Leader’s Blog
The Story of Love
I've been thinking a lot about love lately. Not the kind of intimate partner love (though I'm glad to have that in my life), but the expansive love that is wider than our personal relationships. The Revolutionary Love conference reminded me again of the power of...
Hate Has No Home Here
Writing as the Leader of the Riverdale-Yonkers Society for Ethical Culture, I am saddened at the outbreak of antisemitism over the last few days, as synagogues and Jewish centers were vandalized, including the latest incident Sunday night. As I write this, it seems...
Emotions: A Humanist and Ethical Culture Perspective
To be a humanist means in part to accept that we are human beings, not angelic beings or robots. We are messes of emotion and reason, and sometimes the two are hard to separate. As Ben Franklin said (with updated language): “People are reasonable animals. We can find...
A Lifetime of Becoming
This week, I thought I'd share some personal reflections on "becoming." Many of you will have your own stories, and maybe (since May is "story" month at RYSEC) you might also consider putting your story of becoming into writing. Or digital words. You can become...
To Become, Let It Go
If you've got young children at home -- especially if they're girls -- you likely have heard the "Let It Go" song from the musical Frozen a few hundred times. Demi Lovato also recorded a pop version. If you don't know the song, there's a version included below. The...
Lessons Learned
"The base of all things is love, respect." -- Vickie Downey, TEWA/Tesuque Pueblo In 1992, almost 30 years ago and near the beginning of my work as an Ethical Culture Leader, I attended a workshop supposedly about "Native American Spirituality and Lore." Because I'd...
Ethical Culture Is a Platypus
When Europeans first encountered the platypus in Australia, the first assumption was that it was a hoax. A duck’s beak and webbed feat on the body of a beaver-like mammal? An aquatic mammal that gives birth by laying eggs? Instead of trying to pigeonhole it into...
Lessons from Women’s History
Every time I present about the "Women of Ethical Culture" I am reminded of a general principle: that when we look at the history of any nation, culture, or movement from the perspective of the women or other historically-marginalized group, we see a more complete...
Ethical Relationships
~ Jone Johnson Lewis I've been looking over pieces I wrote near the beginning of my Leadership career. I often come across things where I've changed my mind substantially. And I often come across things where I am surprised by the insights I had! Some people have...