Mary Edwards Walker was born in Oswego, New York, on this day in 1832. She was the youngest child of free-thinking Christians, raised to think critically, and to challenge gender roles. She attended the Syracuse Medical College (now the SUNY Upstate Medical University), the only woman in her class, in 1855. She was briefly married to another physician, but divorced due to his infidelity. Dr Walker attracted attention for her eccentric dress for the day, wearing men’s trousers under dresses.... Read more

Thanksgiving is quite the time. Family gathers. And, of course, things happen. This is a holiday near unique in its potential conflicts. Perhaps it comes with such a complicated history, a harvest festival with a mythic story attached that many find more than slightly problematic. The issues that possibly will come up can be small. And they can be large. Some are as predictable as the sun rising. I was watching a news program yesterday where two of the reporters... Read more

According to those good folk at Wikipedia Aristotle and I think some other ancient worthies claim it was on this day in 534 before our common era that Thespis of Icaria introduced a new theatrical style he called a tragedy, and in which, for the first time we are aware of in the historical record, someone played the part of a character on a stage. (Not long after he would take it on the road, and with that inventing the... Read more

Back in June I wrote a piece for Monkey Mind reflecting on Donald Trump’s race for the presidency. In short I feared the neo-fascist aura of his campaign. At the time I observed how he’s not Hitler. He’s not Mussolini. He is, however, a lot like Silvio Berlusconi. But, not quite. What he is, is something of an American original. And, now, this American original with more than a whiff of fascism following him like a smoky tail is president... Read more

There have been a couple of declarations of interdependence, but today I find myself thinking of the Buddhist Declaration of Interdependence that was first formulated in 2004 and then revised in 2006. Buddhist teacher Maia Duerr notes it “was originally written in 2004 by (the renowned Zen priest) Alan Senauke of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship, and presented to delegates of the Republican and Democractic conventions that year. A number of people contributed to subsequent drafts, including: Robert Aitken Roshi, Hilda... Read more

A SONG OF INTERDEPENDENCE The Buddhist & Unitarian Universalist Encounter & What It Can Mean for Us All James Ishmael Ford 20 November 2016 Unitarian Universalist Church in Anaheim Anaheim, California Text “Buddhism is now an accepted path within Unitarian Universalist circles, and each year more people are discovering the value of Buddhist spiritual practices and the holistic Buddhist view of life. At the same time, UUs are modifying Buddhism to meet their needs for a socially engaged, non-discriminatory, and... Read more

It was on this day in 1905 that Thomas Francis “Tommy” Dorsey, Jr was born in Mahanoy Plane, Pennsylvania, the second of four children, and the son of a bandleader. As Tommy Dorsey he would become one of the great entertainers of his generation. He started working with luminaries such as Rudy Vallee, and often together with his brother Jimmy. Gradually he and his brother gained renown for their musical virtuosity. At this moment, with all that is going on... Read more

It was on this day in 1865 that the young Mark Twain’s The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County was published in the New York Saturday Press. In two years it would be the title contribution to his first book. And with that the world would never be the same. Jan and I have made Mark Twain pilgrimages twice in our lives. The first time was pushing on twenty-five years ago when we lived in Wisconsin, and I served a... Read more

17 November 2016 At our Zen sitting the other night, one of our seniors gave the monthly scheduled dharma talk. He spoke quite movingly about his personal engagement with the results of our recent presidential election evoking his sense of dismay, his anxiety and fears, and how he has used it to delve into the contours of not knowing. During the conversation part of the evening which normally follows a talk, a visitor to the group although an old friend... Read more

Last month sometime Jan and I found ourselves on our second, maybe it is our third trip up to Ojai. Ojai, if you are unfamiliar, is one of those places that flying saucers like to fuel. It’s a day drive Sedonaesque experience from Los Angeles and home to many things, but probably most notably for its associations with Krishnamurti and Theosophy. Other than a visit to see the Liberal Catholic cathedral, a center for one of my favorite minority religions,... Read more