I got a new boss today. I knew we were hiring him, but I thought he was going to be my peer. Instead, he’s going to take one half of the group (including me) and my boss-until-today is going to take the other half. I’m fine with it. He seems like a decent guy, and we can certainly use his expertise. A few years ago I would have been upset I didn’t get the job, but now I understand that’s... Read more

UU World is reprinting (republishing? reposting?) some of the late Forrest Church’s writings. Here’s a rather long essay titled “Universalism: A theology for the 21st century.” As I like to remind people, I was a universalist long before I set foot in a UU church, so this piece has much in it that appeals to me. Here are a couple of my favorite quotes: Some recent discoveries in physics and cosmology make no apparent sense according to known canons of... Read more

Traditionally, Samhain is the time of year when the veil between the world of the living and the world of the dead is at its thinnest. This makes it an ideal time for many activities, including divination. Since 1993 I have done Tarot readings on October 31, usually asking some form of the question “what does the coming year hold?” As any good reader will tell you, when you ask a vague question you get a vague answer. Still, when... Read more

If things have been a little slow here under the Oaks it’s because they’ve been anything but slow in my paying job. I’m working more hours and harder hours than I have since I left my job from hell in Indiana in 1997. At least I still have a job, and I’m thankful for that. Most days. Long hours at work don’t leave much time for contemplation and composition – just enough to run a few errands and answer the... Read more

Ruby Sara at Pagan Godspell asks “I wonder why we can’t have a little gospel action, a little old fashioned tent revival, get a little Spirit, have us a little rock and roll.” I grew up in a small Baptist church. The theology was awful and the politics were worse, but boy could those people raise energy! I can remember a few great sermons (and a lot of really bad ones), but most of it was done with music –... Read more

Two people who have been spiritual inspirations to me are seriously ill. Rev. Michael Dowd is an “evolutionary evangelist” who has spent the last several years traveling the country teaching and preaching that science and religion are not mutually exclusive. Michael preached at DUUF in 2006, I also heard him speak at Community UU in Plano last year. His most recent book is Thank God for Evolution. Michael has developed diffuse large B cell lymphoma. He and his partner Connie... Read more

I don’t write much about my paying job. It’s a good job, but when I’m away from work I don’t want to think about work – it’s part of that compartmentalization I’ve talked about before. But I’m currently involved in something that has both ethical and spiritual dimensions, so I think it’s worth writing about. There is a person at work who (and I will be extremely vague to avoid any possiblity of identifying him/her) has always done just enough... Read more

If the Earth is the body of the Goddess, then how should we treat it? Denton CUUPS is now in our fifth year of bimonthly roadside cleanups under the Keep Denton Beautiful program. This picture is from today’s cleanup, where we had near-perfect weather. We always seem to have good weather for our cleanups, even in August and February – wonder why??? The Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans combines the theology of Neopaganism with the this-world focus of Unitarian Universalism.... Read more

It’s a little over two weeks until Halloween and Samhain, and the silly season is in full swing. A group has announced their plans to burn Bibles on Halloween. Who could be behind such a thing: Satanists? Atheists? No, it’s the members of the Amazing Grace Baptist Church in Canton, North Carolina. All 14 of them. It seems this group considers the King James Version to be “God’s Word” and all other translations to be “Satan’s bibles.” They’re also going... Read more

Avebury – 2007 OBOD Chosen Chief Philip Carr-Gomm has an essay in Resurgence magazine that asks “do we really need to visit sacred places?” On one hand, world travel is environmentally unfriendly, tourism is harming some sacred sites, and perhaps most importantly, if the whole Earth is sacred, why is one spot more sacred than others? On the other hand, people have taken religious pilgrimages since the dawn of civilization (and probably before), and there is no substitute for being... Read more