I will be at the Central Arkansas Library Galleries at Library Square on Friday, July 8, 5-8 PM for a book signing. Since my focus will be turning more and more to education and reshaping the way we teach kids, I'll have copies of three books available: The Wisdom of Our Hands: Crafting, A Life, The Guide to Woodworking With Kids, and Making Classic Toys that Teach.  The Gallery at Library Square sells my work in Little Rock, and I'll also be delivering a few new boxes to them for sale. Watch the gallery's facebook page for more information about the event. https://www.facebook.com/gallerylibrarysquare/ Make, fix and create. Assist others in learning likewise.

A rebroadcast of the Sunday morning service from the UUA's General Assembly on June 26th.

    THE FIFTH OF JULYWhat’s Wrong, and What Might be Right James Ishmael Ford What a time. What a time. Truthfully, too much all at once. Nine days ago, Donald Trump’s… Actually, in this regard Trump is Mitch McConnell’s cat’s paw. So, really, McConnell’s supreme court has declared Roe null and void. With that […]

Pagans continue to protest the Stedfast Baptist Church in Texas on the one-year anniversary since the protests began. Continue reading No Hate in Texas group continues to protest and speak out at The Wild Hunt.

Should we really celebrate freedom on July 4?

“Lift the veil of indifference, learn to understand one another’s plight, and share in the beauty, wonder, joy and awe of life. Love mercy and kindness, and walk humbly with one another, and with all creation. Love your neighbors as you love yourself. Give to others the full measure of your goodness, so they will … Continue reading The Veil of Indifference

            SEARCHING FOR WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT A Zen Meditation for the Fourth of July Edward Sanshin Oberholtzer Joseph Priestley Zen Community Empty Moon Zen Each Tuesday morning at 7:30 Eastern time, I give what the Greater Boston Zen Center has, in its wisdom, designated as an encouragement talk. A boost […]

      Today is the Fourth of July. We mark this date as the founding of our beautiful broken Republic, whose high minded ideals have been betrayed over and over and over. And yet. And yet… There was an astonishing amount of high idealism, and along with it some serious sharp dealing. Those founders […]

On July 5, 1852, abolitionist and ex-slave Frederick Douglass gave a speech at an event commemorating the signing of the Declaration of Independence, held at Rochester, New York’s Corinthian Hall. It was biting oratory, in which the speaker told his audience, “This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn.” And he asked them, “Do you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak to-day?”   In 1852 Douglass was 37 years old and already a fixture on Northern platforms.   He was not only the best known Black abolitionist, but he also spoke out on other reform issues notably his presence and support at the Seneca Falls Women’s Rights Convention in 1848.   He had published his first autobiography, Na...

Hope, love...such simple words to us.  Our All Souls ESL team experienced a much deeper meaning of these words in a recent class. The post Sharing Hope appeared first on BeyondBelief.

Something has to bring peace. Only a day late this week so maybe this is #177 1/7. Hah. Hiking everyday since we left Portland on the 27th – including some miles on the pacific crest trail in the Columbia gorge. Now we are in the headwaters of the Columbia in British Columbia. I love the […]

A good example of the relationship between the concrete and abstract comes from people's understanding of Educational Sloyd. If, in the early days of manual arts in schools, you were to mention Educational Sloyd, people assumed you were talking about a series of useful models to be made by students. That error is made today as well. What Otto Salomon had in mind, however, was not a series of models, but rather a series of exercises that represented the development of skill and character. The models were simply the means of delivery for those exercises. The various model series were arranged based on those deeper abstract concepts.  The same goes for my  books. The idea is not to make stuff, (though that may be the idea that readers hav...

For those celebrating, we wish you a meaningful Fourth of July! Continue reading Happy Fourth of July to those who celebrate at The Wild Hunt.

Carol and I wanted to get outdoors one last time before the rain came in. “Let’s go fishing,” I said. So we grabbed our fishing tackle and went down to Sawyer Creek. We didn’t catch anything except weeds. A man walking by told us, “You’ll probably do better if…” “If we go buy fish at … Continue reading "In Sawyer Creek"

I preached this sermon at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of the Peninsula on October 14th 2018. Now, where shall I begin? There are just so many options. Columbus Day? Confederate memorials? Taking a knee during the national anthem? The Pentagon paying millions of dollars to sports teams to honor the military? A US President who […]

“We, the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association covenant to affirm and promote…justice, equity, and compassion in human relationships.” What does it mean to promote compassion in human relationships? How have you witnessed this happening?  

  J.R. "Bob" Dobbs, avatar of the Church of the SubGenius was said to resemble Ward Cleaver. No need to put the paper napkins and plates away, the grill, the lawn chairs, the well-stocked coolers of adult beverages just because Independence Day has come and gone.   Keep the party rolling by joining devotees of the Church of the SubGenius in celebrating their high holy day—the anniversary of the failure of cult founder J. R. “Bob” Dobbs’s prophesy of the End of the World on July 5, 1998 and the rescue of his followers by spaceshipsfrom Planet X for union with alien sex goddesses. That day came and went without apocalypse or rescue, but devotees gather on this date each year to try and figure out or explain what happened or on th...

      Last year, a foolish monk. This year, no change. Ryokan Fifty-two years ago, today, on the 5th of July 1970, I received shukke tokudo, also called unsui tokudo, ordination as a novice Soto Zen Buddhist priest in Oakland, California, from the Soto Zen priest Houn Jiyu Kennett. Also. In twelve days I […]

Back in the seventies as young folks experimented with LSD, they were advised that set and setting were important to control the outcome of the trip. A trip could be good or bad depending on the circumstances set up in advance. What you expected and the reasons for it (set) had impact on whether you had a good or bad trip. Where you did it and who you did it with (setting) were the other parts... So hang out in lovely places with good folks unless you want to suffer needlessly. An article in CNN ( https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/23/opinions/surprising-solution-to-gun-violence-ludwig/index.html) discusses how to approach the problem of gun violence, centered on research done in 1973 in which divinity students were presented the opportunity to...

What does your team need to know to be at its best? Come and get your questions answered! Join the members of Leadership Development to talk about the "nuts and bolts" of procedures as well as ways your team can work together to make our FUUN vision a reality!

The NOAH Banquet fundraiser has returned! July 21st at 6:30 NOAH supporters will gather at the Music City Center for a fun and informative packed night titled On the Road to Justice. Speaker Justin Pearson, co-founder of Memphis Community Against the Pipeline (MCAP) and music with great food.

I have been troubled lately to find some of my books on Amazon selling for more than the suggested retail price. So instead of buying from Amazon, please go to LeeValley.com. There you will find "Wisdom of Our Hands: Crafting, A Life" and two earlier books, "Making Classic Toys that Teach" and "The Guide to Woodworking with Kids." All are priced below suggested retail price. If you are interested in "the Box Maker's Guitar Book," you'll find it on Amazon for $50.00 or on BN.com for the suggested retail price of half the current Amazon price. It appears that Amazon has a very weird computer controlled pricing algorithm that may be screwing folks if they're not watchful.  They are also  screwing  authors by inflating the price of our bo...

Last week the Supreme Court limited the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to address emissions that cause climate change, compromising half a century of health, environmental, and climate justice advocacy. The decision in West Virginia v. EPA hobbles the EPA’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas pollution from coal and gas-fired power plants using the Clean Air Act. The Court’s ruling will disproportionately impact communities of color and low-income communities. These populations are more likely to live near power plants, experience higher rates of pollution, are most affected by the public health impacts of climate and are more likely to experience climate-forced displacement. Tell Biden: Choose People over Fossil Fuels . Si...

In this week's Pagan Community Notes, more Pagan organizations respond to the overturning of Roe vs. Wade, Asheville protests, Crossings of the Veil, and more news. Continue reading Pagan Community Notes: Week of July 5, 2022 at The Wild Hunt.

After a good visit with Ed and Nancy, it was time to start heading east again. Which meant getting through Chicago. The traffic started getting heavier north of the Illinois border, then was heavy and slow through most of Chicago. Eventually the skyscrapers of downtown Chicago rose up out of the hot, humid summer air. … Continue reading "Oshkosh, Wis., to Roseland, Ind."

“The principle of compassion lies at the heart of all religious, ethical and spiritual traditions, calling us always to treat all others as we wish to be treated ourselves. Compassion impels us to work tirelessly to alleviate the suffering of our fellow creatures, to dethrone ourselves from the centre of our world and put another … Continue reading Centering Others

Jefferson stands as a demigod in the Greek temple erected as his Memorial in Washington, his famous words etched in the walls around him. Independence Day has come and gone, but perhaps it is not too late to consider the brilliant author of the Declaration of Independence , Thomas Jefferson.   Growing up and as a young man Jefferson was always my favorite founder.   Like the much older Benjamin Franklin, he was a man of wide interests, a probing mind, and a philosophical bent.   His Deism spoke to my unorthodox soul.   And his soaring rhetoric inspired my life-long quest for human liberty and social justice.   But I learned that there was a mote the size of a log in the great man'seye. Next to George Washington and Franklin, Jeffers...

We need a new narrative. We need a new story. We need a story that helps us find our place in this world of decline. We need a story that accepts reality and that also refuses to “go along quietly.” I think we can find such a story in the in-between places.

Today I'm sitting on the front porch, waiting for the heat of the day to drive Rosie and I inside. We've some serious play to do first.  In the shop, I've about 4 small projects going at once, in an attempt to clear the decks for new work. There are very clear reasons why all schools should have wood shops and other means for students to learn directly from life. The following is from William James. "The most colossal improvement which recent years have seen in secondary education lies in the introduction of manual training schools; not because they will give us a people more handy and practical for domestic life and better skilled in trades, but because they will give us citizens with an entirely different intellectual fiber.   "Labo...

  The energy and determination that drew hundreds of people to Crystal Lake for three recent reproductive rights rallies and roadside vigils is coming to McHenry this Saturday, July 9 at 4 pm at the corner of Elm Street (Rt. 120) and Front Street (Rt. 31) near CVS pharmacy. Veteran local activist and Democratic Party Precinct Committee person Terry Kappel is hosting the event.   He asks people to bring homemade signs, voices, and indignation that basic rights are being stolenfrom women.   Kappel says “We need to vote our values, because women’s lives matter too.” For more information visit the Facebook Event at, call Terry Kappel at 779 302-6212   or email tkappel@hotmail.com .  

Taken with a Fujifilm X100V Just click on the photo to enlarge it   Taken whilst walking back to Cambridge on Granchester Meadows during the COVID-19 lockdown in August 2020 I came across this scene. It could not but cause me to think of Moby-Dick . . . All that most maddens and torments; all that stirs up the lees of things; all truth with malice in it; all that cracks the sinews and cakes the brain; all the subtle demonisms of life and thought; all evil, to crazy Ahab, were visibly personified, and made practically assailable in Moby-Dick.  (Herman Melville, Moby-Dick, Chapter 41).

How does the Spirit move? How does the Spirit guide us? Is it like the wind blowing this morning, shifting the trees every which way? Might it come disguised as a turkey mother, with two babies always following nearby, meandering through the yard? Might it be in the doors that close, as well as the […]

  “Child care is crucial to the growth, development and educational advancement of all children, and creates a positive economic impact for families and communities. Every family in the United States should have access to a high-quality, affordable child care system.” Child Care Aware     Our nation is in a child care crisis that hurts children, families, businesses, and communities. Across the country, families are facing barriers accessing and affording high-quality child care, forcing them to make a difficult read more... The post Send a Letter: Support the Federal Child Care for Working Families Act appeared first on Promise the Children.

The American Lung Association recently released its annual "State of the Air" report which highlights the increased risks to ethnic and sexual minorities, People of Color, and those living below the poverty line. Continue reading American Lung Association releases State of the Air Report 2022 at The Wild Hunt.

I got up early to attend an online session of the Religious Education Association (REA) annual conference. The presentationby Heesung Hwang of Chicago Theological Seminary, on how religious education could address burnout, was thought-provoking, to say the least. I’ll try to summarize her presentation in a later post. Then it was time to hit the … Continue reading "Roseland, Ind., to Conneaut, Ohio"

“I’m gonna lift my people up, they are not heavy. If I can’t lift them up—if I can’t lift them up—I will fall down.” -Faya Ora Rose Toure How can you participate in lifting someone else up today?

I am in Manchester for a little less than two weeks. The city was historically the heart of British Unitarianism–and I am told that even now about half of the Unitarians in the United Kingdom live within 50 miles of the city center–and the University of Manchester has one of the largest collections of Unitarian […]

  It’s a little old fashioned but you have probably heard or used the phrase “the best thing since sliced bread.”   It was an idiom originally meant to convey a sense of wonder and appreciation for some new gadget or development.   Later it took on something of a sarcastic connotation.   After all, sliced bread had become so commonplace that is seemed damning with faint praise.   To understand why sliced bread was such a wonder, we have to look back on those dark, dark days before you could pick up a loaf of neatly sliced and wrapped bread anywhere basic foodis peddled. It was on July 7, 1928 when the Chillicothe Baking Company of Chillicothe, Missouri, a small commercial bakery first used the bread slicing machine developed b...

I finally finished writing a short essay titled “Reimagining Sunday school” for my curriculum website. This essay has been in the works for a while, both as a response to the “death of Sunday school” movement, and as a response to the de-funding of religious education programs that we’ve been seeing denomination-wide. I’m copying the … Continue reading "Reimagining Sunday school"

  The series of drenching thunderstormsand gale-force winds that swept McHenry County this week and are expected to continue struck the homeless population especially hard.   “We know from experience that many camp sites were destroyed and ruined,” said Compassion for Campers coordinator Patrick Murfin.   Compassion for Campers is the program that provides basic gear, supplies, personal items, and non-perishable food to those who must live all or part of the month outside. The program distributes supplies on the first and third Fridays of every month at the recently renamed Community Resource Days hosted by Willow Crystal Lake, 100 South Main Street.   The next event is scheduled from 10 am to 2 pm on Friday, July 15. “We will ...

    Right now, every week I visit my friend who suffered the swarm of strokes. We are past being able to talk. Instead I read the psalms to him. A couple of weeks ago it appears he had another stroke. As he’s now in hospice there is no formal diagnosis. His involvement in my […]

The historic and mysterious Georgia Guidestones in Elbert County, Georgia were destroyed by a bombing early Wednesday morning and is being investigated by the GBI. Continue reading The Georgia Guidestones are no more at The Wild Hunt.

      I read somewhere someone say “Joan of Arc visited me in a dream last night.” She can do that. But the path to that ability was hard. I noticed it was on this day, the 7th of July, in 1456 that a retrial of Joan of Arc found her innocent of the […]

In the wood shop I've been working on thick curly maple table tops, shaping them along both ends and along the front, making them appear less massive despite their mass. I've made a shim that will allow a routing on the underside to pass deeper at the center of the cut, adding additional interest to the design. How can I describe what I have in mind? A picture when you see it will suffice. William James book, A Talk to Teachers on Psychology published well over a century ago, tells the essential truth about learning that all educators (and parents, too) should study in depth.  James, one of the famous founders of modern psychology, was an advocate for manual arts in school for the following reasons:  Constructiveness is another great i...

UU Wellspring is a 10-month spiritual deepening course. Group members experience deep listening and spiritual reflection in small groups of about ten, inspiring personal and community transformation. Participants read, view and respond to pre-session assignments that are focused on spiritual topics and UU Theology. This year ... read more . The post Register Now for UU Wellspring 2022-2023 appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

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.

Rather than a July book read, July will bring a Sunday worship service on July 17, in which participants in the book group share meaningful excerpts from books about Black, Indigenous, Asian, and Authors of Color. In August, we read By Her Own Design: A Novel of Ann ... read more . The post BIPOC Book Group Anti-Racism Team appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

Summer Stars starts this Sunday! All children in grades K-6 are welcome to join in this Summer Religious Education program, hosted by some of our favorite stars!  We’ll meet in Waters House from 10:30-11:30 on Sundays: 7/10, 7/17, 7/24 & 7/31. We have some wonderful ... read more . The post Religious Education News appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

By James Baldwin | The American idea of sexuality appears to be rooted in the American idea of masculinity. Idea may not be the precise word, for the idea of one’s sexuality can only with great violence be divorced or distanced from the idea of the self. Yet something resembling this rupture has certainly occurred (and is occurring) in American life, and violence has been the American daily bread since we have heard of America. This violence, furthermore, is not merely literal and actual but appears to be admired and lusted after, and the key to the American imagination.

If we seek to grow deep roots and flourish like mighty oaks, we cannot poison the ground that our fellow human beings—our siblings—are growing in. How have you experienced the poisons that compassion is the antidote to?

I attended a morning session of the Religious Education Association annual conference. I wanted to hear two presentations on abuse and trauma as it relates to religious education. A significant part of my career working in congregations has been devoted to addressing the after effects of religious abuse and trauma (RAT). I’ve mostly dealt with … Continue reading "Conneaut, Ohio, to Newfield, N.Y."

Black Mountain College is featured in this interesting article in the New York Times.  Our artist power couple Louis and Elsie Freund had visited at Black Mountain College, and the spirit of the place was akin to what so many of us were looking for as we began gathering in Eureka Springs in the 1970's. The article is worth reading. Today my wife and I will go to Little Rock for a book signing at the Central Arkansas Library, 5-8 PM. Make, fix and  create....

  Mourning in Highland Park. As I was attending a reproductive rights rally in Crystal Lake on July 4th we got word of a shooting at an Independence Day parade in Highland Park, one of the toney and leafy North Shore suburbs of Chicago.   After during a family gathering at the Murfin Estate cell phones began to deliver grizzly details—roof-top shooter with an automatic weapon, six dead—initially—scores injured including children, a whole community traumatized.   By the ten o’clock news the suspected assailant, a local troubled young man with death obsessions and neo-Nazi and Trumpist connection.   The news in these parts has been filled with gory and tragic details, identificationof victims, revelations of the perpetrator’s...

The UUA is pleased to announce the appointment of Shannon Harper as Lifespan Faith Engagement Co-Director, starting July 1. Continue reading "Shannon Harper Appointed Lifespan Faith Engagement Co-Director"

  Yesterday Jan and I saw “Elvis.” The theater we were in had three people in the audience, and that included Jan and me. So, if you want to see it on the big screen, I would encourage you to consider maybe taking it in this weekend. It has mixed reviews. Rotten Tomatoes gives it […]

The U.S. government must stop impeding a Haitian-led solution to the country’s political crisis.

The threshold is upon us. The end of our time with Helene Atwan as our director is coming up. It has been an amazing twenty-six years, and Beacon won’t be the same without her. So many amazing authors she brought into the fold! So many amazing books—including her love of poetry—she brought to the catalog! As much as we’re sad to see her go, we’re so happy about the retirement she is looking forward to.

“Where should I put your altar in the new house?” I asked Loki, settling back into the couch as my partner Bat sat with zir headphones on, listening to the random noises that were all ze could hear. “Do you like where it is?” “People are angry,” he said, stilted, as Bat relayed the message. “Who’s angry?” I asked, a little alarmed. “Beatrice.” “I don’t know a Beatrice,” I said. Continue reading Column: Spirit Box at The Wild Hunt.

We had a long breakfast with Paul and Gina this morning. After breakfast, the four of us, plus Allagash the dog, went for a walk at a nearby pond. Paul and I met in a field ornithology class, so we listened for birds: Summer Tanager, Dark-eyed Junco, Wood Thrush, Red-eyed Vireo, Hermit Thrush (maybe), and … Continue reading "Newfield, N.Y., to Acton, Mass."

Please join us on Saturday (9 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 (9 July 2022)"

“Welcome, you who come in need of healing, you who are confused, or have been betrayed. Welcome, with your problems and your pain.” -Maureen Killoran How have you shown compassion to someone experiencing problems and pain?

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 my last blog/podcast I introduced you to something said by the Dutch atheist pastor, Klaas Hendrikse, that, in my own ministry, I have come deeply to share. Namely, a belief that, although God does not exist and is nowhere, God is an experience, a human experience and that “if you get up from your chair and go into the world, into life, there God may happen.” Another way of talking about this kind of understanding of God is to say that God is better thought of as being, not a thing, but an “event.” One contempora...

      I noticed that it was today, the 9th of July, in 1969, that Gertrude Dixon, Trudy to her friends, died. With that I thought of her part in the sinking of Zen roots in North America. Who is to say when it began. Although one good starting point is 1965, when Marian […]

Dr. Daniel Hale Williams performing the first successful open heart surgery at Provident Hospital in Chicago. Things were tense in the operating room of two year old Provident Hospital in Chicago on July 10, 1893.   James Cornish had been carried to the hospital with what was surely a fatal wound—a knife was sticking out of his chest and lodged in the heart.   The only way to save him—open the chest , remove the knife and suture the pericardium—the tough double layered membrane which covers the heart—would probably kill him.   No one had previously survived the handful of attempts at the procedure. Dr. Daniel Hale Williams , a 37 year old surgeon and founder of the only hospital in Chicago with an integrated staff, was used to...

Sunday, July 10 BYOP ~ Bring Your Own Picnic All-church BYOP (Bring Your Own Picnic) at Wood Park:  Join us for a casually spiritual afternoon of food, fun, and friends! Please Bring Your Own Picnic, chairs, blankets — whatever makes for your fun outdoor gathering. No BBQing available. We will have use of the covered pavilion   [ … ] The post Sunday, July 10 ~ All Church BYOP (Bring Your Own Picnic) ~ 12:30 p.m. appeared first on Unitarian Church of Marlborough and Hudson.

The San Francisco Museum of Craft and Design has mounted a major exhibition of the work of Arkansas Artist Robyn Horn, with the exhibit being described here: https://sfmcd.org/exhibitions/robyn-horn-material-illusions/  Humble, personable and unassuming Robyn has had an impact on the arts reaching far beyond her own work, in that she's long been active in promoting the growth of others, both as a patron of the arts, and through the Windgate Foundation. Yesterday I mentioned the impact of Black Mountain College on the arts. In 30 years time, the efforts of Robyn and John Horn to promote the arts, will be known as equally profound. The image is of a piece of Robyn's work. Make, fix and create... Assist others in learning likewise.

The British punk collective Chumbawamba has long been one of my favorite musical groups. While they’re best known for a pop hit they had in the 1990s they actually have an extraordinary range that spans from hard core punk to various kinds of house and techno pop to traditional folk music. I never got a […]

Weekend Editor Eric O. Scott writes about TWH's focus on efforts to repatriate art and antiquities to their home countries. Continue reading Editorial: On the Repatriation Beat at The Wild Hunt.

Please join us next Tuesday (12 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.

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 Kevin Henry. Middle and high school youth are invited … Continue reading "Children and Youth Religious Education for 10 July 2022"

Please join us on Sunday (10 July 2022) at 9:00 AM for our adult religious education class via Zoom. This Sunday we will get back together, check in, and talk about where we go from here.

Please join us this Sunday (10 July 2022) at 11:00 AM for “Skin Deep” by Rev. Barbara Jarrell. We will be meeting in the sanctuary for this worship service.  Please join us in person at All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church, 9449 Ellerbe Road, Shreveport LA  71106 if you are able to do so. Our service will … Continue reading "All-Ages Worship (10 July 2022)"

this is all fascinating work, especially about the Unitarian heresy trial. I was fascinated also for a while by Gerrard Winstanley who. proclaimed Universalism before anyone in our traditional history, and was an anarchist based on his communistic theology.

We  all have flaws.  We have shadows.  Even the best among us has imperfections that come right along with our best qualities. We react, we overreact, we ignore. I lose my temper and patience—sometimes just when anger and impatience are needed, and sometimes at the most inopportune times.  And that’s just one on the very … Continue reading Cracked Vessels

    The Stoics emphasized three things. The first was virtue, a way of discerning what to avoid and what to embrace in our lives. The second was wisdom, often called reason in Greek and Latin, which while including rational thought, is mainly about a larger perspective that is found not through the accumulation of […]

Religious certainty is the greatest sin. It is caused by a fear of hell and damnation. It is enabled by intellectual dishonesty. And it is killing this country. In contrast, honest religion always admits “I might be wrong.”

A Wyoming landscape--a "hole", a fertile, watered widened valley in a mountain range.  A hunting ground for Native Americans, fur trapper's paradise and Rendezvous point, and a rancher's best grazing land. On July 10, 1890 Wyoming, the place where I grew up, was admitted to the Union as the 44th state.   It is a big, square, empty place—at least if you are looking for people.   It is the tenth largest state by area, but fiftieth in population, the Bureau of Census estimated 581,813 folks lived there this year, hardly changed over the last five years and most of them clustered in small cities along the route of the Union Pacific Railroad/U.S. Highway 30/Interstate 80 in the south, the oil city of Casper in the middle and the boom/bus...

This article from the New York Times, gifted here suggests a steep rise in ADHD and depression resulting from the pandemic. Folks, are naturally stressed out, depressed and anxious and a sharp rise in medication for these issues shows the severity of the problem. There are, of course, non-medicinal solutions that should be considered. For instance, the purposeful engagement of the hands can alleviate symptoms of both. As I described in this blog and in my new book Wisdom of Our Hands; Crafting, a Life , effort driven rewards of positive mood enhancing neurohormones can alleviate symptoms of depression. In addition, training of the attention through focused hands-on work can counter the effects of ADHD. Woodworking, as an example, is a gr...

This week I hiked from the Banff upper hot springs to see this view. It was a fairly brutal 4 miler with an elevation gain of 2100 feet. No wonder I did some fist pumping when we reached the summit But I am not a complete fool. We took the gondola down. I did feel […]

Post-Independence Day, some notes on people's claims to absolute individual rights and how we balance that with the good of the community.

Salamanders like those found in the Appalachian Mountains are threatened by stone stacking, a practice that conservationists and researchers say has real, even devastating, consequences for some species. Continue reading Science Sunday: Conservationists and researchers say stone stacking has consequences at The Wild Hunt.

Abby and Jim’s back yard proved to be a very comfortable place to sleep. As we were packing up the car to leave, I noticed these charismatic European Paper Wasps (Polistes dominula) building a nest. Native to Mediterranean Europe, P. dominula was first introduced to the United States in Massachusetts in the 1970s. Since then, … Continue reading "Acton, Mass., to Saco, Me."

A quick summary of what we did in the ecological spirituality workshop today is below the fold. Introduction to iNaturalist.org While we were waiting for everyone to arrive, I gave a quickie introduction to iNaturalist.org (for iPhone — for Android — or just set up your account on the website). The developers think of this … Continue reading "Ecological spirituality workshop, day one"

This afternoon, Carol and I drove up to Bath, Maine, to sing Sacred Harp on the gazebo in the center of Bath. It turned out to be an excellent place to sing, which may show that a good singing space does not need walls if you have a wood ceiling and a wood floor. And … Continue reading "Saco, Me., to Bath, Me."

  THE NEW NORMAL? Rev. Kit Ketcham, July 10, 2022 Pacific Unitarian Universalist Fellowship                As we’ve aged, whether we are single twenty- or thirty-somethings,  middle-aged parents or single folks, Baby Boomers, or truly elderly and feeling it, we experience changes in our lives that turn out to be permanent rather than temporary.             It may be a chronic illness or an improvement in health due to changed behaviors; it may be the end or start of a love relationship; it may be a move from a beloved home to unfamiliar surroundings.             Many times these are temporary, but when they become permanent, we begin to realize that “normal” isn’t what it used to be....

The first noble truth of Buddhism is that suffering is part of human existence.  Physical suffering, mental suffering, spiritual suffering.  We all ache in some way.  And we need to recognize that ache and tend to it. How can you acknowledge your own suffering without being overwhelmed by it?

Admiral Zheng  Ho's great Ming Dynasty fleet sets sail for the first tim on a voyage of discovery, trade, and conquest in 1405. The Doctrine of Discovery is the notion, originating in agreements between maritime powers Portugal and Spain and enshrined with the theological approval of the Pope , that “ new ” lands and the indigenous peopleliving in them became the rightful property of their European “ discoverers .”  By extension it could also be called a doctrine of conquest. Pope Alexander VI's Demarcation Bull of 1493 is still cited as the legal basis for the Doctrine of Discovery. Indigenous people around the world regard the Doctrine as the root of their displacement and exploitation.  And by extension, it affects not jus...

Description of today’s session is below. My iNaturalist observations for today. While waiting for a few participants who were late, we spent a quarter of an hour figuring out iNaturalist. We also reviewed basic taxonomic ordering — Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species — and talked about how to define “species.” Hands-and-knees activity Yesterday … Continue reading "Ecological spirituality workshop, day two"

On Sunday, July 3, Rev. Barbara Prose delivered a passionate sermon entitled "We Dissent." We invite you to share your reasons for dissenting. The post “We Dissent” appeared first on BeyondBelief.

Woodworker West has featured an excerpt of my new book, Wisdom of Our Hands: Crafting, A Life  in the July/August issue. The same issue features Robyn Horn's exhibit at the San Francisco Museum of Craft & Design.  To supplement the excerpt, Ron Goldman, editor at Woodworker West asked me to supply photos of some of my furniture. Among the pieces of furniture featured is a cabinet that I made for Robyn Horn. I have been listening to a good book, Overstory , by David Powers. It is a book about trees but is also a book about the interconnectedness of things. So, I find the notice of Robyn's exhibit only a few pages from the excerpt from my book is interesting. When encountered by coincidence, it is not intended to direct us left or right ...

In this week's Pagan Community Notes: Pastor threatens Pagan event in Texas, Satanic prayer request at a football game in Florida, Webb telescope images being released, Northern Ireland high court affirms the separation of church and state, and more news. Continue reading Pagan Community Notes for the week of July 11, 2022 at The Wild Hunt.

Sit with the recognition that for many folks in your midst, the grief and pain of our world has been a permanent way of life. Sit with that recognition in order to cultivate empathy for others—an ability to see the suffering of another and spur us to the internal reflection needed for us to change. … Continue reading Developing Empathy

While I was in Manchester I was pretty focused on my research and didn’t get to explore the city as much as I would have liked. Several nights, I ate simple meals of jacket (i.e. baked) potatoes in the studio apartment I was renting and either worked on FotoFest or prepared for the further archival […]

Today I continue working on two tables, each with curly maple tops. Because the tops are 2 in. thick, I routed the undersides with a very large 45° chamfering bit to make them appear lighter, and I used a wide, flat, tapered shim double stick taped to the surface, supporting the router to cut deeper and hence thinner along the front edge at the center of the board.  This is intended to add interest, stopping the top from being just a thick, massive, square ended chunk of lovely wood.  Perhaps you can see in the photo by observing the front edge, how the routing provides a sense of greater thickness at the ends, making it appear less heavy at the center. This is experimental. You can tell me now whether you think it works, or wait unti...

The Bisbee Deportation is much better documented by photos than other depredations committed against the labor movement and the IWW--scores of pictures exist--because the local establishment was so proud of it.  Many of the photos were sold as post cards to tourists for decades. Note —The infamous Bisbee Deportation began 105 years ago today.   It not only deserves commemoration, forces are at work that would make such mass violations of civil rights and liberties the order of a new day. The Bisbee Deportation on July 12, 1917 was one of the largest single event mass civil liberties abuses in American history.  Although not unprecedented in the open class warfare that marked the bitter labor struggles across the West in the metal mi...

      Teitaro Suzuki died on this day, the 12th of July, in 1966. In Western traditions one often marks the date of a remarkable person’s death as a festival. For the Christian tradition, it’s a new birth into the heavenly realms. I rather like that. Although I think of it more as a […]