Dear Engaged Spirituality Family, Engaged Spirituality will meet on ZOOM on Sunday May 24, 2026 at 10:30 AM PT, 11:30 AM MT, 12:30 PM CT, and 1:30 PM ET to continue our discussion of The Search for the Common Ground by Howard Thurman Chapters 4, 5, and 6. Thank you so much, Olivia Chase and Hassaun Jones-Bey for suggesting this precious book! Attached please find Eileen’s Notes on Chapters 4, 5, and 6 Please join us on May 24! Take Care, Eileen

…against that failure something wars, always pushing, always making its claim felt. It is the claim of the building blocks, the built-in demand of the mind, the insistence of the organism, the upward push of the racial memory… I was drawn to this quote today, as usual, mysteriously…intuitively. It is from Dr. Howard Thurman (but possibly influenced by Loren Eisely). We are in a time of apparent failure…the failure of our species to achieve peace, equality and justice in our

The opening music from Rev. Frederick Douglass Kirkpatrick and Jimmy Collier was an anthem in the civil rights movement. This is a recording from 1969, a year after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. Actually, the song was written right before King’s assassination and was recorded soon afterwards. Did you notice the man in the background carrying a garbage can? I was drawn to this song today as I was examining some historical documents from this church. One such d

I want Jesus to walk with me. All along my pilgrim’s journey I want Jesus to walk with me. When I’m in trouble, walk with me. When my heart is almost breaking I want Jesus to comma walkin’ with me. In my trials, walk with me. When my head is bowed in sorrow, I want Jesus to walk with me. In this Easter season, I continue to contemplate the meaning of the life of Jesus of Nazareth. I shared a few of the Stations of the Cross painted by my son when he was a child. This was Je

This so-called war with Iran is unfortunate, to say the least. It doesn’t take much to envision angels watching the judgement day replays, and continuing to rewind to the awe-striking moment when God stops everything to ask the Christian Nationalist leaders, “Wait. Before you go, explain to me one more time why and how you as mature, grown adults felt it necessary to attack the same things that you do—when others do them—because others use a different metaphorical structure?”

I’m a-gonna tell you ‘bout the comin’ of the judgement, Fare thee well, fare thee well. I’m a-gonna tell you ‘bout the comin’ of the judgement, Fare thee well, fare thee well. In that great getting’ up morning, Fare thee well, fare thee well. There’s a better day a-comin’, fare thee well, fare thee well. There’s a better day a-comin’, fare thee well, fare thee well. This song was going through my head and I just couldn’t shake it. On this Easter Sunday I want to get up

Dear Engaged Spirituality Family, Engaged Spirituality will meet on ZOOM on Sunday April 26, 2026 at 10:30 AM PT, 11:30 AM MT, 12:30 PM CT, and 1:30 PM ET to begin discussion of The Search for the Common Ground by Howard Thurman, Pages ix – 41. The Forward The Preface The Acknowledgments Chapter I: Concerning the Search Chapter II: The Search into Beginnings Chapter III: The Search in Living Structures Thank you so much, Olivia Chase and Hassaun Jones-Bey for suggesting this

Not long ago I visited the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco I made peonies out of colored paper Pink colored paper Such a gentle thing to do In a world full of aggression and war Divisiveness and chaos I cut pink paper To make pink flowers Peonies To set under an oil painting I have at home A Chinese painting Of peonies And then to give to my grandsons Thich Nhat Hanh once wrote: In the garden of my heart the flowers of peace Bloom beautifully There is a rather lovely story

Dear Engaged Spirituality Family, Engaged Spirituality will meet this Sunday March 22, 2026 to discuss Section IV of Diversity Without Dogma by Gilmore Crosby. Meeting times are 10:30 AM PT, 11:30 AM MT, 12:30 PM CT, and 1:30 PM ET. Zoom links below. Section IV Chapter 13 - Pages 207-225 Chapter 14 - Pages 227-232 Appendix A – Pages 233-246 Appendix B – Pages 247-257 Appendix C – Pages 259-266 Appendix D – Pages 267-283 Attached please find Eileen’s Notes on Section IV. P

Sound over all wa­ters, reach out from all lands, The chor­us of voic­es, the clasp­ing of hands; Sing hymns that were sung by the stars of the morn, Sing songs of the an­gels when Je­sus was born. Blow, bu­gles of bat­tle, the march­es of peace; East, west, north, and south, let the strong quar­rel cease; Sing songs of great joy that the an­gels be­gan, Of glo­ry to God and of good will to man! With glad ju­bi­la­tions, bring hope to the na­tions, The dark night is end­ing,

*Title from book by Milan Kundera Dear Friends, Just when we think things can’t get any worse, another week goes by and guess what? IT GOT WORSE! To me it feels like some kind of absurd whack-a-mole game where no matter how much you do to respond or cope, another one pops up that you have to knock down …with no rest in sight. We are emotional beings and whether we are letting ourselves feel things or not, we are absorbing chaos, grief, outrage and a gamut of other emoti

*Title of book by Marimba Ani, published in 1969 I was standing by my window On a cold and cloudy day When I saw the hearse come rolling For to carry my mother away Will the circle be unbroken? By and by, Lord, by and by There's a better home awaiting In the sky, Lord, in the sky These words, written by Ada R. Habershon in 1907, highlight for me today the profound loss of Dr. Dorsey Blake who died a year ago tomorrow. The words seem to pick up on the grief that we still exp

A little more than six months ago, on June 1 of last year, I stood up here to be ordained, and I opened my sermon as follows: The title on the order of service may cause you to wonder. If not it should. I have so much grey hair, and also with tremors in my hand and foot, that one would naturally expect me to have a sad ending ceremony, or maybe a “home-going” ceremony—certainly not a celebratory beginning ceremony, certainly not an ordination. By December of last year, th

My Lord, what a morning; my Lord, what a morning; Oh, my Lord, what a morning, when the stars begin to fall. You’ll hear the trumpet sound, to wake the nations underground, looking to my God’s right hand, when the stars begin to fall. This song, a spiritual most likely inspired by Richard Allen, founding bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, was based on bible verses portraying the apocalypse…the end times. The hymn is thought to have been inspired by the ori

Dear Engaged Spirituality Family, Please join us at 10:30 AM PT, 11:30 AM MT, 12:30 PM CT, or 1:30 PM ET on Sunday February 22 to discuss Section III, chapters 9-12 of Diversity Without Dogma by Gilmore Crosby. Chapter 9: All Are Affected, All Must Be Invited Chapter 10: Family Systems Theory, Self-Differentiation, and EQ Chapter 11: Conflict Beliefs and Behaviors Chapter 12: Power, Authority, and Leadership Attached are Eileen’s notes and Bare Bone Notes. Zoom links belo

I lift my hands in total praise to you…. This was a song that was introduced to me by Dorsey Blake. It now brings back his memory. It is a powerful testament to our human dependence, but also to our strength. I began with this song today because I think we need it. I just spent a week listening to the pain of the world as experienced by individuals that meet with me weekly for support. It is a pain that certainly resonates with me as well. It is a pain that demands an embra

Keep our lamps trimmed and burning…for the time is drawing nigh. It is clearly time to unite in spirit and be prepared…prepared for new realizations…new ways of seeing life…May we connect with the Great Spirit of aliveness in which we live and move and have our being… A teacher of mine, Bayo Akomolafe wrote: What would change if we took seriously the consideration that the world is alive, that we derive our being from a never-static, ever-changing field of entanglements, and

We often feel lonely in the holidays, wondering where we belong in all the festivities. January comes, the light is still thin, but we enter the world again. The sunrise and sunsets are vibrant and we feel renewed. This may be the moment to connect with our inner selves; we yearn for communion, first with ourselves and then with the community. Howard Thurman viewed loneliness not just as an absence of people, but as a profound spiritual yearning, often overcome by

The Psalmist said that he had gone to church; he had praised God with great rejoicing; he has kept the holy days with devotion and sacrifice, and yet for all these things his soul was cast down within him, and he was puzzled and not a little ashamed. I presume that we too often must confess to ourselves if to no one else that even though we had gone to church and raised our voices in song an offered our prayer in the uttermost of devotion, yet somehow or other our soul was ca

Nature is both stable and orderly but also plastic and flexible, capable of entering new patterns and diversified combinations, as we see in the variety of structures and organisms of the geographical environment. But even these varied forms and products have not exhausted the possibilities and potentialities…On each level of organization different possibilities appear as constituent parts, by their interaction organize into new configurations in which the constituents behave