As someone interested in the history of religions, I’ve observed how they often have multiple points of origin. So, for instance the Unitarian movement in North America might be said to have started when William Ellery Channing preached his famous “Baltimore sermon,” or, it could be said to have begun when the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court declared members of the parish who supported the church through taxes had the right to name the minister over those who were actually attenders... Read more

Alse Young was hung in Windsor, Connecticut, on this day in 1647, becoming the first person in the American colonies to die convicted of witchcraft. (Some scholars suspect Alice Young Beamon, who some thirty years later in Springfield, Massachusetts, was also tried for witchcraft may have been her daughter. Unlike Young, Beamon successfully defended herself against the charges…) We can go in any number of directions with this tidbit of information. For me today is a day to start by... Read more

Yesterday Jan & I were up for almost twenty-four hours in the madness of moving Jan & Helen the cat to our new home in Long Beach. I’ll remain here for a few days before returning East as we try to get a few things together in advance of the final full family move following services at the First Unitarian Church of Providence on the 14th of June. We may have been up for twenty-four hours, but nonetheless I find... Read more

TEN GUIDELINES TO TRUE CONTENTMENT Ezra Bayda Zen Center of San Diego Everyone wants to be happy, but rarely do simple formulas for happiness really help. To be genuinely happy—not just the superficial happiness that comes when things are going well—we must learn how to be fundamentally okay with our life just as it is. This is not so easy, but there are some specific guidelines that definitely can help. Here are ten that many have found helpful. · Examine... Read more

It is World Turtle Day! Okay, I’m not exactly sure what to do, beyond hugging a turtle. But, fortunately, others do. Here are some hints at other opportunities that might prove more useful… Read more

We had an event at our church in which a series of jokes were presented. The format in which they were presented was in the “Yo Mama” structure. When I first heard the phrase “Yo Mama,” I started. But then as the jokes were presented I relaxed as they were gentle, actually funny, and aimed totally at my community, who generally are considered a privileged lot. I settled into it. And then I posted them publicly. I noticed the comments... Read more

American politician, San Francisco City Supervisor, and civil rights activist, Harvey Milk was born on this day in 1930. He would have been eighty-five today, but in 1978 he was assassinated together with Mayor George Moscone. The reasons were complicated, and the presenting issue was how the murderer had resigned his position as a Supervisor and realized Harvey and George had blocked his attempt at returning. But in fact the driving reason at the heart of all the others, was... Read more

Thomas Wright Waller, better known to most of us as “Fats” Waller, was born on this day in 1904. Read more

As someone raised a poor people’s Baptist, I heard any number of sermons that declared it is easier for a camel to get through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into heaven, and with none of that liberal wishy washy idea that maybe there was a low gate into Jerusalem called the Eye of the Needle that required people to get on their knees to pass through. The sermons I heard thundered a message... Read more

Riley B. King, the great B. B. King, “king of the blues,” died last night after two weeks of hospice care at his home in Las Vegas, Nevada. One of the greats, and a loss for us all… Read more