A RELIGION FOR OUR TIMES The Case for a Buddhist Unitarian Universalism James Ishmael Ford 27 March 2011 First Unitarian Church Providence, Rhode Island Text So the hymn comes to a close with an unsteady amen, and the organist gestures the choir to sit down. Fresh from breakfast with his wife and children and a quick run through of the Sunday papers, the preacher climbs the steps to the pulpit with his sermon in hand. He hikes his black robe... Read more
Tennessee Williams was born one hundred years ago today… Read more
Sunday’s sermon is about how I became a liberal Buddhist. I’ve been rummaging around the web looking for this and that in support. And lo and behold, I found this cartoon. May not be belly laughs, but I thought it a rather more authentic example of Buddhist humor than “What did the Buddhist say to the hot dog vendor?” (For those who need a little help here, the abattoir is where eventually we all find ourselves & it does tend... Read more
One hundred years ago, today, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire killed one hundred forty-six workers, mostly girls and young women, none more than twenty-three years old… I’ve read where people claim today’s public service unions are in no way to be connected to the unions that arose a century ago and which created safe working conditions and allowed ordinary people to aspire to middle class lives. They are wrong. Those who are willing to dismantle the protections of workers and... Read more
Yesterday I was pretty worried. And pretty sick. Nasty cold. Throughout the morning and into the afternoon it seemed to be getting worse. But by late afternoon there was a turn. Had a good night’s sleep. Certainly not all gone. Feel like a wet rag. But not bad enough to waste lounging around… So, off to the office, with a tune or two in the back of my head. (Even knowing the weather reports are calling for a couple of... Read more
I think Jan’s big six oh birthday trip to the Big Apple was a major success. Several spectacular meals. Billy Eliot. Visits to the American Folk Art Museum and the Morgan Library & Museum. Tourist New York is one fine place… Unfortunately I’ve come home with a humungous cold. Stuffed head. Aching chest. Brain like oatmeal… Further comments, therefore, delayed. Instead, a little ditty, inspired by the visit… Read more
For Jan’s big six oh, she didn’t want a party, just a weekend in the City. (NYC to West Coasters who think of Baghdad by the Bay as “the” City…) The logistics of a weekend away are daunting in our household. In fact other than for Zen meditation retreats and church related I’ve not been out of pulpit since August… But we did it. Yesterday ran about two and a half hours late getting out of Providence, had to make... Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In