When Mrs Keller was at her wits’ end, frightened at what appeared to be her daughter’s fate, she wrote a letter to Perkins. They sent her Anne Sullivan. On this day in 1829 Perkins School for the Blind incorporated. Go here for the story. Read more

Hanshan is one of my favorite poets. Well, the poet or poets anthologized as Hanshan is a favorite of mine. Generally thought of as ninth century, the poems may come from the entire range of Tang China. According to legend he lived as a semi-hermit in a cave called Hanshan, Cold Cliff or Mountain, in the Tiantai mountains in modern Zheijian province. He is claimed by both Buddhists and Taoists. Although in the stories, it’s the monks of the Buddhist... Read more

Just a link to an interesting reflection at an interesting group blog. Read more

F. Scott Fitzgerald is said to have said “There are no second acts in American lives.” I rummaged around the web and found numerous references to this quote, most noting, if not as eloquently as in an Esquire article from 1999: “This half aphorism, found in notes for a never-finished novel, (is) perhaps the most oft quoted of Fitzgerald‘s work, largely because it is trenchant and almost perfectly wrong.” Like many lovely lines that in one context or another catch... Read more

In my web explorations I’ve recently stumbled upon Caute, a blog by a Unitarian minister in Great Britain. It is interesting and thoughtful, exploring radical religion through a liberal Christian lens. I highly recommend it. However, this entry is not about Caute, even though that could be an interesting reflection, his thinking is so compelling; but rather this entry is inspired by a link I stumbled upon at the Caute blog. Baruch Spinoza is one of my heroes. As Jorge... Read more

Today is the anniversary of King John Sigismund’s Edict of Torda in 1579. It established the right of ministers to preach the gospel as they best understood it, and, as well, for congregants to reserve their own opinions in these matters. In contemporary Unitarian Universalism (as in one or two other places) this has come to be called “freedom of the pulpit” and “freedom of the pew.” It represented a major shift in thinking that was, perhaps of course, already... Read more

Jesus saw some babies nursing. He said to his disciples, “These nursing babies are like those who enter the (Father’s) domain.” They said to him, “Then shall we enter the (Father’s) domain as babies?” Jesus said to them, “When you make the two into one, and when you make the inner like the outer and the outer like the inner, and the upper like the lower, and when you make male and female into a single one, so that the... Read more

Survey: 0.3 percent of adults are Unitarian Universalists by Philocrites (for important embedded links, go to the original article. In addition I recommend a visit to Transient and Permanent for another interesting reflection on these statistics and what they might mean. Important stuff, I feel, for those of us concerned with organized (if that’s actually possible) liberal religion.) There’s some intriguing news for Unitarian Universalism-watchers in the Pew Forum’s fascinating new U.S. Religious Landscape Survey. (Yup, it’s time for some... Read more

Zen Sourcebook Traditional Documents from China, Korea, and JapanEdited by Stephen Addiss, Stanley Lombardo, and Judith RoitmanIntroduction by Paula AraiMarch 2008 312 pp. I’ve just seen this announced and don’t have it yet, although I immediately ordered it… Let me say flat out, I’m an enormous fan of Judith Roitman and have high expectations. Both she and Stanley Lombardo are senior teachers within the Kwan Um School of Zen, a large and very important Western Zen institution. The blurbs at... Read more

Some years ago there was something of a fad among Christians, at least here in North America, who liked to ask the question “if Christianity were illegal, would there be enough evidence to convict you?” Others have taken up this exercise, including from time to time, Unitarian Universalists. If being a UU were illegal, would there be enough evidence to convict you? In some ways it is a bit over the top, at least I tend to see it that... Read more