I was late driving into church, so it was a rare time for me to hear my local NPR’s broadcast of its BBC news program. They were discussing poverty in America. The story led with some of those sound bites that we’ve heard this year from conservatives mocking what we call poverty in this country, pointing out how the majority of our poor have televisions and refrigerators. The talking heads also opined that most of America’s poor never go without... Read more

Of course, as with any day in history, so many things crowd up together. On this day in 1556 Thomas Cranmer is declared a heretic, on this day in 1779 James Cook is killed in Hawaii (by people who had a good idea of why it isn’t a good idea to encourage European visitors), on this day in 1835 the Mormons form their first Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, on this day in 1912 Arizona is admitted into the Union... Read more

Two people I really admire were born on this day. Abe Lincoln meant that the Republic into which I was born, and where I live, and probably will die, is at its best about something more than free commerce. And Chuck, Chuck, what can I say? You point the way for all of us… Love the various pictures going around. Although if I were Darwin, I think I might be a bit jealous that he gets toast (with various religious... Read more

The other day I received a note from someone practicing at a Zen center. This is my response, slightly modified… Dear One, Thanks for the note sharing your vision. Many years ago I had a similar experience. Deep in retreat I had a reverie, a vision, a makyo, pick your term in which Jesus appeared to me. He was more or less a blending of the Warner Sallman chestnut haired Jesus with that middle distance gaze and the much rougher... Read more

Unitarianism has a great noble history. It’s about a strong affirmation of the oneness of God, only it just got eaten up by a kind of liberal humanism, and as a result, I think it’s an extraordinarily uninteresting group. Stanley Hauerwas Sort of a review of “Unitarian Universalism: The Boring-ality of Evil” in Tripp York’s The Devil Wears Nada: Satan Exposed (2011, Cascade Books, Eugene) So, there I was minding my own business when out of the blue comes a... Read more

Me, I was raised a fundamentalist Baptist. We thought Southern Baptists were dangerously liberal. And, most in our crowd knew Northern or American Baptists weren’t really Christian. Thinking back on those years I like to observe there is a reason why there are humorous books and movies about being raised Catholic or Jewish, but there are no humorous books or movies about being raised Baptist… My lasting take away from this childhood is a certain discomfort with my body and... Read more

The Harvard Gazette has just published a fascinating article on a long term study into the makings of a healthy life. In addition to the merits of the article itself, I’m particularly interested as the project’s director, Bob Waldinger, a friend who is also an old Zen hand, a Dharma teacher with the Boundless Way Zen network and leader of the Zen meditation group at Mass General Hospital. The unsigned article begins: “For 74 years, one of the longest-running studies... Read more

Charles Dickens, one of the greats, was born on this day in 1812. According to the biographical sketch posted at the Unitarian Universalist Association website, “Charles Dickens (February 7, 1812-June 9, 1870) is often considered the finest English novelist of the 19th century. His enduring comic characters are part of the culture. He is known as well for exposing the wretchedness of the downtrodden, for his anger at their heartless oppression and for his contribution to the celebration of Christmas.... Read more

Obama 2012 Read more

Interesting reflection from the spiritual third world… And, I’m sure there’s a story about the hat… Read more