Obama Countdowncreated by James Miller Read more

Bishop Gene Robinson begins the inaugural celebrations… (thank you, Sue, for the pointer…) Read more

I find it illustrative of my life and the situation for many like me, that for the first time since the publication of the Unitarian Universalist hymnal “Singing the Living Tradition” in 1993 I found myself looking in it for “patriotic hymns.” And, equally illustrative that I found none that fit the bill. No America the Beautiful, no Star Spangled Banner. In a sense that makes sense. Ours is a critical tradition, and we’ve long noticed religious support for the... Read more

Edgar Allan Poe who among many more memorable things lived for a time not far from the church I now serve, was born on this day in 1809. Read more

After our worship service today three of us signed the book becoming members of the First Unitarian Church of Providence. Here are Jan and me with the congregation’s third membership book. It only dates back to 1821… (Thank you Susan for the pic!) Read more

It is interesting how different tea ceremony is in Japan and Korea and England. And, of course, here in North America… Arlo and Janis Read more

Ben Sargent Read more

Today is one of the feast days for the Egyptian cleric Anthony the Great, who is universally celebrated in the Western liturgical churches as the father of Christian monasticism. Sets my mind to thinking about monasticism, although for me what the monastic life has meant for Zen Buddhism and especially for Zen in the West. Buddhism has been carried by the monastic sangha since its inception. In fact in strict traditional usage the term sangha, which today is used in... Read more

I was, as is often the case when the best things happen, looking for something else when I found this. It is an amazing clip. As I am always, I mean always in bed before his show comes on, I only know Craig Ferguson from his continuing part on the delightful Drew Carey Show, which to my mind was one of the finest sitcoms ever… Anyway, while I don’t actually know for whom I’m posting this, if it is you,... Read more

Over the years my favorite television has always been, hands down, Public Television’s British imports. Among the favorite of my favorites was Rumpole of the Bailey. While we lost his face with Leo McKern some time ago, now we’ve lost Rumpole’s heart and mind… John Mortimer(1923 – 2009) Read more