One of the Unitarian Universalist ministers I find I admire most, is the Reverend Thomas Schade, who currently serves as parish minister of the First Unitarian Church of Worcester, in Massachusetts, the 11th to hold that position since the congregation gathered in 1785. The following brief essay is a large part of why I admire him so. He puts the issue into simple, yet not simplistic terms, and then points us on our way. In this case the issue is... Read more

SAYS WHO? AND SO WHAT? Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, Transcendentalism, the Question of Authority Within Unitarian Universalism, and Where it All Takes Us 27 November 2011 James Ishmael Ford First Unitarian Church Providence, Rhode Island Text The Transcendentalist adopts the whole connection of spiritual doctrine. (She) believes in miracle, in the perpetual openness of the human mind to new influx of light and power; he believes in inspiration, and in ecstasy. (The Transcendentalist) wishes that the spiritual principle should be suffered... Read more

In this season in which we’re called to gratitude. Surrounded by a community of care and engagement. Recalling our ancestors and looking to the future. Walking the path of healing for ourselves and each other. Some words from the desert Songs from those ancestors of all who search. The question put to Abba Poemen by a pilgrim. It is the question we all know. Sir I know sadness. I know the hurt of ages. Please put my heart at ease.... Read more

While listening to a rerun of Tom Ashbrook’s On Point, I found I had to admit there are various evidences of the existence of a god… For instance Christmas Day, 1989 The Wall in Berlin has fallen Leonard Bernstein brings Beethoven to the people, And, perhaps, Just perhaps, In that moment we can hear the voice of God… Read more

At the Washington Post I saw a story on the We Are Atheism campaign. Caught my attention. The questions of theism, agnosticism, nontheism & atheism are rich, no doubt, exploring the currents of our human heart and our willingness to weigh evidence into our world view. Pretty important, I think. If asked, and if the conversation is passing, I usually opt for nontheist, as I find it less freighted with emotions I don’t generally identify with that color the term... Read more

What’s wrong with our current version of Thanksgiving? Oh, dear, let me count the ways… That said, Of course there’s nothing wrong with giving thanks. We should. We should constantly. And setting special days aside is totally fine. We just attached it to the wrong story… A small invite. Go a tad deeper than the Pilgrim Indian story, although that should be part of the picture, as well. We need to face the complexity of our human lives, and the... Read more

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If my math is right, Harpo Marx would have been one hundred and twenty three years old today. I recall when he and Lucille Ball explored the mysteries of self and other… Sort of a Buddhist meditation, I thought… I said sort of… Read more

A friend noticed I often allude to healing in my reflections and Dharma talks & sermons, and asked me to elaborate a bit. For me there is indeed a world of hurt, and we’re up to our eyeballs in it. Now, the world is also what it is. And in talking about hurt or healing I’m not talking about hurricanes or earthquakes. I’m talking about our human universe and what we encounter within the world of longing and meaning, hope... Read more

This Sunday as part of our Thanksgiving service, I shared the pulpit with our congregation’s religious educator, each of us addressing two things for which we were grateful. This is the second of my reflections… Once upon a time, I think it was a lovely day. Certainly, everything was in full bloom, you could smell the flowers ten feet away, if you plucked a blade of what had to be the greenest grass ever and put it in your mouth... Read more