Three issues are guaranteed to bring zealots (on all sides) out of the woodwork: abortion, gay marriage, and evolution. This week’s “Texas Faith” question on the DMN Religion Blog is variation on the third. It asks “How would you make a case for mutual engagement between science and religion?” The panelists gave mostly good answers, while the comments have quickly become polarized. Here’s part of my comment: Religion and science both seek truth, but they approach it from different perspectives.... Read more

Last month I posted a picture of a small rabbit I found in my back yard. As I was cutting grass this morning, I saw two rabbits, and they were much larger. My first impulse was the product of millions of years of evolution – and a Tennessee upbringing that was more rural than suburban: “just the right size to eat!” My father kept rabbits for a while when I was growing up (along with cows and chickens and horses... Read more

After last night’s blog about the need to maintain spiritual practice especially during difficult times, I have to post this. In addition to my rather brief evening prayers, I did a little energy work last night. Ground, center, connect with the Earth below and the Sky above. Draw in energy, store some, use most of it on a basic shielding exercise. I use a version taught by OBOD, but it’s the same basic technique used by just about every Pagan,... Read more

As jobs go, mine is a pretty good one. Nice working environment, decent people, mostly reasonable expectations. I do sales and operations planning, which is something I do well. Pay is mediocre and benefits are below average, but they’re enough. We’ve had several rounds of layoffs due to the recession and (as far as I know, anyway) I’ve never been in any real danger. But the last four months in general and the last six weeks in particular have been... Read more

The Dallas Morning News Religion Blog is a shadow of its former self. It’s been de-staffed – about all that’s left is the weekly “Texas Faith” forum. But this week’s question gave me a perfect opportunity to introduce some explicitly Pagan material. You can read the whole thing here. The question was: “We live in society where so much attention is devoted to work. But we’re headed into August, the vacation month. What do your spiritual paths say about the... Read more

I’ve always thought of myself as an American – period. But if you push me for a regional identity, I’m a Tennessean. Always have been, always will be. I was born in Tennessee, grew up in Tennessee, went to school in Tennessee, and lived in Tennessee for almost all of my first 33 years. Much of my family and many of my friends are still in Tennessee. I felt at home in Atlanta and I’ve made a home in Dallas,... Read more

Bards, Ovates, and Druids begin to gather in the Grove Pavilion before the Lughnasadh Procession. In any discussion of Druids, history is bound to come up. Unfortunately, we know very little about the ancient Druids, and much of the material we do have is from sources that are anything but objective (most notably, Julius Caesar). This much we do know: the original Druids died out with the coming of Christianity. We can trace the Druid revival back about 300 years,... Read more

John Michael Greer of AODA, Stacy of RDNA, and Isaac Bonewits of ADF. Not the best photo – the iPhone doesn’t do well in low light. The only real disappointment of the weekend was the absence of Philip Carr-Gomm, Chosen Chief of the Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids (of which I’m a member). He has an illness in his family and didn’t feel like he could travel from England to California. I went through a similar situation when my... Read more

I’m back from the Druid Gorsedd at Pema Osel Ling, a Buddhist retreat about an hour south of San Jose, California. It was a wonderful experience on so many levels, most of which I’ll talk about and some of which I can’t. I met sixty-something OBOD Bards, Ovates, Druids and friends. I had a small part in the main Lughnasadh ritual, a larger part in the Ovate initiation ceremony, and a supporting role in the Bardic initiation ceremony. To my... Read more

The Silent Cry: Mysticism and Resistance by Dorothee Soelle I read this on vacation and I’m just now getting time to write about it. It was recommended by a commenter on a PeaceBang blog entry – I figured if a UU minister was recommending a book on mysticism, it was worth checking out. And it was – up to a point. The book begins with a wonderful quote from Rumi: “Why, when God’s world is so big, did you fall... Read more