I’ve long been taken with the current Unitarian Universalist Statement of Principles & Purposes. It is the most recent of a long line of attempts not to formulate a creed, that is a statement one must assent to in order to belong to a group, but rather an attempt to describe what is commonly held among this band. As such there have traditionally been “escape clauses,” that is in one manner or another an acknowledgment no individual must subscribe to... Read more

While I’m quite fond Cinco De Mayo, among the other things worth noting today is how it is Soren Kierkegaard’s birthday. I discovered him in my late adolescence, and, my, he was a liberating force… (God, hard to read, however! I recall one translator footnoting a particularly hard paragraph, declaring in that note that he really wasn’t as awful a translator as the passage suggested…) I continue to be impressed by existentialists of all stripes. I like to think of... Read more

Paralyzed and silent in her bed, my daughter Paula taught me a lesson that is now my mantra: You only have what you give. It’s by spending yourself that you become rich. …The pain of losing my child was a cleansing experience. I had to throw overboard all excess baggage and keep only what is essential. Because of Paula, I don’t cling to anything anymore. Now I like to give much more than I receive. I am happier when I... Read more

On this day in 1776 the colony of Rhode Island formally renounced any allegiance to the British crown, two months before the lallygags in the other colonies followed suit… (It would also become the last state to ratify the constitution. But that’s another story…) We may be small, but we’re feisty… Read more

FROM PROVIDENCE TO KATMANDU AND BACK AGAIN Reflections on a Spiral Path A Sermon byJames Ishmael Ford 3 May 2009 First Unitarian ChurchProvidence, Rhode Island Text The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name’ sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I... Read more

Due to attempts to use the comments on my blog for purposes beyond my intent for this blog I have disabled that function. If anyone has anything to say to me about any blog entry, or for that matter, on any subject, please feel free to contact me directly. I post an address prominently in the field to the right of the posts. Read more

It is interesting, while it has felt like forever, it is less than forty-eight hours, by a long shot, and we are now home. Auntie actually is walking around, although we think that will change as pain meds wear off. I ran down to the Rite Aid to fill her prescriptions and came back to find one of the lay ministers handing off a bag of yums for us. Nice to feel cared for! I spent most of the past... Read more

Miss California in 2003 (and the Miss America swimsuit winner…) Nicole Lamarache has stated for the record her support for Marriage Equality. I’m pleased to add Ms Lamarache is a fellow alumn from the Pacific School of Religion and has gone on to ordain and currently serves as pastor of the Cotuit Federated Church out on Cape Cod, in Massachusetts… It is also probably fair to say this Miss California is a tad more competent to speak to the subject... Read more

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just because… Read more