Monday, 08 February 2010, 06:31 pm PST
Unitarian Universalism: The Institution of Spiritual Freedom
A 2008 501(c)3 nonprofit organization candidate
Featured Ministers
Who Am I?
Who am I? Are we our souls, our character, our personality? Is who we are determined by biology or by the songs sung by our mothers before we were even conceived, or by some divine being? Is who... [read more]
Faith Talk
Stories may be the most important thing we share about the dead.
John died on Thursday evening, about 6, with friends and family at his side. We decided to have an informal memorial service for him on Sunday afternoon when his brother and son would be able to a... [read more]
Ms. Kitty’s Saloon and Road Show
Wanted Alive or Dead
Sadly, there is no common Buddhist calendar in the West. And here we have an example of the confusion that follows this lack of conformity. Today together with the 15th of this month is observed in... [read more]
Monkey Mind
We hear about Abigail, and learn to make storyboards with a ringer
It’s been a month since I got to teach Sunday school, but finally today I was the lead teacher once again; Susie, who had been the lead teacher last week, was the assisatant. Three of our reg... [read more]
Yet Another Unitarian Universalist
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Waiting for a great novel about UU ministry
IDEAS: Contemporary authors have yet to plumb the true depths of Unitarian Universalist ministers' lives. [read more]
Ideas from UU World
Social Networking for Congregations & Ministers
I spent the morning working on a Power Point slide explaining how I do social networking (for a presentation that I'm helping my father on for an organization named SEMCO). So the picture below i... [read more]
Rev. Cyn
Bringing Walden Home: Three Chairs in My House
“There are strangers above me, below me and all around me,” says poet Joy Harjo, “and we are all strange in this place of recent invention. ” The place of recent invention is Los Angeles, t... [read more]
Thousand Voices
An achievable perfection - some lessons from lichen . . .
One of Jesus' most problematic, difficult and even impossible calls found in the Gospel according to Matthew is that "to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect" (Matthew 5:48).... [read more]
Caute
Police Related Racial Incidents
The more I’ve been back in the community, engaged in multiracial organizing and leadership development, the more I hear and experience the violent and racialized encounters with police, not j... [read more]
RadicalHapa
Leaving a Trace of Whimsy
So, I’ve chosen to do something that is intentionally and completely just for me. As I mentioned briefly before, I am enrolled in the Interplay Life Practice Program this spring. It... [read more]
ministrare
Faith Formation
My wife has been in pain lately. It has lasted long enough that, though a confirmed atheist, she has begun to talk about making a “bargain with God” if only the pain would go away. I... [read more]
Rev. Thomas Perchlik
New Gil Scott-Heron Album
On Monday Gil Scott-Heron will be releasing a new album. It his first in 15 years. I am, to say the least, excited. I remember the first time I heard Gil’s We Almost Lost Detroit. It pretty ... [read more]
The Latest Form of Infidelity
The Moral Burden of the Unitarian Universalist
One of the common responses to Unitarian Universalism that I found among my military chaplain colleagues is the belief that we UU’s have no morality… when in reality I have found that f... [read more]
Celestial Lands
Christmas Eve in February
Amazing. There is no other way to describe it: miraculous. My mom is 80 today, a beloved wife, mother, grandmother, mother-in-law, community leader, neighbor. .. you name it. M... [read more]
PolityWonk
List #29: 10 Thoughts about Vedera's New Album
In the fall of 2008 I went to Lawrence, Kansas to see Jenny Lewis in concert. That evening I wore a tight fitting maroon t-shirt with the word “veda” written in yellow down the side in a styli... [read more]
RevThom
The closing of community centers in Tulsa...
. .. And how to recreate them. Here below is the text of a letter I sent to the Tulsa World news and editorial staff. Hope to pass it on to others in the broadcast media soon. Go to http://www. tul... [read more]
Planting God Communities
Happiness Prayer
My topic this Sunday is “Psychology of Happiness” working with the excellent book on “Positivity” by Barbara Fredrickson. This is a Sunday when I wish I could talk for 40-5... [read more]
timesunion.com
Lost and Found
I was once interviewed by the children and I asked them what they think I do. They thought about this, and one boy said, “You talk to people on Sunday…" pausing for a moment and then ad... [read more]
Rev. John Morehouse
a choice in Super Bowl ads
The anti-abortion ad featuring Tim Tebow and his mother is fine, wrote Frances Kissling and Kate Michelman--it just doesn't go far enough. It is absolutely a woman's choice whether or not to hav... [read more]
the yes church
Sunday and Every Day
I mentioned in a previous post that the top priority for congregational support of families is to help them develop their faith. I also mentioned the UUA Bookstore as an excellent resource. Well, l... [read more]
Phil’s Little Blog on the Prairie
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Odds & Ends
I'm so teaching my dog to do this before next football season
Awesome. CCPs. You only need to watch the first ten seconds or so. It doesn't move on from there. [read more]
The Chaliceblog
Introducing New UU Minister Blog: Rev. Cyn
Introducing a new UU Minister blog by Rev. Cyntha Landrm http://revcyn. blogspot. com Please check it out. Some nice thoughts from a UU Minister serving a congregation in East Liberty, Michigan, o... [read more]
DiscoverUU.com
What's Your Real Religion?
Take the Test
UU News
White House Faith Based Council Posts Votes On Two Controversial Church-State Issues
Last Thursday, the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships posted the votes by its Advisory Council on two contentious issues. The first is whether faith-based social servic... [read more]
Religion Clause
Rzepka steps down from CLF’s global ministry
NEWS: In ten years leading the Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Rev. Dr. Jane Rzepka brought Unitarian Universalism’s “church without walls” to the Web. [read more]
News from UU World
American Prayer Hour a Success
Hundreds of people of faith gathered on Thursday, February 4th in more than 20 cities around the country for the American Prayer Hour, an interfaith response to the National Prayer Breakfast, which... [read more]
Inspired Faith, Effective Action
UU ministers on natural disasters and God, and more
UU’s In the Media
UU marriage, being church, psychic sunscreen, and more
the interdependent web
Featured Podcasts
“An Alternative to Arrogance”
Sermons from First Unitarian Society of Madison
See all podcast episodes from Sermons from First Unitarian Society of Madison
A Volcanic Eruption of the Human Heart
A Volcanic Eruption of the Human Heart -- Sermon delivered by Rev. Dr. Kay Jorgensen January 31, 2010 [listen to the episode]
First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco Podcast
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Simple Courage, Leon Dunkley, January 31, 2010
It is so hard to tell a decent story. It is even harder to tell a story that is actually true. By what power, by what authority do we tell the stories of our lives. The private stories, the publi... [listen to the episode]
Unity Church-Unitarian of Saint Paul, MN
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The Courage to Do
Sunday Morning Worship at All Souls
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Martin Luther King, Jr.: Bearing the Torch from W. E. Burghardt DuBois to Barack Obama
Jan. 17, 2010 - We welcome Joyce Turner to our pulpit for Martin Luther King, Jr. Sunday. Joyce is author of Caribbean Crusaders and the Harlem Renaissance, selected by the Association of College a... [listen to the episode]
DMUUC Message
"Story Shaped" - December 13, 2009
One of our bridging youths said that she liked for things, including religion, to be "story shaped. " What stories give shape to your life? Are there stories about yourself that you... [listen to the episode]
Bull Run Unitarian Universalists
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Graduation Homily
Sunday Morning Worship at All Souls
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The Summer of Our Content
Sunday Morning Worship at All Souls
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Featured Blog Posts
Proposed Meadville House, 57th and Woodlawn Avenue, Chicago Illinois
Wonder how many UU's will be left in Hyde Park in a year or two? [read more]
Pfarrer Streccius
Cohen Out as No. 2 on Illinois Ticket—Now what?
Ok. Scott Lee Cohen’s reality show-esque tearful departure from the Illinois Democratic Party ticket in a noisy saloon as Super Bowl fans whooped it up, caused a sigh of relief in the ... [read more]
Heretic, Rebel, a Thing to Flout
Contrary to Some Voices, Masculinity is Not Under Attack
I write this post in response to a handful of Super Bowl commercials that I write this post in response to two or three Super Bowl commercials that aired last night. The implication in each of the... [read more]
Comrade Kevin’s Chrestomathy
Helping the Saints Win
I’m not much of a sports fan, but I did end up watching the second half of last night’s Super Bowl between the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts. While the Saints seem like ... [read more]
The Wild Hunt
Lessons learned this weekend
This was a weird weekend it seemed. I had two days off in a row, which just doesn’t happen at my job unless I take a vacation day normally. So it was nice. But yesterday there were j... [read more]
Spirituality and Sunflowers
goodby...
This will be my last post as Boston Unitarian. It has been a joy to share with everyone my love for a way of being Unitarian that has meant much to me. I deeply appreciate everyon... [read more]
Boston Unitarian
another scam involving checks
Scam Alert: The Check May Look Real, but It’s Not: Request for debit card payment for “finder’s fee” should be a red light [read more]
it’s all one thing
Naming this blizzard
The Chesapeake Bay watershed has been hit by a large snowstorm; indeed, two outsize storms since December, and a supplemental snowfall is due this week. The sidewalks are a patchwork of the clear... [read more]
Boy in the Bands
Strange Trip
So far it's been a long strange trip. .. and I am still trying to make sense of my place in the midst of it. The truth is that last weekend's leadership retreat and sunday service and congregati... [read more]
UU Intersections
Heavy
I have been hearing more and more sad news from friends. Every night, I say a little prayer/blessing for friends, family, the world. Lately, the friends portion has gotten longer and longer. I a... [read more]
Everyday Unitarian
Update to "Be here, now"
The banker caught on camera looking at girlie pics is keeping his job. After his international embarrassment, an internal investigation at the bank evidently decided he'd suffered enough, and anyw... [read more]
Cuumbaya
The Right to Choose the Lesser Evil
I recently finished Kristin Shrader-Frechette's book Environmental Justice, which aims to apply the sort of liberal-egalitarian perspective dominant in political philosophy -- her particular versi... [read more]
debitage
Not sure what this means
So, this is what I saw when I was making mashed potatoes tonight. Doesn't it look familiar? Where should I start the bids on e Bay? This feed originates at http://anotherworkingmom. blogspot. com.... [read more]
The Musings of Yet Another Working Mom
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Should Humanists Become UUs?
I want to call your attention to an article I just wrote for "The New Humanism. " It's called "A Church That Would Have You as a Member" and it discusses how a Unitaria... [read more]
Free and Responsible Search
Therapy, Criticism, and Heresy—Which Is UU?
I just finished up The Puppet and the Dwarf: The Perverse Core of Christianity by Slavoj Zizek, the so-called wildman of philosophy. And I keep going back to a passage on the very first page of the... [read more]
Making Chutney
Notes about my Dad, by Tina Simson
My dad is at the end of his life. He struggles with the burden of everyday living. There are many times when I merely sit next to him and hold his hand. No words pass between us. Really now, how. .... [read more]
Wellspring: Inspiration and Guidance for a Spiritual Journey
See all blog entries from Wellspring: Inspiration and Guidance for a Spiritual Journey
Walking the Roof of Hell
Nearly I could sniff The sulphur out of hell When I was a kid Sometimes The steam of the floor Which was the roof After all Of perdition, wasn’t it? I thought, stepping light At times Hard others... [read more]
Deity and Its Double
The Phase
FYI… a number of circumstances have kept me from posting these last few weeks, but hopefully I am back to regular posts… Starting in early July of 1996 just prior to her seventh birthd... [read more]
Lefty Parent- Living and Parenting Without The Rule Book
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What's next for health care reform?
It's been almost a year since my last post. I hope to start blogging more regularly. If you've wondered what might be next for health care reform, and what the Democrats' options are, listen t... [read more]