I’m a Zen Buddhist and a Unitarian Universalist. For me, it’s peanut butter and jelly. Strawberry, thanks for asking. But, my natal lineage is Christianity, and I’ve long sense gotten over any resentments. I don’t believe in a conscious deity in charge of this mess (And, if such existed, it probably shouldn’t be called God…), I’m bored too easily to stick with the single pathway of the Hebrew and Christian scriptures (although I do believe they contain everything necessary to... Read more

THE NECESSITY OF ATHEISM Percy Bysshe Shelley The Necessity was published as an anonymous pamphlet on this day in 1811. The author was soon exposed as a student at Oxford and he was duly expelled from the university. I gather he would go on to write verse… An expanded version of his meditation was published in 1813. And it is worth a read. However, this is the anniversary of that first broadside, and so here is the original… A CLOSE... Read more

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By my count Oscar Romero was murdered thirty one years ago. I’m not the biggest fan of Noam Chomsky, but what he said in this video clip also using scenes from a movie about the archbishop, are simply true. I think the question this raises is how do we live in this world of suffering? I think the answer is simple enough, although rather hard to do. We need to look into our own hearts. And this is no easy... Read more

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A bit more than a year ago I cast my ballot for Barack Obama. I didn’t vote for him to come to Washington and make kissyface with the Republicans, although I hoped he could lift the level of rhetoric a bit. I voted for him to drive through some major and some smaller issues of concern to a country that claims to care for its citizens and the world. I voted for him most of all to address the terror... Read more

DEMETER’S JOURNEY, AND OURSA Hymn to the Goddess 21 March 2010 James Ishmael Ford A Sermon delivered at theFirst Unitarian ChurchProvidence, Rhode Island TextBecause I could not stop for Death,He kindly stopped for me;The carriage held but just ourselvesAnd Immortality. We slowly drove, he knew no haste, And I had put awayMy labor, and my leisure too,For his civility.We passed the school, where children stroveAt recess, in the ring;We passed the fields of gazing grain,We passed the setting sun.Or rather,... Read more

Albert Einstein published his General Theory of Relativity on this day in 1916. Here’s an explanation I can understand. Well, sort of… Why do I think there should be a party or something, a parade or at least a cake? Or, perhaps, a music video… Read more

I’m one of those people who have only spotty memories from childhood. I stand in awe of those who recall incidents when they were three. And, I admit, a little suspicion, as well, particularly when these recollections get detailed. Whatever, for me, only memory fragments here and there. One of which was my beloved Davy Crocket Coonskin hat, which for a time could not be removed from my head. As for many who were children in the 1950’s, Davy Crocket... Read more

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