Friday, 27 January 2012, 10:15 pm PST
Unitarian Universalism: The Institution of Spiritual Freedom
A 501(c)3 nonprofit organization
Featured Ministers
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
Beyond Congregations Thoughts -- #1
The first question that everyone should ask when the President of the UUA writes something for us all to consider is: for whom and to whom is he speaking? Some people like to talk about 'The UUA'... [read more]
thelivelytradition
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
A late January spin into the fens on the Dursley-Pederson
Eyes shut with the DP on White Fen For various reasons I haven't been able to get out much on the bike this month and, to be frank, I was going completely shack-simple. Alas, when I got up this mo... [read more]
Caute
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
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
Congregations and Beyond
Peter Morales' paper, Congregations and Beyond (found here) raises some interesting issues for UU's and other religious people, especially those in small denominations and those... [read more]
iMinister
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]
PeaceBang
Beyond "Congregations and Beyond"
UUA President Peter Morales’ column, “Congregations and Beyond,” has me simultaneously excited and disappointed. Peter writes, “The central conviction driving this proposal is that our core... [read more]
the yes church
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
Our Responsibility to those Beyond Our Walls
Break not that circle of enabling love, Where people grow, forgiven and forgiving, Break not that circle, make it wider still, Till it includes, embraces all the living. –Hymn 323, Singing th... [read more]
Celestial Lands
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
Student Essay Insanity #72!
While cleaning out the many boxes of junk from my old Division II University office, I found about a dozen pages of essay bloopers I'd scribbled during Regents' Exam and Freshman Writing Project ... [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
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
Today Is International Holocaust Commemeration Day
Today is the United Nations'-declared annual International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust. Haaretz reports on plans in countries across Europe for marking the ... [read more]
Religion Clause
Ending torture in the Year of the Dragon, and other UUs in the media
UU human rights lawyer calls for end to torture The Rev. Karen Tse, a UU minister and human rights lawyer, says that in the Year of the Dragon, it is time for us to finally stop torture. Watch Tse... [read more]
UU’s In the Media
What Schools are Really Blocking When They Block Social Media
Educators block social media because they believe it threatens the personal and emotional safety of their students, but they are missing opportunities to use these channels to promote learning. ... [read more]
Beacon Broadside
UUA Board of Trustees Nominates Two Candidates for Moderator
The UUA Board of Trustees was charged with nominating one or more persons for the Moderator position effective with the election that will occur at GA in 2013. The Board has interviewed the recomme... [read more]
Unitarian Universalist Association: Top Stories
See all news results from Unitarian Universalist Association: Top Stories
Featured Podcasts
It Gets Better, Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, January 22, 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
Bisexuals Get No Respect
I rarely link to existing articles, but I think these two are deserved. Cynthia Nixon: Bisexuals? We get no respect This one is better. [read more]
Comrade Kevin’s Chrestomathy
Unschooling in the Art of War
This is quite a long piece (over 7000 words) weaving a narrative thread through my young life that I think illustrates a key principle of unschooling. That principle is that the natural desire and ... [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
Quick Note: Open Source vs Closed Source Faiths
In a recent editorial for the Huffington Post Josh Schrei argues that the real difference between Hinduism and other world religions is that Hinduism is an “open source” faith, and that... [read more]
The Wild Hunt
Lysenko and Warmism
Scientists, debunking Warmism today in WSJ, recall Lysenko (photo at left) who did science the Proletarian Way. This is not the way science is supposed to work, but we have seen it before—for exa... [read more]
Pfarrer Streccius
Co-housing question
This isn’t for me. Really. But in a larger sense it may be for all of us. Does anyone have experience buying a house or apartment with a non-relative on a cooperative basis? Since strong hous... [read more]
Boy in the Bands
Less writing online means more writing offline
That's true for me, anyway. If you define yourself artistically as a blogger or commenter or networker, go you! But I'm not, so I'm radically simplifying my online life. If I've unfollowed or u... [read more]
it’s all one thing
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
First it was the Evangelicals,
then the Mormons and now the Catholics. I don't ever remember seeing so many ads on TV for church in my life. It is getting kind of crazy. Growing up in the 80s in northern Iowa, religion really w... [read more]
Everyday Unitarian
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]