Thomas Traherne was born in 1636, or, perhaps it was 1637. His father was a shoemaker. Or, perhaps an innkeeper. We do know he attended Oxford taking his degree. He served in the ministry, but was not actually ordained until after the restoration and the return of King Charles II. He labored in obscurity, publishing a single volume in his lifetime, and it wasn’t until well after his death that the wealth of his poetry was revealed. He is counted... Read more
Martin Heidegger was born in Messkirch, Germany, on this day, September 26th, 1889. He started as a Catholic, briefly attending a Jesuit seminary before enrolling at the University of Freiburg. At first his principal interest was theology but he soon crossed over to philosophy. He married Elfride Petri and they would have two sons. They remained married until his death, although I gather it is an established fact he had a long affair with Hannah Arendt. Given his moral lapses,... Read more
The Anglican communion marks today as a feast in honor of Bishop Lancelot Andrewes, who guided the translation and editing of what we call the King James Bible. Adam Nicolson described the bishop, “as broad as the great Bible itself, scholarly, political, passionate, agonized, in love with the English language, endlessly investigating its possibilities, worldly, saintly, serene, sensuous, courages, crave, if not corrupt hen at least compromised, deeply engaged in pastoral care, generous, loving, in public bewitched by ceremony, in... Read more
Some years ago I wrote something and in it referenced the term “liberal religion.” One reader, a theologically trained person, in fact a Roman Catholic priest, wrote to me that he was concerned that a political term like “liberal” would be attached to that word “religion.” He thought it an unfortunate pairing of terms. I was surprised that he was unaware that the term liberal religion is a long established descriptor for a style of spirituality and a... Read more
“If you spliced the genes of Hillary Clinton, Madonna, Heidi Fleiss and Margaret Thatcher, you might have someone like Victoria Woodhull.” Atlanta Journal & Constitution Victoria California Claflin was born the seventh of ten children in Homer, Ohio, on this day, the 23rd of September, 1838. With her first marriage, two months after turning fifteen, she became Victoria Claflin Woodhull. And while she kept the name after her divorce, she would eventually become Victoria Woodhull Martin. She is... Read more
Eihei Dogen died on this day, the 22nd of September, in 1253. He is recalled as the founder of the Japanese Soto school (Caodong in Chinese) and as one of the great spiritual writers of all time. Dogen was born on the 19th of January in 1200. It is believed he was the illegitimate child of an imperial councillor. His mother is believed to have died when he was seven and he was raised within his father’s family. At thirteen Dogen... Read more
Leonard Norman Cohen was born on this day, the 21st of September, in 1934, in Westmont, an English-speaking enclave of Montreal. His mother was the child of a renowned rabbi and scholar, his father the son of a founder of the Canadian Jewish Congress and its first president. The family was Orthodox and the themes of Judaism would become currents that informed his full life. The family was upper middle class, his father a successful clothier. Although Leonard’s... Read more
Drafting a Manifesto for a Western Zen Buddhist Sangha in the Twenty-First Century As most of my friends know, Jan & I retired from our professional lives and returned home to California intending on spending the balance of our lives closer to family. We were past fortunate in finding a lovely little condominium that we could afford in the Alamitos Beach neighborhood of Long Beach. Of course we started a Zen sitting group at the Unitarian Universalist Church... Read more
Geeze! I almost forgot. Today is, I think, the twenty-second annual observation of Talk Like a Pirate. Sneered at by some as a “fake” holiday, this is a celebration of all things cheesy and silly attached to the myths of pirates. (And nothing about the nastiness either of historic pirates or the real ones on today’s high seas. We really are capable of holding two different thoughts in our heads…) So, shiver me timbers, recall Long John Silver if you’re... Read more
Where were you when I planned the earth? Tell me, if you are so wise. Do you know who took its dimensions, measuring its length with a cord? What were its pillars built on? Who laid down its cornerstone, while the morning stars burst out singing and the angels shouted for joy? Book of Job God is not nice. God is not your uncle. God is an earthquake. Abraham Heschel When the morning star appeared, I and the sentient beings... Read more
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