PLUNGING INTO THE UNKNOWN How to be a Peacemaker in a World Torn by Strife 22 September 2013 James Ishmael Ford Senior Minister First Unitarian Church Providence, Rhode Island A Brief Meditation In the King James’ version of the Gospel According to Matthew we are told, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.” In more modern translations the text is rendered more literally from the original Greek, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall... Read more

I have the privilege of serving, depending upon who is counting, as the sixteenth senior minister or maybe the seventeenth, of the First Unitarian Church of Providence. It was a delight to have it pointed out that one of my predecessors, the seventh, or, by some reckoning, the eighth minister of our congregation, the Reverend Arthur May Knapp led a, perhaps unique, missionary venture to Japan. First, the Unitarians were invited by the Japanese as what the Japanese seemed to... Read more

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Two blogs I regularly check out are Notes in Samsara and American (in England) Buddhist Perspective. Through them I also on occasion dip into the blog Speculative Non-Buddhism. At the moment there’s a bit of a brouhaha they’re all in varying degree caught up with. They’re all critical, again, in varying degree of Buddhist Geeks, which seems to me to be mostly young or younger Dharma practitioners from several different disciplines who have a web based presence as well as... Read more

A footnote to the terrible incident on the 16th of September when Aaron Alexis rampaged at his workplace at the Navy Yard shooting many people and killing a dozen before being shot and killed himself was that he was a professed Buddhist. I find myself thinking about this. Particularly within the context of our current times where so much of the violence that rages across the globe has a sectarian element to it. In particular much of the violence in... Read more

BEGINNING AGAIN, AGAIN A Meditation on the Why & How of Liberal Religion 15 September 2013 James Ishmael Ford Senior Minister First Unitarian Church Providence, Rhode Island Text We have seen Yitzhak Perlman Who walks the stage with braces on both legs, On two crutches. He takes his seat, unhinges the clasps of his legs, Tucking one leg back, extending the other, Laying down his crutches, placing the violin under his chin. On one occasion one of his violin strings... Read more

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William McKinley had defeated William Jennings Bryan in the first of the populist’s three runs. The last president to have fought in the Civil War, he championed high tariffs, prosecuted the Spanish American war and in his time the Republic of Hawaii was annexed as an American territory. He was enormously popular. And then, on the 6th of September, 1901, anarchist Leon Czolgosz shot the president twice. He lingered until this day, when he died at 2:15 a.m. Theodore Roosevelt... Read more

A dear friend posted this to Facebook. I have to admit until this I wasn’t particularly a fan of the late painting instructor Bob Ross. I’ve changed my mind… Read more

I just saw reference to International Chocolate Day at Wikipedia. Searching around it appears to be the brain child of a trade organization, the National Confectioners Association. And, you know, I think they’re onto something. Yes, let’s celebrate the love drug. Eat a bite of chocolate today. (For those among us who don’t try to do this every day…) Give a bite of chocolate to a friend or loved one. (For those among us who don’t try to do this... Read more