MAY YOU LIVE IN INTERESTING TIMES A Meditation on the Life and Legacy of Olympia Brown James Ishmael Ford 20 March 2016 Pacific Unitarian Church Rancho Palos Verdes, California I come to you today with some bad news. But, not to worry unduly. I also have good news to share. Let me start with the bad. Perhaps its not news. These are complex and troubled times. In fact a picture perfect example of that ancient Chinese curse, “May you live... Read more

Lots of things have happened on this day throughout history. Early on, in the year 37 of our common era, the Roman Senate, in one of those astonishingly bad moves, annulled the Emperor Tiberius’ will and proclaimed Caligula emperor. Later, in 1314 the twenty-third and as it happens last grand master of the Knights Templar, Jacques de Molay was burned at the stake. In 1766 the British Parliament repealed the noxious Stamp Act, again, a bit on the late side.... Read more

Yes, today is St Patrick’s Day, and blessings on all called to that celebration. But around here this is St Gertrude’s Day, patron of various, travelers, gardeners, etc. But, buried within that etcetera are cats. And so here we are. And who wants to pass on an opportunity to watch cute cats? Read more

According to the good folk at Wikipedia today is the first day of the Roman Bacchanalia. Rooted in the Greek Dionysia, the Bacchanalia is one of the mystery religions, and therefore secret, and so, mostly what we know of it is inferred rather than through direct knowledge. Sexuality does seem to have been a part of it. And there are persisting rumors of orgies and other frenzied rituals recalling the Dionysia. But the Roman celebration, at least from the reforms... Read more

Ah, the Ides of March. Better known in some circles as international kill a tyrant day. It was, after all, as we all know, that on this day in the year 44 before our common era that Julius Caesar was murdered, marking one of those moments in history where everything changed. Or, maybe not so much. It was still the dawn of the end of the Republic. Civil war would break out following the assassination. And as the dust, pooled... Read more

Casey Jones was born on this day. Read more

Don’t forget. ‘Tis Pi day! And, don’t forget we celebrate Pi by, of course, of course, eating pie! Read more

Joseph Priestly is much more than the patron saint of teenagers and all who drink sodas. Born on this day in 1773, Priestly, in addition to being the inventor of soda water, was the chemist generally acknowledged as the discoverer of oxygen, an educator, progressive political theorist, and clergyman. According to the Wikipedia article on him, “Priestley’s science was integral to his theology, and he consistently tried to fuse Enlightenment rationalism with Christian theism. In his metaphysical texts, Priestley attempted... Read more

Today the American Episcopal church celebrates a feast in honor of the life and ministry of the Rt Rev James Theodore Holly, born the child of freed slaves, and who became the first African-American bishop of their church. He was born in 1829, his mother a Roman Catholic. As a young adult he crossed over to the Anglican communion. He was ordained a priest in 1856 and served as rector of St Luke’s Church in New Haven, CT. During these... Read more

Jean Louis Kirouac, or maybe it was Jean-Louis Lebris de Kerouac was born to a French-Canadian family in Lowell, Massachusetts, on this day in 1922. Of course, we know him as Jack Kerouac. The Wikipedia article on Kerouac gives a good summation. “He is considered a literary iconoclast and, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Kerouac is recognized for his method of spontaneous prose. Thematically, his work covers topics such as Catholic spirituality,... Read more