Category: Unitarian Universalism

Why I Flunked Anti-Racism 101

…racism damages the entire culture. As Martin Luther King Jr. said: “We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.”

What’s Wrong with Liberals

…it no longer feels like games we’re playing – more like a war. We no longer recognize the humanity of the other side. We fail to see how “their” belief system can be anything other than selfish or stupid.

Honoring a Daughter’s Spirit, and a Son’s

Thomas was a thinker and a writer who had not yet found a niche and an audience. I never expressed sufficient pride in his attempts, but I know he’d be proud of me now that I seem to be finding a niche of my own and an audience. His spirit lives on in this blog just as Sienna’s spirit lives on in the Tulsa Children’s Museum.

Confession and Redemption

I believe that Kelly Gissendaner achieved confession and found redemption. As you probably know, she was convicted in 1998 and sentenced to death for the murder of her husband, which she is said to have orchestrated. She was 28 at the time of the murder, a survivor of prolonged and repeated sexual abuse in childhood. In…

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Making a Sad Song Better

I have almost no academic credentials, but life has given me a doctorate in recovering from traumatic loss.

The Book of Mel

“I made ministers and priests and rabbis and shamans and imams and monks and churches and synagogues and mosques and temples and so on to help heal my people’s souls, to help them with their overwhelming questions about intangible things, like why are we here, why do we suffer, and how do we face death.”

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.

The Challenge of Compassion — February 26, 2012, Sermon

Now that I think of it, I guess I showed compassion by stepping in for an ailing minister with just a few days’ notice in February 2012, to write and deliver this sermon on compassion. ***** Rick Ruzzamenti, of Riverside, California, is an electrical contractor with a surly streak and an impulsive side. But he…

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Memories Are Made of This — October 20, 2013, Sermon

This isn’t really the word’s etymology, but when we re-member it’s as though we are bringing together various members of the thought into one coherent memory, and the members – the various bits from various parts of our brain – change over time.