Those involved refused to be identified… Read more

Our source for this informative picture says “my cats are too lazy to read, but they did listen to the book on tape.” Read more

It was so sad to hear of yesterday’s shooting at the Maryville, Illinois First Baptist Church. I just don’t understand the bizarre fascination of so many reports with the explosion of the Reverend Fred Winters’ bible at the shot that would kill him. Although it reminds of me a suicide I witnessed in my young adulthood, where someone jumped from the rooftop of the building that housed the bookstore in which I was working. He landed on his head which... Read more

Today is the feast of the Christian bishop Gregory of Nyssa. His brother was the renowned Basil of Caesarea & together they are known by the sobriquet “Cappadocian Fathers.” Gregory was an incredibly important theologian, a principal in the Christological debates, particularly against the Arian tradition, contributing to the development of the idea of Trinity as well as being among the first to speak of God as infinite. He is interesting to me for two reasons. First was his interest... Read more

FOR FAITH IS THE GIFT OF GOD A Reflection on Meeting Transylvanian Unitarians A Sermon byJames Ishmael Ford 8 March 2009 First Unitarian ChurchProvidence, Rhode Island Text His majesty, our Lord, in what manner he – together with his realm – legislated in the matter of religion at the previous Diets, in the same matter now, in this Diet, reaffirms that in every place the preachers shall preach and explain the Gospel each according to his understanding of it, and... Read more

But everything that once perhaps will be possible to many, the solitary man can already prepare for and build now with his hands, which go less astray. Therefore, dear Sir, love your solitude and bear the pain which it has caused you with fair-sounding lament. For those that are near you are far, you say, and this shews that distance begins to grow round you. And when your nearness is far, then your distance is already among the stars and... Read more

Susan Blackmore is probably my favorite controversial thinker going right now… Read more

In his famous Ballad of Pretty Boy Floyd, Woody Guthrie wrote “some will rob you with a six gun, and some with a fountain pen.” He concludes his song with the observation that “you’ll never see an outlaw drive a family from their home.” I don’t actually believe that’s true. But there is something strange in how we treat white collar crime. I hear the horrors that are following in the wake of Bernie Madoff’s crime wave, and I experience... Read more

A wise person once observed that among the important things for someone to do in her or his life is to find a worthy but difficult cause and to work at it for as long as it takes. The very engagement will make a better person out of the participant. And it will mean their living has a little more purpose than otherwise would be the case… The good news is there are many such opportunities. I hold up one... Read more

The Episcopal Diocese of Northern Michigan has just elected as their new bishop the Reverend Kevin Thew Forrester, a person who has committed to walking the twin way of Anglican Christianity and Zen Buddhism. The stories I’ve found all allude to his having taken “lay ordination” in Zen Buddhism. Which means he has taken the sixteen Bodhisattva precepts from the Soto Zen priest, Sensei Shoken Winecoff. It does not mean he has clerical status within the Zen sangha, which appears... Read more