Minister’s Blog

Those are the words of Pasadena mayor Terry Tornek, as he made remarks at the 46th Annual Pasadena Mayor's Prayer Breakfast this morning.  Normally the event is held the same day as National Prayer Day, which was last Thursday.  Due to a conflict, they held it today, and the interesting and awkward situation was that the Muslims couldn't join in ...

Is Cinco de Mayo some kind of Mexican Independence Day, like the 4th of July?  Nope.  In Mexico it's called the Anniversary of the Battle of Puebla, and celebrated in just parts of Mexico in honor of a military victory in 1862 over the French forces of Napoleon III.  The Mexicans were considered the underdogs in this battle - they ...

It's ironic that as much as I love Star Wars (I'm not a total SW kook, but I'll never turn down re-watching any of the films), I don't like space much.  While I'm aware there are results of space research that benefit life on Earth (like my Tempur-Pedic mattress!), I subscribe to the ideology that we should be focusing more ...

The theme of Holy Week 2019, I'm sorry to say, appears to be fire. We know that Notre Dame burned Monday night (you'd have to be living in a cave to not have heard), but did you know that a mosque in Jerusalem burned the same night?  The damage is much worse to the former, but it has not gone ...

I'm looking forward to hearing incoming UUCSC Board President Jon Bassinger-Flores' contribution to exploring the digital age's effect on us with his sermon this Sunday, "Technology Toward Wholeness."  Last Sunday I delineated my personal wariness of social media and especially my concerns about how it affects the life skills (such as in-person conversation and eye contact) of young people, our ...

Once again, with a sermon series, I have challenged myself with a very big topic:  how technology is serving humanity, for better or for worse? I've enlisted some help this time.  This Sunday, April 7, I will be speaking about how technology can be harmful to the human soul - our values and how we conduct ourselves with one another ...

I am so looking forward to hearing one of our favorite guest speakers this Sunday - Michael Eselun always inspires and touches our hearts.  I'm also looking forward to getting this much closer to meeting our Dream Budget with the "Live the Dream!" mini-fundraising campaign! In June of 2018, we passed a Dream Budget for our current fiscal year that ...

This sermon series "First Journeys" has been quite a journey for me, especially as I prepare to write the final installment looking at the hardship and struggle of poor European immigrants on our beloved United States of America. Let's be real now.  You don't often see UU ministers treading into this territory.  We don't like to talk about class or ...

During this very wet time in LA, our hearts go out to the thousands of homeless that are outside in the elements bearing the brunt of it.  Some good news is that member Terry Hassman has an update about how we can help in her guest blog . . . Helping the Homeless in Your Own Neighborhood New Homeless Drop-in ...

I did not watch the Michael Cohen hearings, I listened to them, on KPCC, on my commute to Studio City and all morning in my office.  I laughed several times, listening to the high political theater.  The divisiveness of our country in sharp relief.  One of my favorite moments was when one of the Democrats ended with something like, "and ...

Very excited to be welcoming back Antoinette Scully to our pulpit this Sunday!  Some of you also accompanied her a few weeks ago to the Skirball's production of Barracoon, based on Zora Neale Hurston's new, posthumously published book. Please consider this a guest blog this week, and read Antoinette's review of the play, as well as check out her web ...

Happy post Groundhog day.   As the tradition goes, if the groundhog sees its shadow, there will be 6 more weeks of winter.  No shadow, and spring is arriving early this year. The Stewardship Team has been reviewing our own congregation’s shadows regarding pledge receipts.  So far, we are shadow free in our pledge collections for the year. We are on ...