"When you are Real you don't mind being hurt." (MP3)
3-23-08
Or so said the Skin Horse to the Velveteen Rabbit.
Here We Have Gathered (MP3)
4-06-08
The Uses of Enchantment (MP3)
3-30-08
Radical Criticism (MP3)
3-23-08
"...the compassion of Jesus is to be understood not simply as a personal emotional reaction but as a public criticism in which he dares to act upon his concern against the entire numbness of his social context... Jesus enters into the hurt and finally comes to embody it." - Walter Brueggemann, The Prophetic Imagination
Choosing to Bless the World (MP3)
3-9-08
Today's title is from a poem by the Rev. Dr. Rebecca Parker, President of Starr King School for the Ministry. It concludes:
You must answer this question:
What will you do with your gifts?
Choose to Bless the world
The Changing Nature of Ministry (MP3)
3-2-08
In the seminal book, The Once and Future Church, Loren Mead, President Emeritus of the Alban Institute, writes, "In the present age, if there is going to be ministry, the people of the congregations will have to do it. It is no longer the prerogative of the professionals."
Walking Together in Love (MP3)
2-24-08
The title is one of the phrases in the global Ends statement of the Southwest Unitarian Universalist Conference. It expresses the heart of our covenantal faith.
The Human Dilemma (MP3)
2-10-08
One of my favorite quotes is by the Rev. Forrester Church. "Religion is our response to being alive and knowing we will die."
The Mission of Our Faith (MP3)
1-27-08
Religious Education for Adults? (MP3)
1-20-08
We all agree on the importance of religious education for children and youth, but what about religious education for adults?
Star of Wonder Star of Light (MP3)
12-30-07
The three wise men were ancient astronomers. Throughout human history, we have gazed at the heavens, wondering about the stars. But it was until the advent of the telescope that we began to truly explore the heavens above. Come hear what we have learned about the stars and surrounding heavens and how since those days of old.
O Holy Night (MP3)
12-23-07
Christmas is a time when we celebrate the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. But though the story of his life is unique, the story, or, more accurately, the legend of his birth, is not. Every religion has its wonder child, conceived and born under miraculous circumstances, whose significance was attested to by stranger and beast. The truth is, the birth of every child is a wonder. Each night a child is born is a holy night.
On Becoming a Positive Deviant (MP3)
12-2-07
In an afterword to his book, Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance, Dr. Atul Gawande shares five suggestions he gave in a lecture to medical students on how, in his words, "one might become a positive deviant." All of us, though, could benefit from his wise advice.
Hey Buddy - Can You Spare a Dime? (MP3)
11-25-07
What should we do when some one asks us to give them money? In this season when we spend so much on gifts for family and friends, what is our responsibility to strangers who stand at intersections and beg? What is our responsibility to the victims of natural disasters like the California fires or catastrophic storms?
To Save or Savor (MP3)
11-11-07
"I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day." - E. B. White
The Celebration of Discipline (MP3)
11-4-07
The Meaning and Value of Spiritual Practice
The Faith of Jesus vs The Faith in Jesus (MP3)
10-7-07
Fairly recently, a key passage of the book of Romans was acknowledged to have been incorrectly translated. Instead of imploring us to have faith in Jesus the new translation implores us to have the faith of Jesus. What a difference a word can make!
A Geography of the Soul (MP3)
9-30-07