Theologian Matthew Fox calls the kind of hospitality that leaves us vulnerable and even uncomfortable “cosmic hospitality,” building on the term “radical hospitality” made popular by Father Daniel Homan. It’s found in the Christian parable of the Good Samaritan, in Buddhist lovingkindness meditations, and, when … read more.
A few years ago I was asked to speak at one of our UU Summer Conferences on the topic of “How Unitarian Universalism has changed my life.” Revisiting this reflection, I realized that much has stayed the same since then, and much has changed. It’s … read more.
Over the years, the Toy Story franchise has moved us from light themes of friendship to the dangers of fascism and the power of pluralism. It’s all there if you’re paying attention! The latest installment opened last month, so you have plenty of time to … read more.
The board of the peace magazine The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists changes the hands of its famous “Doomsday Clock” only for existential threats. As an editor of the magazine, I watched the hands tick unimaginibly from fourteen to seven minutes to midnight. Today we … read more.
Father’s Day isn’t just a day to take our Dads out to brunch and give them a new tie or power tool, but an opportunity to give them the compassion, which in turns lets us see their humanity. It is from this place that we … read more.
“Simplify, simplify,” said Henry David Thoreau in Walden. “Our life is frittered away in detail, simplify, simplify.” What would church look like if we aligned our programs to a clear vision, and then focused everything on accomplishing our mission? I suspect it would look … read more.
I put on an Air Force uniform when I was 18 years old to work as an airplane mechanic, took it off and put it on again to play trombone with the Air National Guard, and took it off and put it on yet again … read more.
Artists have discovered a truth: That the intersection between imagination, art, and religion is being attentive to the world. In that space, boundaries vanish and the secular becomes sacred, the ordinary becomes sublime. Poet Mary Oliver writes, “This is the first, wildest, and wisest thing … read more.
Each year at our annual auction I let one lucky winner pick the topic for one Sunday in the spring. This year, David Black chose, “The Concept of God for UUs,” in which we will explore theologies, from Transcendentalism to Process Theology, that many UUs … read more.
The idea that every gift counts is counter cultural. We live in a culture that promotes a myth of scarcity and isolation. It claims: “We may not have enough.” It lies: “There’s nothing you can do to change the way things are.” It spews: “We … read more.
