In his book The Demon-Haunted World the late great Carl Sagan gave us a “Baloney Detection Kit,” nine points to keep in mind as a corrective to various inclinations we might be drawn to on our quest to find what is real. Me, I think of the kit as sort of a supplement to Philip K Dick’s wonderful observation that “reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away.” Anyway, for some reason it occurs to... Read more
On January 22, 1906, Robert Ervin Howard was born in Peaster, Texas. He died by suicide at the age of 30. In between he grew to become a prolific writer for the American pulp magazine industry. During which time, drawing upon the established “weird tales” genre developed by Edgar Allan Poe, H. P. Lovecraft and others, but then mixing together as Wikipedia tells us “fantasy, horror and mythology with historical romance, action and swordplay,” he pretty much single handedly invented... Read more
Donald John Trump, our new president if you haven’t heard, isn’t particularly good at conveying his religious values, or, even basic knowledge of the religion he professes. He has tried to put money into a communion plate and once referred to communion as taking “my little wine” and “my little cracker.” Once, when asked what was his favorite verse from scripture all he could come up with “an eye for an eye,” perhaps an accurate summation of a part of... Read more
Well, here we are. Enough people who are terrified at how the rich have been getting richer and the poor getting poorer while the middle class upon which our civilization has been based is rapidly falling apart, have elected as president of the United States a man who has spent his life enriching himself while screwing his vendors, and then ran a campaign long on hatred of all perceived “others,” while promising as he knows how to game the system... Read more
While Charlie Chaplain’s Great Dictator was in the can, in fact the very first film in popular distribution in America to mock Adolf Hitler and his Nazi movement were, of course, the Three Stooges. Today in 1940 the Three Stooges’ 44th short You Nazty Spy was released. As, I noted, best anyone knows, the first of what would become a bit of an industry. Don’t know why I find myself thinking of Alec Baldwin… Read more
I notice I usually write appreciations of people after they’re dead. I thought, well, for once, perhaps an appreciation of someone while they might get a chance to see it would be in order. So, here you go… Bernard Glassman was born in Brighton Beach, in Brooklyn New York on this day in 1939, the fifth child and only boy in the family. His parents were both Jewish immigrants, his mother was Polish, who had lost much of her family... Read more
The current conceit would have it that in Zen koan introspection is something that Rinzai people do, but not Soto. Of course there is an element of truth in this assertion. In Japan where for some good and a fair amount of ill Buddhism is divided into denominations with much stricter demarcations than is true on the continent modern Soto has lost, actually it has suppressed koan introspection as part of its offerings of spiritual disciplines. But, this has not... Read more
My interest in going to see Patriots Day was a mixed bag. I don’t have much of a taste for disaster films or their closely related. And I was, I admit, mildly put off by the idea of a “heartfelt tribute” or “inspiring story” as was said of Patriots Day. I like uplift as much as the next person, but I have a pretty deep aversion to treacle. On the other hand Jan and I spent a fraction shy of fifteen... Read more
MARTIN’S DREAM A Meditation on Dr Martin Luther King, Jr and the Dreams that Connect Us All A Sermon by James Ishmael Ford 15 January 2017 Tapestry Unitarian Universalist Congregation Mission Viejo, California We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. There are some things in our social system to which all of us ought to be maladjusted. Hatred and bitterness can never cure... Read more
One of those memories I treasure for the years I served at the First Unitarian Society in Newton, Massachusetts, was the pulpit. I was always careful when speaking of the church and various things about it to say “our,” after all it was our church. But, I always said, “my” pulpit. Even though I held it in trust, it had been presented to me within that trust and it was “mine” for eight years. As an object it was a... Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In