The most inequitable activity on the planet is the continued erasure of women’s agency to their full humanity.  We see this in rape as a weapon and as a result of political conflict or as an expression of cultural class dominance. We see it in obstructing women from education. We see it when weaponized religion […]

We got a late start (again), so this will be a short post. Heading east from Gillette, Wyo., we left the Far West behind and entered the Great Plains. It’s still spring, so the grasslands were brilliant green. As we entered the Black Hills of South Dakota, we saw how they got their name: in … Continue reading "Gillette, Wyo., to Chamberlain, S.D."

“Just as there is a spectrum of gender which can be experienced, so is there a spectrum of experience for transitioning. We stand with you today as you make the choices that are best for you. We trust you to be the best authority of what is right for you, understanding this includes the right … Continue reading Support for Your Journey

                                        Granddaughter Matilda and the Old Man at a Memorial Day ceremony in Crystal Lake a few weeks ago. Matilda and the Four Little People June 23, 2022   The child goddess Matilda has             one             two             three             four Little People two women two men each about three inches high and each in their own bright clothes.                                           Matilda's little square house with four doors and shiny brass hardware and the Old Man's big soft brown chair. They each live             one             two             three         

Please join us on Saturday (25 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 (25 June 2022)"

We, the Unitarian Universalist Ministers of the greater Houston area, decry the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States to overturn Roe V. Wade. The first two principles of our faith state that we believe in “the inherent worth and dignity of every person,” and “justice, equity, and compassion in human relations.” To […]

The Widow's Mite — William Teulon Blandford Fletcher (1858–1936) A short  “ thought for the day” offered to the Cambridge Unitarian Church as part of the Sunday Service of Mindful   Meditation  (Click on this link to hear a recorded version of the following piece) —o0o— Last week, using a story found in the gospels of Luke (21:1–4) and Mark (12:41–44), I explored with you the asymmetry that Jesus saw existed between those who were financially wealthy and those who were financially poor. Let’s hear the story from Luke once again:  “And looking up [Jesus] saw the rich putting their offerings into the treasury. And he saw a certain impoverished widow there putting in two lepta [i.e. two coins of the lowest value], A...

      For me, today, the 25th of June is something of a holy day. I’ve described this day before. It is, as I said, a holy day for me… On this day in 1900 the Daoist monk Wang Yuanlu, was at work salvaging for ancient religious artwork in one of the ruined Caves […]

From the Unitarian Universalist Association President Rev. Dr. 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. … Continue reading "Unitarian Universalists Remain Committed to Reproductive Justice"

Please join us next Tuesday (28 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.

Children and youth are invited to the potluck this week. Activities will be provided to keep small and not-so-small hands busy.

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.

Please join us on Sunday (26 June 2022) at 11:00 AM for an all-ages potluck and viewing of the Sunday morning worship service at the UUA General Assembly in Portland, Oregon. Bring a dish to share and join us in the Social Hall for a potluck brunch and viewing of this worship service. The potluck … Continue reading "All-Ages Potluck Brunch and Sunday Morning Worship from General Assembly (Portland, Oregon — 26 June 2022)"

  I had a pleasant reading, book signing and conversation at the Two Friends Book Store in Bentonville, AR today. And it was particularly pleasing that three woodworking friends came to it. I have long known that woodworkers are particularly generous in wanting to share with each other. It is my belief that attempting to make  beautiful and useful things grooms us for assuming constructive roles in society and  builds a generosity of spirit that's needed now, more than ever given the monumental challenges of these times. Something I've noticed is that big things have a tendency to grow from small humble things. We can think of the wisdom of our hands in that light. Nourish them with good things to do, keep an eye on them and see what ...

Karl E.H. Seigfried delves into the ways we interpret and misinterpret the texts that shape our lives - whether those texts are Old Icelandic poems or the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Continue reading Opinion: Thor, Odin, and the High Cost of Fundamentalism at The Wild Hunt.

We spent the day in Chamberlain so I could participate in an online workshop for General Assembly, the big annual meeting of Unitarian Universalists. In the morning we headed to the Akta Lakota Museum, which reportedly has one of the largest collections of Lakota artifacts. The collection includes late nineteenth and early twentieth century artifacts, … Continue reading "Chamberlain, S.D."

“All of who you are is sacred. All of who you are is welcome” In this community of faith, you are recognized as whole, as holy, and as beautiful. How does knowing you are sacred change you?

                                                       Olympia Brown as a young woman. On June 25, 1863 Olympia Brown was ordained as a minister by the St. Lawrence Association of Universalists in New York State.   She was the first woman in America ordained as a minister with full denominational authority.   A handful of other women had been ordained by individual congregations, been licensed to preach, or founded their own churches.   The twenty-eight year old Brown came fully and formally educated in a denomination—Universalism—that had often relied on self-educated preachers to spread the liberal gospel of Universal Salvation .   Brown was born to Vermont Yankee stock on a pioneer farm near Pr...

        Today, the 26th of June, the American Episcopal Church celebrates the life of Isabel Florence Hapgood. For me she’s particularly interesting in that she opened some fascinating doors for spiritual exploration. Born in Boston in 1851 to an affluent family, she had many of the advantages of that time and place. […]

A question on Twitter asked “is there space for the non-left, or pro-life in Paganism or Polytheism anymore?” I gave a Twitter-length response, but the question deserves a more in-depth answer.

Steve Palmer's furniture design class returned to ESSA this last week as students gathered to make tables. You can see in the photo that it was a successful 5 day class, with each student making a table utilizing their own design inclinations. Steve uses a loose tenon technique for joining parts. In that technique, a solid wood tenon is formed that is inserted in mortises cut in both parts. When properly sized and glued in place the loose tenon technique provides as much strength as a conventional mortise and tenon joint. This article explains the technique:  https://www.woodcraft.com/blog_entries/joinery-class-loose-tenon-joinery Make, fix and create...

On the road in more ways than one. We were in Portland for the general assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association when we heard the news about Roe. Of course we joined in a spontaneous demonstration of outrage. There were thousands there including the President of our Association and several hundred other Unitarian Universalists. It […]

Summer movies return! This time out, we take a look at last year's hit, Free Guy , and what it has to tell us about free will and being human. [And join us the evening before, 6/25, at 6:30 in the Sanctuary for a chance to see the film on movie night.]

TWH's Lyonel Perabo speaks with Jack Hudson, events coordinator for Asatru UK, about the upcoming Althyng festival in North Yorkshire, England. Continue reading Gathering the Heathen Tribes: Asatru UK’s Althyng at The Wild Hunt.

What you believe matters. How you express your beliefs matter. And finding a place for your theology to be expressed with integrity matters. What have you learned on your journey to theological integrity?  

L'Entreprenat   over the Battle of Fleurus.  Gen. Jourdan posing. Although it was a very big dealat the time, unless you are a hard coremilitary history geek chances are that you have never heard of the Battle of Fleurus in what is now Belgium on June 26, 1794.   For Americans it is just a blipin the blur of the near constant warfare between the French and pretty much everyone else in Europefrom the 1792 and the final defeat of Napoleon in 1815.   Only the arrival of Napoleon on the scene results in serious attention the on-going struggles, a series of world wars .   When we picture the battles we see paintings of huge blocks of soldiers in towering high hats and brilliant uniforms marching with determined precision to their doom am...

Skip the middle man. An article in CNN suggests that big box stores are so overwhelmed with returned merchandise that in some cases they're telling shoppers to "just keep it." The cost of returns and the processing and storage of all that junk has become too much.  https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/26/business/retail-returns/index.html So how about this idea? Let's make the things we need or buy things of extraordinary beauty that thus offer deeper meaning.  We can avoid time wandering isles to buy things we really don't need and invest that time in making our lives more meaningful.  I've written before about the half life of objects. Their time between manufacturing and deposit in landfills is brief. Their cost to the environment is enormo...

Canadian Unitarians Reaffirm Commitment to Reproductive Justice – June 24, 2022 – For more than 50 years, Unitarians and Universalists in Canada have advocated for reproductive rights. Members of the Canadian Unitarian Council (CUC) have adopted 10 resolutions on family planning, family life education, and abortion since 1968 and are proud that access to abortion […] The post Canadian Unitarians Reaffirm Commitment to Reproductive Justice appeared first on Canadian Unitarian Council Conseil unitarien du Canada.

    I’m visiting with an old friend who is in nursing care, and actually has just entered a hospice program. As he has trouble speaking we’ve settled into a pattern of my reading the psalms to him. This has given me a project to have a bit better sense of his ancient prayer book […]

We left Chamberlain at about 9:30, and headed to Yankton, South Dakota, to see Carol’s Aunt Rose. Our route took us off the interstate highway and onto a two-lane state highway. We passed through one or two small towns (with populations of a few hundred people), but mostly we drove through an agricultural landscape. We … Continue reading "Chamberlain, S.D., to Albert Lea, Minn."

An experiment in simplicity. I used only three tones: one dark, one light, and the unmarked paper. I think it’s very expressive, in spite of or because of this limitation.

President Biden has yet to fulfill a promise he made during his campaign.

  We have a delightful, relaxing, gently spiritual summer planned for UCMH: some all-church picnics just to stay connected, a few special events put on by local organizations, and we’re launching our Spirit Circles, designed to offer a closer exploration of our monthly ministerial themes. To view the full schedule, click here!  [ … ] The post *** 2022 SUMMER SUNDAYS *** appeared first on Unitarian Church of Marlborough and Hudson.

This week's Pagan Community Notes is devoted solely to Pagan reactions resulting from the U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of Roe vs. Wade and the rescinding of reproductive freedom. Continue reading Pagan Community Notes: Week of June 27, 2022 at The Wild Hunt.

We made only one stop on today’s drive — aside from short stops at rest areas or gas stations — and that was at Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in Wisconsin. Necedah N.W.R. is best known because Whooping Cranes have been reintroduced there. We did not see any Whooping Cranes, though we did see a dozen … Continue reading "Albert Lea, Minn., to Oshkosh, Wis."

The problem with using a field guide from 1982 is that sometimes, species names have changed. Since I’m away from home for several days, I scribbled the common names of the trees I’ll be drawing this week in my journal so I wouldn’t have to bring the field guide along. Then I looked up today’s […]

“With gratitude for the freedom to be our true authentic selves, may we live the Spirit of Pride. With the courage that comes from challenging fear, may we live the Spirit of Pride.” -Elizabeth Ketcham How do you express the Spirit of Pride?  

The Stonewall was a dive bar operated by the Mob in New York's Greenwich Village.  It's patrons were outcasts and the most flamboyant of a rough streets scene--young hustlers, drag queens, butch lesbians.  It was also an inter-racial scene that attracted police attention.  Wealthier and more respectable Gays gathered and partied more discretely in posh clubs that authorities usually ignored. Pride Month is drawing to a closewith the anniversary of an unexpected uprising that started it all.   After two years of disruptionsdue the coronavirus pandemic parades and lavish celebrations are back.   The internet is awash in rainbowPride Flags and the updatesto include transgender and People of Color.   Those additions are particularly ap...

Another mystery born of jotting down just a common name from my 1982 field guide. When I searched on the name “northwest willow,” I got Salix exigua, which I already drew a couple of weeks ago (common names: sandbar willow, narrowleaf willow, or coyote willow–not northwest willow, according to Wikipedia, but there you are). Hm. […]

Come help serve summer lunch with SCM Summer Meals Program, feeding the 80% of Schenectady school children who qualify for free school lunch. Volunteers are needed to pack and distribute lunches, play games and do crafts projects with the kids. UUSS is scheduled July 11-15 ... read more . The post Schenectady Community Ministry Summer Meals Program appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

Ministry Days and General Assembly were wonderful and also surreal. This was our first plane adventure since March 1, 2020; our first time hugging lots of people whom we’ve not seen in real life (irl) for so long or had never hugged because we had ... read more . The post Co-Ministers’ Colloquy – June 28th appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

Friday was my final day in Oxford. And so, consummate foodie and lover of books that I am, I thought I would offer a few comments about libraries and restaurants in Oxford. I spent most of my time working in Harris Manchester College’s Tate Library. The college started life as an institution to train Unitarian […]

With Ricky Tucker | As a writer who narrows in on very specific LGBTQ artists, collectives, media, embodied experiences, and sensibilities, I’m not the broadest or most Olympic-level reader. I read selectively, slowly, and with intent. And I absorb media like everything bears repeating.

The US Supreme Court upheld a coach's right to pray at the 50-yard line after a high school football game. How it affects other faiths remains an open question. Continue reading Supreme Court upholds right to pray on the 50-yard line: Can Pagans now Circle there also? at The Wild Hunt.

Taken with a Ricoh GR Just click on the photo to enlarge it   Taken in September 2016, this photo shows the chancel arch in St Mary the Virgin in Strethall, Essex, taken from near the altar looking towards the north. The church guide cites H. M. Taylor’s  Anglo-Saxon Architecture in which the arch is described as “one of the finest examples of Anglo-Saxon workmanship in smaller parish churches.” The light was such that, unusually for me (when photographing the inside of a church anyway), I chose to use the camera’s very high contrast black and white setting to take the shot. This kind of setting is the one I have most often used for street photography, including the photo I posted a few weeks ago, and I use it on the street b...

UUSC partners warn the military could weaponize aid to silence critics.

It was March 2020, you know the week.   I’m sitting in my home office.  Just a few feet away, my two teenagers are in the living room “homeschooling.” A few feet from them, my partner is at the kitchen table. It is … Continue reading →

What we learned from our road trip so far: Driving just five hours a day means you have two or more hours each day for a visit with a friend or relative, or a hike in a park or wildlife refuge. Much better than driving 8-10 hours a day, as we used to do. When … Continue reading "Oshkosh, Wis."

I thought I overheard someone say, “The Supreme Court backed coaches preying on the field.” Preying? You mean, preying on children and teens…? It took me a moment to realize that the Supreme Court was not supporting child-molesting coaches, but was instead allowing coaches to offer supplication to their deity before and after sports games. … Continue reading "Coaches"

What a month… June had its ups and it had its downs for all of us. Following the Soul Matter’s monthly themes this month the Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Montclair, New Jersey focused on “celebrating blessings.” Since the Supreme Court’s terrible decision to overturn Roe V. Wade, many people, especially women, are not feeling so […] The post Celebrate our blessings and then take a stand appeared first on Nature's Sacred Journey.

“But on this holy night, That early morning of June 28, The people said ‘not tonight.’ As they called to them to line up, The transwomen refused to go.” -from “On A Holy Night in 1969,” by Rev. Otto O’Connor How can you honor the people who refused to submit to police violence on that … Continue reading Stonewall

The spellcasting has already started and it will continue until fundamental rights are restored. I encourage everyone who’s angry and frustrated with this injustice to think through their responses, and to use their magic in the most effective ways possible.

I had a drawing teacher at the Educational Center for the Arts, Avner Moriah, who said that when you really, really wanted to get what you saw onto the paper, you would work so hard you would cry. I looked at the light on this leaf and thought, I would work on that until I […]

"Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be beautiful or believe to be useful."—William Morris.  And yet, there may be things that appear pretty on their surface that lack beauty, for beauty is in the eye of the beholder and the beholder may be looking more deeply into things. What about objects that represent the enslavement of man to industrial processes? What of things that come to us from the pillaging of the earth's resources, a bit of beauty brought here at the cost of great loss in other places or to the earth itself? And then there are things that glow from an inner beauty in that they represent the maker's growth, a thing not seen quickly or at first glance. And then there's that beauty that's found in relationshi...

A young Emma Goldman  in her mug shot after her arrest for conspiring with her lover Alexander Berkman  in an assassination attempt on steel baron Henry Clay Frick. Note— I have posted this poem before, but the two women are particular favorites of mine and I immodestly think that the poem is one of my better efforts.   I also think that they would be astute commentators on the attempted re-subjugation of women by the Supreme Court and Red State governors and legislators.   Emma, of course, a champion of free love and sexual liberation, would never have had faith in the courts to protect women.   An advocate of militant direct action, she would be loudly calling for a real revolution.   Helen, the Wobbly and Socialist, might be s...

More than 3,200 UUs from all 50 states came together virtually and in Portland, OR for this year's General Assembly. Delegates participated in voting democratically on denominational business and attendees joined in worship, workshops and justice making during the conference. Continue reading "Unitarian Universalists Reaffirm Commitment to Racial and Reproductive Justice at General Assembly: More than 3,200 UUs come together for annual meeting"

Abbey Tennis We must choose each other again and again, though conflict and through plenty. Continue reading "Loving with a Broken Heart"

As we end Pride month, we must remember that living one’s truth can be deadly in many parts of the world.

Recent research studying the impacts of past climate change and the Ice Ages could hold clues for what the future may hold and the world might adapt and thrive. Continue reading Spain’s Mediterranean coast offers insights on climate pre-history and responses to climate change at The Wild Hunt.

UUA Communications: Periodicals As the organizers of the 2022 assembly had promised, the reimagined multiplatform event in Portland was no business as usual. Continue reading "A GA Business experience like no other"

After spending so much time with willows and learning how many kinds there are, I now realize that I see them around me all the time. Walking in and around the Point Reyes National Seashore, for example, as I’ve been doing for the past few days. Willows, willows, everywhere, and I never recognized them before […]

Dad-in-law and Nancy live near Sawyer Creek near where it drains into the Fox River. So that’s a natural destination when we go out for walks. I went out walking around Sawyer Creek this morning, starting along the north side near Eagle Street, crossing the creek at North Westfield, then following along the south bank … Continue reading "Sawyer Creek, Oshkosh, Wis."

My bathroom trip was really rough It brought on an anxiety attack And it emptied me completely out And when it was all over I went into the kitchen and On my smartphone I searched for Side effects of overdosing on painkillers I wanted my pain to end And ‘cause of probable liver damage I … Continue reading My Bathroom Trip Was Rally Rough

My bathroom trip was really rough It brought on an anxiety attack And it emptied me completely out And when it was all over I went into the kitchen and On my smartphone I searched for Side effects of overdosing on painkillers I wanted my pain to end And ‘cause of probable liver damage I … Continue reading My Bathroom Trip Was Really Rough

“Come, every person of every race, ethnicity, creed, sexuality, gender identity and expression, sex, political belief, class, age, and ability. Let us come together, learn from one another. Let us build Beloved Community together, not because we’re all the same. Our differences matter, but not so much that we can’t find community with one another. … Continue reading At The Table

An artist rendition of what Siberian natives saw in the sky before the explosion that has come to be known as the Tunguska Event. It was the largest impact event on or near Earth in recorded history.   An explosion three to six miles above the surface of the Earth is estimated to have been in the range of 10–15 megatons of TNT—about 1,000 times greater than that of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.   It knocked down virtually everything standing in 830 square miles , shook the Earth the equivalent of a 5.0 earthquake on the Richter scale, caused fluctuation in atmospheric pressure measured in London, and caused a stratospheric cloud of ice crystals to orbit the Earth for months affecting the climate of the Northern Hemisphere ....

          As I reflect on the nature of Zen come West I am near endlessly fascinated at the variety of its forms. No doubt the majority of folk who talk about Zen on social media have simply read a book, usually by Alan Watts, but perhaps a bit more deeply, and […]

         In like a lion, out like a lamb; make way for April showers and the promise of spring. Such is the month of March, named after the Roman god Mars, successor to Ares of the Greeks who began as an agricultural deity but became quarrelsome, leading to fights, which led to wars. Good choice […]

          Another violation of humanity, another sacrifice of our children. Aside from the usual suspects of our finger-pointing, we do well to take a look within. “Swords into plowshares” is but a dream; the reverse is more the truth.           We love violence. Young and old, most of what we see is found primarily in […]

Subscribers to Woodworker West Magazine can watch for the next issue (July/August) to come in the mail. It includes an excerpt from my book Wisdom of Our Hands: Crafting, A Life . The excerpt comes from my chapter on developing technique and includes a few photos of my furniture not included in the book. This is the first time I've had anything in that magazine due to it being exactly what the title suggests, Woodworker West  having works from the western half of  the US. Arkansas doesn't quite make that cut. Among the photos featured with the excerpt is this cherry cabinet that I did for the Horn Collection of American Crafts. Make, fix and create... Assist others in learning likewise.

In a post-Rose world, some technology advocates have concerns about devices and advice on how to maintain your privacy. Continue reading Concerns over digital tracking in a post-Roe world at The Wild Hunt.

The difference between a refugee and an asylum seeker calls us into a compassionate response.

Integrity can also mean a sense of being whole. Pressures in our world often pull us in different directions, fragmenting our sense of self. We often find ourselves broken and needing to put the pieces back together. What are your strategies for spiritual wholeness?  

(updated May 27, 2022) Friends, The current case-load in Los Alamos County has passed the threshold that we set for what we consider to be in the safety zone. After consultation with the COVID Safety Team, we will be *requiring* masking for all people ages 3 and up while in the building. Coffee hour will …<p> Live In-person Worship Resumes! Read More »

On-to-Ottawa marchers board freight cars at Regina, Saskatchewan on July 1, 1935 to take their demands for improvements to Federal Relief Camps, fair pay, and treatment directly to the Prime Minister and Parliament. It was 1935, the midst of the Great Depression.   Times were hard in Canada, maybe even harder than in the big neighbor to the south.   Down in the States Franklin D. Roosevelt was rolling out the New Deal and practical programsto help the army of the unemployed, not the least of which was the hugely popular and successful Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).   But the Dominion was firmly in the hands of the Conservative Party led by Prime Minister R. B. Bennett, ideological devotees of Laissez-faire capitalism, allies of th...

Part of what I've been up to over the last few years has been to examine learning, how we learn, and how we can design schooling to be responsive to how we learn best. I've been extremely lucky to have the woodshop at the Clear Spring School as a laboratory for my own growth. Now,  with my retirement from Clear Spring School, I'm in need of additional ways to share what I've learned. In my book, The Wisdom of Our Hands, I was only able to touch the surface of all that's known about the subject of how our hands form the foundations of character and intellect for the child, and also for society at large. The following link is to an interesting article on the relationship between movement and brain development that should be informing ever...

  “We are on the verge of a major victory and the achievement of the first phase of the Common Start vision. Now is the time to make our voices heard and push hard for the affordable, accessible early education child care system we know is possible!” Common Start Coalition: The Common Start Agenda     To begin the process of providing adequate Childcare in Massachusetts, we must pass the child care bill H.4795/S.2883, An Act to Expand Access to read more... The post Send a Letter: It’s Time to Provide Adequate Child Care in Massachusetts appeared first on Promise the Children.

Please join us on Saturday (2 July 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 (2 July 2022)"

Germany and Nigeria signed an agreement today transferring ownership of more than a thousand artifacts from the collection known as the Benin Bronzes, which were looted by the British in 1897. Continue reading Benin Bronzes to be repatriated to Nigeria from Germany at The Wild Hunt.

My curly maple jewelry chests are far enough along now to show more than a box full of loose parts. Assembly and the fitting of drawers and doors is now complete including magnetic catches on the side doors. A chest like this is as complex as most of the large pieces of furniture I've made, so that explains why bringing it to this stage languished in my shop for almost a decade while I was busy with other things. I was at the point of either throwing all my earlier work away, or putting in the effort to complete them (there are two). I've still a lot to do on them before the finish is applied. Make, fix and create...  

The Saturday 10:30 AM weekly meditation group with Larry Androes will not be meeting this Saturday (2 July 2022). This group will resume their weekly meetings next Saturday (9 July 2022). This group has sitting Buddhist meditation including a brief introduction to mindfulness meditation, 20 minutes of sitting, and followed by a weekly teaching. The … Continue reading "This Week Only — No Meditation Group (2 July 2022)"

Compassion comes from roots that mean “to suffer with.” How do we develop a capacity to recognize another person’s pain and have it change the way we act and react? What are ways you practice compassion? Over the course of July, Daily Compass will loosely use Karen Armstrong’s framework in her book Twelve Steps to … Continue reading Compassion

Elie Wiesel , the Holocaust survivor , public witness , and novelist died on July 2, 2016 at the age of 86 passed in his adopted home of New York.   The world paused to mourn a figure who came to be identified as one of the secular saints of the modern era with the likes of Mohandas Gandhi , Martin Luther King , Nelson Mandela , the Dalai Lama, and ThíchNhất Hạnh—men who embodied a spiritual quest for justice and a challenge for all peoples to rise above the squalor and horror of hate.    It was something he did not aspire to and which he resisted for as long as he could.   He came to it as Jonah came to Nineveh in the Biblical story after defying the call, being swallowed by the Big Fish and then spit out.   There, the story...

      Herman Hesse was born on this day, the 2nd of July, 1877. I actually had the privilege of reflecting at greater length about Hesse in a post two weeks ago. But for here, a small literary appreciation. How a writer can help a questing heart. In my adolescence I stumbled upon a […]

Please join us next Tuesday (5 July 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.

Every month, we dedicate all of our non-pledge income to an organization doing the work that best embodies our Unitarian Universalist principles and values. For July 2022, we have chosen Gingerbread House — a child advocacy center here in Shreveport providing comprehensive services for victims of child abuse and their non-offending caregivers in Northwest Louisiana. … Continue reading "Gingerbread House — July 2022 Give-Away-The-Plate Recipient"

Summer religious education is more art and activity-based. All children and youth are with us in the service for the first 20 minutes or so and then are dismissed to their activities. Children and youth are invited to paint their own chalices with Ash McLain and a 2nd teacher TBD this Sunday. Middle and High … Continue reading "Children and Youth Religious Education for 3 July 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.

Please join us on Sunday (3 July 2022) for “The State of the Union:  Suprisingly, Not as Bad as it Seems” with Amanda Lawrence and friends. It is a hard and dangerous time for human rights in this country of that there is no doubt. However, believe it or not, we are in a better … Continue reading "All-Ages Worship (3 July 2022)"

Growing up, I did not understand why some celebrated Independence Day with cheers, while others chose not to celebrate. Recently, after the passage of the Juneteenth law, I am beginning to understand. Why celebrate a holiday fully if one is not free? Continue reading Opinion: Why Frederick Douglass Was Right at The Wild Hunt.

We’ve been carrying a canoe across the country. Here we are in Wisconsin, right on the Fox River. It was time to put the canoe in the water. Misty and Darren lent us some life vests. We decided to start with Sawyer Creek, a tributary of the Fox River. We drove to West Algoma Park, … Continue reading "On Sawyer Creek, Oshkosh, Wis."

I found the loveliest reference photo for my last leaf drawing, but got only about 1/20 of the way through actually drawing it before I had to go to sleep, and in the subsequent two days I haven’t had any more energy for that or the new daily project of some other kind of art: […]

“We urgently need to make compassion a clear, luminous and dynamic force in our polarized world. Rooted in a principled determination to transcend selfishness, compassion can break down political, dogmatic, ideological and religious boundaries. Born of our deep interdependence, compassion is essential to human relationships and to a fulfilled humanity. It is the path to … Continue reading A Compassionate Life

      Me, I’m the first television generation. Those just a couple of years older or born somewhere other than on the coasts are not. They are firmly radio generation. And, while I did listen some to radio, we had a television much earlier than people in our financial circumstances probably should have. As […]

I was contacted by someone who feels called to Paganism, but they’re struggling to let go of Christianity. I’ve been there – I know it’s hard. This is a process that will be helpful to anyone who’s trying to break free from unhealthy religion.

After I left Oxford, I spent the weekend in Prague. Like my time in Oxford, the trip was primarily work related. I was there visiting the Czech photographer Libuše Jarcovjáková. Her show at FotoFest 2022 will be held at First Houston. My father and I are curating it and the objective of the visit was […]

Forget the parades and fireworks--take to the streets and protest this Independence Day. This is Independence Day weekend, but the United State’s annual birthday party is at best subdued for many of us while others now see it as a hypocritical mockery this year in light of recent developments.   First, two plus years of coronavirus isolation and the anti-science, anti-fact cult that grew up around it has shattered shared community and divided us into hostile tribes unalterably changing us in ways we can barely imagine. Then we were shocked to our core last year by the January 6 attack on the Capitol.   At first it seemed a chaotic but oddly comical insurrection.   But as investigations have rolled at agonizing pace we realize that i...