Saw an interesting bumper sticker for a write-in candidate, “Giant Meteor 2016.” Don’t worry, this article will not grandstand for any candidate, meteor included. Rather, the overwhelming feeling I have this election cycle is… complex. Not in the dictionary sense, rather, “complex” in the project management/engineering sense based on the “Cynefin Framework.” More specifically, projects can be […]
Last month I had the honor of representing UUFH at an annual art competition and exhibit sponsored by the Arts Council of Henderson County: Bring Us Your Best, which ran from August 5-19. UUFH sponsors an award called One Planet/One World, recognizing the work that best represents “a world community recognizing the inherent worth and dignity […]
Becca, Garrett, and I just returned from a four-day float trip on the French Broad River from Brevard to Asheville (hosted by local conservation group, Mountain-True). We were able to enjoy this wonderful river and the sights and sounds of nature; however, it was startling to see the difference in water clarity between the French Broad and the […]
My data points for remembering how long I’ve been in Hendersonville are Thanksgiving and my son, Garrett. We moved here when he was three and arrived the week before Thanksgiving. So this November it will be five years. Being a parent is many things, but one thing I didn’t anticipate was being put on a schedule. Not the day-to- day running […]
The Monks’ Cave was my hangout on weekends in college back in the sixties. The white basement walls were adorned with candles and quotes from Khalil Gibran. It was the first inroad of the “Age of Aquarius” to the Bitterroot Valley of Montana, as far as I knew. Man, here was a whole new epiphany of ideas […]
We are going to bring our Blue Boat home. With Commitment Sunday on March 6, the crew of the SS UUFH is going to start the refueling stage of bringing our own Blue Boat into safe harbor. The Annual Pledge Drive Kickoff will be fun, creative, and joyful. Your pledge drive team, led by Vickie Powers and […]
Have you ever been in a situation where you did not want to take a day off or go on a vacation? The concern about what awaited you when you got back to the job was so onerous that you just did not want to come back to surprises. My wife, Patricia, was a classroom teacher for […]
During the month of December our worship theme has been “Expectations.” I have been thinking about that word in a variety of ways. I look at myself and my expectations of my role as President of the UUFH Board. I think of what we might expect for the latter half of my term and what has transpired in […]
In the Winter 2015 UU World the Rev. William J. Barber II writes about Fusion Politics and the Third Reconstruction. These themes are at the heart of his book being published by our own Beacon Press. The Moral Monday movement came about as a result of his efforts to form coalitions with black and white citizens to address […]
I have just returned home from Judith’s service, entitled “Sweet Surrender,” and I have been pre-writing this piece in my mind for the last couple of days. Pat, my wife, encouraged me to perhaps capture something from today’s service that might inspire this monthly Beacon article. I have to tell you that the past couple of weeks […]