“Are We Having a Church Fight?” Someone asked me that question recently. I had to pause for a moment to think about the implications of what they were asking. After all, we all *know* that church fights are bad… I forget what I said exactly in response, but I wouldn’t
Continue readingWhat if you woke up each morning to a poem instead of an alarm? Poet Naomi Shihab Nye, famous for her poem “Kindness” (you can read it here: https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/kindness), woke her son up for years with poetry from poets all over the world. Always short, sometimes just a stanza of
Continue readingAt a Social Justice Council meeting earlier this month, we discussed plans for a new Racial Justice initiative at Westside. We’d met with representatives from Eastshore UU’s Beloved Racial Justice group and we’d reached out to nearby UU congregations to see if they were interested in joining with us to
Continue reading“White What….?” Language is powerful. The spoken and written word carries great symbolism and it can be skillful or harmful depending on its use and interpretation. Take the current national conversation about white supremacy in America. When I began to hear the term white supremacy earlier in my life, images
Continue readingThere’s been a lot of worry and pessimism on Facebook and other social media in the last year or so. People worry about the state of the world, climate change, race relations, and much more. It’s probably tempting to take a break from information and emotion overload. When I was
Continue readingWhat is in a name? Great question! I just read a wonderfully provocative book by Rabbi David A. Cooper’s book “God is a Verb: Kabbalah and the practice of mystical Judaism.” His suggestion? That we begin to think of all beings as verbs rather than nouns. So, you would see
Continue readingGood grief! It’s that time again. This past weekend we were reminded to Spring Forward – moving our clocks ahead by an hour. I love it that the days are getting longer and the many reminders that spring is just about upon us. But I hate moving my clock ahead
Continue readingListen to this fact-filled, touching podcast the 4th-5th graders made last week about animal cruelty. In it, they share the information they learned and the ways to prevent animal cruelty. Please listen and contemplate how you too can make a difference in the care and protection of animals.
Continue reading“May you live in interesting times.” I wonder if people remember this phrase above? ‘May you live in interesting times’ is an oft-spoken term that is alleged to be a proverb from ancient China. It certainly sounds wise and appropriately cryptic. It can be meant in many ways and often
Continue readingInterfaith ministry is a hot topic these days in UU circles. Starr King Seminary’s relationship with the Interfaith Chaplaincy Institute and support of double divinity degrees in UU and Interfaith is a powerful example of this keen gravitation to Interfaith. Knowing I am going to be ordained as an Interfaith
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