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— The Roman poet Lucretius felt that a fundamental, material condition of nature as it appears [naturae species ratioque] was movement. He wrote: “Everything must pass through successive stages. Nothing remains for ever what it was. Everything is on the move [omnia migrant] . Everything is transformed by nature and forced into new paths” (Lucretius: DRN 3.829-831, trans. R. E. Latham). Today is the first Sunday of Advent and so it is worth remembering that the Advent and Christmas myths themselves express this truth because all...

After a tough year and a half many of us can now get out and about to hear live music, perform, or join in seasonal singing.  Those all-Christmas music radio stationsare already churning out their short rotation of holiday hits.  TV specials from highbrow to hipare on almost every night.  There are plenty of ways for you to get your jolly Jones for Yuletide tunessatisfied.   But if you are in the moodfor a quiet moment each day with a steaming mug of coffee, cocoa, mulled something or other, or something stronger and more adult, Murfin’s Annual Winter Holidays Music Festival is for you!      Murfin's Winter Holidays Music Festival is back! This is how it works: Every year beginning on the day after Thanksgiving—Black Friday i...

Frederick Douglass is the most important black American and one of the most important abolitionists of the 19th century. I admire him for the same reason I admire Malcolm X: he started with almost everything against him and rose because he was a brilliant speaker who could admit his mistakes and transcend them.Yet Douglass was left out of the 1619 Project for at least two reasons. Regarding the

UUSC is committed to ensuring that elections in Honduras are fair and accessible for all Hondurans

"Other elemental energies sometimes communicate with me using words, but earth most often sends images." Continue reading Column: Elemental Earth at The Wild Hunt.

Please join us on Saturday (27 November 2021) 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 (27 November 2021)"

Bridges are marvels of engineering and architecture that provide vital connection for societies. Similarly, we build spiritual bridges that provide vital connection for our souls. Make a connection today. Reach out.

    It’s November 27th! And with that, once again, the blessings of the saints Barlaam & Josaphat are upon us! This is flat out my favorite of all Christian holidays. And I like to remind people of the details of this original Christian Buddhist mashup. So, please forgive the repetition parts of this small sharing. […]

I got an advertisement via email this morning for this Brio Builder Set shown it the photo. It reminded me that many parents want their kids to be doing stuff. It also reminded me that a some parents out there have the capacity to make building sets that are far more interesting and at a much lower cost, and that offer a much higher level of collaborative fun.  Threaded inserts are a fabulous way of making jigs and fixtures for woodworking, but they are also great for building things that can be taken apart, and put back together in new configurations. https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07QQQFZQW To build a builder set for your child, make a few long joining strips with 1/4 in. holes in them, buy some 10 x 20 steel screws of various lengths ...

Orwell was Wrong.Jordan L’Hôte, CC BY 3.0Moralists dream of making the world better by controlling the language we use. I understand their love of symbolic change—it is much easier to make words taboo and create new ones than it is to change reality. The moralists’ belief that words shape reality is known, appropriately, by several names: linguistic relativity, the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis,

A recent genetic study of Viking Age individuals reveals that, far from being "pure Scandinavian," the Vikings embraced a diverse array of peoples into their culture. Karl Seigfried argues for contemporary Heathens to emulate this diversity in the modern religion. Continue reading Column: The Viking Age as a Model of Diversity at The Wild Hunt.

                                                                      Thanksgiving Song by Mary Chapin Carpenter. Let’s linger over Thanksgiving music through this four day weekend and before we plunge headfirst into Christmas fare.  No reason or need to rush the jingle bells and tinsel.  We’ll start with a piece by Mary Chapin Carpenter off her 2008 album Come Darkness, Come Light: Twelve Songs of Christmas .  Chances are unless you are a hardcore fan you have not heard Thanksgiving Song which generated almost no airplay when it came out or since. Carpenter is an original and some say quirky country music/Americana singer songwriter who is much beloved by other artists across many genres ...

    All summer I made friends With the creatures nearby – They flowed through the fields And under the tent walls, Or padded through the door, Grinning through their many teeth, Looking for seeds, Suet, sugar; muttering and humming, Opening the breadbox, happiest when There was milk and music. But once In the night […]

Please join us next Wednesday (1 December 2021) 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.

The All Souls Holiday All Souls Holiday Park-It Market will happen on Sunday (12 December 2021) from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM. Attention all painters, bakers, sculptors, sketch artists, fabric artists, candle makers, candy makers, jewelry makers, authors, musicians, makers, and merchants of all the things . . . We know this is short notice, but … Continue reading "All Souls Holiday Park-It Market — Sunday, 12 December 2021"

We will continue to watch the local COVID numbers.  We feel encouraged by the cooling weather and the possibility of comfortable outdoor activities. We are not resuming regular classes for children and youth at this time because our classrooms are too small to be safe for unvaccinated children, and because we want some time to … Continue reading "Children and Youth Religious Education Updates"

Please join us on Sunday (28 November 2021) at 9:00 AM for our adult religious education class via Zoom. We are discussing episodes of the podcast Learning How to See with Rev. Brian McLaren, Father Richard Rohr, and Rev. Jacqui Lewis. They are discussing the 13 kinds of bias that Rev. Barbara mentioned recently in … Continue reading "Online Adult Religious Education — 28 November 2021"

Please join us on Sunday (28 November 2021) at 11:00 AM for “My Source of Resilience, Strength, and Hope — Member Reflections” by Claudia Harris and Kevin Henry.  This service will also includes reflections on Advent by Susan Caldwell. Our service will be livestreamed on Facebook Live here. This will be our fourth consecutive in-person … Continue reading "In-Person and Online All-Ages Worship (28 November 2021)"

“Creative Darkness, closest friend, you whisper in the night; you calm our fears as unknown paths surprise us with new sight.” -Jann Aldredge-Clanton Spend some time in darkness today. Feel its power and its healing.

A meme going around says “most magic is just making stuff up.” I’m uncomfortable with this line of thinking. While intuitive magic is real, for most people a disciplined approach to magic will yield better results than flying by the seat of your pants.

                                             We Gather Together sung by the Hymn Ensemble.   This Sunday we share a simple, lyrical hymn beloved of American Protestants and most often used in Thanksgiving services.   It seems to invoke a colonial or early republican times.   But the song is not American, older than that, and not meant to be associated with the American harvest feast.   Instead, We Gather Together is 200 years older, of Dutch origin with a bloody inspiration.   Originally written in 1597 by Adrianus Valerius as Wilt heden nu treden to celebrate the Dutch victory over Spanish forces in the Battle of Turnhout. It was thus a patriotic song rather than a religious one.   But of course, i...

You can create simple connector building sets by using axle pins. They are designed for use with two sizes of drill bit and are normally used to connect wooden wheels to toy cars and trucks. The tenon will fit tightly into a 7/32 in. hole, or rotate freely in a hole drilled 1/4 in.  diameter. At the Clear Spring School we use these as axle pins for making toy cars and also for pins to secure pivoting lids on boxes. Drill 1/4 in. holes in pieces you want to pivot freely, and 7/32 in. holes where you want the pin to fit tight.  I'll not show you anything further about this, as you can use your own imaginations or rely on the imaginations of your own kids. The point of course is that with a drill, some scraps of wood, and two sizes of dri...

      As it happens the Episcopal diocese of Hawaii celebrates today, the 28th of November as the “Feast of the Holy Sovereigns.” The rest of the Episcopal church marks today as a feast for “Kamehameha and Emma, King & Queen of Hawaii.” While I have mixed feelings about how royals end up saints, […]

We did a really hard hike this week. The “Old Quarry Trail” on Mount Burdell. It was beautiful, but there was about a quarter of a mile that was close to impossible for me. It was steep and rocky, lots of the rocks were loose and climbing required some really large steps on unstable ground. […]

In this season of Thanksgiving, we celebrate the many ways music can touch our spirits, sometimes at a depth words alone don't reach. This virtual service is mostly music, and features videos from many talented singers and musicians in our congregation and beyond. Our overarching theme is gratitude for the love we share, a love that can ripple out to bless the world.

Nicogenin, CC BY-SA 2.0When the rich dress to impress, they wear black suits and dresses. Because wealth is associated with power and knowledge, judges, scholars, and priests wear black gowns. And because knowledge is associated with sex, people who want to be sexy wear black tuxedoes, gowns, little dresses, and lingerie.Black is the color of the richest earth.Black gold is a name for oil

CUC Approves 8th Principle on Dismantling Racism and Systemic Barriers to Full Inclusion On Saturday, November 27th, 2021 at a Special Meeting, Canadian Unitarian Universalists voted to approve adding an 8th Principle to the current seven Principles: “We, the member congregations of the Canadian Unitarian Council, covenant to affirm and promote:” Individual and communal action […] The post CUC Approves 8th Principle on Dismantling Racism and Systemic Barriers to Full Inclusion appeared first on Canadian Unitarian Council Conseil unitarien du Canada.

The mystery of the Brown Mountain Lights remain unexplained and offer an opportunity for adventure when it comes to viewing them. Continue reading The magic and mystery of the Brown Mountain Lights at The Wild Hunt.

“The question is not whether we will get lost in life, but rather how we will move through it in faith. Will we dwell on everything that we have lost? Or will we focus instead on everything that we have yet to find? As it happens, there is much that awaits us in our lostness. … Continue reading Lost

        Hanukkah is an interesting holiday. One the rabbis quite correctly have always felt more than ambivalent about, but also one people just love. I reflect on this celebration of light every couple of years. So parts that follow are repeats, parts are new discoveries I find I make each time I […]

                                               Maoz Tzur (Rock of Ages) sung by Haddasah Berne. Hanukkah , coming early this year in November, snuck up on me.  I blame the wall calendar next to my desk which low tech me relies on to remind me of such things.  This year’s calendar doesn’t include Jewish holy days.  I’ll have the B’nai B’rith look into it. Hanukkah began last evening with the lighting of the first candle on the Menorah at sundown.  It is a celebration of the miracle of light that occurred when Judah Maccabee liberated the Temple in Jerusalem but only had enough purified oil to burn one night.  But the oil was enough to light the Menorah for 8 days until more could be rituall...

Tim Pierce from Berlin, MA, USA, CC BY 2.0The first law of prejudice: The rich look down on the poor.1. Basic dataIdentitarians and universalists agree the US racial hierarchy looks like this:from https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2020/demo/p60-270.pdfFor identitarians, the racial hierarchy is all you need to understand who has power in the United States. They wave

Thanks to Barry & Nancy Wilder for their years of service and contributions to All Souls Care Team and the Pastoral Care program. The post Centennial Awards: Barry & Nancy Wilder appeared first on BeyondBelief.

I know your are probably inundated with worthy Giving Tuesday begging.   But nowhere can your donation of any size have greater immediate impact than sharing with Compassion for Campers which serves the McHenry County unhoused who will spend all or part of each month this winter camping out or living in a vehicle.   Your dollars almost immediately be used to buy the critical gear—tents, sleeping bags, pads, tarps, stoves, fuel, warm gloves, hats, and socks—as well as personal hygiene items, flashlights and batteries, and non-perishable food.   Give today and a homeless person can pick them up at Community Empower Shower events at Willow Crystal Lake the first and third Fridays of the month.   Not only that, but 100% of your donat...

In this week's pagan Community notes: bison and petroglyphs, SAPRA condemns TikTok videos, monarch butterflies, and more news. Continue reading Pagan Community Notes: Week of November 29, 2021 at The Wild Hunt.

Grassroots generosity and community action are powerful forces for good, especially in turbulent times.

“Do not fear agitation, for agitation is the rhythm of life itself; to be put into motion, to be stirred. Do not fear the movements that decenter what you always thought permanent. You carry within the center of your understanding, the compass to show you the way.” -Tania Márquez What is disturbing the rhythm of … Continue reading Agitation

History is written by people who think like the winners and thus miss inconvenient facts. “The Dawn of Everything” provides evidence that different ways of living are possible, because we have lived and governed ourselves in many different ways in the past.

    The deep matter of the heart is not bound by any religion. It is not owned by any culture. It is our common heritage as human beings. I suspect it will someday be possible to diagram the matters of the heart in scientific terms. And we are not there. Each time people think […]

                                                                      Hanerot Halalu sung by the Maccabeats. For the Third Night of Hanukkah, we will feature another song/prayer sung in the evening home service.   Hanerot Halalu is recited after the lights on the Menorah are kindled. There are several different versions.  The version by the Maccabeats that we are sharing here is used by many Ashkenazicommunities. The Maccabeats were students at the Orthodox Yeshiva University inNew York City.  The 14 member a cappella group was organized by Julian (Chaim) Horowitz in 2007.  By 2010 the were in the university’s graduate school when they released their first CD, Voices from the Heights which ...

By Masha Rumer | As the year draws to an end, it’s a reminder of the new coping skills just about everyone has acquired because of the pandemic. In the case of immigrants, the shortages also hurled us right back into our childhoods. Many of us we were raised on stories of famines and wartime starvation, tempered by breadlines and diluted sour cream, particularly in the former Soviet Union, where I’m from. Nothing went to waste: neither old yarn nor chicken skins nor beet greens. We brought this hardiness with us to the US.

Associação Brasileira de Jornalismo Investigativo, CC BY 2.0Focusing on race makes rich black people the heroes of America’s story and costs them nothing. Focusing on class makes them part of the problem and threatens their economic privilege.Adolph Reed provides two examples:At Neoliberalism & Black Politics: A TBS Conversation With Adolph Reed, Part 1, he said,‘I’ve been teaching mainly in the

Several new archaeological discoveries in the U.K.: Southwark statue of King Alfred containing part of a Roman goddess, ruins of a Roman villa in Rutland, and the incredible finds made a 13-year-old in Hertfordshire. Continue reading New discovery concerning Southwark statue of King Alfred at The Wild Hunt.

The Lowlander Center provides vital support to southern Louisiana's Indigenous communities.

Tiger Girl looks like a generic example of the Jungle Girl craze in comics, but she differs from them greatly. In 1944, while the South was segregated and most New York comic book publishers avoided putting out anything that might hurt sales by offending racists, Fight Comics introduced Tiger Girl, the daughter of an Indian prince and an Irish woman.Other things set her apart too: Her companions

This month, we will be exploring the theme of mystery–the unknown, the unknowable, and even those things we’d rather not know. Mysteries ask us to search for something beyond what we have right now. What are you searching for today?

  Tell all the truth but tell it slant –Success in Circuit liesToo bright for our infirm DelightThe Truth’s superb surpriseAs Lightning to the Children easedWith explanation kindThe Truth must dazzle gradually Or every man be blind – Emily Dickinson People sometimes say they are spiritual but not religious. I find that phrase can open […]

                                                       Light up the Nights  by Yerachmiel Begun & The Miami Boys Choir. On the Fourth Night of Hanukkah, we have to face the tragedy of a holiday song trying way too hard to be hip.  Yerachmiel Begun & The Miami Boys Choir are considered superstars of Orthodox Jewish choral music with more than 30 albums under its belt since 1980.  Begun began with a boys choir in Toronto in the 1970’s before relocating to Miami.  He is the composer and arranger of the ensemble’s original music. Yerachmiel Begun & The Miami Boys Choir. But in 1998 he applied the disco/Latin Funk/Miami Sound Machine vibe to Light up the Nights on the choir’s album Chanukah - Light ...

Yesterday we installed the small bridge we'd made with students at the Clear Spring School, before getting back to making products for their pay what you want shop. The students added small toy boats, miniature Christmas trees and dreidels to their product line. Make, fix and create...

Leslie Gatto Acknowledging that our dream was not happening didn't end the grief, but it did offer closure. Continue reading "Laying Dreams to Rest"

We sent Members and Friends an update plan which includes much of the work done thus far during the global pandemic as well as the challenges we are facing as we move towards re-opening for in-person indoor worship. We have a target date, an aspiration ... read more . The post COVID-19 Update appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

Join UUs from across the continent on December 11th & 12th for Compass: Navigating the Paths to Liberation Together. The virtual event series, hosted by the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations (UUA), will include invigorating worship, special musical guests, thought-provoking conversations, breakout caucus gatherings, a ... read more . The post Denomination-wide Opportunity: Compass: Navigating the Paths to Liberation Together appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

Reverence is defined as a deep respect that is felt or shown. It may be a somber reverence felt at the Vietnam Memorial, an awed reverence experienced on a mountain top or while looking at the night sky, or a joyful reverence of celebration of new ... read more . The post December Theme – Reverence appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

CHILD DEDICATION!  This Sunday’s service will include a child dedication for one of our newest little UU’s.  We invite you and your family to attend the service and be a part of this special UU ritual, as we share a blessing for this precious new ... read more . The post RE This Week – Nov 30th appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

As December approaches and we begin our monthly theme of Reverence, we call to mind the MLK Memorial in Washington, DC. We had already climbed the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, and paused near the top, with the engraving at the spot where Dr. King stood ... read more . The post Co-Ministers’ Colloquy – Nov 30th appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

JasonPToews, CC BY-SA 4.0Rich white people know they would win a race war and lose a class war. Rich liberals spout vapid phrases about their privilege as easily as kings proclaimed that they were sinners who were humble before God, and rich conservatives defend the “right” to exploit working people as easily as rich slavers defend the “right” to own them. The rich will say anything that protects

Sunday, December 5, 10:30 a.m. Opening to Joy An online worship service with Rev. Alice Anacheka-Nasemann   Let us start this holiday season with joy! Join us on Zoom this Sunday, Dec. 5, for a multigenerational storytelling worship service featuring inspirational tales that warm the heart and lift the spirit.   Virtual Social Hour will follow   [ … ] The post Sunday, December 5 ~ Opening to Joy ~ 10:30 a.m. appeared first on Unitarian Church of Marlborough and Hudson.

Right now, our communities need action. We need humane protections for millions of immigrants who face the constant threat of detention and deportation. We need systems that keep families and children out of poverty. We need infrastructure investment. We need to honor the dignity of all and our sacred interdependence by building systems of support and care where our disabled siblings can thrive. We need a multiracial democracy that works for all of us. We need a radical revolution of values where we Side With Love-- declaring our commitments to justice, equity and compassion in all of our relationships. That is why we are joining the Poor People’s Campaign for a Moral Monday March on Washington on Monday, December 13th, at 12 p.m. ET o...

Here is the UUA's updated guidance around gathering, updated for December 2021. Continue reading "COVID-19 Gathering Guidance: (Delta and Emerging Variants of Concern)"

TWH spoke with several Pagan organizations about their responses and/or protocols for COVID-19 vaccinations for their members. Continue reading COVID vaccination recommendations in Pagan groups at The Wild Hunt.

By James Baldwin | I have often wondered, and it is not a pleasant wonder, just what white Americans talk about with one another. I wonder this because they do not, after all, seem to find very much to say to me, and I concluded long ago that they found the color of my skin inhibiting. This color seems to operate as a most disagreeable mirror, and a great deal of one’s energy is expended in reassuring white Americans that they do not see what they see.

In a 2004 interview with Christian Century magazine, progressive evangelical Brian McLaren compared conservative evangelical Christians with more progressive Christians: “[Religious] conservatives tend to be rigid theologically and promiscuous pragmatically and [religious] liberals tend to be rigid methodologically and a lot more free theologically ….” Although McLaren wasn’t talking about Unitarian Universalists (he probably doesn’t … Continue reading "“Rigid methodologically”"

We are in the middle of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah, which celebrates the mystery of long ago of one day’s worth of oil burning for eight days. The Hanukkah menorah blesses the space in which it is lit as the original oil sanctified the desecrated temple. How can you embrace mystery to bless the … Continue reading Light

                                                                      Light One Candle by Peter Yarrow performed by Peter, Paul & Mary.   We are spending more time this year on Hanukkah songs.   Consider it overdue balance.   So far we have heard from a Messianic Jew, and two Orthodox boys choirs.   For the Fifth night, lets switch to a largely secular and leftist Jew like so many of my friends.   Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul & Mary wrote the song in 1982 as a pacifist responseto the Lebanon War which was reflected in the lyrics: Light one candle for the terrible sacrifice justice and freedom demand, Light one candle for the wisdom to know when the peacemaker’s time is at hand. It also conn...

Our world is becoming a more magical world, for good and for ill. There’s more power for us to draw on when we work spells. Spirits can access our world more easily, and not all of them mean us well. Our world is changing – let’s change with it.

      Sixty years. Oh, my. Sixty years ago today, the 2nd of December, in 1961, the San Francisco Zen Center published the first issue of Wind Bell. An unsigned article from 50years.sfzc.org tells us: “From its humble single-sheet newsletter beginnings on December 2, 1961, prior to San Francisco Zen Center’s incorporation, over the decades Wind […]

Yesterday with the Rainbow group at the Clear Spring School we made turned Christmas tree displays for holiday giving. I turned the trees on the lathe, and the students sanded and assembled the stands and decorated the trees. To make the trees I used dowels 1-1/2 in. diameter, drilled holes at each end for dowels to fit and then turned them two at a time on the lathe. A parting tool was used to cut the shaped trees apart in the middle. Woodworking in school is a  collaborative exercise and fun for all. It's socialistic in that it fits the formula, "from each according to ability, to each according to need."  My own need is to be creatively stimulated and working out a means through which the trees could be safely turned on the lathe wa...

Herman Hiller, World Telegram staff photographer, Public domainIf Malcolm X had been killed in 1963, he would be remembered as just another of Elijah Muhammad’s racist followers. Malcolm admitted that in a letter written after he left the Nation of Islam (boldface mine):“I declare emphatically that I am no longer in Elijah Muhammad’s ‘strait jacket,’ and I don’t intend to replace his with one

New research that examines the perception and interpretation of celestial objects by both modern and ancient cultures seeks to explain the commonality of The Pleiades in mythology across various cultures. Continue reading The Pleiades may be the oldest human myth at The Wild Hunt.

Today is International Persons with Disabilities Day. Reflect on the things that your body can do–and the things your body cannot do. Reflect on the ways your brain works differently from the brains of others. Reflect on the barriers to access erected throughout our society and what it would take to dismantle them. How can … Continue reading (Dis)Ability

      We are in a magical and dangerous moment, where uncertainty is in the air. Maybe even end times. And with that, doors are opening. Not least among these are doors opening into deeper understandings of what religion and spirituality might be. So, a critical question. What is religion? And with that what […]

                                                                  Happy Joyous Hanukkah but Woody Guthry sung by Nesfesh Mountain. Today’s 6th night of Hanukkah song may come to a surprise to many.   It was pennedby a non-Jewish Okie—Woody Guthrie, the American folk music icon and radical activist. When Nazi Germany invaded the USSR Guthrie and the other members of the loose collaboration of musicians known as the Almanac Singers had to pivot on a dime and abandon their earlier anti-war pacifism and become anti-fascist/anti-Nazi.   In songs like The Good Ruben James about an American freighter torpedoed and sunk by a U-boat Guthrie and his pals tried to whip up public sentiment to enterthe wa...

I created this simple graphic as a reminder of the principles of Educational Sloyd. The sequence of learning described in it can be compared to Bruner's idea of scaffolding, but was first laid out by Diesterweg, a colleague of Friedrich Froebel. So while these principles are associated with the manual arts and Educational Sloyd, they actually fit education at large and describe the way we (even adults) learn. These principles, reflecting how we learn present a challenge for educators. In order to start with the interests of the child, the teacher must be listening, observing and adapting continuously. And as a good teacher will know, plans can go out the window when student interests cease to be met.  One of the reasons that rich school...

Race reductionists love quoting Malcolm X when he was with the Nation of Islam because racists of all hues fundamentally agree with each other—the Nation of Islam met with the American Nazi Party and Marcus Garvey met with the Ku Klux Klan to promote their shared goals.Those who put race first have to quote Malcolm more selectively after he left NOI. He rejected identitarianism and black

The Wild Hunt editorial team condemns the threat to abortion access presented by Dobbs vs. Jackson Women's Health, a Supreme Court case meant to overturn Roe vs. Wade. Continue reading Editorial: Dobbs v. Jackson is a threat to reproductive health at The Wild Hunt.

Please join us on Saturday (8 December 2021) 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 (8 December 2021)"

In the Christian season of Advent, the spiritual task before followers is waiting. Waiting for the birth of a new era, waiting for goodness to return to the world, waiting. How do you make waiting possible in your life?

      Rene Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke was born in Prague what was then the capital of Bohemia, on this day, the 4th of December, in 1875. He is best known as Rainer Maria Rilke and is without a doubt one of the great gifts of the twentieth century to the world. One of […]

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— We are in the season of Advent which, minimally conceived, marks the beginning of a period of reflective waiting and preparation for that-which-is-to-come .  However, because the symbol of that-which-is-to-come in the Advent myth has become so familiar to us — namely the new-born Jesus as a representation of divinity-is-among-us-never-gone — it is easy to forget that the full nature of that-which-is-to-come can never be known beforehand. You may say that the main characters in the Advent myth all knew that that-which-is-to-c...

1: White SlavesI always thought “free, white, and twenty-one” was racist and redundant. Turns out it’s just racist. In the Old South, some slaves were legally white.Whiteness and slavery had different rules. Slaves were people whose mothers were slaves. White people included people who were either 3/4 white (a quadroon) or 7/8 white (an octoroon), depending on the state’s legal definition. That

                                                                      Hanukkah Oh Hanukkah performed by early childhood musicians the Kiboomers. It will be night 7 of Hanukkah this evening.   It seems the vast majority of newer songs for the Festival of Light are written for children .   Most come in two broad categories .   First are instructional songs meant to explain the celebration ’ s meaning , origins , and customs .   The second are novelty songs meant to be catchy alternatives to the one holiday song that is used over and over in public holiday observances , school programs , and gets regular air play on holiday radio channels — Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel.   The songs also come w...

St. Peter, Tecumseh, and Malcolm X said, “Respect everyone.” It’s excellent advice.The full version of Peter’s advice:“Respect everyone, and love the family of believers. Fear God, and respect the king.” — 1 Peter 2:17, New Living TranslationThe full version of Malcolm’s advice:“Be peaceful, be courteous, obey the law, respect everyone; but if someone puts his hand on you, send him to the

If we look at how we learn, we'll notice a few things that can be applied also to how other people learn and how education can be designed for greater efficacy.  Adults and babies learn the same way. We listen, we watch what goes on around us. When we are able, we test what we see to ascertain the reality of that which surrounds us. Babies tend to learn a bit faster than the rest of us. By the time they're ready for school, they know a lot. And what they have learned provides a framework of experience against which to measure what they are being taught. And all the kids arriving at school at the same time will not know the same things, nor should they.   That is what we are attempting to address through progressive education. There's a...

"At this season, we can ask ourselves what we are meant to learn from the ups and downs of the past year.  The eclipse demands that we face ourselves and our life lessons. If we didn't have the best of years or life we feel stagnant, we can look at what lies on the path ahead." Continue reading Column: A Good Year, A Hard Year at The Wild Hunt.

Please join us next Wednesday (8 December 2021) 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.

All Souls is proud to be a member congregation of Highland Center Ministries which has continually served the Highland Blessing Dinner every Thursday night for over 8 years now. Even through the COVID-19 pandemic, the dinner continued with takeout meals and is now back in person with a free sit down dinner for all vaccinated … Continue reading "Highland Center Ministries — December 2021 Give-Away-The-Plate Recipient"

We will continue to watch the local COVID numbers.  We feel encouraged by the cooling weather and the possibility of comfortable outdoor activities. We are not resuming regular classes for children and youth at this time because our classrooms are too small to be safe for unvaccinated children, and because we want some time to … Continue reading "Children and Youth Religious Education Updates"

Please join us on Sunday (5 December 2021) at 9:00 AM for our adult religious education class via Zoom. We are discussing episodes of the podcast Learning How to See with Rev. Brian McLaren, Father Richard Rohr, and Rev. Jacqui Lewis. They are discussing the 13 kinds of bias that Rev. Barbara mentioned recently in … Continue reading "Online Adult Religious Education — 5 December 2021"

Please join us on Sunday (5 December 2021) at 11:00 AM for “Ought: Taught, Bought, Fought, Sought” by Rev. Barbara Jarrell. Rev. Barbara is back in the pulpit on this second Sunday of Advent and 8th Day of Hanukkah. Our service will be livestreamed on Facebook Live here. This will be our fifth consecutive in-person … Continue reading "In-Person and Online All-Ages Worship (5 December 2021)"

“We, bearers of the dream, affirm that a new vision of hope is emerging. We pledge to work for that community in which justice will be actively present. We affirm that there is struggle yet ahead. Yet we know that in the struggle is the hope for the future. We affirm that we are co-creators … Continue reading Hope

A medium to A-list celebrities charges $1111 an hour and claims to channel Jesus Christ. It’s important not to jump to an atheist position just because this sounds outrageous. We need to learn to discern genuine messages from those that are not.

    Faustus Socinus, also known as Faust Paolo Sozzini and sometimes as Faust Socyn was born in Siena in Tuscany on this day, the 5th of December in 1539. He was educated at home and quickly fell under the influence of his uncle Celso, who encouraged the boy’s searching intellect, as well as another […]

                                                                      Lo, How a Rose E're Blooming performed by the Robert Shaw Chorale. It is already the Second Sunday of Advent, and the Winter Holiday Music Festival has not yet featured a hymn appropriate for that period of anticipatory waiting.  We aim to fix that today with one of the oldest Advent carols, Lo, How a Rose E’re Blooming . Although Americans tend to believe that the Christmas Season begins as soon as the Thanksgiving dishes are washed, Catholics and most Protestants are clear that Christmastide does not begin until December 25 and continues for 12 days until the Feast of the Epiphanyon January 6.  Before that a distinct seas...

"I hope all members will find a way to put their interests to use in work as a volunteer. Volunteering is a great way to learn how the parts of the church work separately and together. The volunteer has an opportunity to widen their perspective; get to know other members, develop talents, and take part in the planning and growth of All Souls. The post Centennial Awards: Judy Jarvis appeared first on BeyondBelief.