According to Wikipedia, on this day in 1789 “Thomas Jefferson is appointed the first United States Secretary of State, John Jay is appointed the first Chief Justice of the United States, Samuel Osgood is appointed the first United States Postmaster General, and Edmund Randolph is appointed the first United States Attorney General.” And the wild caravan begins. Long live the republic! Read more

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Once upon a time I worked for about a decade in a large old bookstore in San Diego. This past July not long following the owner’s death and in the midst of the general economic decline his family shut the business down. Here’s a little video called Slow Blues in A for Wahrenbrock’s Book House: for Jan Tonneson. Jan was the manager of the store for something like a quarter of a century… If there were ever an institution I... Read more

Forrest Church died yesterday. Forrest served our All Souls congregation in Manhattan for nearly three decades. He was also the author of something in the neighborhood of twenty-five books. His interests ranged from liberal Christian theology to American politics. He had a real influence on me. I was much taken with his stance as an evangelical Unitarian Universalist. On any number of occasions I cited his observation that the spiritual quest is grounded in the twin knowings, that we are... Read more

Today, Governor Deval Patrick appointed Paul Kirk as interim senator to take the late Edward Kennedy’s seat until a special election can take place. Welcome aboard, Paul! You understand the job you’ve inherited… So, now get to work! Read more

There really is a place for the bad attitude… Or, at least, so I think. The last clergy group I belonged to, back in Massachusetts was strictly restricted to folk who by the common agreement of the existing group, had “bad attitude.” Yes, this was a group of people who had vowed their lives in service of the power of some greater, to use a placeholder that isn’t completely satisfactory to name it, love. As I think about it, it... Read more

Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen was born on this day in 1949… Read more

In the video I posted yesterday, my colleague whom I dearly admire, Christine Robinson tries to briefly define our nebulous Unitarian Universalism. She raised the famous anecdote about Hillel who when challenged to explain the whole of the Torah while standing on one foot replied “Do not do to your neighbor what you hate. The rest is commentary.” Christine then said she couldn’t explain Unitarian Universalism while standing on one foot, but, still, gave a pretty good and still pretty... Read more

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FAITH IN A CHAIR A Consideration of Covenant As a Spiritual Endeavor 20 September 2009 James Ishmael Ford First Unitarian Church Providence, Rhode Island Text We’ve fallen into communion with the feisty, free-spirited Puritans of 450 years ago who advocated freedom of religious conscience and resisted the oppressive powers of church and state. We’ve fallen into communion with the people who believe revelation is not sealed. John Robinson’s words to the departing Pilgrims echo in us still, “The Lord hath... Read more