Monday, 30 January 2012, 02:11 pm PST
Unitarian Universalism: The Institution of Spiritual Freedom
A 501(c)3 nonprofit organization
Featured Ministers
Beyond Congregations -- What's a Religious Movement?
When some people hear that President Morales wants us to think of ourselves as "a religious movement," they get anxious. It sounds like the UUA will become even more boundary-le... [read more]
thelivelytradition
help them grow
We all want and expect different things from our church. Some of us come here to find peace and healing; some come to get informed and energized to go out and fight against injustice. Some want cla... [read more]
the yes church
Underwater Cathedral
Although I come from a long line of beachy people, I am not a beachy person myself. I burn too easily to worship the sun. Instead, I wear broad-brimmed hats and scurry to the shady spots along the ... [read more]
The Reverend Dr.
Coyote, the parable of MetaK and the future of liberal religion
Click on the following link to hear the podcast of this post and/or download an mp 3 (see bottom left of the page): Coyote, the parable of Meta K and the future of liberal religion - 29 Januar... [read more]
Caute
The Center of a Liberal Faith Movement
What it means to be a Unitarian Universalist has been on my heart this last week. Not surprisingly, considering that many UU’s are currently thinking about similar things in reaction to the re... [read more]
Celestial Lands
Our Sandy Dog
It looks as if our dog Sandy is coming to the end of her life. The vets tell us she is in heart failure, and she is on a series of medications to help her heart work and to help keep fluid out of h... [read more]
Carrots and Ginger
Freely Following Jesus, a sermon preached in Austin, TX Wildflower Church
Freely Following Jesus Wildflower Church Austin TX Jan. 22, 2012 The reading from Mark 1:14-20…a part of the weekly lectionary, a way churches of different traditionsall read and comment on the s... [read more]
Planting God Communities
Whatever Mantra Gets You Through the Day
Did you get a look at the bodyguard for the Australian Prime Minister today? I want to be that guy. The Australian PM, Julia Gillard, was surrounded by an angry group of aboriginal protesters and s... [read more]
Auspicious Jots
Union Busting And UU Values
Wednesday, January 25th, 2012 will someday be remembered, either as the day the citizens of Indiana received their wake-up call, or the day on which the decline of worker pay and workplace safety b... [read more]
Just Wondering
Practice Makes IMperfect.... Week 15-ish of sabbatical
Well, I am counting down the weeks LEFT in my sabbatical now. Not altogether with trepidation, because I am actually feeling energized and ready to get back to work. I love almost everything about ... [read more]
A Jersey Girl In Kentucky
Practice Makes IMperfect.... Week 15-ish of sabbatical
Well, I am counting down the weeks LEFT in my sabbatical now. Not altogether with trepidation, because I am actually feeling energized and ready to get back to work. I love almost everything about ... [read more]
A Jersey Girl in Kentucky
A Life of Work, Part 4
During the four years I spent at Iliff School of Theology, in Denver, I had many opportunities to experience ministerial responsibilities. The required curriculum at Iliff gave me some of those bu... [read more]
Ms. Kitty’s Saloon and Road Show
Thoughts on "Congregations and Beyond"
The UUA President, the Rev. Peter Morales published a working paper titled "Congregations and Beyond" last week. It's available in its entirety here. In it he says, ... [read more]
Rev. Cyn
Strangers in the Land of Egypt
My heart had a visitor this week. Knock, knock. "Yes? " "Hi, I’m anger. " "Oh, yes. I recognize you by the tightening I’m feeling. You’re here about t... [read more]
Lake Chalice
3 of 4 UU's Don't Belong to Congregations. Why?
Of course, it is technically true that all UU's belong to UU congregations, because technically, there is no way to be a UU unless you belong to a congregation. But don't tell the peop... [read more]
iMinister
What Emerges Out of Silence
The Buddha taught again and again: Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anythin... [read more]
timesunion.com
The More Things Change…
I am currently reading W. E. B. Dubois classic "The Black Reconstruction in America. " In a section describing the treatment of the African Americans in Louisiana shortly after the Civil... [read more]
The Latest Form of Infidelity
wrapped in a blue cloud cloth
Langston Hughes writes. .. "Bring me all of your dreams, You dreamers, Bring me all of your heart melodies, That I may wrap them in a blue cloud cloth Away from the too rough fingers of the ... [read more]
help create peace now...
The empowerment tragedy
IDEAS: Unitarian Universalists remain unreconciled four decades after controversy over 'black empowerment' nearly tore the UUA apart. [read more]
Ideas from UU World
Of the 1%, By the 1%, For the 1%: Economic Justice in America
Reading before the sermon is available here. ** “What can we say,” asks economist and Nobel laureate Paul Krugman, “about the [Occupy Wall Street] protests? First things first: The protesters... [read more]
Thousand Voices
In search of an Honest Person
In search of an Honest Person by Rev. Fred L Hammond Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Tuscaloosa January 15 2012 © In our story for all ages, we heard the story of Clementine Hunter, an a... [read more]
A Unitarian Universalist Minister in Mississippi
See all blogs entries from A Unitarian Universalist Minister in Mississippi
Choosing Your Obsession with Our Annual Fire Communion with the Rev. Bret Lortie
Emerson wrote that a “person will worship something, have no doubt about that…That which dominates our imaginations and our thoughts will determine our lives, and our character. ” In ... [read more]
Bytes of Grass
Odds & Ends
My, what big teeth you have!
Isn't it a pain when you can't locate the . jpg file you need? On and off for a week, I've been looking for an image I downloaded from i Stock Photo a couple years ago. It's in my i Stock down... [read more]
Educated & Poor
Love Beyond
"My grandmother used to tell me stories about how they would put straw under the eyelids of slaves so they couldn't fall asleep," he confided to me. JT and I took many classes togeth... [read more]
The Journey
My Top 10 Predictions for 2012 on Sexuality, Religion,and Public Life
Happy New Year to you all. Here are my top 10 predictions on sexuality, religion, and public life for 2012. Tell me what you think! 10. The Republican candidate for President will run on an unamb... [read more]
Sexuality and Religion: What’s the Connection?
See all blogs entries from Sexuality and Religion: What’s the Connection?
What's Your Real Religion?
Take the Test
UU News
Syrian Uprising Becoming Shiite-Sunni Conflict
Yesterday's Christian Science Monitor reports that as the fighting goes on in Syria, the conflict is moving from a popular uprising to a confrontation between Sunnis and Shiites, explaining:The re... [read more]
Religion Clause
A passion for environmental justice
LIFE: For the Rev. Bob Murphy, environmentalism and ministry overlap like the shoreline and the sea. [read more]
Life from UU World
UUA Board urges repudiation of 'Doctrine of Discovery'
NEWS: Meeting in New Orleans, board names moderator candidates, mulls future of UUA headquarters and social justice resolutions. [read more]
News from UU World
MLK's Prayers: "Our Attitude of Self-Centeredness"
The prayers of Martin Luther King, Jr. prayers acknowledge a meaning to existence that transcends the self and its immediate circumstances. [read more]
Beacon Broadside
Responding to a vision statement, and other UU blogging
‘Congregations and Beyond’ This past week Unitarian Universalist Association President Peter Morales published “Congregations and Beyond,” encouraging all Unitarian Universa... [read more]
the interdependent web
Featured Podcasts
By What Authority?, Rev. Janne Eller-Isaacs, January 29, 2012
Unity Church-Unitarian of Saint Paul, MN
See all podcast episodes from Unity Church-Unitarian of Saint Paul, MN
The Spirituality of needlework by the Davies Stitch and Bitch Group, Camp Springs, MD
The Spirituality of Needlework with the Stitch and Bitch Group (led by Sandy Greenberg and Lynne Godfrey) will address how creative activities can enhance your spiritual life, encourage a med... [listen to the episode]
DMUUC Message
Candlelight Christmas Eve Service: A Child’s Christmas in Wales
Candlelight Christmas Eve Service: A Child’s Christmas in Wales -- Sermon delivered by Rev. Dr. Stephen H. Furrer December 24, 2011 at 4:45 pm [listen to the episode]
First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco Podcast
See all podcast episodes from First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco Podcast
Dark of Winter
The dark of winter surrounds us. The sun appears for only nine hours a day. We are held in the womb of the night. Dark, starry skies embrace us in the infinite Darkness invites us to come ... [listen to the episode]
UU Church of Berkeley
"Now is the Time: Stewardship Sunday" - April 10, 2011
Come celebrate the gift of our beloved community as we reflect on what this moment in our congregational history calls us to do. We'll also have a child dedication at this service. [listen to the episode]
Bull Run Unitarian Universalists
See all podcast episodes from Bull Run Unitarian Universalists
Featured Blog Posts
Cooking
I wish I could say that I love to cook, but I don't. It doesn't excite me AT ALL. I love to bake, but dinner usually requires more then rolls, breads, and bars. I think part of the problem is ... [read more]
Everyday Unitarian
Should Witch-Hunter Helen Ukpabio be Allowed to Visit America?
The United States has a strong ethic of not interfering with the internal affairs of religious organizations. The recent unanimous Supreme Court decision affirming the right of “ministerial... [read more]
The Wild Hunt
Book review: Delusions of Gender
My mother is fond of telling a story. Her first child, she had me in her early twenties. Highly influenced by the Feminist thought of the 1970’s, Mom was convinced she would raise me quite differ... [read more]
Comrade Kevin’s Chrestomathy
300 arrested at Occupy protests in Oakland - latimes.com
Oakland’s Mayor Quan,Quan said that at one point, many protesters forced their way into City Hall, where they burned flags, broke an electrical box and damaged several art structures, including a... [read more]
Pfarrer Streccius
Slow blogging ahead
I´m changing over to the Dvorak keyboard: a slow process of unlearning the QWERTY keyboard. Related posts:Go-slow on blogging The Dvorak keyboard New blogging schedule Related posts:Go-slow on b... [read more]
Boy in the Bands
Why the Dzur Stabbed the Yendi in the Back
This is a bit of fanfic inspired by the Vlad Taltos stories of Steve Brust. Or maybe by the Paarfi stories. In any case, it's a story that might be told in Dragaera. The nature of Dzurs and Yendis... [read more]
it’s all one thing
Thinking Outside the Schooling Box?
I am becoming more and more uncomfortable with the whole concept of “school” and “education”, seeing both as formalized and standardized bureaucratic mechanisms that awkwardly attempt to bo... [read more]
Lefty Parent- Living and Parenting Without The Rule Book
See all blog entries from Lefty Parent- Living and Parenting Without The Rule Book
rest...
This poem by Unitarian minister, translator and eminent musicologist John Sullivan Dwight was well read this morning. Truer words. .. " Is not true leisure One with true toil? ... [read more]
Boston Unitarian
A beacon of hope in the morning fog of the Mississippi Gulf Coast
It was a foggy night, but it had been a perpetual state of fog since I arrived on Friday. I had to use the vacation days by the end of the month or they were lost forever, and I happened …... [read more]
Spirituality and Sunflowers
What's In "Justice GA" For Me?
In an article at uuworld. org that came out today, it was written:"This GA, termed a "Justice GA," will be almost entirely focused on social justice issues related to immigrati... [read more]
It’s 5 O’Clock Somewhere
At my mother's funeral
My quarterly column is up at the UU World web site. If you read this blog regularly, you'll suddenly understand where the ideas in May's My Volo Credere post came from. More and more, I'm seeing... [read more]
Free and Responsible Search
Key West: A PeaceBang Review
I have spent the past five days vacationing in Key West and I give it an enthusiastic thumbs up. Peace Bang’s Top 6 Reasons To Vacation in Key West, Florida: 1. Although it has a reputation a... [read more]
The manic mind of the minister
Tyler Perry, George Lucas and Why Everyone Should See ‘Red Tails’ This Weekend
It takes a lot to get me to go to a movie theatre; other than going to see the 3 D version of ‘The Lion King’ the last movie I saw in theatre was ‘Up In The Air’. With that ... [read more]
east of midnight
Back to School Simply?
I left full-time academics in 1999. It took a year of exploring the idea before I handed in my resignation, and another year and a half before I finally left. Academic institutions have a year-lon... [read more]
Wandering Monk, Reluctant Gyrovague
See all blog entries from Wandering Monk, Reluctant Gyrovague
Allreds of White Springs, Florida -
Excepert from Rev. Q. H. Shinn's coloumn "Personal Expericnces In Making Universalists" that appeared in the March 6, 1906 issue of ONWARD"Now I'm going to tell about a Flor... [read more]
SC Universalist
Webcomic Tribute to Christopher Hitchens (continued)
Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm. net [read more]
Liberal Faith Development
Occupy Unitarian Universalism
The Unitarian Society of Northampton and Florence has extended an invitation to members of their local Occupy movement to camp at their church. The initial expected numbers are about 12-15 peopl... [read more]
Transient and Permanent
Captive Samhain
I apologise to those readers I still have for neglecting my blog, but I've been in prison the last few months. Several prisons, in fact, including the Womans prison. .. as a member of the Indianap... [read more]
Cuumbaya
On How We Treat Our Children
We don’t discipline our son. We don’t spank him. No time outs. No punishments of any kind. We’ve never raised our voice to him. We have never mocked him. We speak to him lovingly, sometimes f... [read more]
Elizabeth’s Little Blog
Loved into being
It’s a golden fall day here–the leaves have started to turn and the sun is shining brightly so it seems as if Midas has kissed the world. I’m still inside, looking out–but w... [read more]