1953-2013

Something of a Chip on my Shoulder

Before I was a minister, I was a professional out-of-work actor—which is to say that I worked many different day jobs while auditioning (or not) for gigs that rarely paid. Most of these jobs were in retail, and the ones that weren’t usually involved my having to interact with customers. Regardless of where I worked, . . . → Read More: Something of a Chip on my Shoulder

Preach the Struggle

I’m going to let you in on a little secret: sometimes, when I preach, I have a hard time following my own advice. In truth, most of what I preach is a reminder to myself about the way I want to live. I don’t always succeed. My mentor during my student ministry days used to . . . → Read More: Preach the Struggle

Evil is an Uncomfortable Subject

It’s a subject that tends to make Unitarian Universalists nervous. More often than not, when the subject comes up we want to avoid it.

“I’d rather not talk about it.”

“Should we really be using such a judgmental word?”

“I don’t believe it actually exists.”

“Why don’t we talk about more positive things, instead?”

. . . → Read More: Evil is an Uncomfortable Subject

Authority

Authority. We don’t talk about it very much, but it may well be the stickiest of issues in our Unitarian Universalist churches. We govern from the ground up, have no overarching creed, no bishops or popes or other religious authorities. Nobody gives us a cue by sitting in the chair like the one above.

We . . . → Read More: Authority

The Word “God”

This month’s theme is a sticky one. The word “god” triggers all manner of emotional responses in people, especially within Unitarian Universalist circles. We tend to make two mistaken assumptions when the subject comes up. First: there is a dualistic approach to the idea – “god” is a yes/no question, an is/isn’t proposition; there are . . . → Read More: The Word “God”