What we call a beginning is often the end and to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from. We shall not cease from exploration and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time. I … Continue reading We shall not cease from exploration…

In the morning a four-foot black rat snake crossed the drive from the prairie. I thought there he goes–he’ll be in the chicken house soon. That afternoon I found him looped in a nesting box with an egg three inches down from his hinged jaw. I lifted him up and out with a pitchfork, and … Continue reading In the morning a four-foot black rat snake…

One should be light like a bird, and not like a feather. — Paul Valéry Our culture often condemns us to heaviness. The news media can weigh on our psyches with such force that life becomes a burden. Last night I dreamt that I had a lead role in a modern dance company production. I … Continue reading One should be light like a bird, and not like a feather.

Taking the bus, which costs about a dime, after listening to Càntor, Ensamble de música antigua perform Vivaldi, Bach, Telemann, Handel and Hayden at the Gene Byron Museum, the woman in front of me turned around and we talked. We met at the reception after the concert in the courtyard of the magnificent hacienda. I … Continue reading How are ordinary people persuaded to comply passively with injustice …

Guest column by Elizabeth Skinner Michael Nelson suggested I write a piece about how the Fellowship and its progressive faith and voice make a difference “way up north in Marysville.” He may have been thinking of a UU effect on the larger community, but my thoughts on this matter focus more on the individual and … Continue reading “Way up north in Marysville.” …

The wonder of seeing all the candles shining in the darkness at our Christmas Eve service will lift me into this New Year with gratitude for the goodness that shines out from the life of our Fellowship. My mother felt that the service was “homey” and was pleased to feel at home–inspired and glad. She … Continue reading The wonder of seeing all the candles …

Maybe December is a month when we can slow down instead of speeding up. Do one less thing and not one more. Why not take a nap? Let memories drift like fat, lazy snowflakes across the landscape of your life. Make a wish list that encourages dreaming; the act of slipping into the world of marvels. … Continue reading Maybe December is a month when we can slow down …

One celebrates their ancestors in Sweden on All Soul’s Day by putting votive candles on their graves. Halloween in Sweden is seen as a crass and commercial import from the states, but the ancient custom of honoring those you loved with light bonds with quiet power. The mellow flicker in the graveyards is not spooky. … Continue reading The mellow flicker in the graveyards is not spooky …

The good poem maintains a delicate balance between strangeness and familiarity. The author must make the familiar strange enough to be re-seen or re-felt by the reader. The truth is always a little strange because the conventional world has little interest in truth, and regularly accepts packaged versions of it … This excerpt from Stephen … Continue reading Mixing the strange and the familiar keeps our progressive religion evolving …

Kansas gay feather, those violet-purple spires, have begun to bloom on the roadside. Soon asters and goldenrod will shine across the prairie, summoning autumn. At our Fellowship Board retreat, which moved with gusto into the important issues that give our community forward momentum, I announced that I plan to retire in May of 2016. Normally, … Continue reading I plan to retire in May of 2016 …