In honor of Brigid, Lady of purification, creativity, and healing, I offer this favorite poem by one of the best, Walt Whitman. This comes from the preface to the first edition of Leaves of Grass: Love the earth and sun and the animals,despise riches, give alms to everyone that asks,stand up for the stupid and crazy,devote your income and labor to others,hate tyrants,argue not concerning God,have patience and indulgence toward the people,take off your hat to nothing known or unknownor... Read more

Continued from Part 1: Worship As I wait in the Light, sometimes images rise. Perhaps it is because of the years I spent doing Pagan trance journey–or perhaps it is because of some quirk of my mind, or something inherent in Spirit itself, for after all, most spiritual writings are rich with imagery, but when I am deep in worship, pictures form in my inner eye more reliably than words. Some images repeat themselves. I often find myself filled with... Read more

Continued in Part 2: Ministry “What happens in a Quaker meeting?” I was at a party a few weeks back, with most of my closest friends in the world. In the middle of the laughter and bad puns and off-key theme songs from 70’s TV shows, Jonathan asked me that question. “Nothing!” broke in my friend Laura, grinning at us across the room. And there was a wave of friendly laughter. “Not nothing!” I countered. “Definitely not nothing.” And I... Read more

The trouble with the inauguration is that I’m going to be watching it. In my high school. With my students. And I’m really afraid I’m going to cry. There’s an unspoken law about successful teaching–never cry in front of a teenager. Younger kids sometimes find it appealing when middle-aged people get teary… I remember, when the kids in my sixth grade class threw me a surprise party at the end of my student teaching there, how happy they were at... Read more

Green Egg Omelette. Oberon Zell-Ravenheart (ed.) 2009. 286 p. New Page Books, softcover, $15.99. (978-1-60163-04609). Once upon a time, you could tell what “generation” a Pagan was by their first encounter with the Pagan magazine Green Egg. (I’m from the early Darling years, myself, though my teachers shared with me stacks of their original, mimeographed and hand-stapled Zell years, along with stories of legendary feuds in the Forum–the letter column of the zine–and of rivalries lost and found between one... Read more

I don’t normally make blog posts that are merely links to other people’s articles. But , in reading Jason Pitzl-Waters’ end-of-year roundup on the most important Pagan news stories of the year, I followed a link to The Revealer’s nominations for the best overall religious news stories of 2008. Among them was an incredibly lucid, well-reasoned article on the struggle within the Anglican Communion. Garret Keizer’s article, “Turning Away from Jesus: Gay Rights and the War for the Episcopal Church”... Read more

Snow falls. Wraps the silencetenderlypacking it wellagainst accidental breakage. //www.youtube.com/get_player Read more