Here’s a link to a good essay on mysticism by Rabbi Alan Lurie on Huffington Post. I won’t attempt to summarize it – it’s not that long, and it’s well worth reading for yourself. The comments to this piece on Huffington Post fall into two categories. Those who get it agree wholeheartedly. And those who don’t claim that mystical experience is a change in brain chemistry and nothing more. If the ground rules of your worldview state that “the immaterial... Read more

I had to make an unexpected trip to Tennessee this week to deal with some family matters.  All is well and I’m back now.  While I was there, I fell into a religious discussion with someone who attends a fundamentalist Baptist church, much like the one I grew up in.  In the course of our discussion, he made the statement “I wish I didn’t know what I’ve learned about astronomy and geology and biology.  I wish I could go back... Read more

Due to several scheduling conflicts, we’re holding our CUUPS Samhain Circle on Friday night instead of Saturday.  And to allow for Friday evening traffic in DFW, we’re starting at 7:30 PM instead of the usual 7:00.  If you’re in the area, come out and celebrate with us. Click on the image for a larger version of the flyer. Read more

This is the fourth in an occasional series on spiritual practice techniques. Devotional reading is intended to help keep your mind and your heart focused on matters of Ultimate importance. It is not intended for education, although you will certainly learn when you do it. It is not intended as worship, although it will move you to worship. It will not make the world a better place, although you will be inspired to work for peace and justice and sustainability.... Read more

For Veterans Day, the Denton UU Fellowship is collecting a special offering to purchase and ship copies of Bless All Who Serve to service members and chaplains stationed overseas. This pocket-sized book of prayers, readings and songs has become very popular not only with the relatively few UUs in the military, but also with service men and women of other religions and those who never considered themselves religious. Please consider a donation of $12.50 to cover the cost of a... Read more

Thanks to Mark and Jake, we now have video of “The Case For God” from August 15. Beckett20100814.FLV from Denton UUF on Vimeo. Read more

Star Foster at Patheos has a new article titled “The Inevitability of Scripture: The Challenge of Authority and the Promise of Tradition.” She makes a logical case that there will be Pagan scripture someday, but ultimately I think she’s wrong. Her argument goes something like this: Pagans need the authority and consistency that only scripture gives, Pagans have already given authority to authors, eventually Pagans will select certain texts to “slowly form a set of scriptures and commentary, much like... Read more

Star Foster at Patheos has a blog entry titled “In Praise of Normal” where she says we need not be “outrageous” in order to be authentically Pagan. It’s generated some interesting comments on just what constitutes “normal” and what it means for the Pagan community. One of those comments refers to Fire Lyte’s “Project Pagan Enough,” which seems to be a well-intended riff on “can’t we all just get along?” And while I don’t know if it was inspired by... Read more