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Great essay on being an editor on Ursula K. Le Guin’s website: Being an Editor, by Michael Kandel.
The greatest quality in an editor, I have concluded, is common sense.

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Here’s a great essay on race and Earthsea at The Infinite Matrix by Pam Noles:
I can look at this current world of genre and keep whining, or I can take note of the positive changes that have come down over the years and hope that more will come in the future. And if it matters [...]

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Apropos of my recent sermon, go have a look at Velveteen Rabbi: Torah commentary, two flavors.
I chose to write about the very beginning of the portion, which talks about freeing slaves, and what to do with a slave who doesn’t want freedom.

Be sure to read the poem at the end, too.

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Here’s the UUA Staff Chapel service I gave on February 7, 2006.
Chalice Lighting
Blessed is the match consumed in kindling flame.
Blessed is the flame that burns in the heart’s secret places.
Blessed is the heart with strength to stop its beating for honor’s sake.
Blessed is the match consumed in kindling flame.
—Hannah Senesh

Responsive Reading
Worship in [...]

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There’s a certain type of book that I reread on a regular basis, which feels a lot like comfort food. I rarely find new insight, although sometimes I’ll notice something new. Occasionally I’ll realize I don’t like the book as much.
The past fall and winter have been trying, and so I’ve done a lot of [...]

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Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire continues at its idiosyncratic pace. Martin says this volume started off as half of a book. Of course there’s no telling when we’ll get the other half. (He divided it by character and location, rather than chronologically, so there are whole story lines that don’t appear at all.)
I like [...]

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Francis Strand (How to learn Swedish in 1000 difficult lessons) has a charming anecdote with this zinger about believing in God:
The husband and I were taken aback. Do they even have a funeral for someone if no one comes?
"Yes," she said, and sighed. "All the time. I just had one yesterday. It’s unbearably sad. Instead [...]

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