Praising fools, licking cockroaches, and browsing UU photos

It's been a quiet week here in Lake UU-Blogosphere. Some highlights:

UU World columnist Doug Muder invites readers to discuss his latest column, "A Religion for Hard Times," at his blog ("Free and Responsible Search," April 1).

The Rev. W. Frederick Wooden celebrates April Fools Day by observing, "Feeling foolish and stupid are sure signs you are learning something because, as Epictetus observed long ago, 'It is impossible to teach a man something he already knows'" ("Aside from the Obvious," April 1).

The Rev. Christine Robinson offers four suggestions for helping UU congregations become more multicultural ("iMinister," March 31).

The Rev. Thom Belote explains how he happened to lick a cockroach while telling a children's story to his congregation ("RevThom," March 30).

The Rev. Dan Harper announces that a member of his congregation, poet Everett Hoagland, will be inducted into the International Literary Hall of Fame for Writers of African Descent ("Yet Another Unitarian Universalist," March 30). UU World featured a selection of poems from Hoagland's book . . . Here. . .: New and Selected Poems in July/August 2004.

Happy Cindy, who picked up her hobby of listening to a police scanner from her father and grandfather, notices that she has stopped tuning in. The culprit? Facebook ("Happy Cindy Changes the World," April 3).

Check out the photo-sharing site Flickr for fascinating images of Unitarian Universalist churches and other glimpses of UU life.

Songs for sorrow, Facebook etiquette, and Joseph Campbell's influence

Songs for sorrow

Several UU bloggers discuss music and sadness this week. The Rev. Dan Harper asks what music people prefer listening to in times of profound sadness ("Yet Another Unitarian Universalist," March 27).

Lizard Eater recounts several experiences with music during her daughter's cancer. She writes, "I love music . . . But I haven’t figured out a way to listen to it during seriously sad times. Music renders me too vulnerable. And during those seriously sad times, the last thing I need is more vulnerability" ("The Journey," March 28).

The Rev. Kit Ketcham says she recalls Baptist hymns from her childhood. "UU hymns tend to be more helpful in giving me hope and direction, rather than expressing my sorrow," she writes ("Ms. Kitty's Saloon and Road Show," March 28).

Church for hard times

The Rev. Sean Dennison says that the economic recession is a good time to get more involved in a liberal church. "If we all made a commitment to get more involved, give what we can, and come together to get all of us through this, we might just find that our congregations grow and are revitalized because we dared to respond to the needs of our time." He suggests several things congregations might try ("Ministrare," March 26).

In his uuworld.org column this week, Doug Muder asks whether Unitarian Universalism is a religion for hard times.

The Rev. Marilyn Sewell responds on her blog to an anonymous letter she received from a woman crying for help (March 26).

Joseph Campbell's legacy for Unitarian Universalism

The Rev. James Ishmael Ford discusses the historical shifts back and forth between rationalism and mysticism, and suggests that "the emergence of the new spirituality within Unitarian Universalism can be marked at 1988 when Bill Moyers interviewed Joseph Campbell for a six part series on PBS. This series was called the Power of Myth" ("Monkey Mind," March 26).

But the Rev. Tim Jensen describes his academic engagement with Campbell during his seminary years in the late 1970s:

[E]ven then—a decade before the Moyers interviews—some of us had already picked up on the idea of Unitarian Universalism as a "reasonable mysticism"—a faith tradition which had grounded itself in science, "natural theology" and the other intellectual tools of the Enlightenment, but was still open to non-rational . . . ways of knowing, and had a rich heritage of intuitive, "mystical" knowledge as well, "peak experiences" . . . which could be described phenomenologically, and even recreated with some reliability through the use of certain kinds of time-tested techniques and practices. ("The Eclectic Cleric," March 26)

Facebook etiquette

Chalicechick, who is a youth group advisor in her church, is looking for input on an Internet policy for religious educators, and poses some questions about how youth group advisors can or should engage youth on Facebook ("The Chaliceblog," March 22).

Lizard Eater, a seminarian, explores the complicated topic of ministerial boundaries on Facebook, and generates lots of comments in response ("The Journey," March 23).

Another seminarian, David Pyle, writes about the "pastoral implications of technology." He says, "I did not consciously begin thinking about consequences and implications until the technology of Facebook ran smack into the 'good boundaries' understandings at the end of an internship." He offers a list of best practices he has come up with ("Celestial Lands," March 28).

UUA election notes

The Rev. Peter Morales, one of two candidates for the UUA presidency, has set up a news blog (with RSS feed) for his campaign. The Rev. Dr. Laurel Hallman's campaign website already has its own RSS feed, but doesn't have a separate blog.

The Rev. Chip Roush describes how his congregation is getting acquainted with the two candidates for the UUA presidency ("The Yes Church," March 27).

For more information on the June 2009 election of a new UUA president, see UUA.org's Elections pages.

Elsewhere on the Web

Lizard Eater describes and shares pictures of her portable "prayer box" ("The Journey," March 26). Logan Geen is thinking about how Universalists deal with evil ("The New Unitarian Universalist," March 22). And UUA Trustee Tom Loughrey, who represents the Pacific Southwest District, posts his annual report (March 27).