The Four Yogas and Transcendental Humanism

Last updated on: December 29, 2014 at 1:33 pm By David Breeden

A group from the local Hindu temple recently contacted me about jointly celebrating the 150th birthday of Vivekananada, the Hindu priest who took the World Parliament of Religions by storm back in 1893 and introduced Vedanta Hinduism to the Western Hemisphere. Vivekananda spoke at the congregation where I serve as senior minister, the First Unitarian Society of Minneapolis, not once but twice on his initial US visit. I enthusiastically accepted the invitation. I was pleased that First Unitarian Society had... Read more

Playing Together

Last updated on: November 20, 2013 at 11:00 am By Lynn Ungar

I went to a great concert last night, and it’s made me think about why it is that I like hanging out with musicians. Now, I don’t know any rock stars, but because I’m an avid contra dancer, I get the opportunity to spend time around people who are the rock stars of our little, folkie dance world. And nothing could be more fun, because these people are da bomb. They are who I want to be when I grow... Read more

Living History: How JFK’s assassination woke me up

Last updated on: November 19, 2013 at 10:40 am By Meg Riley

I was sitting in a small desk, and Mrs. Graham was at the front of Room 3 in Overbrook School in Charleston, West Virginia, the day that John F. Kennedy was shot. Randall Hainey’s mom came running in the side door with a transistor radio to tell us. Handing out lined paper, Mrs. Graham said solemnly, “You will remember this day always. Write down exactly what happened, because you’ll want to tell your grandchildren about it. You are part of... Read more

Songs that Save Us

Last updated on: November 19, 2013 at 9:27 am By Rev. Deanna Vandiver

Emma’s Revolution came to New Orleans and offered a workshop focused on singing and songwriting for social justice last weekend. I am still reeling a bit from process. Yesterday I caught myself humming a song and wondered “whose song am I singing?” With a flash of wonder, I realized that it was mine. It wasn’t until that moment that I realized how shut up/shut down the songs within me have been. We are endlessly adaptable, us human beings. We can... Read more

The Playground Atheist Looks Back

Last updated on: January 5, 2014 at 12:03 pm By jakemorrill

It may be that every elementary school, across the whole South, has at least one self-appointed Playground Atheist. You know the type: when all the other kids are showing off their new “WWJD” bracelets and mooning about how cool the youth pastor is, there’s a sharp-eyed fellow, standing there by the slide, not believing any of it for a second. When the typical debates come up—for instance, do dogs go to heaven—it’s the Playground Atheist who explodes the whole conversation.... Read more

Let Us Take Care of Each Other

Last updated on: January 5, 2015 at 1:02 pm By Christine Organ

“I do believe we’re all connected. I do believe in positive energy. I do believe in the power of prayer. I do believe in putting good out into the world. And I believe in taking care of each other.” Harvey Fierstein Early this week, my youngest son came down with strep throat. Like most illnesses, it came at a rather inopportune time. We were out of town, a meeting was scheduled for that afternoon, and I had about a... Read more

How Sisyphus Got It Right

Last updated on: November 14, 2013 at 6:11 am By David Breeden

I have participated in National Novel Writing Month three times now. I have never reached the goal of 50,000 words. Last year I came close, with 42,000. This year I’m not even close, having written only a bit over 10,000. The handy-dandy stats machine on the NaNoWriMo website tells me I’m averaging 760 words a day. The average needs to be more like 1500. I could, if I chose, feel inadequate—I’m clearly failing at the goals. Yet, I intend to... Read more

Anything I can do, We can do better…

Last updated on: November 12, 2013 at 10:48 am By Rev. Deanna Vandiver

“We think that honesty and living in truth are better ways to live than propaganda and denial and comforting stories.” –Tom Schade, “Religious Community is Not Enough: Unitarian Universalism’s purpose is much bigger than gathering with like-minded people for mutual support,” UU World Winter 2013. Earlier this year the Board members of the Center for Ethical Living and Social Justice Renewal voted unanimously to attend an Undoing Racism training offered by the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond. While most... Read more

What — and who — is Remote?

Last updated on: November 11, 2013 at 10:54 am By Rev. Heather Rion Starr

“Remote” is different now. I spent the weekend driving from Washington D.C. to Blacksburg, Virginia, and back, with my family and a friend in the car. There were lots of beautiful trees, long stretches of uninterrupted, leaf-lined highway, and countless cows who appeared to be contentedly munching on hillsides of grass. At some point, we got into a discussion about what it means to live in “a remote area,” these days – what does that even mean, anymore? In these... Read more

A Confession

Last updated on: November 9, 2013 at 11:36 pm By jakemorrill

You’re wanting to know about the crucified squirrel. But first, here’s what happened to my Christmas lights. I lived in Iowa City, in a second-floor walk-up over Iowa Ave. Without any warning, November was here. Late fall in the Midwest is like if the planet Venus ends up shoved to the back of the fridge with the celery and other things nobody wants until it gets soft and bruised, and then what do you do? You don’t want it. You... Read more