Friday will mark the four hundred forty-ninth anniversary of the Edict of Torda. John Sigismund of Transylvania is history’s first and only Unitarian King. And on January 13, 1568 — at a time when many ruling authorities were persecuting or even killing religious dissenters — he passed a landmark “Act of Religious Tolerance and Freedom of Conscience.” Sigismund affirmed the freedom of both congregations and ministers. Congregations were declared free to hire a “preacher whose teaching they approve.” And ministers... Read more

Anders Ericsson is a professor of psychology at Florida State University, who has spent decades studying how people become experts in various fields. He has published a fascinating book summarizing his findings titled Peak — referring to the process of reaching peak performance. Perhaps his most important insight is that the more he investigated people who supposedly had natural talent, the more convinced he became that intense, extended, deliberate practice is always required to develop extraordinary, peak performance (211). For... Read more

A compilation of my recent “Top 10″ and “Best of” posts for 2016: Top 10 Best Books Read in 2016 Top 10 Best Albums Listened to in 2016  Top 10 Netflix (+Amazon & HBO Now) Streamed in 2016 Top 10 Best Podcasts of 2016 Enjoy! Thanks for reading, and happy new year to you and yours! Related Posts Best of 2015: Books, Music, TV, & Podcasts Best of 2014: Books, Music, Film, & Podcasts Best of 2013: Books, Music, Film, and More The Best of 2012:... Read more

The following are the podcasts I’ve enjoyed listening to the most consistently since this time last year. This list is also in alphabetical order because agonizing over a precise order would take out all the fun: 1. 538 – Nate Silver and team offer data-driven perspectives on politics. They were unfairly maligned (I was guilty as well) for giving Trump a much greater chance of victory than almost everyone else — not that they wanted him to win, but that the polls indicated he... Read more

This list is not necessarily my favorite new releases of the year. Instead, it is the best of the content I watched since this time last year. (We haven’t have cable in well over a decade, so I’m usually a season behind on most shows; however, waiting means no commercials!) In addition, this list is in alphabetical order because agonizing over a precise order would take out all the fun: 1. Better Call Saul (Season 1) 2. Bojack Horseman (Season... Read more

The last few times Christmas Day fell on a Sunday were 1994, 2005, and 2011. You can mark your calendar for 2022 since it will happen next in six years — and then again in 2033, 2039, 2044, and 2050. In 2050, I realized I would be 72, so I stopped counting there. (I hope to retire at some point!) Rewinding the clock back further to the original Christmas Day, we do not actually know the year much less the... Read more

This list is not always my favorite new releases; instead, it is the best of the albums I listened to for the first time since last year. This list is also in alphabetical order because agonizing over a precise order would take all the fun out of remembering some of this year’s best music: 1. The Beatles, Live At The Hollywood Bowl (2016): The sound quality has been significantly improved on this  “remixed, remastered and expanded version of an album... Read more

The following are the top ten best books I’ve read since this time last year — in alphabetical order by the author’s last name because agonizing over a precise order would take all the fun out of remembering these books: 1. The Rev Dr. William J. Barber II and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, The Third Reconstruction: How a Moral Movement Is Overcoming the Politics of Division and Fear (2016): The first Reconstruction briefly flourished after Emancipation, and the second Reconstruction ushered in meaningful progress... Read more

The last time the first night of Chanukah overlapped with Christmas Eve was nearly 40 years ago in 1978. Before that, there were two other times in the twentieth-century: 1902 and 1940. The next time the first night of Chanukah is on Christmas Eve will be 2027. Chanukah is a minor holiday in the Jewish tradition, compared to the importance of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Passover. But Chanukah has grown in popularity and significance due to its proximity to... Read more

Tomorrow is Winter Solstice, the shortest day and longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. These days around Winter Solstice are an auspicious time to consider the spirituality of winter and darkness, night and shadow. What might these archetypes have to teach us in this season of our lives? We live in an age of nearly continual temptation to distraction: the siren call of smart phones to constantly check the Internet, the misinformation of fake news, and the... Read more