I see that Henry VIII, monster and accidental founder of one of the better versions of Christianity going (as one wag put it, with a founder like ours, how can we not be all about forgiveness) died on this day in 1547. And I can think of no better excuse to take the opportunity to point those interested in such things to a wonderful mystery series. Christopher John “C. J.” Sansom, who holds a doctorate in history as well as... Read more

A MEETING OF THE WATERS A Preliminary Report from the Buddhist and Unitarian Universalist Encounter A Paper Delivered at the Fraters of the Wayside Inn Sudbury, Massachusetts 27 January 2014 James Ishmael Ford In 1844, a chapter from the Sadharmapundarika-sutra, the seminal Mahayana Buddhist text, the Lotus Sutra was published in the Boston Transcendentalist journal, the Dial. Best I can tell, this chapter, published as “The Preaching of Buddha,” was the first Buddhist text to be rendered in the English... Read more

SPIRITS IN REBELLION A Brief Meditation on Laelius & Faustus Socinus & the Origins of A Unitarian Reformation A Sermon by James Ishmael Ford 26 January 2014 Text Unnamable God, I feel you with me at every moment. You are my food, my drink, my sunlight, and the air I breathe. You are the ground I have built on and the beauty that rejoices my heart. I give thanks to you at all times for lifting me from my confusion,... Read more

It was on this day in 1890 that the remarkable and almost too amazing to be believed, but carefully documented, so very much believed Nellie Bly arrives home after a seventy-two day race around the world, besting the fictional Phileas Fogg by eight days. Elizabeth Jane Cochrane, who wrote under the name Nellie Bly had already cut her adventure journalist teeth by faking her way into the notorious Women’s Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell’s Island and writing a devastating expose of... Read more

My friend Tom Hawkins is on a pilgrimage to Buddhist India. The other day he wrote. We have arrived in Bodghaya. Thousands of other pilgrims, us, and then two thousand Tibetan monastics for a special gathering. Beyond words too be at the bodhi tree in the evening with such a crowd. And to make offerings and devotional gestures. Yet, even in Buddha’s enlightenment place, there’s the shadow side. Two of our group had their shoes stolen, I fended off a... Read more

Huddie William Ledbetter was born on this day in 1888 in Mooringsport, Louisiana. Read more

LOVE REACHES OUT A Sermon for Dr Martin Luther King, Jr and the Rest of Us James Ishmael Ford 19 January, 2014 First Unitarian Church Providence, Rhode Island Text Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confused life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it. Martin Luther King, Jr. The other day Cathy went off to one of those denominational offerings that she and I attend now and again hoping to keep up with the current wisdom on... Read more

One of the less pleasant aspects of becoming a public person, for me public person means being a Unitarian Universalist parish minister, a Zen Buddhist priest & meditation teacher, as well as something of a social activist, and a writer reflecting on these things from my pulpit and in other public venues, in books and on social media, is that people not only have opinions about me, but they say them out loud. And not just about what I think,... Read more

On one of the various listservs to which I belong someone asked for prayers on behalf of people in a particularly stressful moment. What surprised me was how several people responded expressing their opinion that such things are of no use, and offered suggestions for what the person should do. I was, frankly, shocked. This is putatively a group of people with a bit better than average insight into the human condition. Silly me… And it set me to thinking,... Read more

In the Roman calendar today is the feast of Macarius of Egypt. In the Eastern churches his feast is a couple of days later on the 19th. While a Copt, he is celebrated as a saint throughout the various branches of the Christian Church. Macarius is a significant figure in the establishment of the monastic tradition within Christianity and a signal figure among the Desert Fathers. He was famed for his kindness and generosity to others, including non-believers (although he... Read more