A footnote to the terrible incident on the 16th of September when Aaron Alexis rampaged at his workplace at the Navy Yard shooting many people and killing a dozen before being shot and killed himself was that he was a professed Buddhist. I find myself thinking about this. Particularly within the context of our current times where so much of the violence that rages across the globe has a sectarian element to it. In particular much of the violence in... Read more

BEGINNING AGAIN, AGAIN A Meditation on the Why & How of Liberal Religion 15 September 2013 James Ishmael Ford Senior Minister First Unitarian Church Providence, Rhode Island Text We have seen Yitzhak Perlman Who walks the stage with braces on both legs, On two crutches. He takes his seat, unhinges the clasps of his legs, Tucking one leg back, extending the other, Laying down his crutches, placing the violin under his chin. On one occasion one of his violin strings... Read more

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William McKinley had defeated William Jennings Bryan in the first of the populist’s three runs. The last president to have fought in the Civil War, he championed high tariffs, prosecuted the Spanish American war and in his time the Republic of Hawaii was annexed as an American territory. He was enormously popular. And then, on the 6th of September, 1901, anarchist Leon Czolgosz shot the president twice. He lingered until this day, when he died at 2:15 a.m. Theodore Roosevelt... Read more

A dear friend posted this to Facebook. I have to admit until this I wasn’t particularly a fan of the late painting instructor Bob Ross. I’ve changed my mind… Read more

I just saw reference to International Chocolate Day at Wikipedia. Searching around it appears to be the brain child of a trade organization, the National Confectioners Association. And, you know, I think they’re onto something. Yes, let’s celebrate the love drug. Eat a bite of chocolate today. (For those among us who don’t try to do this every day…) Give a bite of chocolate to a friend or loved one. (For those among us who don’t try to do this... Read more

In Mexico the 12th of September commemorates the mass hanging of the members of Saint Patrick’s Battalion, which consisted largely of Irish and other deserters from the American army who had then joined with the Mexicans in the the war between the two countries. I think of them and can see how easy it might have been for my ancestors to have been caught up in the whole sorry mess, had they immigrated just a few decades earlier than they... Read more

HOLLY NEAR and Emma’s Revolution Will be at the First Unitarian Church of Providence 1 Benevolent Street Providence Rhode Island 7pm $20 as part of the First Unitarian’s Peace Flag Project’s Month of Peace Please mark your calendar! Please come! Read more

I’m pleased to let those who don’t know that on this day in 1846 Elias Howe was granted a patent for his sewing machine. It wasn’t the first sewing machine, not even the first to receive a patent. What it was, was the first sewing machine worth manufacturing in large quantities, incorporating a lock stitch in its design. Puts me to mind of the fact that sutra, the term for a sacred text in Buddhism derives from the same root... Read more

It was an absolute delight to see that Josh Bartok’s lasted anthology, Daily Doses of Wisdom: A Year of Buddhist Inspiration has thirteen separate quotes from my various writings. Kate Wheeler blurbs the book as “100% organic healing dharma.” Not completely sure what that means, but I think she likes it. Melvin McLeod writes of the book and its quotes as “a simple yet powerful way to contemplate Buddhism’s great wisdom.” And I agree. No doubt, setting aside the wisdom... Read more