...

I love to travel by car, train, or boat. Whether a planned trip or an impulse adventure, making the most of an opportunity to revisit familiar and well-remembered places or explore new settings always makes me happy. For me the journey itself is as important as the destination. Music, conversation, comfortable silences, roadside diners, scenery, and side trips to see an old cabin or a waterfall or a special little bookstore add immeasurably to the width of each adventure. Continue reading Column: Safe Travels in Troubled Times at The Wild Hunt.

Susan Frederick-Gray Boston, Mass. (June 24, 2022)  – The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) issued its decision in the Dobbs v. Jackson’s Women Health Organization case, which overturns Roe v. Wade, upending nearly 50 years of access to abortion. Below is a statement from Rev. Dr. Susan Frederick-Gray, President of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA), regarding this decision: This decision manifests the worst fears of those of us who have been working for decades to protect and affirm reproductive rights.

One of the things I have learned to grapple with as I have aged is the realization that I am, at heart, an institutionalist. Me, the girl who was granted the “Campus Radical” moniker in 6th grade because, among other views, stated that Nixon was, in fact, a crook and that the 6th grade classroom … Continue reading With Sorrow … We Dissent

  “In early 2021, the Common Start Coalition drafted legislation, originally filed by Reps. Gordon & Madaro and Senators Lewis & Moran, that would make early education and child care more affordable for families, raise pay for early educators, and provide stable funding to providers.” Common Start Coalition: The Common Start Agenda     In early 2021, the Common Start Coalition drafted legislation, originally filed by Reps. Gordon & Madaro and Senators Lewis & Moran, that would make early education read more... The post Action Alert: Pass MA Child Care Legislation This Session! appeared first on Promise the Children.

This is a horrible day in the history of the United States. A majority of the Supreme Court believes we have only the rights the majority deigns to give us. So we have to form a new majority that insists fundamental rights are for everyone.

  This Sunday, June 26, join us as we join the largest annual gathering of UUs joining in worship. This powerful, communal worship experience will stream on Sunday, June 26, 2022 at 9:30 Pacific / 10:30 Mountain / 11:30 Central / 12:30 Eastern. Members of the public are welcome to view the service. The Office of   [ … ] The post Sunday, June 26 ~ UUA General Assembly ~12:30 p.m. appeared first on Unitarian Church of Marlborough and Hudson.

In response to the US Supreme Court's ruling in the Dobbs v. Jackson’s Women Health Organization case, which overturns Roe v. Wade, UUA President Susan Frederick-Gray reaffirms Unitarian Universalist commitment to reproductive justice. Continue reading "From the UUA President: UUs Remain Committed to Reproductive Justice"

I took a break from this one (MacKenzie willow) about 2/3 of the way through, then liked it so much when I opened my sketchbook again that I didn’t add another mark. Nor did I look back at the reference photo to see what I was leaving out by stopping. I like the spirit of […]

Earlier today, the Supreme Court of the United States handed down its decision in the Dobbs v. Jackson case. The final opinion effectively overturned Roe v. Wade and eliminated federal protections for abortion. Each state will now be able to independently regulate abortion, with at least 26 states poised to entirely ban abortion care beginning immediately.  We weep for the millions of people and families that will be harmed–physically, spiritually, financially, and emotionally–because of this decision. We mourn that this ruling rolls back many decades of advances for reproductive health, rights, and justice. And we sit with the numbness, despair, and anger we feel knowing that white Christian nationalist misogyny has won the day.  ...

        Today, the 24th of June, is Midsummer Day, the ancient European celebration of the summer. The solstice rolls around close to it, this year it was the 21st. In the development of the Christian liturgical calendar this date becomes significant because it becomes the feast of John the Baptist. As the […]

Dear reader, it’s been a while since you’ve heard from me — over five years! That’s hard to believe. Life has been unfolding in its own way, though, and while Leaping Loon has had its hiatus, the time has come … Continue reading →

English 101 – Essay on Categorizing On Saturday, June 25th, 2022 the city of Cambridge is proclaiming “Pit Rat Day.” I won’t be there, because of a variety of reasons. But, part of my heart will always be on those cement benches, holding my friends’ hands and hugging them tight. Below is an essay I […]

Week of June 26, 2022 Beloved, let our nights and days fill with the varied fragrances of compassion, showing up as a generous and kind neighbor to strangers, making amends where we have swerved away from what love challenges us to become or integrity invites us to embody. Beloved, may...

Attacking a homestead during King Philip's War. On June 24, 1675 King Philip’s Warerupted in New England with the sudden attack on isolated farmsteadsin the Town of Swansea in Plymouth Colony by a band of Pokanoket.   The raiders lay siege to the town for five days before capturing and burningit with several settlers killed, including some from other towns who had attempted to raise the siege. Alarm spread across the colonies.   Forces of Plymouth and Boston responded by raiding and burning a Wampanoag town at Mt. Hope(modern Bristol, Rhode Island).   The war quickly spread across the region with the Wampanoag, Pokanoket, Nipmunk, Podunk, Narragansett, and Nashaway peoples rising up against the colonists and their native allies the ...

After driving for about 80 miles, I decided I needed to stretch my legs, so we took Exit 184, Continental Divide Road, and turned right onto a dirt road that led to some wayside markers. One of the signs explained how Henry Bourne had an idea for a cross-country auto road. But, as usual, I … Continue reading "Rock Springs to Gillette, Wyo."

“I always admired and loved my mother for her integrity, her many caring ways, her strong sense of duty as a public health nurse helping the poorest of the poor, her love of nature, her unbound generosity and sense of gratitude, and her love of the Mystery which she used to call Giver of All … Continue reading Missing Her

I continue to refresh my SketchUp skills, not knowing whether they will come in handy or not except as a means of sharing with you.  This illustration is another box from my book Beautiful Boxes: Design and Technique. The most difficult thing on this project was to make Brusso JB-102 hinges to fit. You can buy or borrow the book for additional details on making a box like this for yourself. I remind my readers and friends of my book signing on Saturday at Two Friends Book Store in Rogers, 11 AM on June 25. Make, fix and create...

As the drought in California continues and expands with no end in sight, officials consider implementing more restrictions on water use. Continue reading Megadrought in California leads some to rely on “water witching” for crops at The Wild Hunt.

On-demand video: welcome, introductions, and adoption of rules. Continue reading "General Session I, General Assembly 2022"

I asked permission to share to our wider congregation simply because it acknowledged what I have been, and am increasingly feeling ... and I imagine many of you are feeling the weight of it all too. Also, her email names and addresses some of the direct issues connected with our church. I felt it was important to share these connections so we may have a shared understanding of what is happening within and around our community. The post Feeling the weight appeared first on BeyondBelief.

A Q&A with Imani Perry | I believe that Lorraine is having a well-deserved extended period of recognition. I am also thrilled that “A Raisin in the Sun” is reportedly returning to Broadway in the fall. But I’m still holding out hope that her other work, especially “Les Blancs” and “The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window,” will be produced more frequently.

Norman Rockwell, the beloved painter and illustrator of a pleasant America, was deeply moved by the Civil Rights movement and shocked the nation with his depiction of the murder of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner.  June 21 was the anniversary of an important and tragic event in the struggle for social justice in America—the murder of three young civil rights workers in Mississippi in the summer of 1964.   Their story reminds us that before young white people took to the streets in unprecedented numbers in support of the Black Lives Matter movement and in protest to the police killings of George Floyd and other African-Americans and People of Color, an earlier generation put their lives on the linein the segregationist South where the ...

Indigenous communities view migration as a critical part of building community and culture.

Our room in Wendover looked out onto a rock outcropping which rose up a hundred feet or more behind the motel. After a quick breakfast, I went out and followed an ATV trail up the outcropping. Soon I was fifty feet above the motel, on a level area below the summit of the outcropping. From … Continue reading "Wendover to Rock Springs, Wyo."

“Thirty pieces of silver. That’s all it took for Judas to betray the one who had washed his feet, whom he’d witnessed heal, feed and tend the neediest of people, and heard teach about loving enemies and forgiving seventy times seven. Thirty pieces of silver in exchange for Jesus. My grandfather used to say, ‘People … Continue reading Greed

You have a wonderful way of describing your surroundings that allows the reader to visualize the scene and be right there with you. Thank you for sharing. English gardens are one of my favorite things. It is good to know you are not just all work and no play.

The most recent ruling handed down by the Supreme Court in Carson v. Makin has potentially serious implications for the future of the separation of church and state but the potential to benefit Pagan educational systems. Continue reading SCOTUS says taxpayer funds can support religious education at The Wild Hunt.

Eons ago, as a college freshman, I ran afoul of 17th-century philosopher Rene Descartes. Considered the father of modern, rational thinking, Descartes is famous for his “cogito argument.” In Latin that’s “Cogito, ergo sum” translated as “I think, therefore I am.” The first thing I learned about Descartes was that his writing was so convoluted, […] The post The Problem with “Reason” appeared first on Dennis McCarty.

"I'm Here & I'm Queer," the title of Randy Lewis' message at All Souls Church, on Sunday, June 26, is a declaration of his return to Tulsa from Raleigh, NC, and a statement of pride, acknowledging his existence as an LGBTQ+ minister. Following a week of PRIDE gatherings at All Souls, including marching in the Tulsa Pride parade, the celebration of inclusion and diversity will conclude with PRIDE Sunday services, at 10 am in the Sanctuary service and 11:30 am in The Point, Humanist Hour service. Both services will feature the All Souls Choir, YAVE, performing live. The post I’m Here & I’m Queer appeared first on BeyondBelief.

      As it happens it was on this day, the 22nd of June in 1633 that Vincenzo Maculani da Firenzuola representing the Holy Office of the Inquisition, declared: “We pronounce, judge, and declare, that you, the said Galileo… have rendered yourself vehemently suspected by this Holy Office of heresy, that is, of having […]

JeKaren Olaoya We have to keep finding ways to widen the circle of care and concern. Continue reading "We Will Only Rise"

I've been refining my illustration skills using the SketchUp 3D modelling program, a favorite among woodworkers. It is almost easier to make a box, than to illustrate the box, but I expect that with practice, my illustration skills will improve. If you want to get good at something, do a lot of it.  The box shown is one that was featured in my book Beautiful Boxes: Design and Technique published by Taunton Press. https://www.amazon.com/Beautiful-Boxes-Technique-Doug-Stowe/dp/1621139557/ It can be made with hand or power tools. Make, fix and create. Assist others in learning likewise.

It comes down to one simple thing: do the deeds match the words? Do you do the things that other people who carry that title do, and do you do them with a suitable degree of competence and commitment? Do you do them in a comparable context?

Cecil B. DeMille's 1953 The Greatest Show on Earth was a huge hit and helped save Hollywood as television was keeping people home.  In gratitude the film won the Oscar for Best picture over such certified classics as High Noon , Moulon Rouge , and The Quiet Man. Old time movie buffs like me are sure to remember the glitzy, gaudy, gauche 1952 Cecil B. DeMille flick The Greatest Show on Earth.   The veteran director put aside his customary sandal and sand Biblical epics to use the Ringling Bros , Barnum & Bailey Circus as the backdropfor a somewhat turgid melodrama.   The film was a box office sensation at the time the movies were losing a battle for viewers to the infant medium of Television.   Impressed, Motion Picture Academy voters...

We drove past dramatic scenery today: the Forty-Mile Desert, the green Humboldt River valley in between sagebrush plains, towering 11,000 foot mountains…. But what stays in my mind are the flowers we saw blooming near Pequop Summit. We parked in the Pequop Summit rest area, elevation 6,967 feet above sea level. We walked over the … Continue reading "Fernley, Nev., to Wendover, Utah"

This is a continuation of the previous post. I recommend beginning with that post (Illusion Number One, Part One). ILLUSION NUMBER ONE, PART TWO Your Many Minds ©Rev. Chris Schriner 2022 Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Sunnyvale June 12, 2022             … Continue reading →

“I am what I am And what I am needs no excuses I deal my own deck Sometimes the aces sometimes the deuces It’s one life and there’s no return and no deposit One life so it’s time to open up your closet” -from “I Am What I Am,” by Jerry Herman What are the … Continue reading I Am What I Am

Taken with an iPhone 6 Plus and the Blackie App Just click on the photo to enlarge it   In 2016, when this photo was taken, I was just beginning to think seriously about getting what, once-upon-a-time, I would have called a “proper” camera. I’ll come back to the problematic word “proper” in a moment.  When I was a teenager in the late 1970s my father gave me a Voigtlander 35mm camera and I had great fun learning how to take, mostly black and white, photos on that. There was a skill to capturing even a half-decent image and I remember enjoying immensely the challenge of this. I delighted in it so much that after my A-levels I toyed for a while with the idea of going to college (at Colchester Institute) to study photography bef...

Last month, I proposed ten kinds of resources that might already exist to help very small churches. A commenter suggested an eleventh. I’d like to take a couple of months to start filling in a resource list. If you know of an applicable resources, please leave it in the comments and I’ll review it (for … Continue reading "Correcting resources for very small churches"

In this week's Pagan Community Notes, Cernunnos status draws complaints, Sesame Street's Wicked Witch footage found, a protest about the Parthenon Marbles, and more news. Continue reading Pagan Community Notes: Week of June 20, 2022 at The Wild Hunt.

I have a book signing and reading event on Saturday June 25 at the Two Friends Books Store at 11 AM. Beat the heat, browse books, and give me a chance to explain how the hands bring things together for better lives and richer communities.  The map and address will help you find your way andTwo Friends Book Store is a place you will enjoy having discovered. Make, fix and create... Assist others in learning likewise.

Please join us next Tuesday (21 June 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.

Although the Summer Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, has been marked and celebrated across cultures since pre-historic times, it is today celebrated mostly—understandably—in the most northern climes.  A day on or near the Solstice is still a widely celebrated public holiday—Midsummer’s Day—in most of Scandinavia, the Baltic nations and in Quebec.  It is a widely observed unofficial celebration in Ireland and northern England and in several other countries. Of course, in the Southern Hemisphere it is the Winter Solstice and celebrated with many of the traditions imported by Europeans for that occasion . At dusk on Midsummer's Eve young women neo-pagans launch miniature rafts with burning candles in Baltic areas like Estoni...

Oxford is a quintessential walking city. It is made for foot traffic and bicycles, not cars or even public transit. My morning commute to Harris Manchester College consists of a thirty minute walk through a series of meadows. Along the way, I am passed by numerous bicyclists. There’s a playground, manicured lawns and gardens, several […]

We got up early, and kept working from six thirty to twelve thirty. We put a few last items in the moving container, tied the canoe on the car, did some more last minute cleaning, loaded up the car, argued about little things, did a walk-through of the house with Kathy the cemetery superintendent and … Continue reading "San Mateo to Fernley, Nev."

The flame in our chalice, “is our promise that in our smallness and our short time on this Earth, that we live intently and deeply, with love for one another, with honesty and integrity…..” -Shawn Trapp What does the flame in our chalice signify to you?

June solstice blessing from The Wild Hunt! Blessed Litha, Blessed Midsummer, Blessed Yule, and Happy 23.44° North Latitude! Continue reading June Solstice Blessings from The Wild Hunt at The Wild Hunt.

Celebrate Juneteenth & Black Excellence by diving into books by Black authors, check out Black-owned and operated media, supporting businesses and some of the best food Tulsa has to offer! The post Celebrating Juneteenth appeared first on BeyondBelief.

Two weeks ago, I had terrible cramping in my lower abdomen. Over a few days, it gradually localized to the lower left of my abdomen, particularly when I had to poop. My medical practitioner did some blood tests, and found high inflammation, but not infection, and scheduled a CT scan. They determined that I was […]

The Green Man, or Oak King, pagan ruler of Midsummer. Yesterday was Father’s Day .  Tomorrow the Summer Solstice which will be at 4:13 am Central Daylight Time.  On this interim day we will revisit Sucha calendar coincidence when both fell on the same day seven years ago and moved me to the commission of poetry like a prune juice and X-Lax smoothie facilitates an explosive bowl movement. Depending on your outlook the results may be equally as messy and disgusting. Some ancient peoples marked the Solstice occasion with such astonishing precision involving monoliths, mounds, and monuments that it has enabled a basic cable cottage industry of pseudo-science documentaries speculating about aliens.  But for many others, the precise date ...

Criss-crossed by shadows, this bonplandiana leaf, of all the ones I saw online, said “draw me.”

The day before a road trip is usually busy. When you’re taking a road trip to move across the continent, the day before a road trip is especially busy. Tomorrow we start driving to Massachusetts. We spent the day packing up the last of our belongings into moving containers. In the morning, we felt a … Continue reading "San Mateo"

The human right to migrate is one that should be protected, both nationally and internationally.

“For all who had to set boundaries in order to keep your mind intact, may your own mind be your blessing. Its integrity, its edginess, its willingness to wonder and to know. May you know your own mind as God’s blessing.” -Rev Meg Riley How have boundaries helped you maintain your integrity of mind and … Continue reading Edges

The Chinese government has instituted a number of new measures intended to curb the practice of folk religions, such as worship of figures like Huangdi, the Yellow Emperor, and Nong Zhigao, a culture hero who resembles Robin Hood. Continue reading New government measures curtail folk religion in China at The Wild Hunt.

 I checked pricing on two of my books on Amazon and learned that they've jacked the price up over the suggested retail. I don't know the reasons for it as most publishers find Amazon's strategies to be inexplicable. In the meantime, LeeValley.com has my  Guide to Woodworking with Kids,   Making Classic Toys that Teach , and my new book  The Wisdom of our Hands  available for immediate shipping. These are the links: https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/shop/tools/books-and-dvds/111950-the-guide-to-woodworking-with-kids https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/shop/tools/books-and-dvds/75487-making-classic-toys-that-teach and https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/shop/tools/books-and-dvds/114136-the-wisdom-of-our-hands-crafting-a-life There are times wh...

A service commemorating Los Alamos Pride Week.

Please join us on Sunday (19 June 2022) at 11:00 AM for “In the Shadow of Bloody Caddo:  Reflections on Reconstruction in Northwest Louisiana” by Frank Severic (graduate research assistant at the Northwest Louisiana Archives at LSU-Shreveport). In light of the antiracism work we are doing and in light of the current trend to try … Continue reading "All-Ages Worship (19 June 2022)"

The 9:00 AM adult religious education class will be taking a break for three Sundays (19 June 2022, 26 June 2022, and 3 July 2022). We will come back together on 10 July 2022 for check-in and to talk about where we go from here — please bring your ideas.

  Note —To learn more about Juneteenth join Gloria Van Hof for her Zoom presentation Monday, June 20 from 7 to 8:30 pm Monday, June 20, 2022.   The presentation is free to the public but voluntary contributions to Compassion for Campers, the program the supplies survival needs to the McHenry County unhoused population, are encouraged. To Register visit https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwud--sqz0iHN1Hm6JD3axuBYswtc-GIZvi Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, 1862.   Word spread through the slave grapevine quickly in much of the Confederacy and, as Lincoln had hoped, many slaves abandoned their plantations and sought the safety of Union forces wherever they could.   Not only did this cripple t...

We live in a society dominated by monotheism in general and Protestant Christianity in particular. It’s important that we understand these questions on our own terms and not default to the foundational assumptions of those who wiped out our ancestors’ religions.

    Robert Aitken was born on this day, the 19th of June, in Philadelphia, in 1917. Soon after the family moved to Hawai’i. He is remembered as one of the first Westerners to be recognized as a Zen master. As it happens I’ve referenced him by name 139 times on my Monkey Mind blog. […]

This willow goes by many names: Pacific willow in my field guide, but also red, whiplash, and shining willow (the translation of the scientific name). What I’ve drawn here is not a leaf, strictly speaking, but a stipule: a little quasi-leaf that grows at the junction of a twig and the stem of a leaf. […]

“We can disagree and still love each other unless your disagreement is rooted in my oppression and denial of my humanity and right to exist.” -Robert Jones, Jr. (“Son of Baldwin”) How does integrity matter when you disagree with someone?

We may be living under a dark cloud that threatens to rain on our parade, but our symbol is the rainbow. Though it will be hard work, will endure as we have always done. And when the clouds part we will shine in all of our colors, bigots be damned. Continue reading Opinion: The Storm Cloud and the Rainbow at The Wild Hunt.

There are hazards everywhere. Still not sure what happened but after a hike this week this happened to my right eye. Dust? A bug or bug bite? Who knows? It hurt a lot though. The eye doc I saw for it didn’t know what it was either but he did prescribe an ointment and said […]

      Frithjof Schuon was born in Basel, Switzerland, on this day, the 18th of June, in 1907. His mother was a francophone Alsatian while his father was German Swiss. His father, Paul was a concert violinist, and the family was a center of music, literature, and spirituality. The Schuon’s were progressive Catholics. From […]

Although today most Dad's eschew neck ties, they remain an iconic symbol of the day. Note —Tomorrow is Father’s Day in the U.S.  But this year it is also Juneteenth to which we will be giving attention.  So here is our holiday post on the eve. I may have mentioned before that Father’s Day is the redheaded stepchild of holidays.  It gets less respect than Rodney Dangerfield and is widely perceived for what it is—a tiny participation trophy to the gold plated loving cupthat is Mothers’ Day.  And that’s alright with most Dads who would rather just sleep in, thank you, and pass of the fuss. Once neckties were the gift of choice, but since few Dads regularly use them anymore, sales have concentrated on novelty coffee mugs, t-s...

      Frithjof Schuon was born in Basel, Switzerland, on this day, the 18th of June, in 1907. His mother was a francophone Alsatian while his father was German Swiss. His father, Paul was a concert violinist, and the family was a center of music, literature, and spirituality. The Schuon’s were progressive Catholics. From […]

João Zeferino da Costa (1840–1916) The widow’s mite A short  “ thought for the day” offered to the Cambridge Unitarian Church as part of the Sunday Service of Mindful   Meditation  (Click on this link to hear a recorded version of the following piece) —o0o— In order properly to address any particular problem we are experiencing it’s necessary first to see, and then name what it actually is in the most appropriate fashion possible.  If we see some problem and inappropriately name it, then the problem may not be addressed as well as it might, and the original transgression of using an inappropriate name will then simply help to create a further proliferation of words that only serves to make the original transgression o...

Drawing six leaves takes six times as long, but sometimes I just can’t resist the shape of a whole twig of them falling like this. And I’m on vacation. Tomorrow we go to the Art Institute of Chicago, the home of so many works of art that I have seen only in tiny little reproductions […]

Sacred promises we make to one another can become a covenant. A covenant is only as good as the integrity of the people entering into it–and their willingness to engage in repair when the covenant is broken. How do you repair covenant when it is broken?

  Who do you admire?  I have a friend named Kevan who plays guitar.  In the summertime, we get together and strum, occasionally writing new tunes for the instrument.  What I admire about Kevan is his focus and concentration.  His lifelong career was in law enforcement, special weapons and tactics.  Because he is fluent in Spanish, he still sometimes teaches "Spanish for Cops" to make a little money even in retirement.  But his real ambition, at this stage of life, is to be a street musician, a busker.  He wants to sit on the corner and play the blues for tips.   Kevan is totally devoted to this dream.  He has a strict practice routine.  He attends music camps for songwriting.  He studies music theory.  Whereas I have all ki...

I have a class with ESSA tomorrow making spoon carving knives. We'll use both the wood shop and the metals studio to do it with 8 students. In the meantime I've been practicing and learning with sketchup, to create new box designs. This box is a pen and ink box to hold both a bottle of ink and two pens. There's a compartment below the pen tray for additional necessaries. Make, fix and create... Assist others in learning likewise.

Studying Witchcraft taught me that I am my own temple, my own deity, my guardian, my healer, my savior, that the elements live in me, and that I’m part of a planet that vibrates with every beat of my heart. Whether through Witchcraft or any other spiritual path, if each person learned the same thing, it would be easier to accept the differences that make the world such a fascinating place instead of seeing them as a danger, a social cancer. Continue reading Column: Honoring the Temples of Diversity at The Wild Hunt.

Estudiar brujería me enseñó que yo soy mi propio templo, mi propia deidad, mi guardián, mi sanador, salvador, que los elementos viven en mí, y que soy parte de un planeta que vibra con cada latido de mi corazón. Sea por medio de la brujería o cualquier otro camino espiritual, si cada persona aprendiera lo mismo, sería más fácil aceptar las diferencias que hacen del mundo un lugar tan fascinante en vez de verlas como un peligro, un cáncer social. Continue reading Columna: Honrando los Templos de la Diversidad at The Wild Hunt.

        Today, the 17th of June, is celebrated in the Anglican communion as a feast for St Botwulf of Thorney. His feast is celebrated by other Western Christian communions as well, although on other dates. Details of his life are at best sketchy, most of what we know comes from the Anglo-Saxon […]

Please join us on Saturday (18 June 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 (18 June 2022)"

I am spending the first two weeks of my archival research time at Harris Manchester College. It is part of the University of Oxford. It was originally founded as an institution to train Unitarian ministers, but as the fortunes of British Unitarianism have declined so has its connection with the movement. Right now, there are […]

Prayer for the Week of June 19, 2022 Beloved, may I have the courage of the ancestors who said “no more” to injustice and resisted the wheels of power rolling over them. May I have the resilience of ancestors who whispered “we will create a way” when there was no...

Colonial Militia under Col. John Stark repelled the first British assault against their hastily thrown up defenses on the left of Breed's Hill. The Battle of Bunker Hill is so famous that the most historically illiterate Americans—and there are a lot of them—have at least heard of it and can probably figure out that it was fought during the Revolutionary War.  Many may recall from High School or an old Peabody and Sherman cartoon that an orderwas issued—“Don’t shoot until you see the whites of their eyes.”  Whatever that meant.  And most will assume it was a great American victory for George Washington.  Almost all of that would be wrong or misunderstood.  The real story is more complex and interesting. By mid-June 1775 ...

Honesty is a core part if integrity. It is also squishy for some people–do we always have to tell the whole truth in order to be honest? What are the limits of honesty for you?

Llewellyn Worldwide takes the lion's share of winners at this year's Coalition of Visionary Resources (COVR) Awards. Continue reading Coalition of Visionary Resources Awards winners announced at The Wild Hunt.

Independence Day is really on June 19, not July 4.

Community leader, researcher, author, lecturer, and historian Gloria Van Hof will offer Juneteenth:  A Day of Jubilee , on Monday, June 20from 7 to 8:30 pm via Zoom.  The presentationis free to the public but voluntary contributions to Compassion for Campers, the program the supplies survival needs to the McHenry County unhoused population,are encouraged. Van Hof said, “ For decades, Juneteenth was the best kept secret south of the Mason Dixon Line. Only a small number of people knew about the holiday and most of them were from the South.  You will learn how the true story of Juneteenth became an American story and an international celebration.” She grew up in the South and is the great-great granddaughter of slaves, and will tel...

This is a weeping willow leaf, and its scientific name is Salix babylonica. That has to be a reference to the beginning of Psalm 137, right?: “By the waters of Babylon, we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.” The willow may weep, but it’s hard to be sad when you’re looking at one, or […]

Long-time friend JB (no, not that JB, this JB) just reminded me that on June 17, 1972, 50 years ago this Saturday, undercover police arrived at the Watergate Complex to investigate a possible break-in. The police arrested five guys wiretapping and burglarizing the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee there. These five hapless idiots actually … Continue reading "Happy Watergate Day"

The first of the three core values of the United States Air Force is “integrity first.” Senior Master Sgt. Paul Yecke writes of this, “None of us are born with integrity, nor can we obtain integrity with a few well-placed words or actions. Integrity is the never-ending pursuit of honesty.” How can integrity become a … Continue reading “Integrity First”

        A student of the intimate way asked Zhaozhou, “Why did Bodhidharma come from the West? Zhaozhou replied, “The Cypress Tree in the Garden. Gateless Gate, case 37 I cannot say what a treat it was when I was offered the chance to review a new book from a California based publisher, […]

By Eboo Patel | Do you remember the first demonstration that your mother and I took you to? It was the fifty-year commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr.’s march through the South Side neighborhood of Marquette Park. Do you know what King endured that day? Five thousand people lined the streets of the neighborhood to scream racist slurs and throw bottles and bricks at King and a few hundred peaceful marchers.