I am working on a longer post about my recent road trip read, Robert E. Lee and Me by Ty Seidule. But, I didn’t want to miss a few quick items that might be of interest.

While there is some question as to whether the examples in Alanis Morissette’s song, Ironic?, are actually ironic, there is no question that the Superintendent of Public Instruction in Oklahoma has provided a classic example. The first act of his new Department of Religious Freedom and Patriotism is to force schools to show his prayer video to every student, teacher and parent. Most schools have refused and the Oklahoma Attorney General has said he overstepped his bounds. (His one concession was that he only encouraged, rather than required, the students to pray with him.) I hope the teachers tasked with teaching irony as part of the Oklahoma standards take note.

Search, by Michelle Huneven, uses the story of one Unitarian Universalist congregation’s search for a minister as an exploration of the relationship between community and organization. Since the narrator is a food writer by day, the novel is full of wonderful descriptions of meals and includes recipes at the end. The book is funny, poignant and authentic, based on my own experience with the UUs, and, I should say, with other community focused organizations. Decision making becomes more challenging when it has to be made by people who supposedly share certain values and have equal say over the process and outcome. Huneven also explores the changing landscape of churches as they struggle to connect with younger people while maintaining the shared history and culture.

Astrologers have been excited about today’s big move: Pluto, planet of death, destruction and transformation, moved from Capricorn, where it has been for 16 years, into Aquarius where it has not been for 200 years and where it will stay until 2043. Big changes are coming according to People magazine. We have to look at the abyss before we can rebuild the world. My astrologer of choice is Chani Nicholas, in case you were wondering. This, by the way, has nothing to do with the Age of Aquarius. But I’m including the song anyway for your enjoyment.