Daily Archives: July 7, 2008

Faith and Spirituality

Unitarians in the Upper Midwest

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81  bar steep drop  29.62  0mph E dew-point 69  Summer, warm and sunny

Waxing Crescent of the Thunder Moon

A lot of online research today about UU history.  The UUA (Unitarian-Universalist Association) keeps its congregational data close to the vest.  I wanted to hunt out the location and size of the largest congregations in the US, but they make it really hard.  To get the info I have to wade through 1067 different files.  Yikes.  Maybe I don’t want to know.

My goal is to create a history of Unitarianism and Universalism in and around the Twin City’s metro area.  Not a full blown book-length deal, but more than the one page historical summaries available on congregational websites.  I want to discover why liberal religion took such firm root here.  We have three large and two mid-size congregations, a remarkable number when you look at the maps in the rest of the US.

Unitarianism has the nickname, the Boston Religion and it’s not much of a joke.   Outside New England the UU movement is thinly dispersed.  We even have as strong or stronger group of congregations than the Chicago area.  It intrigues me and I want to figure out the why of it.  That’s always what interests me, the why.

The Mammoth herd stops tonight at the outdoor cafe of the Black Forest, an urban oasis.  I look forward to seeing the guys, catching up.

Kate had lunch with a friend today.  Not notable in many lives, but Kate has had her head down for so long she’s almost forgotten lunch, nights out.  I’m glad she’s venturing out.

Faith and Spirituality, Family

Sic Transit Gloria Mundi

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79  bar falls 29.73 4mph NE  dew-point 65  Summer, hot and cloudy

Waxing Crescent of the Thunder Moon

Good thing I checked the Minnesota History Center hours before I drove all the way to St. Paul.  Closed.  Closed tomorrow until noon.  Had to shift my research hours, so I spent some time outside today putting down the last of the mulch, the third tier.  It’s much larger and much less closely planted than the bottom two tiers.  I’ve gone to either straw or leaves, no cedar or other store bought mulch.

Mary writes that she is in suspension now, waiting for the critique of outside reviewers for her dissertation.  Tough place, that.  Waiting is difficult for us humans.  We prize agency and anything that diminishes our ability to act makes us feel uneasy.  It highlights the underlying truth of the human condition, that is, we are never in control of our lives; our agency, no matter how powerful, is always transient.  Sic transit gloria mundi. 

To counter punch that though we have ars longa, vita brevis.  Art is long, life brief.