There was a child who loved watching Sesame Street, and for a Xmas treat got to visit the studio where Sesame Street was produced, and later wrote a letter to Big Bird that said:Dear Big Bird,The other kids were fooled but not me. I know that you’re really not a giant bird. I know that you wear a costume. I also know…

The great Psychiatrist Carl Jung had words carved over his door in Latin that said something like, Called or not, the Gods will be present but humorist G.K. Chesterton warns us: Never invoke the gods unless you really want them to appear. It annoys them very much. . In one of my favorite the comic strips dealing with the family is, “For…

A woman with cancer is told by her primary physician she’ll be dead in an hour. She runs to the window, looks up to the sky and says, God, save me. Out of the blue comes that wonderful melodious voice saying, Don’t worry, my dear. I will save you. The woman climbs back into bed, feeling reassured. She writes: “When an illness…

Native American wisdom says that when you discover you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount and walk.  However, in modern business, and maybe even a few churches, because of the heavy investment factors have to be taken into consideration, often other strategies of today’s business chiefs (and no doubt church chiefs) have to be tried with dead…

Mother, May I?Mothers DayMay 11,2008Rev. Arthur G. SeveranceSon of EvaMae Johnson Severance,Grandson of Eva Christina Johnson and Elizabeth Ann Severance (Heath )Husband of Cathie  Lenore Harvie SeveranceFather of Cristina Mae, Katie Anne, and Elizabeth Jane Severance Feminist Prayer Our mother, who art in heavenSister shall be thy name.Our washins done, our kitchens cleanOn earth and it isn’t heaven.Give us this day equality…

Opening Words“Religion as Relationship” Starr King Seminary president, Rev. Dr. Rebecca Parker says something crucial to not just church membership but membership in the human race: “The purpose of life is not our own well-being in isolation from all others… Our well-being enters into the being of other beings, adding a measure of health or joy. We do nothing in isolation. Everything…

Opening Words Reflecting on the need to honor our planet on Earth Day and in our daily lives, the Rev. William G. Sinkford, UUA President said, “This earth is a creation which we have been given. Our Unitarian Universalist theology helps us know that our role is not to exercise dominion or control over the earth but to stand as stewards of…

Some years ago, I was invited to gave a talk on Business Ethics to a small Texas town Chamber of Commerce outside of San Antonio at the invitation to one of our members who was mayor there. I began with the obvious leading sentence: There are some who say the term, business ethics is an oxymoron. Sometimes those two words do seem…

A man told his grandson: “A terrible fight is going on inside me — a fight between two wolves. One is evil, and represents hate, anger, arrogance, intolerance, and superiority . The other is good, and represents joy, peace, love, tolerance, understanding, humility, kindness, empathy, generosity, and compassion. This same fight is going on inside you, inside every other person too.” The…

There was once a Unitarian Universalist minister who decided to check on how much the 1st grade Sunday school class knew about Easter, so she asked them who new what Easter meant. One little girl raised her hand and asked if that was when you had the turkey dinner, and the minister replied that, no, that was Thanksgiving. A boy raised his…