If
I Had Only One Sermon to Preach (7/31/05)
(
Download the Audio MP3 file, about 7 MB - repaired file posted 9/5/05)
What if I
had only one sermon to preach is a question working preachers often
think about. It is a way of focusing our minds on what really
matters. If we had only one sermon to preach, we would want every
word to be a pearl of wisdom, a gem of moral insight and
inspiration, and a comfort to those suffering from the travails of
life on that day.
The Principles We
Live By
(7/24/05)
(
Download the Audio MP3 file, about 7 MB)
Most religions have a text or personality that centers their teachings
and their practices. Judaism is built around the Torah, Christianity
around the figure of Jesus, and Islam around the Koran. UU’s have a
loose-leaf Bible, to which we are frequently adding and from which we
often remove pages. UU’s look to the Buddha, to Jesus, to Moses, to
Mandela, to Anthony, to Fahs, to King, to Schweitzer, and hundreds of
others whose words and deeds instruct us in how to live good lives.
The Stories of Our Lives
(7/17/05) ( Download the Audio MP3 file, about 6 MB)
Is there anything more
compellingly interesting than a story? Is there anything of greater
importance to our lives than the stories we tell and the stories we
listen to and the stories in which we invest our faith? Life-like
or fantastic, ancient or modern, short or long, poetic or prosaic,
musical or visual, written or spoken, filmed or signed, stories are a
vital part of the human scene. Epics, comedies, tragedies, novels, short
stories, grand operas and plays, soap operas, situation comedies, even
advertisements, and dozens of other forms of stories fill our lives.
A Simple Life
(6/19/05) ( Download the Audio MP3 file, about 6 MB)
We live very complicated
lives, very busy lives with multiple components. We multi-task all the
time. Is this a good thing? Are we enjoying ourselves? Is it possible to
live a simpler life? Do we want to do so? These are some of the
questions I will consider in the sermon this Sunday, of particular
pertinence to me as I near retirement, but actually quite important to
us at all stages of life.
Letting Go III (6/05/05)
( Download the Audio MP3 file, about 6 MB)
One
of the most important tasks we have as human beings is learning how to
let go: of childhood as we move into youth, of our youth when age puts
the lie to it, to school when we have our final graduation, to homes and
friends and jobs, and eventually to life itself. We are moving towards
such a moment in our relationship when each of us, minister and
congregation, must let go of each other. I want to share some thoughts
about how we do this and what it means.
Violence and Non Violence (5/30/05)
Few
issues are as challenging to human welfare as the issue of violence. Is
violence necessary? Is violence inescapable? Are we inherently violent
or has society made us so, or both? Given our propensity for violence,
what can we do to curb that tendency so that we do not wreak havoc on
this planet and with the human race? What role does religion play in
violence? On Memorial Day Weekend, these are questions that tug
urgently at us as we recall past devastating wars and terrible losses of
human life. Please join with me in our Celebration of Life as we ponder
these questions.
The New In
Light of the Old (5/15/05)
The
First Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Ann Arbor is 140 years and
one day old today. The Articles of Confederation were signed on May 14,
1865 by 37 men and women, thereby creating the First Congregational
Unitarian Society of Ann Arbor. From 37 charter members, we have grown
and declined and grown again in membership several times. Our membership
is now just under 800 with the 44 new members who have been recognized
today. One of the reasons for our numerical strength is that we are
constantly welcoming new people into our congregational life. The life
of this congregation is played out in the meeting of the old ways and
the veteran members who know those ways and the new ideas and new
talents of the new members.
Mothers (5/8/05) It
seems fitting to talk about mothers on Mother’s Day, a day of honor
begun as a day on which mothers would commit themselves to peace and
non-violence. It has been transformed for many people into a Greeting
Card day neatly folded into our consumer culture. I think there is more
to it than that, a rightful celebration of those who have given their
lives to being mothers. I will discuss briefly three such lives, Mother
Jones, Jane Addams, and Evelyn Phifer (my mother), pointing to
similarities in their understandings of motherhood though their ways of
mothering were very different.
Trust
(5/01/05)
( Download the Audio MP3 file, about 6 MB)
Trust is the glue that holds
individuals and societies together. It is essential for human
existence.If we do not trust ourselves, we cannot act. If we do not
trust others, we cannot know love or friendship or collegiality, cannot
visit restaurants or use traffic signals or take our ailing bodies to a
doctor. If we do not trust the world, we cannot live comfortably with
nature or our own bodies.
To
Save or to Savor (4/17/05)
(** new ** Download the Audio MP3
file, about 6 MB)
One
of the questions that can be very difficult to answer is whether we
should spend our time saving the world—doing justice, healing wounds,
reconciling opponents—or savoring the world—delighting in the
splendors of the natural world, relaxing in our home or a vacation spot,
enjoying some of the wonderful entertainment available to us. Since time
is always limited, sometimes it is just this stark a choice. I want to
describe how I approach this dilemma and seek to answer it.
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Living
and Dying (4/10/05)
The
events of these past few weeks have touched all of us as we have been
forced once again to confront the most serious issues of life and death.
It has been a few years since I have addressed questions about the dying
process, but I feel that now is an appropriate time to do so once again.
I want to put forward what I regard as sacred principles regarding life
and when life is no longer worth living. Some of what I say will not be
new, but it seems to me that this (my) UU point of view needs to be
spoken. There are many ways to support a culture of life.
Play
Ball ! (4/03/05)
Another baseball season begins and with it hope.
Living as many of us do in the glow of a wondrous victory by the Boston
Red Sox in last season’s World Series, the moment has now come to
defend the title, the moment when every team is equal, the moment when
for baseball fans, life begins. I have known and loved baseball all my
life. I shall try to explain why I think this game means so much.
Paths
of Hope (3/27/05)
Easter,
however and whenever it has been celebrated, is a great festival of
hope. We always are living in a world in need of hope. Where can we
look, how can we live, what can we do that hope might be more resident
in our lives? As I have often done on Easter, I want to search out paths
of hope for our weary souls, ways of renewal that we might rejoice in
life, harsh as it sometimes is.
Unitariansm
In Transylvania: The History of a Courageous People (2/13/05)
There are two great traditions in the saga
of Unitarian Universalism. Universalism is almost completely an American
experience. In contrast, Unitarianism has deep roots in Europe, none
longer, deeper, or richer than those found in Transylvania, now a part
of Romania.
Don't
Look Back (Genesis 19:1-26) (2/6/05)
One
of the most interesting stories of the Hebrew Bible is that of Lot and
his wife (she is given no name in the story) leaving the wicked city of
Sodom before it is destroyed. I would like to reflect on this story and
what the fate of Lot’s wife, in particular, might have to say to us
about the days ahead. No, we are not Sodom, but we are facing a major
change in our lives. It is important that we do so as wisely as
possible. I will share my thoughts on these matters and hope you will
join me in our Celebration of Life.
The
Risks and The Rewards of Being a Unitarian Universalist The
Risks and The Rewards of Being a Unitarian Universalist
(1/31/05)
This
one grew out of a remark made by a congregant about a series of sermons
on the risks of being UU. This person then gave me several such risks. A
series I do not have time to do, but I will attempt one sermon about the
risks, but also about the rewards, for I feel—or I certainly would not
be a minister in the UU movement—that with all the risks, there are
also important rewards.
The
Radical King (1/16/05)
Radical
- "of the root...essential, fundamental...primary, affecting the foundation,
going to the root." In philology, chemistry, mathematics, botany, music,
and in general usage, to be radical is to be at or to go to the root.
Martin
Luther King, Jr. was a radical man. He was a man who came in his early
adult years to understand that only by going to the root of things can we
live a good life, holding on to what is worthy, changing what is not worthy.
Prudence
(1/9/05)
Prudence, or wisdom is regarded as one of the
cardinal virtues, those virtues considered fundamental to a good life for either
an individual or a society. This is the last in a series I have been doing over
the past few years on both the seven deadly sins and the even cardinal virtues.
The
ABC's of Liberal Religion
(11/07/04)
There are many ways of understanding who we are
as Unitarian Universalists and what we value. I thought compiling an ABC
of our principles, major figures, ideas, and practices would be a way of seeing
things a bit differently. I know that I usually make three points and this
sermon will have 26 (or maybe 27), but I thought you would forgive me this one
lapse into a higher realm of mathematical organization.
The Blessing
of Babel
(10/31/04)
One of the many
compelling stories of the book of Genesis is the telling of the time when all
humanity was of one language, of how they decided to build a tower up to the
sky, and of how the Lord destroyed that tower and caused people to speak many
different languages and to be scattered abroad all over the earth. Mostly
this is taken as a cautionary tale and the diversity of languages
bemoaned. I want to look at this story from a different side and celebrate
diversity and pluralism.
Rejoice!
(10/24/04)
We reflect upon
amazing feats such as the Red Sox's recent unprecedented comeback against the
Yankees to advance to the World Series and the long awaited completion of our RE
wing.
It's Not Fair!
(10/10/04)
My sermon is about
the attempt to block the legal marriage of same sex couples by passing an
amendment to the Michigan Constitution defining marriage as between one man and
one woman. I am joining religious leaders around the state in speaking about
this issue and why such an amendment is wrong.
Love and Death
(10/03/04)
Each year on the
first Sunday in October, we remember our loved ones who had died in the past
twelve months. The sermon will address the question of death and the way
love makes death both harder and easier.
In a world of unremitting evil and unending goodness, a
world challenged by threats to earth and society, by the failures of religion to
curb violence and materialism, and by assaults on the intimate family and the
national community, what kind of vision of the
future can we have?
Our times—this moment-- are and always will
be the most important times. As Herbert Muller has observed, “the present is
holy ground.” We can only remember the past, not live in it. We can only plan
for the future, not dwell in it.
We are three years and one day
past 9/11, a day of death, destruction, and disbelief. That day is forever
etched in our memories. What have we learned?
Dr Suess
(8/1/04)
Dr. Seuss is one of the world's most prolific and
most popular children's authors, though some of us who have read the books only as adults believe that they are intended for more than just children.
E lection
2004 (7/25/04)
Election 2004, the most fateful election in our nation's history, just as every
presidential election for the past 215 years has been.
Fateful these elections may be, but we have never been able to turn out large majorities of the voting age population to participate in them. To a large
degree Americans have been cynical about our democratic process.
Envy
(7/18/04)
This completes the series of sermons on
the so-called "Seven Deadly
Sins"--pride, avarice, gluttony, anger, sloth, lust, and envy. I have also spoken about six of the so-called
"Seven Cardinal Virtues"--temperance, justice, fortitude, faith,
hope, and love, with plans to speak on prudence in the fall.
Although transmitted to us by Christian theology, these sins and virtues
represent earlier efforts by philosophers and other religious figures to
understand human nature, both its dark side and its brighter side.
Lust
(6/20/04)
I
have previously addressed five of the so-called "Seven Deadly
Sins"--pride, avarice, gluttony, anger, and sloth--and will speak on
envy in July. I have also spoken about six of the so-called
"Seven Cardinal Virtues"--temperance, justice, fortitude, faith,
hope, and love, with plans to speak on prudence in the fall.
Although transmitted to us by Christian theology, these sins and virtues
represent earlier efforts by philosophers and other religious figures to
understand human nature, both its dark side and its brighter side.
In this spirit I will address one of the most provocative aspects of our
humanity, the sensual, the erotic, lust.
Our
Heritage of Humanism (6/6/04)
It was a member of our congregation, Roy
Wood Sellars, working with the minister at that time, Harold Marley, and a few
other humanistic thinkers who drafted the Humanist Manifesto some 70 years
ago. Humanism is a vital part of our movement and a vital part of the
heritage we have in this congregation. Humanism has had an influence out
of all proportion to the numbers of people who claim it as a primary
philosophical position. Fundamentalists have used it as a scapegoat for
all the sins of the world for many decades. A recent text about humanism
by a Catholic priest friend of mine, very sympathetically done, inspires me to
speak about one of the major sources of our UU faith.
War
and Peace, Violence and Nonviolence, Hate and Love
(5/30/04)
Memorial Day weekend is an appropriate time to
reflect on the parious times in which we live. It is an age of war, of
violence, and of hate. Maybe all times are like this, but there is an
intensity to the hostility between nations, between groups, between individuals
that can be disheartening. I want to address this grim aspect of our
present life on this planet and discuss possibilities for happier, wiser ways of
living.
Brown
Vs. Board of Education (5/16/04)
Plessy v Ferguson was one of the pillars of the Jim Crow system in America, the
system of segregation of people of color into separate, almost always inferior facilities, jobs, economic status, and social standing.
Brown, and subsequent civil rights legislation, ended that system's legal reign,
even though some of its effects are still felt in our land. If Brown was nothing else,
it was a symbol of a new kind of commitment to racial justice in America.
Judith
Sargent Murray (5/9/04)
Judith Sargent Murray was a remarkable woman. She was an early feminist
in this country who made clear her convictions about the equality of women
and men and the injustice of the restraints placed upon women in the 18th and 19th centuries. She was a literary force in an era when women were
virtually non-existent in published writing. She furthered the cause of Universalism through her own publications and her letters to others of her
theological persuasion, as well as the staunch support she gave to her husband both before and during their marriage.
It is not an unfair assessment to make to say that if John Murray was the Founding Father of American Universalism, its Founding Mother was Judith
Sargent Stevens Murray.
Courage
(5/2/04)
It takes courage to have faith that, despite dark skies and heavy burdens, all
will be well. It takes courage to have hope. Hope is of the future and the future is
uncertain. Too often there is no cause for optimism. It takes courage to love. There is no substance to love if we are not brave
enough to bring it out of our hearts and into reality.
The
Dismal Science (4/18/04)
Like
theology in the Medieval period in Europe, today economics is the queen of
the sciences. Discussing what economics is and why it matters and what a
good economic system might look like is of significance to us all. Are
there institutions and systems that are so vital to the common good that
we cannot trust them to the whims of the market? Our health care? Our
utilities? Our prisons? Our military? Our retirement security? Will the
common good be protected if people use these and other important aspects
of our social system for their own financial aggrandizement?
When
Hope is Hard to Find (4/11/04)
What do we do “when
hope is hard to find? What do we do when despair fills our souls? What do
we do when anxiety is our constant companion and sadness makes every
moment miserable? What do we do when we look out on a world filled with
hatred, violence, greed, and stupidity? What do we do when we look inside
ourselves and find weakness and vulnerability, disease and fear?
What do we do “when hope is hard to find?
The
Transient and the Permanent (4/4/04)
We need to seek that which endures and recognize those things that
are only of the moment. In a world as fraught with danger and as rich in potential as ours is, we need to know the difference between that which is
permanent and that which is transient.
Sabbatical
Report 2004
Report from February 21 - March 16, 2004
sabbatical.
Teachings
from the Chapter of Parables (2/15/04)
Parables were a widely used form of teaching
in Judea in Jesus’s day. Parables are short stories, usually with a
pointed meaning. Sometimes they are easy to understand. Sometimes they are
quite puzzling. Many of the parables weave orientation, disorientation,
and reorientation together. The parables, of which I shall speak, found in
the fourth chapter of
Mark, are of that kind.
The Gods of
America (2/1/04)
What we worship is what gives us guidance in our lives, guiding our choices about how we act, where we expend our energy, how we use our resources. While individuals will have different gods functioning in this advisory capacity, our society as a whole certainly has prominent ones that affect us all, even when we think them false gods. I will suggest what I think are the gods of America, real and false.
It's All A
Mystery To Me (1/25/04)
One of the ways I prepare for sermons is to create a
folder for certain themes, issues, and questions and then pop notes and
clippings in there related to that subject. When it gets full, I try to
preach on it. Sometimes these folders just grow and grow and no
sermon seems to come out of the material. Such has been the
experience with my folder marked "Mystery", which I have had
since before coming to Ann Arbor. It will now be emptied, but I can
say no more about my sermon than that -- it's a mystery to me !
If I Believed
In God (1/11/04)
God has to do with Everything -- life, death, morality,
suffering, hope, faith, Everything. So whether one is a theist or an
atheist, the subject of God is important -- is there a rhyme or reason to
the universe? Is that rhyme or reason personal and accessible by us? Is
God only a construct of our minds as we, the only known consciousness in
the universe, reflect on existence? And hundreds, thousands of other
questions. This is one of the occasional forays directly into the
theology meant literally, i.e., talking about God
Sexuality
and Spirituality (1/4/04)
Two of the most powerful forces in our lives are sexuality
and spirituality. They can bring us enormous joy and they can bring us
enormous grief. This sermon explores what each of these forces is and how
they play out in our lives and how they relate to one another.
Kaleidoscope
2003 (12/28/03)
Our annual look back at the year just past
-- a recap of 2003.
How
Religion Can Save Us (12/14/03)
This Sunday I want to offer
some thoughts about the positive side of religion, what it can do to heal
and to help and save us from the darker side of our natures.
Religion & Violence
(12/7/03)
Why is it that religion seems to be part of the
justification for and the origin of so much violence, the violence of
domestic abuse and the violence of bar-room brawls and the large-scale
violence of war? Religions are not at peace with one another and never
have been. Religion is often the source of violence or a factor that
makes it worse. Religion and violence are bound together intimately and
apparently enduringly. Why?
Lies (11/16/03)
How important is it to be truthful? Is it okay to lie to
our loved ones? To our customers or clients or patients? To our
constituents? Is it all right to lie about some things and not others?
What kind of things and why? Interestingly truth-telling is not listed
among the classic virtues, either of Judaism, Christianity, or Humanism,
yet all three of these traditions claim to be truth-seekers. I will
struggle with these issues in my sermon.
The State of Our Health
(11/09/03)
One of the most urgent issues our society faces is health
and health care. Health is essential for any definition of a good life and
health care has become a high industry that in many ways symbolizes the
strengths and the weaknesses of our nation. Having recently had some
experiences with doctors and nurses and hospitals and treatments and
payments and insurance, I have become even more sensitive than before to
the glory and the madness of our way of doing things. I want to share some
of my thoughts on an issue of tremendous importance to every one of us.
What it Means to be
a Religious Liberal
(11/01/03)
Pledge Sunday is a time for commitment, a time to reflect
on what our religious community means to us, a time to think about the
ways in which we do good in the world and in which we are personally
enriched by our association with other liberals. Please join us generously
in our Celebration of Life and in our Pledge Campaign this year: Ask Once,
Give Once, Pledge Generously.
Civil
Liberties
(10/26/03)
One of the most dangerous consequences of 9-11 has been the assault on civil liberties in this country. As a religion deeply committed to civil liberties, as a congregation with an endowment that honors the First Amendment, we need to look at the challenge the government now presents to us that our freedoms will be--for some they already have been--curtailed if not eliminated.
Words
To Live By
(10/19/03)
Our
religious heritage teaches us that what we believe is known more
by what we do than by the words we proclaim.
Yet it is also true that what we do is often inspired by
the words that function in our lives as mantras.
Tempted to do something we ought not, we are held back by
some inner voice reminding us of the golden rule or some other
teaching of our earlier or later years. The sermon will focus on
the importance of words in our lives and on some particular words
that have guided us to kindness, justice, and love.
Memory
(10/05/03)
What we remember and how we remember is a vital part of our spiritual life. This theme is especially relevant to the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.
Love
and Marriage
(09/2 8/03)
"Love and marriage, love and marriage. Go together like a horse and carriage.
This I tell you brother, you can't have one without the other."
Isn't that a wonderful sentiment!
And we all know it's not true.
Love and marriage do not always go together.
Anger
Twenty-five years ago, Peter Finch leaned
out a window in the movie NETWORK and screamed, “I’m mad as hell and I
won’t take it any more.” Since
then, it seems that everybody has found a window from which to yell their
rage at the world.
Redemption
(9/14/03)
The Encyclopedia of Religion speaks of
redemption as “delivering… (humanity) from the disabilities of
existence.” These disabilities
include sin, immorality, suffering, frailty, ignorance, and mortality.
Where
Do We Go From Here? (9/7/03)
As we near the second
anniversary of 9/11, the question that was so urgent in the immediate
aftermath of that calamity continues to disturb us: where do we go from
here? It is a question that always arises in the wake of some watershed
event in our lives: a
death, a disaster, a graduation, a promotion or a firing, a financial
windfall, a marriage or a divorce, any moment when life is dramatically
changed. Such occasions offer us the chance to re-evaluate our lives.
Sometimes we discover in these re-evaluations a deepening of our present
ways. Sometimes
we are moved to make radical changes.
Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and the Future of Humanity (08/03/03)
What have we done?
What have we done with the knowledge of nuclear power?
What have we done with our knowledge of these awesome forces at the very
heart of nature?
This is what we have done.
The first thing we did with this knowledge was to build a bomb. After testing whether such a bomb could be made to explode—it could—we then
built two more.
The first of these bombs we dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, a non-military target, on Monday, August 6, 1945. It exploded at approximately 8:15 in the
morning over this town of several hundred thousand citizens.
The Book of Ruth (07/27/03)
The book of Ruth in the Hebrew Bible tells a charming
and delightful story. Uncharacteristically for the Jewish sacred
scriptures, it is a strongly optimistic, often radiantly cheerful tale.
There are no wicked people in the book. God does not punish sinners for
their failures. Indeed, God is, again un-typically for the Hebrew Bible,
not an active character in Ruth and is mentioned only in perfunctory
ways.
A
Theology of Sorts (07/20/03)
The President of the Unitarian Universalist Association, William
Sinkford, has issued a challenge to the members of the 1200 or so
congregations of the UUA. He is calling upon UU’s to reclaim "a
language of reverence." Beginning in January in a sermon in
Fort Worth, Texas, he has made a number of speeches, including his
presidential report at the recent General Assembly, in which he talks of
finding a language that "allows us to capture the possibility of
reverence, to name the holy, to talk about human agency in theological
terms." Comfortable with God-talk--as many in our movement are and
many in our movement are not--he is disturbed that in many of our
congregations God-talk is not permitted. He says of the Seven Principles
found in the UUA By-Laws that they "contain not one piece of
traditional religious language, not one word."
Sloth
(07/13/03)
Even though we are not on the whole a slothful people,
there are lessons to be learned in thinking about this alluring
temptation to quit doing and quit caring.
This
Land Is Your Land
(06/ 15/03)
Patriotism is one of the most powerful forces in modern life. It is the
companion to nationalism. It is the spiritual component of a sense of belonging to a particular country. As religion has lost some of its
authoritative appeal in the past several hundred years, patriotism has grown in influence. Robert Bellah called it a civil religion, pointing in America to
the power of national symbols to provide spiritual glue for our country.
What
a Few Can Do
(06/01/03)
Large numbers
fascinate most Americans. Having the most, being the largest,
doing more than anyone else are values for many people. Yet the
way of the world is such that most of the really important work of
the world is done by one or two or a small number of people who
are committed and hard working. When I think of small religious
movements—like our own, the Friends, the Mennonites, and in a
world wide sense Jews—I think of active and creative groups of a
few who do so much to make the world a good place. My sermon will
speak of what the few can, and so often do, do.
Justice
(05/25/03)
The Hebrew Bible tells us that justice
is the first moral concern of humanity. The supporters and the opponents
of the war against Iraq grounded their arguments in justice. Whether
Congress should approve a tax cut involves not just economic issues but
also issues of justice. Every child from very tender years knows about
justice, as every parent learns when hearing that child says with
frustration, “It’s not fair!” I will share some of my thoughts on
justice this Sunday in our Celebration of Life. Please join us.
Julia
Ward Howe
(05/11/03)
On
the Sunday that honors mothers, what better theme than the life of the
woman who conceived the idea for a Mother’s Day. Of course, the life of
Julia Ward Howe was full of many other achievements and experiences as
well, not the least of which were her writing the words to The Battle
Hymn of the Republic. She was a remarkable UU woman.
Humility
(05/04/03)
In this moment of
triumphalism for our military forces in Iraq, it is good to remember
what George W. Bush said during his 2000 campaign for the presidency,
namely that he would conduct foreign policy with humility. Always when
we are doing well, when life seems to be going our way, when success is
a daily event, there is great wisdom in seeking to be modest about our
achievements and humble in our claims for goodness. It is a difficult
moral virtue to practice, for presidents and for ordinary citizens. I
shall struggle with this tricky subject this Sunday.
Anti
Semitism
(04/27/03)
Why do some people hate Jews and Judaism? Trying to
answer these questions became the focus of my doctoral studies and of
continued reading in the 33 years since then. This morning I want to
share some of what I have learned from this study.
Hope
in a Bleak Time
(04/20/03)
Like
Yeats at the dawn of the 20th century, his country and the
world filled with repression, rebellion, and blood, we wonder at the
dawn of the 21st century “what rough beast” is slouching
“towards Bethlehem to be born.”
Psalms
(Includes text from Sarah Albright on the History of Psalm Singing)
(03/30/03)
The Psalms are familiar to us even when we do not know the source of the
words we are hearing. What are these texts and why have they endured? Why do they matter to
people in the 21st century, given their ancient heritage and sharply different
language and outlook? What might we who are charting a new religious path
into the future learn from these old poems, once sung to tunes unknown in a
language few of us understand about matters that at best we can only make
guesses?
War,
Peace, and Religion (03/23/03)
Is peace possible? Does our survival as individuals or as a society require that we be prepared
to kill?
Is non-violence an adequate response to violence? Is there any human situation that gives us the right to slaughter others?
Is violence sometimes necessary in order to resolve intractable human conflict?
Are war and preparation for war an ineradicable part of human life?
Is peace possible?
These questions are usually answered in political, economic, or sociological terms. Each of these categories is, of course, important, but if we are to understand war and peace we must also address these questions from a
religious standpoint.
Avarice
(02/16/03)
Avaricia (Spanish version)
The Greeks told a tale of Atalanta, a young woman who
challenged her
suitors to a race. If they outran her, she would marry them. If they
failed, she
would kill them. Hippomenes outwitted her by placing three golden apples
along the way. She stopped and admired them, and then picked them up for
her own. While she was pausing at the third golden apple, Hippomenes
caught her and took her in his arms. Not only was the race lost by her
desire
for gold, so ultimately was her life as the marriage proved to be a
disaster for
both of them.
Avarice, the love of gold and all that glitters, the desire for wealth, an
inordinate love of things, is an ancient concern of humanity.
Shame
(02/09/03)
One
of the defining stories of western culture, variously interpreted, is
the
tale
of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. It is a story of innocence,
curiosity,
and shame. It tells—literally for a few, metaphorically for most of
us—of
our discovery of ourselves. It is about self-consciousness and what
that
means for us for good and for ill.
Seeing
(02/02/03)
Human
beings need to see and be seen.
Vision
is one of the important ways we gather and process information. Such
information
can literally save our lives. It can show us danger. It can reveal
food.
It can instruct us in how to find resources and comfort and healing.
Such
information is also needed for social cohesion. There are agreed upon
visual
signals—like a smile, a frown, a shrug, a hand extended with the palm
up—that
guide us in human relations. More than by touch or taste or smell
or
hearing, we live by seeing the world we inhabit.
Service is our Law (1/26/03)
There are many ways of being religious.
Then there are those whose religious way is the way of service. In every
religion there will be found those who feel that however important rituals
and texts, great leaders and inspiring theology may be, it is ultimately
the deeds that we do, the actions we take, how we really live in the world
that counts the most.
If any way could be said to be the religious way of Unitarian
Universalists,
it is this way, the way of service.
How We Eat! (1/12/03)
Few things are as necessary to life
as eating. Few things give as much pleasure as eating. Few things are as laden
with cultural symbols as eating. It is to a consideration of the various kinds
of significance that eating has for us that I shall address myself.
Tolerance
(1/5/03)
There are three great and enduring principles in the liberal
religious tradition of which Unitarian Universalism is a part: freedom, reason,
and tolerance. Our religious movement does not have any creeds. What we have
are vital principles that help us to think clearly, to feel deeply, to express
freely our own spiritual yearnings, to live with others whose views are at
variance from ours. This is our history and this is our current practice.
It is to the principle of tolerance that I address myself in this sermon.
Kaleidoscope
2002 (12/29/02)
Kaleidoscope, my annual review of the year just past, began nearly 30 years
ago when I was reflecting on some famous words of William James.
Peace On Earth
(12/22/02)
Peace on earth is an ancient yearning and an ancient hope.
Truth
(12/08/02)
It is hard to know what truth is, but humanity
has always known that truth matters.
For Such a Time As This
(10/27/02)
We are living in time that try the human soul.
We are at war in Afghanistan and are likely to continue fighting there for
a long time. we have troops in tens of of countries and are actively seeking
to start a war in Iraq. the budget for the Defense Department once again
is soaring at the expense of domestic programs. the President and his
advisers have told us we are in an endless war.
What does it mean to be UU (10/13/02)
This sermon addresses a question asked in various
forms about who we are as a religious people, what we stand for, what we do,
and what our beliefs are.
Great Souls
(10/06/02)
This is one of our most important Sundays of the
year, the Sunday when we remember those in out community who have died in
the past 12 months. There will also be an opportunity to name those, unknown
to the larger congregation but precious to one or more of us, who have been
lost. We will light candles in their memory and honor all that they meant
to us. On such a Sunday, it seems appropriate to speak about Great Souls,
those whose lives have given inspiration to us, about what such people have
meant to us and how we might pattern ourselves after them.
The Evil of Homophobia
(09/29/02)
Homophobia is the fear and hatred of homosexuals.
It is an animosity directed against those who are emotionally, sexually, spiritually
attracted to people of the same gender as themselves. This hostility not infrequently
spills over to include those who are bi-sexual, transgendered persons, cross-dressers,
hermaphrodites, and others whose sexual make-up and interest does not fall
within the boundaries of heterosexuality. Homophobia, like all phobias and
all prejudices, is deeply harmful to those afflicted with it, and even more
hurtful to those who are the objects of their animus and anxiety.
What Is
Religion
and Why Does It Matter (09/22/02)
Religion is one of the most important institutions
humanity has devised to help us cope with the world. A recent survey
showed that 85 percent of the world's people, more than five million human
beings, identify with one or the other of the 10,000 distinct religions now
in existence. The events of 9/11 brought home the importance of religion good
and bad in dramatic fashion. So do marriages and memorial services,
church programs for the homeless and the hungry, reactionary priests and ministers
clinging to the past and rabbis and pastors leading protests to nudge us into
the future. Extraordinary events and ordinary life make clear that religion
matters.
A Time of Remembrance of 09/11/01 (09/08/02)
On the morning of
September 11, 2001, the world experienced the shock of the assaults
on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, resulting in the loss of more
than 3,000 lives. On the anniversary
of that sad day, we remember that occasion.
We also do what we must always do in the wake of death, look ahead,
find ways of renewing in ourselves faith in humanity and hope in the future.
How I Have
Changed My Mind - II (07/28/02)
Change is part of the way of things. Change happens
to us but we also effect changes in the way we do things and the way we think
about things. Such changes happen in two ways: by means of a single
event that has dramatic impact on our lives or the accumulation of experiences
that slowly leads us down a different path than the one we had been traveling
on.
Citizenship
(07/21/02)
Citizenship makes the most sense in a democratic
society because democracy requires the work of its citizens in order to function.
Legality is not enough in democratic countries. There must also be interest
and involvement by those who make up the society, or the whole experiment
will fail.
Journeys
(07/14/02)
We do not have dogmas. What we have is freedom,
conversation, learning from one another, tolerance, reasoned arguments and
respect for our differences. As a t-shirt slogan put it: "Life is a journey
not a guided tour."
Sin
(07/07/02)
Sin is one of those monster words, concepts, realities—like
love, death, and taxes—that defy adequate comprehension. Consequently it is
often misunderstood and frequently misused. Despite these things, sin is a
very important part of human life, arguably the most important problem facing
humanity. As such it merits examination.
Body and Soul
The Roman Catholic Church is
not alone in being forced to confront the issue of sexuality, but their size
and their hierarchical governing structure and the long standing rule of celibacy
for priests and the significant number of their priests guilty of the abuse
of children and the ease with which most of these men have been forgiven and
returned to parish duties and the smugness of the higher Church authorities
in hiding the horrible deeds these men have committed have outraged Catholics
of every kind along with every one else and made this a compelling story for
the world to follow.
Solitude
(06/02/02)
Life is too busy.
Life is too crowded.
Life is too hectic.
It has always been so. That is why solitude is and always has been so important
to humanity.
Plea for Peace
(05/26/02)
I speak for peace in a time of war, a time when
our president and his advisers have told us to be prepared for war that will
span the globe. I speak for peace as a Unitarian Universalist minister though
many of my most respected colleagues speak for war.
Blessings
(05/12/02)
What is a blessing and why does it matter?
What does it mean to bless or to be blessed by someone?
The 7th
UU Principle: Respect for the Interdependent Web of All Existence
(04/28/02)
The seven principles of the By-Laws of the Unitarian Universalist Association
begin with a focus on the individual human being—"the inherent worth and dignity
of every person." They conclude by speaking of the wider community of life
itself as sacred—"respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which
we are a part."
Spirituality and Healing (04/14/02)
What is the role of spirituality in healing? A lot of people have begun to
ask that question in the past few years. In 1987, a review of medical literature
showed that some 200 studies in the past century contained religious terminology.
In the 15 years since then, there have been more than that every year, and
the number is growing.
Fathers Killing Sons
(04/07/02)
The Akedah (ah kay DAH )—the binding of Isaac—is one of the most shocking
tales found in the Hebrew Bible, a collection full of brutal and puzzling
stories. Understandably this story has through the ages disturbed Jews and
Christians (and Muslims, too, though the tale told in the Koran is somewhat
different). So it was that the martyrs of the Holocaust, who observed a similar
kiddush ha-shem , The tale of the binding of Isaac has been a vital
part of Judaism and Christianity. It continues into our own times as a haunting
story of faith or madness: one of the greatest figures in the three western
monotheistic religions is ready to kill his own son because he hears a voice
in the night! What are we to make of this story?
Myth (3/31/02)
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Ring., The Lord
of the Rings.E.T.Star Wars.Urban legends.“An axis of evil.”Days of Our Lives.Seinfeld
The Satanic Conspiracy. Onward and upward forever. A classless society. The
end of history. When I grow up… These are some of the myths of modern
times. These are some of the tales told to us and told by us that tell us
what life is about. We live by myths. In that sense we are little different
from our distant ancestors. Myth-making is an ancient art.
Hope (03/24/02)
Generosity
(03/17/02)
The Practice of Spirituality
(02/24/02)
How shall we speak of spirituality?
That is a lot more difficult question
than it might at first appear to be. This is because, like the word love,
spirituality is a word frequently used but used in so many different ways
that its usage is often more confusing than clarifying.
The Importance of Theology (01/27/02)
Where do we come from, not yesterday but originally?
Where do we go when life leaves us, or is it that we leave life?
Is there a purpose to our being here?
Is there a god or is there just nature? How can we know?
What is at the heart of the universe?
These and a host of other questions were and are the motivation for doing
theology.
Talk About Race (01/20/02)
How shall we talk about race?
Behind closed doors?
Only in courtrooms?
According to regional social custom?
In carefully arranged seminars and forums?
Only with our own kind, whatever we think that is?
With people across every racial line we have drawn?
Not at all?
If we talk about race, it is likely that that talk will be awkward, hesitant,
and
often in code.
When Jacob Became Israel
(01/6/02)
Papers strewn across my
desk speak of sadness and loss, of terrorism and war, of violence and death.
There are articles about New York and Washington, about Kabul and Jerusalem,
about Islamabad and Ann Arbor. What does it mean? What does the future hold?
How can we, how should we go forward? On this occasion, I have looked once
again at the story of Jacob, the third of the three great Hebrew patriarchs,
in particular the story found in Genesis 32-33 wherein Jacob returns to
his homeland.
Consolidation: How it happened and why it matters
(12/9/01)
The Unitarians and the
Universalists trace their ancient roots to that first nameless protester
who objected to the restrictions the tribal shaman imposed on all the members.
Those roots are found in diverse figures like Akhnaton of Egypt, who was
an ethical monotheist, and philosophers like Socrates and Aristotle, who
championed the use of reason in the determination of religious questions.
Learnings (11/11/01)
Today is Armistice Day,
the 83rd anniversary of the ending of the First World War. It was a day
of hope in 1918. It has become a day of honor for all veterans. It is a
day on which to reflect on war and hatred, on courage and violence,
and their affect on our humanity.
World Community with Peace, Liberty
and Justice for All (10/28/01)
The 20th century Jewish sage Martin Buber once told a United Nations audience
that several hundred years ago three ideals were thought to be the foundation
stones for a new world: liberty, equality, and fraternity or community.
A Philosophy of Religious
Education (10/21/01)
The Original Articles of Association of this
congregation, approved on May 14, 1865, describe the main purpose of the
founding of what was then known as the First Congregational Unitarian Society
of Ann Arbor in these words: "We, the undersigned, desirous of securing
to ourselves and our families the advantages of religious instruction and
fellowship do hereby associate ourselves together." The first purpose of
this congregation was to seek religious instruction, or as we say today,
religious education. Through all the years of our existence, that has remained
a critically important focus
for us. It is certainly so now.
Miracles (10/14/01)
Miracles are just a little
bit embarrassing. Supposedly in these modern days we do not need such antiquated
notions. Supposedly strong, smart people like us can take care of ourselves!
Maybe. But I suspect that every one of us has at one time or another felt
unable to cope and secretly wished for a miracle, some intervention from
on high or from afar or from somewhere that would save us.
Transcendence (10/07/01)
Many Jews, Christians, and Muslims cling to
notions, but a large number do not. What could transcendence mean to the
liberal practitioners of these faiths and to those of us who have come out
from them in search of a religious path on which we can walk meaningfully?
Revenge, Justice and
Healing (09/23/01)
How should we respond to the indiscriminate
slaughter of thousands of men, women, and children in New York City, Washington,
D.C., and western Pennsylvania?
Should we look for revenge or justice, or are they the same thing? Will
either one or both help us to heal from the terrible pain of our loss?
Hold On (09/16/01)
“In the midst of life we are in death.”
It is a truth that brings us anguish as we think of those last moments of
the passengers on those planes, men and women and children who apparently
knew they had been hijacked and that something dreadful was going to happen.
How dow we cope with our grief and hold on to our reason?
HOW I’VE CHANGED
MY MIND (07/22/01)
I believe it is worthwhile
from time to time to take stock, to see where we are and how that is the
same or different from where we have been, I decided to speak today on how
I have changed my mind. I do so in the hope that my remarks might stimulate
you to a similar appraisal of your own life, a kind of benchmarking of this
moment in your journey through life
The Humanist Message
(07/15/01)
Humanism is the standard of unity in the midst of our pluralism. No
theological statement could possibly embrace the wide diversity of our
understandings. The philosophy of humanism gives room for theists and
atheists, for pagans and agnostics, for Christians and Buddhists, for all
the
varied ways in which men and women reflect upon the world and express
their faith in the possibility of goodness.
Contracts, Creeds, Covenants, and Conscience
(07/08/01)
There is a sociological profile of UU's that describes us as people who value
self-respect, wisdom, harmony, love, beauty, and an exciting life. This approach
asks the question of how we relate to one another. What is it that binds us
together, that determines how we treat one another, that guides us in our
organizational strategies?
A Modern Unitarian Hero: Norbert
Capek
(06/17/01)
Norbert Fabian Capek was a modern Unitarian hero. As such he was rare, for
Unitarians are not plentiful and heroes are scarce indeed. Heroes have been
replaced by celebrities, those whom fate has washed up on the shores of power
and wealth and who further the worshipful speaking of their names by selling
themselves to various commercial enterprises. The moral standard of the celebrity
is public notice.
Good Maintenance (06/3/01)
We live in a society that celebrates the new,
ignores history, and thinks a durable product is one that can work for three
years. Yet all the while human beings yearn for that which endures, be it
their own lives or the life of their favorite institution, system, or cause.
The key to worthy continuation—of a life, of a group, of a product—is good
maintenance.
Roots And Wings (05/13/01)
Inspiring words
because if we are to live the good life, the moral life, the life of growth,
we must have firm roots that help us to understand who we are and we must
be willing to take wing if we are to honor the spirit of life.
Coping With G-D
(04/29/01)
There are surely many ways of responding to God the Question. Three good
ones are in silence, in appreciation, and in goodness.
Words, Words, Words
(04/22/01)
Words, words, words. Our lives are filled with words. Words that lift us
up and words that crush our spirits. Words that thrill us, words that
identify us, words that make us laugh, words that irritate us. Words fill
our days and nights, our waking and even our sleeping hours, at work
and at play.
It's All About Hope
(04/15/01)
Human beings are creatures of two moods.
On the one hand, we are subject to the darkest fits of melancholy and despair.
On the other, we have a keen sense of life's delights and a huge capacity
for hope.
Melancholy, as Andrew Delbanco observes, is "the dark twin of hope."
Melancholy is that "dim, back-of-the-mind suspicion that one may be adrift
in an absurd world." Hope is that sense that despite evidence to the
contrary, somehow things will be okay.
Enemies
(04/08/01)
It is one of the most common words in the
English language, enemies, and one of the most common experiences of human
life, to have people with whom we are in such strong disagreement that we
regard them and they regard us as enemies. Is there anything useful about
this exercise? Is it necessary? Inevitable? What can we do to make the experience
meaningful? These and other questions are the ones I am struggling with
as I prepare this sermon.
HA! HA!
(04/01/01)
Humor is one of the saving graces of our
humanity. To laugh in the midst of joy enriches the moment. To laugh in
the midst of pain helps us bear it. To see the funny side of things gets
us through the boring and the frustrating and the routine aspects of our
lives.
Friendship
(03/25/01)
Today is Partner Church Sunday. Today we celebrate our relationship
with the Unitarian congregation in Kezdivasarhely, Transylvania. Their minister,
Maria Pap, and I agreed to preach on the same theme on this Sunday and then
to exchange sermons so that both congregations have the opportunity to discover
what both ministers have said about that theme. Maria suggested that we
preach on Proverbs 17:17, an excellent choice to which I readily agreed.
That verse from the Hebrew Bible reads: "a friend loves at all times, and
a brother is born for adversity."
For Goodness
Sake (02/25/01)
There is perhaps no higher virtue than doing good for the
sake of doing good, without thought of reward or praise. There is perhaps
no more difficult way to live. What does goodness look like? How do we strive
to be and to do good? What is goodness? There are some of the questions
raised in my mind by two films of Lars von Trier. I will share some of my
thoughts about these films, goodness, and other things.
Fundamentalism
(Two part sermon 02/04/01 and 02/11/01)
One of
the most powerful forces in human society is that of fundamentalism. Thought
by many people to be dead or at least
dying in the middle years of the 20th century, the last few decades
have witnessed a dramatic resurgence of fundamentalism
around the world. Because Unitarian Universalists are frequently the target
of their wrath, it is important that we know
something about fundamentalism and fundamentalists.
Both parts of a two part sermon are
provided in this document.
The Right of Conscience and the Use of the Democratic Process
Within Our Congregations and in Society at Large
(01/28/01)
The first phrase of our fifth principle, the right
of conscience, re-states ideas already mentioned in the first four principles.
Having previously addressed those principles, this sermon focuses on the longer
second section,
which is about the democratic process.
The Real Thing
(01/21/01)
A celebration of the life and heroism of the Reverend
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and the lessons to remember on the anniversary
of his birthday.
A Free and Responsible Search for Truth and Meaning
(11/12/00)
The By-Laws of the Unitarian
Universalist Association name seven principles that we the member congregations
of the UUA agree to affirm and promote. Other sermons address the first
three of these Principles and in the future will address the last three.
This sermon focuses on the fourth one, "a free and responsible search for
truth and meaning."
Charity
(11/5/2000)
Charity is a word with several meanings. The
most fundamental is love, as in the noted New Testament phrase, faith, hope,
and charity. Charity is also a word implying that we are helping someone
unable to help themselves. Charity means as well some organization that
works for social good. This sermon speaks of charity and its importance
in our lives.
Technology
(10/29/2000)
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