January, 2006 - Ours is not a pietistic faith. We are called not to isolation but to principled engagement with the world.... And we also expect ourselves to be the best family members and friends we know how to be. These are demanding life tasks......Making room for the different ways we have of nurturing our spirits and our ethical sensibilities, is, I believe, a significant part of what it means to be a free faith.

February, 2006 - Making room for the different ways we have of nurturing our spirits and our ethical sensibilities, is a significant part of what it means to be a free faith.

March, 2006 - This month's focus is on life -- all life -- and the conditions that make for justice for all beings.

April, 2006 - Walk lightly, give generously, do more of what we can do.

May, 2006 - Sharing Thoughts on Affordable Housing.

January, 2005 - Soon I will enter into a different pace and the opportunity for renewal and you will embark on the adventure that sabbatical brings to a congregation.

February, 2005 - Thank you so much for a wonderful celebration as we marked the beginning of Sabbatical time.

March, 2005 -Toward the end of January I spent an intensive week in the Christian Spirituality class at McCormick Theological Seminary.

April, 2005 -The last few days of my time in New York have been marked by typical spring weather, beautiful one day, stormy and windy the next. Now I am preparing to leave Manhattan and move into the Florida part of my journey.

May, 2005 - Driving to the parking space behind my friend Nancy’s home, I spot a great blue heron wading in nearby water. I am experiencing many of what Thich Nhat Hanh calls “miracles of mindfulness” during these last two months of the sabbatical, and I am aware that I am the recipient of love and of generosity, beyond my expectation.

June, 2005 - A colleague said to me, "What is the most important thing you learned on your sabbatical?" This came to mind immediately -- "Mindfulness and gratitude make life joyful!"

July, 2005 - People create their own GA days from many choices. Sometimes the hard experiences are the ones that finally bring us greater learning and growth.

August, 2005 - Sometimes the hard experiences are the ones that finally bring us greater learning and growth.

September, 2005 - Life in this liberal religious faith community goes on in every season of the year. Yet once a year, on that first Sunday after Labor Day, we choose to mark a beginning. A re-gathering. A coming together again....When we bring the waters from our summer to the Water Ceremony, we re-weave, as it were, the fabric of our interdependence.

October, 2005 - Fall's beauty calls us in two directions: to care for, tend, and save our world, and, in the midst of continual reminders of life’s harshness, to notice and appreciate its beauty.

November, 2005 - I couldn't have been more excited as the World Series approached the ending and it looked like our Chicago White Sox were really headed for victory. And then, yes, they won! Score a big one for the south side!

December, 2005 - The holidays evoke a sense of mystery, miracle, joy and celebration. Encumbered by the materialism of our culture, nevertheless they invite a deepening of the spirit, an awakening to the essential truths of love and peace.

January, 2004 - As the Buddhists know, the boundary between giving and receiving is an illusion. As some Native Americans know, a gift remains a gift when we pass it on. We are all givers and receivers.

February, 2004 - This past month, Wallace Rusterholtz died. He was almost 95. Wallace was a life-long learner.

March, 2004 - I've been reading some autobiographies and memoirs, lately.

April, 2004 - We are stewards of our congregational present and future.

May, 2004 - Our church sits on a well-traveled corner. People enter our doors all the time.

July, 2004 - Warm luxuriant summer days cry out for slowing down and relishing the present.

August, 2004 - While some take a summer break from church, the need for the community and its ministries remains strong.

September, 2004 - On the second day of my visit, Hannah, 9, said, yes, she would like to go to Coney Island.

October, 2004 - A non-UU minister friend asked, "Is it possible to be a staunch Unitarian Universalist?"

November, 2004 - I went for my regular check-up and my primary care doctor asked, "Did you find a flu shot?"

December, 2004 - Being with each other in times of sorrow and joy, in moments of testing and celebration, in sharing our caring, hope and purpose, we incarnate the spirit of love.

January, 2003 - Contemplating religion and time ...

February, 2003 - The closing days of January, marked by extreme cold, lead to the midpoint of winter, Ground Hog Day. This holiday always lifts my spirits.

March, 2003 - On making decisions...

April, 2003 - Liturgically, April contains the holy days most expressive of freedom and hope.

May, 2003 - Change is not always linear and predictable. We don't have control over everything.

July, 2003 - This is a wonderful congregation, filled with warmth, deep senses of caring and commitment, and devoted leadership.

August, 2003 - There is a reciprocity in the flow between the one who helps and the one who is helped...

September, 2003 - Gil Rendle in his book The Multigenerational Congregation...says that people of different generations may...apparently be speaking the same language, but because of different life experiences, influences, and attitudes, the words may have somewhat different meanings. He encourages learning each other's 'languages'.

October, 2003 - Theologian Carter Heyward wrote that the weakening of bonds of community gives evil more room to grow.

November, 2003 - We always had Thanksgiving at our house in Hartford, and the relatives came to our house.

December, 2003 - It's the season and I'm thinking about giving and I realize, there is a tremendous lot of giving going on within our congregation in these days of shorter daylight and lengthening nights!

January, 2002 - The attack on the World Trade Center felt very personal with my daughter and son-in-law and granddaughter living only 2 miles from there, in downtown NYC.

February, 2002 - Reflections on unity and community...

March, 2002 - My granddaughter, Hannah, is 7....What kind of world will she face?

April, 2002 - Canvass Sunday is April 7. Our Canvass proclaims that our congregation, this congregation, is a Learning, Loving congregation.

May, 2002 - There is much devastation of war and threat of war in our world today.

August, 2002 - Reflection on the apparently opposite experiences of solitude and community ....

September, 2002 - Daily I am reminded by my view of my connections with everything and everyone.

October, 2002 - This month, as we face war or its possibility, I want to point to three parts of our life that can help us give expression to our desire to build beloved community in our world.

November, 2002 - There is a man in the building where I live who wishes me a blessed day.

December, 2002 - A reflection on holidays in these times...

January, 2001 - January is a month of both/and -- frozen air and ice and January thaws.

February, 2001 - A professor of mine once said that the United States was west of history, so focused on the present and the future that we neglect the history and lessons of the past.

March, 2001 - Unitarian Universalism embraces the idea that the sacred and the mundane are inextricably related.

May, 2001 -This time in our church life is filled with promise.

July, 2001 - Reflections on the Church Community and Extended Family...

August, 2001 - Part of the delight of a vacation is the anticipation.

September, 2001 - We come together from many separate and diverse experiences, families, and settings.

October, 2001 - When I saw the burning tower of the World Trade Center, I was in a restaurant. Someone said, "Look at the TV." And I did.

November, 2001 - These times we are in, of war and fear, of trial and uncertainty, of questioning and seeking, call for extra measures of affirmation, of courage and of faith.

December, 2001 - What do the holidays mean to us? What are the some of the meanings in Christmas? In Chanukah? In the solstice? This quest is not only mine, it is ours, for ours is a faith whose members find their roots, journey and expression in more than one faith and more than one winter holy day

January, 2000 - We move into a new calendar year, century and millennium.

February, 2000 - The next time you listen to the strains of the organ, think of all the offerings we all give and receive. Every day, through these offerings, we recreate the church.

March, 2000 - The cost of freedom of religion is that we all share in maintaining, sustaining, and growing our faith community.

April, 2000 - It's mid-March, almost spring, and I notice that without planning to, I am wearing green...

May, 2000 - My parents weren't farmers. but they were gardeners, seeding and hoeing in the back yard on South Euclid Avenue, and I knew at a very young age that Memorial Day weekend was planting time.

July, 2000 - This year's "formal" church ending also feels like a wonderful beginning!

August, 2000 - Thoughts on beginning some time away....

September, 2000 - "Buddhism notes that it is always a mistake to think your soul can go it alone."

October, 2000 - I watch the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games, and how can I fail to know we are part of an interdependent web.

November, 2000 - November is the month of deepening darkness, of shorter days and colder nights. Yet strangely it is also the month of thanksgiving for the harvest. I want to think of both sides of the November experience.

December, 2000 - In her book Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, the great naturalist Annie Dillard told us how important diversity is for the health of the planet and our lives.

August, 1999 - September 1st I begin my ministry with you....For now I am titling my column "Both Sides."

November, 1999 - What is Membership at First Unitarian Church of Chicago? .

December, 1999 - My most vivid memories of Chicago as a child are of the bitter cold and snowy winters.