September 19th, International Talk Like a Pirate Day! One of those important holidays people too often miss. Now, if you need a little inspiration, here you go… Read more

While Edward Bouverie Pusey died on the 16th of September in 1882, and that day is observed as a feast throughout much of the Anglican communion, the feast itself in observed here in America on this day, the 18th of September. So, happy St Edward Day! I’ve always been fascinated with the High Church stream of Anglicanism. And, I must admit, I’ve always wondered why. My, as I like to think it, mature spirituality is pretty pure “liberal Buddhism.” I... Read more

This morning after breakfast (chopped up nectarine, Russian yogurt, and granola, washed down with freshly ground and recently roasted Polly’s coffee) we took off on our morning perambulation. The Tsunami washed through our neighborhood about four thirty this morning. I’d not been able to do the walk yesterday having had to go up to the church early, but Jan said they’d been digging trenches along the natural washes from the bluff down to the beach. Only a couple of hours... Read more

Riley B. King, the great B. B. King, King of the Blues, was born on this day in 1925. Read more

This past Monday the pope met officially with the archbishop of the Evangelical Church of Sweden. Catholics and Lutherans meeting isn’t so much news. However, the archbishop, Ante Jackelen, is the first woman to head the Swedish church. A pretty cool photo op, but also opens the heart in all sorts of directions. Fondest wishes for my Christian friends as they seek to heal the wounds of gender discrimination at some its most basic levels, even if with baby steps… Read more

Confucius Visits a Waterfall James Ishmael Ford rewrites one of Zhuangzi’s Stories for the Children’s Moment at the Pacific Unitarian Church, in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. Told with Kim Gosney & Vicki Gavel. 13 September 2015 Vicki: Zhuangzi, Master Zhuang lived in China somewhere in the general neighborhood of the fourth century before the birth of Jesus. He wrote short stories. His most famous story is a really, really short one. Perhaps you’ve heard it before. One day a man... Read more

HELLO, I MUST BE GOING A Homily James Ishmael Ford 13 September 2015 Pacific Unitarian Church Rancho Palos Verdes, California I’ve been told of the interim minister who always began his first sermon at a new congregation by singing that little song from the 1930 Marx Brothers farce, Animal Crackers. Hello, I must be going. I cannot stay, I came to say I must be going. I’m glad I came But just the same I must be going. I will... Read more

It’s hard for me to believe its been fourteen years. Over the years I’ve written on that day and those that have followed. I find I return to certain themes. And today I find those themes, those images returning… I had just been with a family visited by serious illness. I was in the car and turned on my radio. That’s when I heard the news. A plane had flown into one of the World Trade Center towers, there were... Read more

The wonderful Mary Oliver was born on this day in 1935. Read more

As it happens the great Otis Redding was born on this day in 1941. Read more