I spent last weekend visiting my friend from graduate school Zach Nowak. Zach’s now the Director of the Umbra Institute and invited me to come stay with him. I had never been to Italy before and the combination of seeing an old friend and free housing seemed like a great idea. Zach’s an Italian citizen […]

“Right action” is defined by those things that help us live our values in the world. Buddhists follow specific precepts of right action–not killing, stealing, etc. Unitarian Universalists look to our shared covenant to help us define right action. What does “right action” mean to you?

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— Towards the end of the book of Job, following God’s two long speeches about both his own unparalleled excellence as the creator and sustainer of the world, and also Job’s utter lack of power and knowledge, Job replies with a short speech that has long been interpreted as a kind of capitulation before God. Here’s the speech as it is found in the NRSV (Job 42:1-6). And, although this is Job’s reply, it seems to contain two interjections spoken by God. I’ll alter my voice accordingly for those verses so you can hear ...

Please join us on Saturday (16 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 (16 July 2022)"

"I decided that if I was a monster in the eyes of the holistic community, I would embrace the concept. If I was already a Little Monster for loving Gaga, I could be a monstrous Witch too." Continue reading Column: The Story of a Witch Scorned at The Wild Hunt.

Decidí que si a ojos de la comunidad holística yo era un monstruo, bien abrazaría el concepto. Si ya era un Little Monster por amar a Gaga, podría ser un brujo monstruoso también. Continue reading Columna: La Historia de un Brujo Despreciado at The Wild Hunt.

Summary session plan below. Also, at the end of this post, a bunch of links and info requested by participants. My iNaturalist observations for today and yesterday. It was the last day of Ecological Spirituality class. Some participants had to leave early, some participants had to finish packing up, so there were only five of … Continue reading "Ecological spirituality, day six"

UUSC partners call for deeper solidarity and a broader conversation about forced displacement on World Refugee Day.

This is not the time warp we want to do again. Or ever. The conservative-majority SCOTUS wants to take us on a detour back in time when folks who aren’t straight white cis men didn’t have rights. A time when we thought of the planet as nothing more than an ashtray. A time when . . . you get the idea. Overturning Roe v Wade was the lowest of blows. Gutting the Clean Air Act stripped power from the EPA to curb greenhouse gas emissions. What’s next?

Sunday, July 17 Rest, Recreation, Rejuvenation As UCMH takes a break from its summer programming, we encourage our members and friends to celebrate this Summer Sunday in whatever way is most meaningful to them, be it spiritual or secular.  Our friends at Unitarian Universalist Congregational Society of Westborough have prepared a list of neighboring congregations offering   [ … ] The post Sunday, July 17 ~ The 3 R’s of Summer appeared first on Unitarian Church of Marlborough and Hudson.

                                        Newly announced U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón. It has become a tiresome cliché here at Heretic , Rebel, a Thing to Flout for the proprietor to complain about being passed over each time a new Poet Laureate of the United States—Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress for all you sticklers for formality. Of course, although my single, slim, and widely unread volume of work is officially in the Library’s collection, I am sure no one there is actually aware of its existence.   My footprint on the Web is ephemeral.   I only occasionally read at very local venues far from academic or urban centers.   At best only a few hundred have ever read or heard ...

“Acting with compassion is not doing good because we think we ought to. It is being drawn to action by heartfelt passion. It is giving ourselves into what we are doing, being present in the moment—no matter how difficult, sad, or even boring it feels, no matter how much it demands. It is acting from … Continue reading Living in the Present

      As it happens, today, the 15th of July is, at least by some calendars, the beginning of Obon, also called Bon, in Japan. It derives from a Chinese Buddhist/Taoist Zhongyuan festival, often translated at the Ghost festival. In China the date for it is the 15th (in some places apparently the 14th and […]

Jeff Milchen The case of Jayland Walker reminds us that, despite modest reforms at some departments, killings by police remain pervasive.

The threshold is upon us. The end of our time with Helene Atwan as our director is coming up. We’re all wishing her the happiest retirement! 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! Several of our authors gathered here to congratulate her and to thank her. Along the way, we’ll take a trip down memory lane with photos.

      “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring […]

Coming soon. Temporarily up here — the Ecojustice Camp Songbook ECOJUSTICE CAMP SONGBOOK We believe humans can have a positive impact on each other, and on the natural world. I am only one,But still I am one.I cannot do everything,But still I can do something,And because I cannot do everything,I will not refuse to do … Continue reading "Ecological spirituality, day five"

Summary session plan below the fold. My iNaturalist observations for today. Field trip: walk from Ferry Beach Park Association to Camp Ellis. (More coming soon — I hope)

“To return to our true home, to see into our own nature, is the aim of practice. We see into our own nature by bringing light to each act of our existence, living in a way that mindfulness is present all of the time. When walking past the cypress tree in the courtyard, we really … Continue reading Mindfulness

“It is also necessary in both public and private life to refrain consistently and empathically from inflicting pain. To act or speak violently out of spite, chauvinism, or self-interest, to impoverish, exploit or deny basic rights to anybody, and to incite hatred by denigrating others—even our enemies—is a denial of our common humanity. We acknowledge … Continue reading Common Humanity

Many popular images of the storming of the Bastille are highly romanticized like this English school text illustration.  In reality there was relatively little fighting and only seven inmates were freed including common criminals. It’s  Bastille  Day , of course, commemorating the day in 233 years ago in 1789 when the Paris Mob set off the French Revolution by storming the Bastille, a fortress prison traditionally used by the monarchy to detain its political enemies without benefit of civil appeal.  The French make a big deal of it.  In the United States it is marked by an exceptionally busy evening in French restaurants.  In recent years the long-time loathing of all things French by the right wing stre...

A lost and critical mountain pass in Norway shed light on ancient migration and glacial archeology. Continue reading Melting Ice reveals lost Medieval Norse Mountain Pass at The Wild Hunt.

It was 2007 when I could keep it in no longer.   I’d avoided the issue long enough.  I’d downplayed my feelings, guarded my intuition.  I’d kept a lot of my favorite things and even my friendships, on the down low.  … Continue reading →

Jeff Milchen Saving reproductive choice demands and preserving previous civil rights advances it’s essential to recognize the need for structural change.

By Solomon Jones | The first time I heard Geneva Reed-Veal speak of her late daughter, she did so with the passion of a preacher. Her voice rose and fell with righteous indignation and when she paused, I was anxious to hear more. Sandra Bland’s mother is a force to be reckoned with, and when I interviewed her for my radio program in 2016, she told me that her daughter was too. Sandra had shown as much while asserting her rights during her traffic stop arrest, and even through the pain of recalling what it was like to see that, Geneva made room for pride.

Last month, many of us were horrified and grieved to learn about the tragic loss of 53 lives lost in San Antonio, Texas as migrants were trapped in the back of a truck. These were parents, children, siblings, human beings who were desperate for an opportunity to find and create a better life for themselves and their loved ones. As the Somali poet Warsan Shire reminds us in her poem “Home,” “no one spends days and nights in the stomach of a truck feeding on newspaper unless the miles traveled means something more than journey.” As leaders on both sides of the aisle continue to use fear and scarcity to shape critical asylum policies, as people of faith, we know another way is not only possible but essential. Because we know that th...

The Seal of the Confederation of the Rhine tellingly inscribed in French. Following his stunning defeat of the two great eastern powers—Russiaand the Holy Roman Empire—at the Battle of Austerlitz in December of 1805 the ever confident Napoleon, self-crowned Emperor of Francewas even cockier than usual.   He was in a mood to redraw the map of Europe and shake upthe old order. He was determined to peel away as many of the German speaking principalities as possible from the Hapsburg-ruled old lands, which as the old joke went were neither Holy nor Roman or much of an empire.   After months of cajoling, bribes, and threats he convinced 16 German states to abandon the Empire and form the Confederation of the Rhine (Rheinbund,) a lose ne...

According to the current Supreme Court, we must understand the intentions of long-dead men from a long-gone era in order to interpret the Constitution. We can read their writings, but why bother with written records when we can hear from them directly?

          As I understand it the date we normally assign to mark the birth of Julius Caesar is today, the 13th of July, one hundred years before our common era. A number of ways to go with this tidbit. But, I find myself thinking a little about how we and he […]

“Never forget, a teacher of mine once said, that every Sunday morning when you rise to preach, someone in that congregation has just suffered the broken heart that they will spend a lifetime trying to mend. Never forget that someone in that congregation has just found a way through some great desolation. Never forget that … Continue reading Presence

Summary of today’s activities below. My iNaturalist observations for the day coming soon. We started off the day playing a game with children in grades 1-6 who are at RE Week…. Lynxes, Hares, Leaves [Adapted from The Ecojustice Outdoors Book by Dan Harper] The Referee divides the players into Lynxes, Hares, and Leaves. If you … Continue reading "Ecological spirituality workshop, day three"

Christians call to stop a Texas Pagan market festival. Continue reading Pagan Market threatened with backlash: “our daddy can whip their daddy,” local pastor prays at The Wild Hunt.

Taken with a Fujifilm X100F Just click on the photo to enlarge it In August 2020, during the pandemic when, thank heavens, there had been a slight easing of restrictions, I went with a friend to visit the part of the Essex coastline where I grew up. I took a number of photos on that very hot day which are all very representative of the local coastline. Should you wish to see them just click on this link. But one of them struck, and still strikes me as being very differently thanks to a wholly contingent musical juxtaposition.  In the first few months of the pandemic I had stumbled across a piece of music by the Greek composer Nikos Skalkottas (1904–1949) who was a member of Arnold Schoenberg’s Masterclass in Composition at the Acade...

      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 […]

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...

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...

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 […]

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

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.

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 ...

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.

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"

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...

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?

  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....

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."

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"

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."

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.

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

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 […]

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...

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...

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.”

    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 […]

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

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.

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)"

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.

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 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.

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.

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 […]

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.

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.

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...

      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 […]

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...

“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?

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)"

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."

“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.

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.

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

  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 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"

  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...

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....

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."

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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...

      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 […]

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.

    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 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 ...

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"