I’ve experience more than my share of traumatic losses. That’s the bad news. The good news is that each one taught me a great deal, and telling some of the stories may help others.The video below, from January 2012, is the first story I ever told with Better Said Than Done. It’s not easy to…
Category: Culture
Does True Charity Exist? — July 29, 2013, Sermon
…giving that makes use of the head as well as the heart – that uses economists, philosophers, business people, scientists to direct charitable gifts in the most effective ways.
The Buddha Is in Everything — December 3, 2006, Sermon
Buddhism says we are disappointed by the world because of faulty expectations. It is faulty to think that babies will never cry and dogs will never bark and brakes will never screech, so why let those things throw us off? The Buddha is even in hateful thoughts and violent crime.
Questions for My Father
Dad, what were you thinking and how were you feeling when you left your little shtetl of Shershov in 1921 and set out alone for the United States? At the age of 23, what made you go? Hunger? War? Pogroms? Poverty? You left behind a brother and sister in that swampy town in what’s now…
Temporarily Embarrassed Millionaires
I used that title for a sermon I delivered in February 2012 about income inequality. The phrase, which has been attributed to Steinbeck, is a very loose paraphrase from his “America and Americans”: Socialism never took root in America because Americans don’t see themselves as poor – only temporarily embarrassed millionaires. I added that, speaking as…
Heaven Is So High — February 17, 2013, Sermon
Every once in a while we become aware of another group that deserves our attention, that needs people to go to bat for it. Maybe it’s the turn of the mentally ill.
The 5th Precept and the 12 Steps — December 1, 2013, Sermon
Even though she had been clean for some time and in fact was working in a recovery center, she broke down when she talked about her failures to care for her daughter, as she told us: “There’s no love greater than the disease of addiction.”
What Lives Matter? – A sermon by Rev. Dr. Marlin Lavanhar – YouTube
We Unitarian Universalists drive people away from our congregations by adopting a cause or phrase du jour and demonizing anyone who is not ready to adopt it. Currently, it’s “Black Lives Matter.” This sermon by the Rev. Dr. Marlin Lavanhar does a stellar job of explaining why the phrase, and the movement, are important, without…
Community: Warm & Fuzzy or Cold & Hairy — September 14, 2014
Whenever I meet newcomers to Unitarian Universalism, one of the things I talk about is the community – that it plays a bigger role for us than it does for many other religions. We don’t come to church on Sunday mornings to pay homage to a deity and improve our chances of making it into…
Alaskan Beauty
I returned from about 10 days in Alaska with a renewed passion for photography and the artistic outlet it gives me. Here are 56 of my photos from the trip in a Picasa album. They include orcas, eagles, glaciers, and gorgeous vistas.
Saying Goodbye to Abby
Mel Pine says goodbye to his dog, Abby, by telling the story about how he and his family said hello.
Melting-Pot Dharma 