Bill Heavlin retired in 2022 after a long career in Silicon Valley. He has one son, now living in Minneapolis. With his wife, Noreen, Bill is one of the principal lay leaders of the Unitarian Universalist Coastside Community, centered in Half Moon Bay, California.
In this sermon, Bill Heavlin incorporates Buddhist wisdom, modern psychology, and engineering science to examine our responses to life’s disappointments. In particular, it draws on the engineering insights of the Wright Brothers and the spiritual wisdom of therapist David Richo. He then describes the deep connections between core coping skills, effective social action, and spiritual seeking. … Continue reading “The Anthropology of Air”
Mother’s Day commemorates maternal love and filial gratitude. And for some, this day recalls a difficult upbringing or child-rearing. On May 11, Bill Heavlin explores the relationships between adult children and their mothers through a series of poems. As he does so, he braids together two threads: imagination and its wilder offspring, creativity. His meditation … Continue reading Mother in the Mirror: Reflections
Inspired by the 13 virtues of Benjamin Franklin, the 19th-century Lithuanian Rabbi Israel Salanter built out a system of character refinement system called Mussar. With the advent of the New Year, and the prospect of many of us formulating New Year’s resolutions, Bill Heavlin sketches the Mussar system and braids it together with Buddhist thought. … Continue reading A Second Look at New Year’s Resolutions (with Moose)
Our justice system seeks to match to each crime the appropriate level of punishment. This principle is grounded in the Biblical phrase “an eye for an eye.” This service builds out an alternative, restorative approach to crime and justice. Analogous to a knitter darning a sock, this approach emphasizes repairing tears in the social fabric. … Continue reading Damnation We Do, But We Don’t Darn Enough
