“Spirits, we ask for guidance Send us strength and endurance Help us to give our all to this And hold nothing back For precious lives depend on it We will be imperfect Rest assured that we will mess up over and over again And we must do it anyway. May we summon the courage to … Continue reading →

The euthanasia of a rare white deer in the urban of Bootle last week has angered and disappointed Pagans in the U.K. and abroad. Continue reading Killing of a rare white stag in England upsets some Pagans at The Wild Hunt.

UUSC honors Indigenous survival and resilience while seeking a more just world where no one is forced to draw on these strengths.

Break out the confetti and the champagne! We’re having a double celebration for civil rights activist Desmond Meade! First, he has been named a 2021 MacArthur Fellow! Secondly, it’s the first-year anniversary of his book, “Let My People Vote: My Battle to Restore the Rights of Returning Citizens.” The MacArthur Foundation selected him to join this year’s class of Fellows because of his work to restore voting rights to 1.4 million formerly incarcerated citizens in Florida and to remove barriers to their full participation in civic life.

Today I'm sitting on the front porch with golden doodle daughter Rosie at my feet. She's chewing a long branch into short pieces and I'm attempting to compose my thoughts.  A friend, Elliot asked me if I'd studied Viktor Frankl and his book, "Man's Search for Meaning." Sometimes you get much of what you need from the name of the book, taken as an invitation to explore your own mind and your own experiences. As I explain in the introduction to my new book, some will get everything they need from the title alone as it invites them to explore the workings of their own hands and minds in the shaping of the world around us. Yesterday as Rosie and I sat on the porch, a doe walked out of the woods to present herself not 30 feet away. Of course...

Note:  The exceptionally brutal murder of young Matthew Shepard 23 years ago triggered a national debate and a movement that led to the adoption of hate crime laws across the country.  Many considered it a game changer.  In subsequent years public acceptance of homosexuality and homosexuals steadily grew as did legal protections against discrimination and stunning victories including the legal recognition of same gender marriage rights.  Many thought that the bad old days of queer bashing for sport and the like were gone for good.  But as in so many other areas the Trump era was a Band-Aid that rips off a scab on a bleeding wound when removed.  Nationally as well as they can be tracked violent assaults and murders of Gay men, women...

An Evangelical blogger says that either the Christian God exists or he does not exist. But there is a third option: he is simply one God among many. Theism is bigger than Christianity. It includes polytheism, and for several millennia, that was all it included.

  Vajrayana Buddhist scholar (and father of Ulma) Robert Thurman, and sometimes renegade Roman Catholic and now Anglican scholar and priest, Matthew Fox speak of their spiritual paths, and discuss the perils, pitfalls, and promises in cultivating peace here and now.

For many people, prayer beads provide a vehicle for daily spiritual practice. Each bead can represent a specific way to pray, a certain value that you wish to hold, or a phrase of prayer that you find it meaningful to recite regularly. What reminds you to take time for spiritual practice? What guides you through … Continue reading →

In 2020, the General Assembly passed an Action of Immediate Witness (AIW), “Address 400 Years of White Supremacist Colonialism”, calling on UUs to knit together our commitment to justice with our need for reconciliation. As we approach Indigenous People’s Day on October 11th, we consider the actions and transformation that must happen to fulfil the promise and the call of that AIW. One of the UUA’s four intersectional justice priorities is climate justice, with a specific focus on mobilizing in solidarity with Indigenous frontline communities. Our commitment from renouncing the Doctrine of Discovery, to supporting the Standing Rock water protectors, to the ongoing resistance to extractive projects like Line 3 that are violating I...

As the flow of the Colorado river continues to dwindle, the impact is felt across the region, affecting all of those who depend on it for a variety of needs. Continue reading Round-up of far-reaching impact of a dwindling Colorado River at The Wild Hunt.

A Q&A with W. J. Herbert | A woman meditates on her impending death and the crisis her species has created in the original version of this manuscript which contained only fossil and specimen poems. “Do these creatures ever answer your speaker’s questions?” asked friend and fellow poet Tim Carrier. They don’t, I told him. He said: “But your readers need a way in.” I wasn’t sure what he meant but, in my heart, I knew he was right: we need to care deeply about the speaker.

This week we will be joining our friends at First Parish Northboro for online worship led by Reverend Lynda Sutherland. Together we will contemplate our deep connectedness to the natural world as we celebrate Indigenous People’s Day.   Join Zoom Meeting   Meeting ID: 919 1197 4050 Passcode: chalice If you don’t like Zoom, feel free   [ … ] The post Sunday, October 10 ~ Cultivating Relationship with the Earth ~ 10:30 a.m. appeared first on Unitarian Church of Marlborough and Hudson.

In response to sharing the new cover design for my new book, Frank Wilson, author of the Hand sent this image of a young Christ among the doctors by Albrecht Dürer. It shows much more than a tangle of hands, old and young. It shows the passing of mind from one generation to the next. One pair of hands finds passages in the book. One pair marks a spot in his. One pair holds the book closed as the doctor looks on in wonder. One pair is attempting to instruct. The young Christ is using hands to reflect within. And there at the center, the entanglement of minds. Make, fix and create...

PEN International is celebrating its centennial this year. On October 6, 1921 C. A. Dawson Scott, a now largely forgotten novelist asked some of her friends to join with her in launching a new organization.   Poets, Essayists and Novelists (PEN) was meant to promote international friendship and co-operationbetween writers.   In the wake of the horrors of the First World War, Scott and her friends hoped that writers could help tie the world together.   Her friends were a who’s who of British letters.   John Galsworthy was elected as PEN’s first president and the enthusiastic founders included George Bernard Shaw, H. G. Wells, and Joseph Conrad. PEN International was the brain child of largely forgotten English novelist C. A. (Amy)...

When Amy Hayes, from Baptist News Global asked to speak to me about the Wild Goose Festival, I was initially hesitant.  I had just begun a leave from church work (which I am currently still on), in part to regroup from having had to do intense professional and personal race work on top of managing […]

Mike Adams

Continue reading "Reclaiming My Culture"

Mike Adams I was leaving my mom in another world, located far away from mine. Continue reading "Reclaiming My Culture"

Continue reading "Writing a Limited Access Agreement"

An anonymous prayer of gratitude: For food in a world where many walk in hunger For faith in a world where many walk in fear For friends in a world where many walk alone We give you thanks, O God. Amen. For what are you grateful today? How can you say “thank you?” The Daily … Continue reading →

Please join us on Sunday (3 October 2021) at 11:00 AM for “A Kingdom of Compassion: Lessons from Our Siblings in the Web” by the humans and animals of All Souls. Our service will be livestreamed on Facebook Live here. This service will feature reflections from our All Souls community, including James Peck, Jennifer Russell, … Continue reading "Online All-Ages Worship (3 October 2021)"

Families — we hear you and realize how done you are with Zoom. We will continue to watch the local COVID numbers and we feel encouraged by the cooling weather and the possibility of comfortable outdoor activities. We hope to have news about some outdoor activities for children and youth soon. Keep the faith.

Please join us on Sunday (3 October 2021) at 9:00 AM for our adult religious education class via Zoom. This Sunday — “A Guide to the 2021 Louisiana Constitutional Amendments” with guest speaker Dr. David Lindenfeld. Join us as we welcome David Lindenfeld — a fellow Unitarian Universalist from the Unitarian Church of Baton Rouge, retired … Continue reading "Online Adult Religious Education — 3 October 2021"

Our October 2021 Give-Away-the-Plate recipient is Together Louisiana Ida Relief. Together Louisiana is the statewide affiliate organization which includes North Louisiana Interfaith. It is a non-partisan political organization made up of regional organizations throughout the state including North Louisiana Interfaith and many others groups. Together Louisiana leaders work together on issues that most concern the … Continue reading "Together Louisiana Ida Relief — October 2021 Give-Away-The-Plate Recipient"

Melissa Lewis will be at the church parking lot this Sunday afternoon (3 October 2021) from 2:00 to 4:00 PM to collect food and other items for the Noel United Methodist Church Food Pantry. Items requested this month are Jiffy cornbread mix, cranberry sauce, and canned sweet potatoes.

Some days, it’s not about the “victories.” In our commitment to Side With Love and co-create a world where all thrive, some days are about the steadfast action we take knowing that there isn’t a sure “victory” coming. This is true for all of our moments. We continue to learn, build skills, and cultivate relationships to build power to win for our communities.  Right now so much is at stake and so many of our communities suffer under the violence of white supremacy and capitalism. Whether you’re organizing for a multi-racial democracy, to stop pipelines and build a fossil free future, to stop deportations, or win reproductive and gender justice, this moment feels rough. While we can never promise victory, we can promise tha...

Lyonel Perabo reviews the new book by Dan Coultas, "Heathenry and the Sea." Continue reading Review: Setting Sails toward new horizons with “Heathenry and the Sea” at The Wild Hunt.

Governments must do more to protect communities at risk, while saving our environment

The U.S. government must do right by the memory of martyred Rohingya people by finally acknowledging the crime that was committed against them.

My degree is actually in film, but I realized only afterward that it wasn’t what I wanted for myself, so I did what any sensible person would do—I street performed for a little while in Baltimore, playing bucket drums. Wanting something more stable, I luckily got hired on as a manager at a Books-A-Million. The rest is history, I guess. I just fell in love with books, the industry, and the people in it. My first taste of publishing was during an internship at MIT Press where I got to work in a few different departments. That affirmed publishing as the right place for me.

Playing chicken with of government shutdown and economic catastrophe.  The United States narrowly averted a government shut down at the last minute yesterday.   If it seems like we have been there before you are not mistaken.   Going back to President Bill Clinton’s fights with Congressional Republicans in 1995 there have been 5 total or partial shutdowns laying off hundreds of thousands of Federal employees, closingvital services,   disruptingthe lives of millions, and costing billions of dollars.   In 2013 a total shutdown to spite President Barack Obama lasted 15 days.   In 2018-19 the former Resident of the United States helped engineerthe partial shut down of his own government lasting 35 days believing that voters would hol...

      We’ve been waiting an age for the new concession stands to open up along Long Beach’s walking and biking paths. Finally three contracts have been issued, two for five years, Louisiana Charlie’s and Grill ’em All. And the third, more important to us as being right in our neighborhood, Saltwater Deck, for […]

“We come together in prayer even though many us struggle with what that means. We come together before that which is greater than us, although we struggle to say what that is. And so on this day we pray for those things we struggle with. For the conflicts we feel within ourselves and between us … Continue reading →

In college, I took a class with Lucius Outlaw, Jr., in which we read Edmund Husserl’s Cartesian Meditations. Husserl’s book opened up the possibility of observing the stream of one’s own consciousness, something I’ve been interested in, and have practiced, ever since. So when I went in for a colonoscopy yesterday, I decided to take … Continue reading "Anesthesia"

A round of recent archeological finds of interest to our community. Continue reading Release the Hounds: Archeology edition at The Wild Hunt.

UUSC joined the massive convergence to tell our officials: The time to act for citizenship is now.

When Hope is Hard to Find* Spirit wouldn’t let me sleep any longer, though I tried. I tried in bed, but the covers kept strangling me. I tried on the brand new couch, but the un-pedicured roughness of a not-so-well-turned heel kept scraping and catching as I tossed and flopped about and I worried about … Continue reading

Shannon Lang

Continue reading "Putting on Armor"

Central East Region of the UUA

Continue reading "Opportunities for Connection ~ October 2021"

In this week's Pagan Community Notes, Fort Bragg Open Circle celebrates 20 years, a Norsependant find, Banned Book Week and more news. Continue reading Pagan Community Notes: Week of September 27, 2021 at The Wild Hunt.

Continue reading "Surviving a Plague ... Again"

By Sumbul Ali-Karamali | In this age of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion movements, twenty years after the tragedy of 9/11, why is it still acceptable to denigrate Muslims and what they believe without any knowledge of what they believe? Why are Muslims judged on the basis of stereotypes and not on facts? And why are we as Americans so reflexively quick to believe the worst of Muslims, given half an opportunity to do so?

Women and all genders will march in defense of reproductive rights on Saturday, October 2 at 10 am, at the Federal Building to Guthrie Green— and All Souls plans to be there. Join us Wednesday, September 29 for a church-wide sign making party. We'll start at 5:30 pm on the Lawn during Wednesday Community Connections. The post All Souls Stands for Reproductive Justice appeared first on BeyondBelief.

Sharon Wylie

Continue reading "How to Keep Your Minister: A Guide for the Thoughtful Layperson"

      MAGIC LANDSZen, Makyo, and the Loosening of the Bonds of Perception James Ishmael Ford As we embark on the spiritual path what we may have spent a lifetime thinking was real and concrete, rather quickly reveals it is not. Sometimes these disruptions of the old and intimations of something new are graces, […]

The wreck of the Fast Mail not only inspired the song, but this dramatic painting by regionalist master Thomas Hart Benton. There seems to be something about a train wreck that inspires a song.  Just about everybody knows Casey Jones .  Just two years after the disaster that inspired that tune, the Southern Railroad express known as the Fast Mail came barreling down a steep grade at a high rate of speed and overshot a tight radius turn right before a trestle sending the engineand train to a spectacular fiery crash at the bottom of a steep ravine. Within 24 hours a witness/rescuer at the scene had penned a ballad set to the melody of a popular fiddle tune, The Ship That Never Returned , the same tune used latter for Charley on the MTA.

The simple lamp in the corner casts a warm glow around the room. It makes possible reading, or sewing, or a game of cards. How are you using your light to make things possible for others? The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, … Continue reading →

Indigenous people in Brazil are challenging a court ruling that their constitutional claim to their traditional lands only applies to lands they have inhabited since 1988, but the case has been indefinitely suspended. Continue reading Brazil high court suspends Indigenous land rights case at The Wild Hunt.

When loveFeels like the trenchesAnd the only way outIs through hell –And you have seen enough of hell,Thank-you-VERY-much –And giving upIs the onlyLessDesirable option – Breathe. Be heldBy whatever-the-fuck-in-Godde’s-nameHas carried you this far. And rest there.

as preached at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Houston, September 26, 2021 It is good to be back in the pulpit. I have missed you. I have not been gone from First Houston these past weeks. But I have been absent from Sunday morning worship. And worship, this thing the congregation does together–whether online […]

Rev. Janet Newton is the senior minister at the First Parish Church of Berlin in Berlin, Massachusetts. Janet was born and raised Unitarian Universalist in the Unitarian Church of Los Alamos, NM. She comes to ministry after many years as a high school English and philosophy teacher. Janet received a Masters in Divinity in May 2018 from Meadville Lombard Theological school.  For Janet, religion is a collaborative invitation to find, feed, and honor the spark of the sacred within every human heart, that we may know ourselves and our communities more deeply, and that we may make love more visible in the world. Her experiences have helped her develop a vision for church that uses worship, conversation, contemplation, and opportunities for ...

Yesterday I mentioned repairing a mirror that had fallen and come apart at the joints. This is what it looks like now with the joints re-glued. The  outer frame is cherry and the inner frame walnut, inlaid with strips of cherry, walnut and mahogany. It's now ready to hang for another 40+ years.  In the Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City there's carved Quan-yin in their Chinese exhibit  that's a thousand years old. Inside a secret compartment the curators found a scroll with the names of the craftsmen who carved it. They are gone but what they did has not been forgotten. I'll not claim there to be anything special about my work. But things that have lasting meaning will endure, and the meaning in this case reflects a partnership betwe...

Even when you have climbed to the top of a mountain – and we did an 8 and a half miler this week to the top of Mount Tamalpais, you still don’t know what you will be able to see from the top or what is around the next bend in the trail. It was […]

OSS Lt. Col Peter Dewey as a captain.  The dashing and well connected young officer accidently became the first American casualty in Vietnam.   Lt. Col. Albert Dewey cut a dashing figure and had distinguished himself as Office of Strategic Services (OSS) operative behind the lines inFrance when he was assigned a sensitive assignment to help repatriate Allied prisoners of war (POW) in Indochina in September of 1945.   He was considered perfectfor the job because he spoke flawless, perfect French and had the kind of idealistic democratic zeal common to the OSS—the predecessor to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) during World War II.   Within weeks, on September 26 he became the first American fatal casualty in Vietnam killed in a...

Putting your Gods first doesn’t mean giving Them your whole life – leave that for those who are called to that level of service. Rather, it means doing the things you’re called to do on a consistent basis, whatever that happens to be.

      (Thomas Stearns Eliot was born on this day, the 26th of September, in 1888. He was an important thinker in my life. Should say is. I wrote a version of this appreciation  in 2018. From time to time I rework it a bit and share anew. I guess I’m hoping eventually to […]

Spirit of life, we are joined today in a moment of gratitude for a perfect fall day — for a last blaze of sunshine in a sapphire sky, before the rain and snow — for gold and crimson leaves, before we are mired in piles of slush — for the moment of peace and contemplation … Continue reading →

In the latest podcast at the Religious Studies Project, Carmen Celestini, a postdoctoral fellow at the Centre on Hate, Bias, and Extremism, talks about her research into conspiracy theories. She begins by offering one of the best definitions I’ve ever heard of what a conspiracy theory actually is: “A conspiracy theory is usually some articulation … Continue reading "Conspiracy theories and religion"

23rd September 2021: Martha Nielsen lead a panel discussion with  Patrick Aiken, Organist and Choir Director, Central Congregational Church, Providence, RI   Josh Short, Artistic Director, The Wilbury Theatre Group, Providence, RI Click here to play panel talks and discussion (1 hr 27 m).

Guest contributor Jacqueline Mathers writes about her gratitude for, in the midst of the pandemic's disruptions, finally being able to plant tomatoes. Continue reading Column: Watching the Tomatoes Grow at The Wild Hunt.

Yesterday a friend returned a mirror I'd made in 1978 for repair. The line from which it was suspended had broken. The mirror fell onto a table and then onto the floor, causing three corners of the frame to break loose.  In taking it apart I found a surprise inside. I'd used a page from our local Times-Echo newspaper as a backing for the mirror and there was a photo showing a candidate for Arkansas Governor visiting our city and a good friend Lucilla Garrett looking on. The candidate for governor is one others might recognize and not just in the state of Arkansas.  The mirror is reglued, reassembled and readied to hang for another 40 years. I left the paper inside to be discovered again. Make, fix and create...   

Jake Morrill

Continue reading "Only Clay on the Wheel"

It was a long wait before Gayl Jones broke her years of silence. When Toni Morrison first discovered her, she said “no novel about any Black woman could ever be the same after this” upon reading the manuscript for “Corregidora.” It was published in 1975 when Jones was twenty-six. She followed up her debut novel with “Eva’s Man” and “The Healing.” But then after “Mosquito,” which came out in 1999, we wouldn’t hear from one of the greatest literary writers of the twentieth century for twenty-two years.

Our hearts are happy and grateful for the opportunity to share worship with so many of you on Sunday…and for the beauty of the day itself, and the ways that the wind, water, birds, butterflies, sunshine, and trees participated, too! Tomorrow is the Equinox, and ... read more . The post Co-Ministers’ Colloquy – Sept. 21st appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

Registration is now open for RE! Details about the eight classes offered this year can be found on the Learning pages of the UUSS website, accessible by clicking DETAILS. To register children and youth for classes, click the ... read more . The post RE This Week… – Sept. 21st appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

    Millions of families living in America face hunger and food insecurity every day. Your neighbor, child’s classmate or even coworker may be struggling to get enough to eat. Feeding America     Hunger in America is growing. In the wake of COVID-19, unemployment and food insecurity soared, and an estimated 60 million people turned to food banks and community programs for assistance in 2020 alone. Children and adults face hunger in every community across the country, and millions read more... The post Action Alert: Hunger in America — How You Can Help appeared first on Promise the Children.

                                             Maurice Barrymore--matinee idol of the American Gilded Age stage. The man who founded a theatrical dynasty that is still going strong in its fourth generation with actress/producer Drew Barrymore was born in far off and exotic Fort Agra, India practically within shade of the Taj Mahal on September 21, 1849.  Herbert Arthur Chamberlayne Blythe was the son of a surveyor for the British East India Company and his wife Charlotte Matilda Chamberlayne de Tankerville.  The youngest of seven children, his mother died of complications from his birth.  He was largely raised by his double aunt Amelia Blythe, his mother’s sister who had married his father’s brother.  Whe...

I received copies of the Advanced Review Copy (ARC) of my new book in the mail yesterday and took one by to a local mentor and sent another off to a friend in Berryville. The cover of the published volume may change and the last chapter received serious editing and addition after the print version of the ARC went to press. The purpose of the ARC is to get various reviewers and distributors on board with promotion of the book. In the woodshop at the Clear Spring School we've been at work making things needed for campus improvement. Yesterday we made sorting lids for recycling, and flag holders for class flags (more may be explained about that later.) Today we'll make book holders  of a new design that will be used in our school library. ...

It never occurred to me to bring pictures to work. When I finally did, I discovered they can be some powerful magic.

    My father was born on the 21st of September in 1919. His was a rough life. Orphaned, passed around, institutionalized, run away, lived on the streets, petty crime, maybe larger crimes, prison, released into the Army toward the end of the the 2nd world war, medic, badly, badly wounded, lost his right arm, […]

I’ve been looking — for quite a while now — for a teaching resource of some kind that shows how some Christians and some Christian groups do in fact support persons of non-binary gender. The anti-LGBTQ+ Christians are loud and vocal, and they dominate both media and the popular imagination. But I know there are … Continue reading "Teaching resource"

On this day of equal light and dark, we seek balance as the wheel of the year turns into fall (in the northern hemisphere) and spring (in the southern hemisphere). How are you seeking balance today? The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, … Continue reading →

In this week's Pagan Community Notes: a new Buckland Museum exhibit, Pagans Tonight Radio returns, The Troth special election results, and more news. Continue reading Pagan Community Notes: Week of September 20, 2021 at The Wild Hunt.

This month as we explore Presence, (with ourselves, the Earth, one another, with the Holy, and with what is,) we have been a bit more aware of what gets in our way of being fully present. Our morning meditation practice gives us ample opportunity to experience ... read more . The post Co-Ministers’ Colloquy – Sept. 14 appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

I hope you all had a wonderful summer and are enjoying this last little bit of summer. I also hope back to school is going well for all our children and youth. And their caregivers! Registration is now open for RE! See the article in today’s Circuits. Registration will ... read more . The post RE This Week – Sept. 14th appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

Holding in-person conference exposes healthcare, financial inequities experienced by smaller nations

While we are not able to share Ingathering services as we have in the past, nor in the ways we may have planned, these rituals are still needed. Ingathering, regardless of the form it takes, celebrates the ways we are held by a wider circle of love and care. The post Ingathering In Complicated Times appeared first on BeyondBelief.

Each day, each moment calls out to us with possibilities. Our unique and common circumstance frame what is possible, define options, feasibilities, and potentialities. Some of these we can create and shape; others are rigid and unchangeable. To discover and create a passion for what is possible at any given moment is an ancient spiritual and   [ … ] The post Sunday, September 26 ~ Passion for Present Possibilities ~ 10:30 a.m. appeared first on Unitarian Church of Marlborough and Hudson.

  Classic Jim Croce--a working class Joe. Jim Croce looked like a truck driver who had lost one too many bar fights.  And indeed, he had been a truck driver, a welder, and construction worker in his life.  Yet in his brief careerhe became an acclaimed singer/song writer whose songs went head to head in the charts with the likes of James Taylor.  Crocedied in a plane crash on September 20, 1973 in Natchitoches, Louisiana.  He was just 30 years old and had released only two albumsas a single act—records that produced two #1 hits and numerous memorable tracks. Croce was born in South Philadelphia on January 10, 1943.  He was an indifferent studentwith a mild interest in music.  He played the accordion.  Mostly he goofed off.  Aft...

    In Holmes Welch’s Parting of the Way: Lao Tzu and the Taoist Movement (pages 5-6) he offers some parallel sayings from the Tao Te Ching & the Christian Gospels.  The translations are from Lin Yutang and Arthur Waley. For the Bible he preferred the King James version. It is easy to note there are […]

In the late summer garden, the abundant, bright flowers have become dried, brown seed heads. What once fed buzzing bees of many kinds now provides food for the goldfinches, whose bright yellow plumage reminds me that even the dull brown garden is still a source of nourishment. What or whom are you nourishing today? The … Continue reading →

Antonio Pagliarulo interviews Judika Illes, whose new book, "Daily Magic: Spells and Rituals for Making the Whole Year Magical," was published last month through HarperOne. Continue reading “This is the day I’m going to do something”: daily magic with Judika Illes at The Wild Hunt.

          SURPRISED BY JOY     A Meditation on Kensho in Zen, Buddhism, and Literature Delivered at theFirst Unitarian Church of Los Angeles September 19, 2021 James Ishmael Ford   “Each branch of coral holds up the moon.” Blue Cliff Record, Case 100 Let’s reflect on the spiritual path, just a little. Let’s […]

Already shot and wounded Jim Bowie, stabbed  Norris Wright who was trying to extract his sword cane from Bowie's torso with his big knife inflicting fatal damage. It was on this date in 1827 that Jim Bowie  killed a man in a Louisiana duel that disintegrated into a free-for-all melee.  He had been a witness to the duel when bystanders and partisans of the principals began brawling.  Bowie had already been shotand stabbed when he used his unique, large knife to kill banker Major Norris Wright.  Bowie was shot again and carried away with what was assumed to be fatal wounds.  Ironically, the two principals in the duel each fired two shots without hitting the other and shook hands with their honor vindicated.  Neither was injured in t...

A 12th-century Benedictine abbess, writer, poet, and composer, Hildegard had prophetic and mystical visions and is said to have been a miracle worker. How do mystical experiences fit into our UU faith? Our prior guest speaker, Jenny McCready was married last month and returns to our pulpit today with a new last name, Jenny Amstutz. Jenny is currently serving as the minister of a small church in Littleton, Colorado, Columbine Unitarian Universalist Church, where she serves part time. Her part time schedule allows her to return to our pulpit. Jenny is the mother of five, ages 21 to 8 years and lives in Lakewood, Colorado, with her new husband Jason and a menagerie of pets. She is grateful to continue to be a visiting presence in our church...

Sometimes there is a T-Rex guarding the trail head. I saw this from a distance, approaching the Coast Trail last week and couldn’t tell what it was. I approached it slowly and cautiously. I thought it was a gigantic lizard, although such creatures aren’t native in this part of California, but, no, it was just […]

Erica Shadowsong

Continue reading "Healing Through Story"

Kat McKim As the Delta variant complicates plans for a return to in-person worship, congregations continue to explore a variety of models for being in community.

Megan Foley

Continue reading "The Blessings We Didn’t Want"

I was reading this morning about Noel Gilbert, my violin teacher from when I was in first or second grade. I was thinking of him due to the important role that music plays in our lives and that the sounds of craftsmanship are not that very different from music. In woodworking there are textures and lines and punctuation points that help establish rhythm and meaning.  When I was in second grade my mother took me to audition for violin lessons with the director of the Memphis Symphony orchestra. I remember the audition in which he asked me to sing and then examined my mother’s fingers and my own. He noted that my pitch was OK and that my long slender fingers might be useful on a violin. The violin upon which I was to play had been my mo...

  Many of Bill Monroe's early recordings with and without the Blue Grass Boys continue to be reissued in modern formats.   A handful of musicians and performerscan be said to have laid the groundwork for and popularized whole genres of American music—Scott Joplin with ragtime, Louis Armstrongwith jazz, Robert Johnson with Delta blues, Jimmie Rodgers with modern country music, and perhaps Elvis Presley for rock and roll.  Only one, in the words of an admiring Ricky Skaggs “…was so influential…he’s probably the only musician that had a whole style of music named after his band.”  That was Bill Monroe.  His band was called the Blue Grass Boys. Monroe was born a hundred and ten years ago on September 13, 1911 on a hard scra...

          It was on this day, the 13th of September, in 1848 that poor Phineas Gage took a railroad spike through his head. What exactly happened after is disputed. What is indisputable is how this incident opened up wide the question of how much we are biological creatures, where our sense of […]

CLF, which produces Daily Compass, also serves some 1,350 incarcerated Unitarian Universalists. Too many people are caught right now in the carceral state, often held for unjust reasons, and dehumanized daily in the name of “justice.” Think about how you can make change in that system. Consider becoming a penpal to an incarcerated person. Details … Continue reading →

As the church year came to a close this past June, Facebook groups of UU ministers filled with stories of congregations treating their ministers poorly. What ministers define as poor treatment can take many different forms, but the result is usually the same: the minister determines it’s time to move …

Leonora Carrington's Surrealist artwork and writings have come again to the forefront with the rising interest in mystical art. Continue reading “I didn’t have time to be anyone’s muse”: the mystical works of Leonora Carrington at The Wild Hunt.

My left knee had its second birthday this week. The ice machine above that I used for pain and swelling relief post surgery now lives in our basement. I hope I haven’t worn the new knee out in two years with all the hiking I have done! It does ache sometimes, worse than the the […]