In Sunday’s sermon I wrote of two teachers at Sandy Hook: “I have seared into my heart the images from that other horror a decade ago, when firemen and policemen raced into the already unstable Twin towers. And now, I find myself thinking of schoolteachers in the same way. I think of Kaitlin Roig, who took the first graders in her charge into a bathroom, barricaded it, and then tried to keep them quiet. When she thought the gunman was... Read more

OUR RESPONSE TO EVERYTHING, TERRIBLE & LOVELY A Meditation on the Horror at Newtown, Connecticut James Ishmael Ford 16 December 2012 First Unitarian Church Providence, Rhode Island Text I am of the nature to grow old. There is no way to escape growing old. I am of the nature to have ill health. There is no way to escape having ill health. I am of the nature to die. There is no way to escape death. All that is dear... Read more

“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” To this day, especially in times of disaster, I remember my mother’s words and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers ? so many caring people in this world.” Fred Rogers Now, the details are unclear, the fog of such events. It... Read more

I see the pharmacist, astrologer and perennially cited predictor of things to come, Nostradamus, was born on this day in 1503. I’m not precisely sure why this particular old fraud has had such a long lasting career, I gather his volume “The Prophecies” has either never, or very nearly never been out of print since its first issuance in 1555. But his success is a pointer to a deep seated human need, our need to know. And he is also... Read more

Once in a blue moon, I awake in the middle of the night with an idea for a talk or a sermon or an article, something. And it is compelling enough to drag myself out of bed and to go into the next room where the increasingly old desktop computer stands and to send myself an email with that fragment of a thought from the dream world. Last night this happened. The message worth this was: By observing we bring... Read more

Ravi Shankar dies. Passing. Passing… All things… Read more

Prior to my time away from the world wide web the Buddhist blogosphere, or at least the part of it that I tend to follow, was pretty focused on Zen priest Eshu Martin’s public revelations of allegations of years of sexual misconduct on the part of the now one hundred and five year old Zen teacher Joshu Sasaki. A variety of responses followed, many archived at Sweeping Zen. I thought they were mostly thoughtful reflections from a number of angles... Read more

Five days of sesshin, literally “to touch the heart and mind,” an intensive Zen meditation retreat. I think there is one spot, perhaps a quarter of an inch square on my left knee that isn’t sore. And of course the physical demands of a Zen retreat are nothing compared to facing the workings of one’s mind. The worst of times. And, absolutely, the best of times. Deep spaces. Profound silences. Intimate moments, one after another. Old, old friends, and some... Read more

Later this afternoon Jan & I will be leaving Auntie and the guard cats in charge at the homestead and heading up to the temple in Worcester for a five day Rohatsu sesshin. Super, super ready… Read more

UNITARIAN UNIVERSALISM AT THE DAWN OF A NEW MILLENNIUM A Brief Response to Its Cultured Despisers, and a Call to the Healing of Our Hearts and of the World James Ishmael Ford 2 December 2012 First Unitarian Church Providence, Rhode Island Text I live my life in widening circles that reach out across the world. I may not complete this last one but I give myself to it. I circle around God around the primordial tower. I’ve been circling for... Read more