Just outside the Oval Office hangs a painting depicting the night of December 31, 1862. In it, African-American men, women, and children crowd around a single pocket watch, waiting for the clock to strike midnight and the Emancipation Proclamation to take effect. As the slaves huddle anxiously in the dimly lit room, we can sense how even two more minutes seems like an eternity to wait for one’s freedom. But the slaves of Galveston, Texas, had to wait more than... Read more

It appears that every few years someone or another discovers Jesus spent some time in India and or Tibet before beginning those three years we get in the canonical Gospels. I wrote on this a half dozen years ago, and then again two years ago. It seems time to repeat once again. In fact the primary document addressing those “missing years” before that public ministry is a text originally titled Life of Saint Issa, Best of the Sons of Men.... Read more

I just learned that one of my fellow travelers on the great way, a Zen priest is going to be ordained into the independent sacramental tradition. It is important to add, without renouncing his Buddhist vows. I am endlessly fascinated by the Buddhist Christian encounter. And, actually, I find enormous value in the dialogue, and more in those places of conflict, and most of all in those attempts at fusion. Most of these will fail. Maybe all of them. And... Read more

Well, sort of. Okay, it should be. It was, after all, on this day in 1903 that Ruth Graves Wakefield was born. And the glorious Ms Wakefield is credited with creating the “Toll House Chocolate Crunch Cookie.” The recipe was included in the 1938 edition of her constant best seller the Toll House Tried and True Recipes. And as best anyone can tell this was the first instance when anyone thought of including chocolate chips in their cookies. People just... Read more

The great James Weldon Johnson was born on this day in 1871 in Jacksonville, Florida. He was at various times in his life a poet, educator, lawyer, diplomat, songwriter, and activist. James Weldon Johnson’s writings included the Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, Along the Way, and God’s Trombones. Oh, and Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing… A civil rights leader, US counsel to Venezuela and Nicaragua,. first African American to be named a professor at New York University, and later professor... Read more

Soto Zen Buddhist Association Statement on the Orlando Tragedy As members of the Soto Zen Buddhist Association — along with communities and practitioners of all faiths — we stand in solidarity with those who seek to live in peace and nonviolence, and grieve for the loss of life in Orlando. In particular we extend our heartfelt compassion to Orlando’s Latino and LBGTQ communities, their friends and families. In the Dhammapada Shakyamuni Buddha, says: “Hatred does not cease by hatred at... Read more

The Church of England and the American Episcopal Church both observe today as a festival in honor of Evelyn Underhill, who died on this day in 1941. Sixty-five years earlier she was born on the 6th of December, 1875 in Wolverhampton in the West Midlands, in England. She would grow to become a novelist, poet, and most of all a renowned spoksperson for the mystical encounter. The author of many books, no doubt her magnum opus was Mysticism: A Study... Read more

Censorship is a complicated thing. That time where publication was an easily controlled act and the state actively did the controlling is over. Contemporary totalitarian states do their best, but even in China unwanted information has begun to leak into the farthest corners of that nation. Today in the United States the last areas where unambiguous censorship occurs touches upon what can be deemed national security and some matters that involve sex. In Europe also some things touching on sex,... Read more

The Lobster is a movie that shows in high profile why I’m hesitant to call what I do here from time to time commenting on movies that I’ve seen as “reviews.” There are areas in life about which I might legitimately be called an expert. Film is not one of these. I don’t even have a history of seeing lots of them. I just like movies. About all I bring to the table is some sense of humanity and some... Read more

As I write this what we know is fifty people are dead, murdered. It is unclear how many more are wounded. The number I’ve heard is over fifty. How many of that later group will join the first, who knows. Only time will reveal this. This was flat out horrific. Now in Orlando right now people need to be tended to, and I think by and large they are. There are many others across this country and elsewhere who are... Read more