While not at all known by most Americans, in France Saint Bartholomew’s Day is notorious as the date of a horrendous massacre of Protestants by Catholics, a bloody act of religious intolerance and hatred that stood out even in an age of outrageous interdenominational warfare. This morning I would like to evoke for you the […]
Although we require assumptions to conduct our lives, we run into problems when we base our actions on assumptions that appear true but turn out to be faulty. Starting with an anecdote about a dog that seemingly defied the laws of physics, Doc will describe the value of an open-minded nonjudgmental stance that holds lightly […]
An exploration of C. S. Lewis’ comment about Jesus that “a man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic–on a level with a man who says he is a poached egg–or else he would be the […]
Agriculture is approximately 10,000 years old. Thus, it has only been practiced for a very small portion of human existence, yet agriculture is arguably the single most important development in human history. It is also probably the most ecologically disruptive development in human history. A sustainability visionary has been working on changing human agriculture, undoing […]
The title for this Sunday’s service is drawn from a hymn by the same name whose text suggests that we humans are designed by nature for discontent. And indeed, contentment does seem to be an elusive sensation. Should we seek or expect it? Is contentment a worthy goal or does it inhibit active participation in […]
All of us think that we have a fairly good knowledge of the Gospels and of what is contained in them. Yet we have probably never asked ourselves basic questions like who actually wrote the good news and what information was or was not included there. These are fundamental questions and the answers to them […]
What’s eternity? Can we experience it in the “here and now” of this life? How? Where? Why does life include both joy and pain? These are tough questions! To wrestle with these, we need to use our imaginations. Poetry and music are wonderful tools for igniting the imagination as we ponder great questions. So we’ll […]
As a young teenager I adopted the motto, “It is better to light one little candle than to curse the darkness.” This has been my guiding attitude. It has also been my experience that everyone appreciates a smile and warm greetings. My message deals with the power of positive thinking – for oneself and others. […]
Prayer is a very “loaded” word in our culture. It carries a lot of baggage. And most people have traveled with that baggage for a long time. When we fly in an aircraft, we are always told to be careful when we unload our baggage from the overhead bin, as it may have shifted in […]
A DIALOGUE BETWEEN SCIENCE AND RELIGION One of the biggest misunderstandings of the liberal religious tradition — by its proponents and its critics — is that we can “believe whatever we want”. In fact, the distinctive approach that Unitarian Universalism brings to the world of religion is a thoughtful balance of belief and doubt, a […]