I’m scheduled to take off this evening for sesshin at the temple in Worcester. As I think about this, I recall something I first visited a few years ago. It comes out of one of my favorite spiritual books, Thomas Merton’s translation The Wisdom of the Desert: Some Sayings of the Desert Fathers, a selection of stories from the medieval anthology, the Verba Senorum, telling of hermits who lived in the fourth century Egyptian desert. These days there are more... Read more

The AP reported today, “More scientists are getting closer in the search for the “God particle” of physics that would help explain the fundamentals of the universe, but they haven’t found it yet. In the hunt for the Higgs boson, which is key to understanding why matter has mass, two teams of physicists using results from a now-closed American accelerator have come up with similar findings to those announced late last year by researchers at the more powerful Large Hadron... Read more

The good news is that First Unitarian is working toward videotaping and posting sermons. The bad news is we have no money to underwrite this. A significant difficulty is that the pulpit stands out and high and the only place to videotape from is about twenty or thirty feet away. The visuals are more or less acceptable. The volunteer who has been trying to put it together has experimented a dozen different ways to record the sound, none of which... Read more

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 sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not... Read more

Meditation in the Zen tradition really boils down to three things. Sit down. Shut up. Pay attention. First that sitting down. Now, the Buddha himself taught there were four postures for meditation, sitting down, standing up, lying down and walking. And I have no doubt each has its place. And each of us will find a closer affinity with one or another. That said, I think for most of us sitting down is going to be the best thing to... Read more

“On This Day in 1829, the New England Asylum for the Blind was incorporated in Boston. Begun with six students, within six years, the institution had ten times that number. For the first time, blind and deafblind American children could attend a school that would teach them reading, writing, and mathematics. Students were taught to use their sense of touch to compensate for their lack of sight. Re-named the Perkins Institute for the Blind, in honor of an early benefactor,... Read more

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Happy birthday to Winston Rodney, perhaps better known as Burning Spear! He’s only a couple of months older than me, so I’m a bit confused why he looks old… But he does keep moving… May we all… For as long as is right… Read more

STOPPING THE WAR (for an expanded version go here) It was a couple of years ago. I almost always keep my office door open. So, no surprise when I looked up from working on my newsletter column to see Walter leaning in, half waving a hand at me. “James,” he said. “There’s a call for you.” I asked, “Who is it, Walter?” He raised his eyebrows and shook his head. His duties are primarily concerned with bookkeeping and maintaining databases,... Read more

DREAMING EMILY A Sermon by James Ishmael Ford 26 February 2012 First Unitarian Church Providence, Rhode Island Text 1263 Tell all the truth but tell it slant – Success in Circuit lies Too bright for our infirm Delight The Truth’s superb surprise As Lightning to the Children eased With explanation kind The Truth must dazzle gradually Or every man be blind – Jan and I don’t get out a whole lot. Just the way things are. But, we do some,... Read more