Ella Josephine Baker was born on this day in 1903. Described as “one of the most important African American leaders of the twentieth century and perhaps the most influential woman in the civil rights movement.” She was a genuine American hero. And hers a life worth celebrating. And. She once said, “Until the killing of black men, black mothers’ sons, becomes as important to the rest of the country as the killing of a white mother’s sons, we who believe... Read more

An evening to provide a voice for the victims of gun violence at the First Unitarian Church of Providence, Thursday, 12 December, 2014. Video by Steve Ahlquist. Read more

Willie Mae Thornton, better known to many of us as Big Mama, was born on this day in 1926. She was the first to record “Hound Dog,” which, as many know, became one of Elvis Presley’s biggest hits. She had a similar experience with “Ball ‘n’ Chain,” which later catapulted Janis Joplin to fame. Read more

The great Universalist preacher and theologian John Murray was born on this day in 1741. In honor of that occasion I am reprinting my 2012 sermon on the Reverend Mr Murray and his wondrous good news… THE HEART OF THE MATTER John Murray and the Gospel of Love James Ishmael Ford 4 March 2012 First Unitarian Church Providence, Rhode Island Text Though I speak with the tongues of people and of angels, and have not love, I am become as... Read more

It’s hard to know anything with certainty about antiquity. Okay, perhaps that’s true for today, as well. But, history blends with myth much more completely with the old stories. Sometimes myth completely overtakes history. And, for a sacred text it doesn’t really matter, because these texts are not history books, but rather maps of the heart. A good example is the life of the Buddha. Gautama Siddhartha lived somewhere between the sixth and fourth centuries before the common era near... Read more

Over my life I’ve watched how the observances of December 7th, the attack on Pearl Harbor, and the beginning of our American involvement in the Second World War have slowed down. Once banner headlines on every newspaper, today, well today there barely are newspapers. Among those stories I did see was one about the gathering of survivors of the attack who were on the USS Arizona. There are nine left, four present at the event. The story was nearly as... Read more

I love the Heart Sutra. I adore the Heart Sutra. Among those many books and poems and spiritual texts that have informed my life, the one which I find at the very center of my understanding of the way things are, is the Heart Sutra. Anyone who visits any Zen center throughout North America has heard it. The Heart Sutra is very short and its message is telegraphed so fast the subtlety and depth of its teaching can easily be... Read more

“I remember a select little group with which we traveled and camped together for some days; this group had undertaken to liberate some captive League brothers and the Princess Isabella from the hands of the Moors. It was said that they were in possession of Hugo’s horn, and among them were my friends the poet Lauscher and the artists Klingsor and Paul Klee; they spoke of nothing else but Africa and the captured princess, and their Bible was the book... Read more

INDICTMENT A Meditation on the Empire and a Promised Land James Ishmael Ford 30 November 2014 First Unitarian Church Providence, Rhode Island Text When the spirit struck us free we could scarcely believe it for very joy. Were we free were we wrapt in a dream of freedom? Our mouths were filled with laughter our tongues with pure joy The oppressors were awestruck; What marvels the Lord works for them! Like a torrent in flood our people steamed out. Locks,... Read more

Two noted Christian writers were born on this day. Clive Staples Lewis was born in 1898 & twenty years later Madeleine L’Engle in 1918. Madeleine L’Engle was an American Episcopalian, and a forthright universalist, which has caused her some trouble with orthodox Christian bookstores, which are reluctant to stock her writings. She is best known for her young adult novels, and particularly A Wrinkle in Time and its four sequels. C. S. Lewis was a member of the Inklings, an... Read more