WWUUD stream

🔒
❌ About FreshRSS
There are new articles available, click to refresh the page.
Before yesterdayUUpdates

Alternative democracies

27 July 2022 at 22:05
Unitarian Universalists claim that one of our central principles is democratic process. As our United States democracy seems on the verge of failing, maybe it’s time to look for new ideas in alternative forms of democracy. A recent paper by Stephen C. Angle titled “Confucian Leadership Meets Confucian Democracy” explores one such alternative democracy (Journal … Continue reading "Alternative democracies"

Remembering Dr. James Lovelock

27 July 2022 at 20:17
While not Pagan, the passing of Dr. James Ephraim Lovelock and his body of work had a definite impact on Pagan thought through Gaianism Continue reading Remembering Dr. James Lovelock at The Wild Hunt.

Membership Is On The Move!

27 July 2022 at 20:13

The Sinking Ship of Public Education and the Failure of Choice

27 July 2022 at 16:37
By Jon Hale | News of the projected 30,000-student enrollment drop in New York reveals, yet again, that public schools are suffering from long-term effects of the pandemic. Beyond this, however, insidious politics are at play. Dramatic student disenrollment also illustrates that privatization efforts through charters and homeschooling have benefitted from the pandemic.

The 'Juiciest Part': GA Discusses Article II Changes

27 July 2022 at 10:00
Arthur Hirsch Attendees discussed the future of the UUA's Principles, Purposes, and Sources.

Wednesday Photo: King’s College, tourists and a jogger on The Backs

27 July 2022 at 11:29
Taken with a Fujifilm X100F Just click on the photo to enlarge it     This was taken on 28th May 2020, just a week and a half after the ending of the first lockdown here in the UK. There were still hardly any people around as I walked through Cambridge but, as I stood looking over to King’s College Chapel from The Backs ready to take a photo without the usual crush of tourists, whoosh, one mother and daughter stopped to look at the view and a family of four walked into shot from the left along with a jogger. Typical! After a minute or so the view was clear of people again so I duly took the shot I wanted to in the first place. However, when I came to look at the two shots this one won out, not least of all because it displayed the fi...

A Warm Bucket of Spit—The Story of the American Vice Presidency—Part I

27 July 2022 at 08:02
  Note:   Despite his avowed decision to run for re-election, two years before the 2024 election many folks—myself included—doubt Joe Biden will actually be the Democratic candidate.   Despite a strong start and some real achievements the Coronavirus pandemic, the raging inflation, and the failure of the White House and Congressional Democrats to be able to deliver on key promises have put the incumbent significantly under water in popularity and lagging behind any generic Republican in the polls.   His age is catching up to him and he seems increasingly fragile.   If he does withdraw or become unable to run again his Vice President Kamala Harris would be a likely choice for the top of the ticket.   But she has her negatives, t...

Diversity

27 July 2022 at 05:00
“May we savor the beauty of our abundance and diversity, always cherishing one another and our earth. May we remember to inhale the lushness in life knowing that we are a people of beauty.” -Kimberlee Tomczak Carlson How do you honor the beauty in diversity?

London Libraries

27 July 2022 at 06:31
Since my purpose in visiting London was to conduct research, it only seems reasonable that I offer a blog post about the city’s libraries. I spent time at only a fraction of them. There’s probably well over a half dozen libraries that I could have made use of if I had had more time. But, […]

Three Messages from Loki to the World

27 July 2022 at 05:00
The Norse God Loki delivered three messages in a recent Seiðr ritual, messages that were meant not just for those in the ritual, but for all of us.

Cosmopolitan Zen: A Small Lesson to be Gleaned from Turning Toward the Other

27 July 2022 at 04:00
      A friend just alluded to the view that Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco were more “International cities” than “American.” I would read “San Francisco” as “San Francisco/Oakland Bay Area.” Now, I’m rolling the idea around. Cities are almost always more, well, cosmopolitan. These days with a trending inward and […]

Well-preserved Roman Temples with female deities found in Gelderland

26 July 2022 at 17:00
A Roman sanctuary temple complex found in the Netherlands contains inscriptions to the Jumones, a plural female divinity. Continue reading Well-preserved Roman Temples with female deities found in Gelderland at The Wild Hunt.

The Wit and the Occasional Unfortunate Notion of George Bernard Shaw

26 July 2022 at 07:30
Shaw in 1909 at the peak of his creative powers. On July 26, 1856 the only man ever to win a Nobel Prize and an Academy Award—Al Gore doesn’t count because his movie won the Oscar, but he personally did not—was born in Dublin , Ireland to a minor civil servant and an aspiring singer.   George Bernard Shaw was also a major influence on my young life when I was type cast in another blowhard character part as Alfred E. Doolittle in a high school production of Pygmalion .     Just as a role in Inherit the Wind led me to the treasure trove of Clarence Darrow, American radicalism, and the labor movement, this role introduced me to the wonders of Shavian wit and wisdom and to socialism.   For several months, until I actual started dow...

Learning About Difference

26 July 2022 at 05:00
At some point, each of us has had an encounter with difference. At some point, we have learned that we are not exactly the same as other people. For some of us, that encounter came tied to messages about power, superiority and inferiority–messages that have proven toxic to us later in life. How was it … Continue reading Learning About Difference

UUA Reaches Key Milestone in Search Process for New President: Next President Will Assume Role in Summer 2023

25 July 2022 at 16:45
The UUA Presidential Search Committee (PSC) has reached a key milestone in its process for electing a new president. In April, the PSC opened applications in which interested individuals could apply through an online portal, which is now closed. Continue reading "UUA Reaches Key Milestone in Search Process for New President: Next President Will Assume Role in Summer 2023"

Pagan Community Notes: Week of July 25, 2022

25 July 2022 at 17:59
In this week's Pagan Community Notes, Pope Francis offers an apology to Indigenous community in Canada, Scholar discusses research on Paganism at Cherry hill Seminary, NPS names a new Superintendent of Denali National Park and Preserve, and more news. Continue reading Pagan Community Notes: Week of July 25, 2022 at The Wild Hunt.

Words from Our Volunteers

25 July 2022 at 05:00
Our members serve the church and the wider community in countless ways, and on Sunday, August 7 we'll celebrate our volunteers with two special services devoted to recognizing these contributions. The post Words from Our Volunteers appeared first on BeyondBelief.

My Take on This I Believe—Murfin Verse

25 July 2022 at 09:05
The NPR revival of Edward R. Murrow's early 1950s radio series inspired a new edition of the printed essays in 2009. Yesterday’s summer service at the Tree of Life Unitarian Universalist Congregation in McHenry, Illinois was lay led by the church’s Poetry Group.   The topic was This I Believe inspired by Edward R. Murrow five minute radio program on CBS that ran from 1951-1955.   Murrow solicited short mini-essays—no longer than 3½ minutes—in which the famous and ordinary people explained their person core beliefs.   The series was non-religious and one of the first to identify itself a spiritual and personal.   It was enormously popular and spun off book collections and a widely circulated syndicated newspaper column.   It...

Frightened

25 July 2022 at 05:00
“When I am frightened, will you reassure me? When I’m uncertain, will you hold my hand? Will you be strong for me?” -Shelley Jackson Denham When has your compassion touched someone else in a time of fear?

July 25, 2022

25 July 2022 at 05:00
Our members serve the church and the wider community in countless ways, and on Sunday, August 7 we'll celebrate our volunteers with two special services devoted to recognizing these contributions. The post appeared first on BeyondBelief.

WHO AM I? A Teaching of Sri Ramana Maharashi

25 July 2022 at 04:00
      WHO AM I?The Teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi Translation byT.M.P.Mahadevan INTRODUCTION “Who am I?” is the title given to a set of questions and answers bearing on Self-enquiry. The questions were put to Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi by one Sri M. Sivaprakasam Pillai about the year 1902. Sri Pillai, a graduate […]

Weekly Bread #180

24 July 2022 at 16:41
Beauty is a curious thing. I took this picture wanting to capture the damage of a recent grass fire near one of my favorite hiking trails. But even though the fire damage takes up most of the image, my eye focuses on the lake, the green trees, and Mount Tamalpais. Somehow they look even more […]

Reseña: Endymion or The State of Entropy

24 July 2022 at 16:42
Alan D. D. reseña el nuevo libro "Endymion or The State of Entropy: A Lyrical Drama" escrito por Kurt R. Ward e ilustrado por Rebecca Yanovskaya. Esta fantasía ilustrada evoca un mundo en el que personajes arquetípicos de la mitología griega luchan por el dominio, mientras Endymion, el personaje principal, intenta despertarse de un sueño interminable. Continue reading Reseña: Endymion or The State of Entropy at The Wild Hunt.

Review: Endymion or the State of Entropy – A Lyrical Drama

24 July 2022 at 16:42
Alan D.D. reviews the new book "Endymion or The State of Entropy: A Lyrical Drama" written by Kurt R. Ward and illustrated by Rebecca Yanovskaya. This illustrated fantasy conjures a world in which archetypal characters from Greek mythology battle for dominance, as Endymion, the main character, attempts to wake himself from an endless sleep. Continue reading Review: Endymion or the State of Entropy – A Lyrical Drama at The Wild Hunt.

The Victory of Lugh

24 July 2022 at 14:00
Today’s Sunday service at the Denton UU Fellowship: the story of how Lugh led his people to victory over their oppressors, and what that story means for us here and now.

Faith Forged in Fire & Flow

24 July 2022 at 12:30
What does it mean for faith to be forged in fire? What does it mean for faith to be forged in flow? How do two conflicting elements lead to more faith-filled transformations and faith forward actions?

INTRARELIGIOUS REALIZATION Ruminations of an American Zen Buddhist

24 July 2022 at 11:45
INTRARELIGIOUS REALIZATION Ruminations of an American Zen Buddhist Robert Aitken (Me, I’m fascinated by the meeting of religions and the inevitability of syncretisms and synthesis of various sorts. On the other hand there are numerous problems. The wonderful Zen teacher Robert Aitken offers a view which is important to consider…) I threw up my hands […]

The Gifts of Birds and Berries

24 July 2022 at 10:55
Right now the garden is happy with berries: the raspberries are loaded with fruit, and this is the first year for a blueberry harvest. We planted these blueberry bushes in 2017. This year, I put up some fence posts and draped the berry bushes with gauzy fabric after the berries started to form. (Tried it […]

Cheyenne’s Daddy of ‘em All Frontier Days Back for a 125th Time

24 July 2022 at 07:49
Back in my old hometown of Cheyenne , Wyoming the annual rodeo completion cum bacchanal known as Cheyenne Frontier Days is underway again for the 125th edition of what has usually been held annually. World Wars and the Coronavirus caused some cancelations, but organizers are hoping it will attract the 200 thousand that generally attended the Daddy of ‘em All pre-pandemic.   The big event is held over the ten days around the last full week in July virtually swamping the Wyoming capitol city’s 64,000 residents.   It is both the longest continuously held cowboy competitionin the world and by far the largestoutdoor competition of its kind.   Although there has been a National Finals Rodeo since 1956 to crown individual champions in ea...

Healthy Conflict

24 July 2022 at 05:00
Conflict can be healthy if engaged honestly, directly, and compassionately. Healthy conflict involves patience, humility, and a concern for the other. How do you engage in healthy conflict behaviors?

All-Ages Worship (24 July 2022)

23 July 2022 at 19:49
Please join us this Sunday (24 July 2022) at 11:00 AM for “There’s Nothing Like Waiting” 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 … Continue reading "All-Ages Worship (24 July 2022)"

Online Adult Religious Education — 24 July 2022

23 July 2022 at 19:41
Please join us on Sunday (24 July 2022) at 9:00 AM for our adult religious education class via Zoom. We will view and discuss the second half of the Ware Lecture from the Unitarian Universalist General Assembly 2022 featuring Dr. Ibram X. Kendi. Please join us.

Children and Youth Religious Education for 24 July 2022

23 July 2022 at 19:30
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. This Sunday, the middle school / high school classroom mural is ready for painters. We are inviting the younger class to help the … Continue reading "Children and Youth Religious Education for 24 July 2022"

Zoom Lunch Now on Tuesdays (26 July 2022)

23 July 2022 at 19:19
Please join us next Tuesday (26 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.

Opinion: The World Tree and the State of Affairs

23 July 2022 at 17:00
We, the people, are down here under the massive roots of the World Tree. In this vision, we are not at the center of creation. We are not even at the center of attention. Continue reading Opinion: The World Tree and the State of Affairs at The Wild Hunt.

Paul Krassner—The Last Yippie!

23 July 2022 at 08:06
Paul Krassner was unrepentant and defiant to the end of his long life. The icons and influencers of my youth are dropping like flies.   Paul Krassner died on Sunday July 21, 2019 in Desert Hot Springs, California after a long period of declining health.   He was 87 years old.   Always an iconoclast and avowed humanisthe would have laughed at suggestions in some Facebook posts I saw soon after that he had gone to a better place or would somehow be reunited with former pals and co-conspirators.   Dead is dead period he would have insisted—kick the useless corpseaside and move on.   But he might have had an eye-rolling chuckle at the hippiesque announcement that “Paul Krasner has left the planet.” Most mainstream press obituaries...

Non-Violence

23 July 2022 at 05:00
“The place to begin is at home—that is, with ourselves. Notice what is life-denying and resist it—just say ‘no’ for your sake and your children’s sake. Live with the moral authority that comes from compassion and non-violence. Form communities of people who will sustain you in living as you wish to live….” -Marilyn Sewell Whose … Continue reading Non-Violence

Squeezing Through the Eye of a Needle

23 July 2022 at 04:00
      I’m always happy when there’s a new posting from Andrew Henry’s wonderful wonderful Youtube channel, Religion for Breakfast. If you’re not familiar with it and you care at all for a scholarly approach to the matters of religion, you are in for a treat. You’re welcome. On the 18th of this month, […]

Westport, Mass., to Cumberland Center, Me.

22 July 2022 at 22:25
We drive up to the Cumberland County Fairgrounds in Maine to sing shape note music. We tried to check into the campground on the fairgrounds, but there was no one to check in with. We called the number of the man who supposedly oversees the campground. He sort of grunted at us over the phone, … Continue reading "Westport, Mass., to Cumberland Center, Me."

Opinion: This is My America

22 July 2022 at 17:00
Maybe it was a Kodachrome red, white, and blue history that never really existed, but I believed it. I do not care what was hidden behind the lessons because what I believed matters more. I believed in hope. I believed in an intelligent, reasoned love of country. I believed in the ideal of good and right prevailing. I believed in freedom for all. Continue reading Opinion: This is My America at The Wild Hunt.

How can we center the inherent worth and dignity of every person in this extreme heat?

22 July 2022 at 15:24
When we think of climate disasters, we usually think about wildfires, floods, or hurricanes. Extreme heat may not be the first thing to come to mind, but it is one of the most dangerous of all climate impacts, especially with urban heat islands common in historically segregated communities . Extreme heat kills hundreds of Americans each year and causes many more to be seriously ill. Image 1: Parent and child swimming in a public pool. Image 2: Two first responders loading a patient into an ambulance. Text: "What Media Shows. Reality." News of record-breaking heat is everywhere right now–you may be feeling the effects in your hometown. While the media says, “everyone loves the summer heat!” with fun pictures of children playing in p...

SCOTUS Will Not Get the Last Word on Climate

22 July 2022 at 13:57
The struggle for climate justice continues in the wake of a devastating Supreme Court ruling on greenhouse gas emissions.

Faith in Mind, the Xinxinming, a Dozen Translations of a Central Zen Text

22 July 2022 at 12:17
      The Xinxin Ming Attributed to Sengcan Xinxin Ming (alternate spellings Xin Xin Ming or Xinxinming) (Chinese: 信心銘; Pīnyīn: Xìnxīn Míng; Wade–Giles: Hsin Hsin Ming; Romanji: Shinjinmei), meaning “Faith in Mind”, is a poem attributed to the Third Chinese Chán Patriarch Jianzhi Sengcan (Chinese: 鑑智僧璨; Pīnyīn: Jiànzhì Sēngcàn; Wade–Giles: Chien-chih Seng-ts’an; Romaji: Kanchi Sōsan) and one of the earliest Chinese Chan expressions of the Buddhist mind training practice. The Zen teacher Dosho Port suggests “If […]

Meditation with Larry Androes (23 July 2022)

22 July 2022 at 09:53
Please join us on Saturday (23 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 (23 July 2022)"

A Commune Rose in St. Louis Amid the Great Railway Strike of 1877

22 July 2022 at 08:01
Unlike much of the country during the Great Railway Strike of 1877, under a declared Commune and strike committee, closing the rail yards and warehouses was orderly and spread into the first General Strike in America. It was great moment in American labor history that has been strippedfrom our collective memories.   If it is noted at all it is a mere a footnote to the Great Railway Strike of 1877, that explosion of pent up working class wrath that rolled violently across the nation and scared the bejesus out of the oligarchsof a rapidly industrializing nation.   But it deserves more attention.   Much more. The Railway Strike erupted on July 14 in Martinsburg, West Virginia.   Amid the lingering depression set off by the Panic of 1873...

Kicking the can into hell?—A meditation written during the extreme heatwave in the UK

22 July 2022 at 06:08
“An Angel Leading a Soul into Hell”—a follower of Hieronymus Bosch (c.1450–1516)  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— Although I realise it’s very different for many other people, the fear of hell played little part in my own liberal Protestant upbringing. But this week I found myself very much in hell thanks to the truly distressing but, this time at least, mercifully brief, extreme heatwave we have just gone through in the UK. The experience served to remind me of Christianity’s idea of in what consists hell and how and why this idea has help...

Pluralism

22 July 2022 at 05:00
Our religious pluralism asks us to let go of certainty in how we experience the sacred, and instead embrace the understanding that many different ways of experiencing it are equally valid. Sometimes, this is a challenge. How have you been challenged by practicing pluralism?

A True History of Mary Magdalene

22 July 2022 at 04:00
      In pretty much all sacramental Christian churches today, the 22nd of July, is marked out as a feast for Mary Magdalene. Over the years I’ve paused to reflect on this most remarkable and in some ways mysterious woman. Each time I do I find a need to tweak and often to add […]

Fog

21 July 2022 at 22:15
When I got up at about six this morning, there was fairly heavy fog. I went for a walk, but my glasses soon fogged up and I couldn’t see very well. So I listened for birds. A Lesser Yellowlegs remained unseen, but I could hear it calling tu — tu — tu as if flew … Continue reading "Fog"

Museum of Eureka Springs Art

21 July 2022 at 17:04
Today an important announcement was made about the formation of the Museum of Eureka Springs Art, MESA. We have a board, non-profit status and a place for the museum to exist for a few years while we get it off its feet. Founding a museum to celebrate our art has long been a dream among many here, so this is an important step. From the press release: The recently formed Museum of Eureka Springs Art group has secured a space at the Eureka Springs Community Center in what has long been known as the Highlander Room. (Highlanders, you remember it as your old cafeteria!) The museum will not occupy the space until renovations on the community center’s former band room. Grants have written to transform the former band room into usable space f...

The restoration of Boleskine House continues

21 July 2022 at 17:00
The work to restore Boleskine House continues with significant progress underway this summer. Continue reading The restoration of Boleskine House continues at The Wild Hunt.

Disability Is a Thread in the Fabric of Life: A Reading Guide for Disability Pride

21 July 2022 at 15:55
Nobody wanted long COVID on our collective pandemic Bingo card, but there it is. In her “The Daily Show” interview, OG disability rights badass Judy Heumann told Trevor Noah that the likelihood of his acquiring a disability, temporary or permanent, was statistically high. He took her statement as a threat in jest, but there’s truth in that for us.

Mystic South 2022: A Necessary Retreat

21 July 2022 at 05:00
“I needed this more than I realized.” That was my first and strongest thought as I left Mystic South last Sunday.

Dialogue

21 July 2022 at 05:00
My daughter, when she is frustrated, often asks me to have “a conversation.” By this, she means that I should listen to her and agree with everything she says. Slowly, she is learning that real conversation is two ways. We both speak. We both listen. We both are challenged to experience the other fully. -Rev. … Continue reading Dialogue

Carlos Duarte Costa, A Church for Jesus, and Christian Communism

21 July 2022 at 04:00
        Carlos Duarte Costa was born in Rio de Janeiro on this day, the 21st of July, in 1888. He became a prominent Brazilian Roman Catholic clergyman, eventually Bishop of Botucatu. The bishop denounced the corruption of the civil authorities. And was a central figure in the the Constitutionalist Revolution. He also denounced […]

A Murfin Mid-Summer Memoir—Cheyenne Far Away and Long Ago

21 July 2022 at 03:00
Cheyenne's 16th Street a/k/a Lincolnway/U.S. Highway 30.  My destination most Saturdays when I had money to spend.  That Army surplus store on the corner was a favorite. It is a hot by dry week and here in McHenry County, Illinois—a short streak of picture perfect summer weather with brilliant skies.   The Old Man’s mind to wanders to other summers long ago and far away. Take those in Cheyenne, Wyoming almost 60 years ago.  Which one to pick?  Each was a little different as I drifted from childhood into my early teens.  Let’s pick, say, 1963 for no good reason other than it popped into my head first.  I would have been 14 years old, between years at Cary Junior High. We lived, as we had since a traumatic move in second grade...

Sinkford Receives UUA’s Highest Honor

20 July 2022 at 16:00
Elaine McArdle Former UUA President William G. Sinkford recognized for decades of distinguished service to the faith.

Pagans Reflect on a Post-Roe Nation

20 July 2022 at 17:00
TWH spoke with several Pagans who voiced their concerns and considerations on reproductive health decisions in a post-Roe world Continue reading Pagans Reflect on a Post-Roe Nation at The Wild Hunt.

July 20, 2022

20 July 2022 at 14:16
Sunday, July 24 ~ 10:30 – Noon sUUmmer sUUnday Spirit Circle   “Walk tall as the trees, live strong as the mountains, be gentle as the spring winds, keep the warmth of the summer sun in your heart, and the great spirit will always be with you.” – First Nations Blessing   The Unitarian Church of   [ … ] The post appeared first on Unitarian Church of Marlborough and Hudson.

Recording and Resources from #HealNotHarm: Restore Asylum Now Teach-In

20 July 2022 at 09:31
On July 18, Interfaith Immigration Coalition, Side With Love, & the UU Service Committee offered "Heal Not Harm: Restore Asylum Now" webinar and teach-in. As shared by our speakers who offered their lived experiences, Title 42 is an inhumane and racist policy that violates the inherent worth and dignity of asylum seekers attempting to find safety within the borders of the United States. From blatant anti-blackness, to shackled dehumanization in front of their families, their stories remind us that what is happening is not theoretical but happening every day to real people. And their call to end the atrocities they and others have faced is one we cannot ignore. As people of faith we must not only listen to and learn from the real people w...

Right Speech

20 July 2022 at 05:00
As Buddhist teacher Thanissaro Bhikkhu explains, “Right speech, explained in negative terms, means avoiding four types of harmful speech: lies (words spoken with the intent of misrepresenting the truth); divisive speech (spoken with the intent of creating rifts between people); harsh speech (spoken with the intent of hurting another person’s feelings); and idle chatter (spoken … Continue reading Right Speech

St Wilgefortis: Recalling a Queer Saint

20 July 2022 at 04:00
        The story of St Wilgefortis is simple enough. Born noble as a teenager in Galicia, she is promised in marriage to a Muslim (or some other kind of pagan) king. Having secretly taken a vow of perpetual virginity she prayed to be made repulsive to the king. The answer to her […]

1969—Man Oh Man on the Moon

20 July 2022 at 03:00
The world was transfixed by the grainy video from a camera attached to the Lunar Module as Neil Armstrong set foot on the Moon. As Americans and countless others around the world stayed glued to theirtelevisions, Astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first man to set foot on the face of the Moonon July 20, 1969, 53 years ago today. Armstrong, the commander of the Apollo 11mission climbed down a ladderfrom the Lunar Module Eagle to the surface in the Sea of Tranquility at 10:56 P.M. Eastern Day Light Time.   As he climbed down he repeated a carefully constructed statement on what he knew would be a historic occasion.   Viewers at home heard him say, “That’s one small step for man, one giant step for mankind.”   Armstrong would late...

Allens Pond at sundown

19 July 2022 at 20:19
I took a walk after dinner, past the crowd waiting at Bayside Restaurant, across the street to Allens Pond. In the field within sight of the road, a man was talking to a twelve year old boy who had earbuds dangling around his neck. “There are probably foxes in here,” he said, gesturing to a … Continue reading "Allens Pond at sundown"

Wednesday Photo: The Summer Game—Village Cricket in Fen Ditton

19 July 2022 at 19:00
Taken with a Fujifilm X100F Just click on the photo to enlarge it During my summer leave in August 2021, my wife, Susanna, and I took a gentle stroll out of Cambridge along the River Cam to Fen Ditton. We spent a very pleasant hour or so on a bench in the little cemetery there eating our sandwiches and drinking tea whilst this game of cricket pleasantly unfolded across the adjacent playing field. The greatest pleasures of life are nearly always this simple . . . Here on our native soil, we breathe once more. The cock that crows, the smoke that curls, the sound Of bells – those boys that in yon meadow ground In white-sleeve shirts are playing…</i> “Composed In The Valley Near Dover, On The Day Of Landing” (1802)  William Wordsworth

The UU Search And Call Process

19 July 2022 at 17:08
Our ministerial search process is unwieldy and downright crazy. The UUA Director of Settlement, Rev. Keith Kron, and I have had conversations over the years about how much time and energy it takes our congregations to settle a parish minister. Anyone who is paying attention to this issue is well aware that the enormity of … Continue reading "The UU Search And Call Process"

Updated climate change data suggests the threat to harvests to increase

19 July 2022 at 17:00
The projected impact of climate change to food sources and agriculture is predicted to be increasingly worse over the coming decades by researchers. Continue reading Updated climate change data suggests the threat to harvests to increase at The Wild Hunt.

Clergy Burn-Out: The Current Crisis

19 July 2022 at 14:21
Hello, folks. I’ve been meaning to get back to blogging but life intervened! But now I am on vacation and have time to dedicate to an important conversation about clergy resignations. So many clergy have joined the Great Resignation and I think lay people need to know a lot more than they are being told … Continue reading "Clergy Burn-Out: The Current Crisis"

Noticing the birth of Seraphim of Sarov, and with that a few mind bubbles

19 July 2022 at 11:37
      According to the old style, today, the 19th of July, in 1754, is marked as Seraphim of Sarov‘s birthday. Current calendars put the date at July 30th. But noticing it and thinking of the saint caused a flood of mind bubbles… Seraphim is perhaps the most famous of the Eastern Christian saints. […]

Move Over Egypt—An American Plague of Locust

19 July 2022 at 06:48
                                                         Two Rocky Mountain Locusts on a grass stalk photographed in Canada in 1875. On July 20, 1875, the second year of a prolonged drought, farmersin eastern Colorado looked up to see an odd , shimmering cloud boiling towards them.   It was the head of a swarm of Rocky Mountain Locust that would eventually grow to be 1,800 miles longand 110 miles wide and stretch from southern Canada to north Texas covering an area larger than California.   The swarm contained an estimated 3.5 trillion insects and may have been the largest concentration of individuals of any speciesin world history.   The locusts, a species of grasshopper, should not be confused with ...

Unknowable

19 July 2022 at 05:00
“Let us have the courage to sit in the unknowing, to look for the answers even if they are to sit with our own questions, to be willing to be authentic with ourselves, to be ready to bring our face to the world.” -Katie Kandarian How have you sat in the unknowing?

Pagan Monasticism as a Solitary Practitioner

19 July 2022 at 05:00
Announcing a new on-line class from Under the Ancient Oaks: “Pagan Monasticism as a Solitary Practitioner.” Registration is open now; the class begins August 4 and will run for six weeks. Details are in Module 0 on the Courses page.

Pagan Community Notes: Week of July 18, 2022

18 July 2022 at 19:03
In this week's Pagan Community Notes, wildfires in California and the Mediterranean, more fake social media accounts, statue re-creations at the Met, and more news. Continue reading Pagan Community Notes: Week of July 18, 2022 at The Wild Hunt.

Mandela’s Legacy: A Deep Commitment to Justice for All

18 July 2022 at 12:20
Mandela's legacy urges us to continue the fight for human rights across the world.

A Preview of Coming Attractions—Mass Murder Under the Golden Arches

18 July 2022 at 07:48
Paramedics attend a victim of the 1984 McDonalds massacre in San Ysidro, California as a stunned SWAT Team member surveys the carnage. Mass shootings were not unheard of in 1984, but they were far from common.   The 1966 Texas Tower shootings by Charles Whitman at the University of Texas in Austin is often considered the first modern mass murder targeting random victims. 16 were killed and 30 wounded on campus that day.   But the sniper attack would be rare until the Las Vegas shooting in 2017 with 59 dead plus the shooter.   Most incidents with multiple deaths—three or more—were the result of family killings, street gang activity , organized crime wars, or in connection with a crime like robbery.   What happened at a San Ysidro,...

Uncertainty

18 July 2022 at 05:00
Part of me is searching desperately for trust, wondering how I will find it after having had it broken again and again and again. I think that at least part of the answer is found in compassion—the compassion we have to have for ourselves for the very human condition of not knowing a situation or … Continue reading Uncertainty

Then the Blue City Ran Red

18 July 2022 at 05:00
We experienced Eid al-Adha publicly and intimately when we were spontaneously invited into a home in Chefchaouen (the Blue City) in Morocco. The post Then the Blue City Ran Red appeared first on BeyondBelief.

Thinking of the Old Catholics and the Union of Utrecht

18 July 2022 at 04:00
    In 1868, Pope Pius IX convened what would come to be called the First Vatican Council. It appears the pope an his closer associates were concerned with the issues of rationalism, materialism, and liberalism in general, as well as the specifics of rising socialism, communism, and anarchism. They did as charged and duly […]

Temple of Witchcraft offers new program in Energetic Geometry

17 July 2022 at 17:00
An innovative program being offered by Temple of Witchcraft in Salem, New Hampshire, is redefining ecological awareness and may even lead to a new sacred site for magical practitioners. Continue reading Temple of Witchcraft offers new program in Energetic Geometry at The Wild Hunt.

Sermon: “Divine Image, Human Purpose”

17 July 2022 at 16:22
I preached from this sermon manuscript for the Universalist National Memorial Church, on July 17, 2022 using lessons from the Revised Common Lectionary: Colossians 1:15-28 and Luke 10:38-42. Sermon I would like to thank Pastor Gatton for inviting me to the pulpit and you for welcoming me. I’ll keep today’s comments brief. I will only look at … Continue reading "Sermon: “Divine Image, Human Purpose”"

Weekly Bread #179

17 July 2022 at 13:25
We got home from our road trip yesterday afternoon. After almost a full month away, it is good to be home. My bags are unpacked and the laundry is done, but it will take me a few days to settle back in. It was a great trip, the first long once since COVID hit. Except […]

Adventures in Failing

17 July 2022 at 12:30
We as a society have become accustomed to defining how far a person has come on their journey through life by the measure of the successes they have achieved. But, as much as we may not like to admit it, our failures also have a lot to say about how far we have come...and often they have more to say about how we view life than success. Join Matt Pargeter-Villarreal (past intern at First Unitarian Albuquerque) through a sermon journey of some of the failures that he has encountered and have impacted his life...and how he wouldn’t have it any other way.

Mademoiselle Corday Had a Date With Dr. Guillotine

17 July 2022 at 06:39
Charlotte Corday in the tumbril which bore her to the guillotine, by James E. McConnell.  By all accounts Charlotte Corday stepped on the scaffold on July 17, 1793 in Pariswith remarkable calm and dignity.   She knelt laying her reportedly lovely neck in the yoke of the apparatus.   At the appointed time the sure knife of the guillotine fell and her head tumbled into the waiting basket.   Suddenly, a man named Legros, who may, or may not, have been an assistant to the executioneror perhaps a carpenter who had worked on the machine that morning, rushed forward grabbing the head by its light brown hair and slapped it across the face.   A witness wrote that Corday’s face had an expression of “unequivocal indignation” at the slap....

How To Read Myths

17 July 2022 at 05:00
Read myths plainly – focus on the story, not on the words. Look for truth – especially truth about how to live virtuously in difficult circumstances. Reject literalism and embrace ambiguity. And then put what you learn to use building a practice of your own.

Interdependence

17 July 2022 at 05:00
When theology is lived in the midst of community, when it is given life as the bonds that connect each and every one of us as an interdependent web of creation, we understand our principles as living, breathing, organisms that require our care.  We understand that affirming and promoting inherent worth and dignity (yours, and … Continue reading Interdependence

Marking my Seventy-fourth Birthday, a brief sketch of what happened and how I ended up in the pickle I’m in

17 July 2022 at 04:00
      Today, the 17th of July, in the year of our Lord, 1948, I was born in the city of “no there there,” in the land named for the island home of a tribe of Amazon warriors and their queen. It was a Saturday, a mild day, the temperature never rose above 65 […]

Saco, Me., to Westport, Mass.

16 July 2022 at 22:18
We stayed up late last night singing around the camp fire. Glenn mostly led the singing, with help from Amy, and drumming by Richard. Jon and I helped out where we could with uke and guitar. At Jean-Pierre’s urging, Milene sang us a traditional French Canadian song. Chantelle and some others went to bed at … Continue reading "Saco, Me., to Westport, Mass."

All-Ages Worship (17 July 2022)

16 July 2022 at 18:22
Please join us this Sunday (17 July 2022) at 11:00 AM for “What’s in a Word.  Strengths and Weaknesses” 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 … Continue reading "All-Ages Worship (17 July 2022)"

Online Adult Religious Education — 17 July 2022

16 July 2022 at 18:12
Please join us on Sunday (17 July 2022) at 9:00 AM for our adult religious education class via Zoom. We will view and discuss the first half of the Ware Lecture from the Unitarian Universalist General Assembly 2022 featuring Dr. Ibram X. Kendi. Please join us.

Children and Youth Religious Education for 17 July 2022

16 July 2022 at 17:58
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 this Sunday. Middle and High School youth … Continue reading "Children and Youth Religious Education for 17 July 2022"

Zoom Lunch Now on Tuesdays (19 July 2022)

16 July 2022 at 17:44
Please join us next Tuesday (19 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.

Column: Spotlight on Queer Pagan Creatives

16 July 2022 at 17:43
Storm Faerywolf invites TWH's readers to take a break from the doom and gloom by celebrating a collection of queer Pagan creatives. Continue reading Column: Spotlight on Queer Pagan Creatives at The Wild Hunt.

American Buddhism in the First Half of the Twentieth Century: A Call for Writers

16 July 2022 at 11:42
      Tomorrow I turn seventy-four. According to the psalmist, The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. More contemporary translations say seventy years, and eighty. So. The sands are draining […]

table bases

16 July 2022 at 10:16
Yesterday I glued up the table bases and sent photos off to folks at Fine Woodworking to see if they might be interested in another article about table design. Next I drill holes in the table tops to connect with the bases. Jean and I attended a James Taylor concert last night and note that at 74 years old, he is still in top form. It was a lovely concert. His voice is still lovely and the music was sublime. Make, fix and create...

Late Casualties of the ’68 Democratic Convention Protests and Racism—The 1995 Chicago Heat Wave

16 July 2022 at 06:55
1995 headlines tell the shocking story of the heat wave disaster that hit Chicago in July. My Columbia College writing teacher John Schulz penned one of the earliest and best accounts of the demonstrations and street confrontations around the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago.   He called it No One Was Killed.   Perhaps he was premature in that judgement by27 years. In July of 1995 more than 700 people died as the city baked in temperatures that hovered around 100° .   It was breathlessly covered with grainy but graphictelevision footage of Chicagoans sweltering and inconvenient bodies stacked in refrigerator trailers at the overwhelmed Cook County Medical Examiner ’ s offices and buried unceremoniously in slit trenches. There ...
❌