John Steinbeck, American novelist, winner of the Nobel Prize for literature, and one of my signal early spiritual guides died on this day,  the 20th of December in 1968. Since his death Steinbeck’s fortunes have fallen and risen, sometimes lauded, sometimes dismissed, perhaps demonstrating his complexity. Steinbeck is of course the author Grapes of Wrath which was published on the 14th of April, 1939, a bit more than eighty years ago. It was wildly successful. He won the Pulitzer... Read more

    Some Apocryphal Psalms in Syriac William Wright I was rummaging around looking for something else when I stumbled upon the small factoid that the Syriac Orthodox Church has, depending on how you count it, four or five Psalms in addition to the generally understood list of 150 collected in the Jewish tradition as well as in Protestant and Catholic churches. The Orthodox churches add in a 151st. But, the additional five, well, that was some kind of treat.... Read more

    As it happens it was on this day, the 14th of December in 1782 that the Montgolfier brothers made their first test flight of a hot air balloon. The balloon floated a little over a mile before coming to ground. Surprised onlookers destroyed the remains of the balloon. As it happens, it was also this day in 1903 that the Wright brothers made their first attempt at heavier than air flight. It would be three more days before... Read more

      WE ARE NOT IT. BUT IN TRUTH. IT IS US. IT IS YOU. IT IS ME. James Ishmael Ford A Facebook friend invited people to share their favorite brief quote from scriptures. Something that touches the heart deeply. While he is a Christian minister, he explicitly made sure the invitation extended to the wider company of faiths. He was reaching for sayings that were deeper into the bones than memorized. For him it was “For God so... Read more

      Many of my friends look askance at how the Buddhist practice of mindfulness is being packaged and sold as a nostrum for much of what ills. Others are deeply concerned how Hinduism’s yoga through a fascinating history of mutual appropriation and adaptation has finally been taken over by gyms. There are too many examples of how the word Zen is coopted to sell products to list. Let’s just say from deodorant to booze, it is long… Bewailing... Read more

        The incomparable Evelyn Underhill was born on this day, the 6th of December, 1875, in Wolverhampton, in the West Midlands, England. Her father Sir Arthur Underhill was a successful barrister with a practice in London. Her mother, Lucy, was the daughter of a justice of the peace. An only child, Evelyn was mostly educated at home, and then at King’s College for Women, in London. There she read history and botany. Her first book featuring light... Read more

    WHAT DO YOU SAY AFTER YOU RUN OUT OF SERMONS ON LOVE? The Vision of the Liberal Church James Ishmael Ford When two individuals meet, so do two private worlds. None of our private worlds is big enough for us to live a wholesome life in. We need the wider world of joy and wonder, of purpose and venture, of toil and tears. What are we, any of us, but strangers and sojourners forlornly wandering through the nighttime,... Read more

  King’s Chapel and its Prayer Book John Harcourt Members of Saint John’s visiting Boston may have discovered King’s Chapel on Tremont Street at the foot of Beacon Hill. Those who have ventured inside for a service may have been vaguely disconcerted. The text in their hands was entitled The Book of Common Prayer; its format and much of the language would have seemed familiar enough. But something seemed odd about it all. And indeed it might King’s Chapel uses... Read more