Peter and I have seen three movies in the theater over the past week: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, Captain America, and Crazy, Stupid, Love. Of these three, Crazy, Stupid, Love is the one we both enjoyed the most and would recommend to others. In many ways, …
Three years ago today, my partner and I moved our household and three cats from San Diego to the Bay Area so I could attend Starr King School for the Ministry. I have laughingly said many times that I’m glad I didn’t fully comprehend everything this career change would require, …
This article from humorist Jon Carroll in the San Francisco Chronicle from April 2005 will always make me laugh: click here. “Pockets of reasonableness and harmony will appear as if from nowhere!” I also love the Unitarian Jihad name generators (there are several), though the general need to identify oneself …
My internship year with Starr King Church ends on June 12, and my ten months with you come to a close. This has been a truly joyous time for me, getting to know many of you, serving as your minister. I have learned so much and have come into a …
I have moved my household three times in the past three years, and I am reminded each time afresh how much I hate moving. I am fundamentally a homebody, someone who likes to stay put. I like to put down roots, get to know a place, and build a routine. …
The recent devastation in Japan was followed, for me, by some difficult news from a dear friend whose family is experiencing a variety of losses. Whether bad news comes from the other side of the globe or from the neighbor next door, there are times when we are face-to-face with …
The second week of February, the Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association gathered for a week in Pacific Grove for the Excellence in Ministry Institute. This event is the first of what will hopefully be an ongoing series of continuing education opportunities for Unitarian Universalist ministers. Katie and I were both fortunate …
After my sermon for Martin Luther King, Jr. Sunday, many of you spoke to me about how hard it is to feel love or even compassion for people who have hurt you (or people who are hurting the world, or both). Some of those conversations got me thinking about the …
It’s a new year, and there’s lots of talk (as usual) about fresh starts, clean slates, and starting over. The past, it seems, is just luggage weighing us down, and if we can leave it behind, we can move forward faster, lighter, and unencumbered. My experience is that this is …
December is a month full of religious holidays: Hanukkah in the Jewish traditions, Hijra and Ashura in the Muslim traditions, Bodhi Day in the Buddhist traditions, Yule (winter solstice) in the Pagan traditions, and of course, Christmas in the Christian traditions. Aditionally, Kwanzaa, although a secular holiday, also holds spiritual …
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