FOLLOWING THE SCENTED GRASSES A Meditation 9 June 2013 James Ishmael Ford First Unitarian Church Providence, Rhode Island Text One day Changsha went off to wander in the mountains. When he returned, the temple director met him at the gate and asked, “So, where have you been?” Changsha replied, “I’ve been strolling about in the hills.” “Which way did you go?” “I went out following the scented grasses and came back chasing the falling flowers.” The director smiled. “That’s exactly... Read more

THERE IS NO GOD And He is Always With You A Search for God in Odd Places Brad Warner New World Library, Novato, 2013 A Review by James Ishmael Ford Brad Warner thinks this might be his best book. I agree. While there are a number of titles Brad Warner could use, Reverend, Sensei, by our Western standards, Roshi, he prefers to go by Brad. I haven’t read everything Brad has written, but a fair amount. And I like to... Read more

Today marks the beginning of the ancient Roman feast of Vestalia, running from today through the 15th. It marks a time to celebrate home, the great longing of the human heart. frame> Read more

Wishing the inestimable Holly Near a happy sixty-fourth birthday! Read more

On this day in 1984 Tetris was released. The best-selling video game of all time. Or, at least a contender… Arcade Games Read more

ON this day in 1851 the first part of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin was published in the National Era, an abolitionist newspaper. Some consider this the first volley of the Civil War. No doubt a flawed document, the racial stereotypes would haunt our culture. But, at the same time, there’s little doubt the harsh light cast on the horrors of slavery the book depicted did indeed melt many hearts, and did have a significant part in setting the... Read more

Joseph H Jordon died on this day in 1901. He was fifty-nine. Jordon was the first Universalist minister of African-American descent. Born free in West Norfolk, Virginia, he worked variously as laborer, grocer, and carpenter, before building a number of houses and becoming a landlord. He was ordained a Baptist minister in 1880, but after meeting Universalists and reading widely, although Thomas Whittemore’s The Plain Guide to Universalism, seemed particularly important, was convinced of universal salvation and started preaching the... Read more

The first of June! How did that happen? I see that on this day in the year 193 the Roman Emperor Didius Julianus was assassinated, in 1660 Mary Dyer was hung in Massachusetts for being a Quaker and refusing to go away, in 1779 Benedict Arnold got himself court-martialed, in 1815 Napoleon swore to uphold the French constitution, presumably with crossed fingers in that hidden hand, and in 1857 Charles Baudelaire published his collection of poems, Les Fleurs du mal…... Read more

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Walt Whitman was born on this day in 1819. I’m so glad that happened… Read more