I Samuel 2.1-10 Luke 1.46-55 Terpsichore, Adieu Eighth Sunday after Pentecost “Sing to me, O Muse, of the many-sided hero…” is the first line of Homer’s Odyssey, the tale of Odysseus and his travels and travails. But to which muse is this opening line addressed? And more to the point, which muse shall we summon this morning to offer our words of thanks and Godspeed to our dear Karli? There are nine muses in Greek mythology, each of whom inspires a particular form of art. Calliope, the muse of epic poetry, is probably the muse of Homer’s tale. But I…
Ecclesiastes 12.1-8 Romans 6.3-11 My Funeral Seventh Sunday after Pentecost When I meet with couples who are planning to be married I remind them that one way to look at their wedding day is to remember that it is one of the few times in your life that virtually all your family and close friends will be together in one place to celebrate. I say one of the few, because there is at least one other occasion when virtually all of our family and close friends will be together in one place for a celebration, although the drawback of that…
Isaiah 59.1 Amos 9.11-15 Philippians 3.17-4.1 What, to the Christian, Is The 4th of July? Sixth Sunday after Pentecost Nearly 175 years ago today, July 5 1852, writer and orator Frederick Douglass spoke at the Corinthian Hall in Rochester New York to the Rochester Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society in honor of the 76th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The title of his speech was “What, to the Negro, Is the Fourth of July?” Douglass, as you may recall, was a 19th century abolitionist who had escaped slavery, became what we would call today a civil rights advocate, supported women’s suffrage…
Genesis 9.8-17 Galatians 3.23-29 Over the Rainbow Fifth Sunday after Pentecost “When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth… This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.” Murky McDismal had a sinister plan. Murky McDismal concocted a plot to steal the color from all across Rainbowland, to erase the greens and the blues and the yellows and all the hues that make the world…
The Deuteronomy 6.1-9 I Corinthians 8.1-6 Yes, U.U. Can! Fourth Sunday after Pentecost What do the following religious traditions have in common? Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints, Native American religion, Deism, Unitarian Universalist Church, Rosicrucians, Humanist, Wiccan and Spiritualist. Every one of them has been eliminated from the Department of Defense’s list of authorized religions as they pertain to military chaplaincy. So if you are Mormon, or Native American, or Humanist or a member of any of 180 different faith expressions serving in the US Armed Forces, there is no longer a chaplaincy service for you. …
Psalm 150 Colossians 3.12-17 Charms to Soothe the Savage Breast Third Sunday after Pentecost I always get a frisson of delight when I can share with others the pleasures of music. Some of you met my cousins Holly and Paul from Dallas last weekend; they spent five days with us, and took particular note of my morning routine, which includes a cup of coffee, the morning paper and listening to my favorite classical music station, WMNR. Holly remarked how much she enjoyed it and resolved to check out the Dallas classical station on her return. A trustee of one of…
Genesis 12.10-16 John 21.15-17 Déjà vu All Over Again Second Sunday after Pentecost Christ, you know I love you / Did you see I waved? I believe in you and God / so tell me that I’m saved. Christ, you know I love you / Did you see I waved? I believe in you and God / so tell me that I’m saved. Yes, Debbie and I finally saw Jesus Christ Superstar at the Goodspeed Opera House last weekend and I want to thank Karli for starting things off this morning by reminding us Everything’s Alright from the same show….
Joel 2.28-32a Acts 2.1-13 Earth, Wind & Fire Pentecost The pilgrims came from the west, the north and the east. There are three major festivals they celebrate every year, celebrations that draw people from around the region. To the west they came from Libya, Crete and Rome; to the north they came from Cappadocia, Phrygia and Pamphylia; to the east they came from Mesopotamia, Media and Elam. Some came from as far as Parthia, more than eight hundred miles away. It was festival time in Jerusalem, one of three “pilgrimage festivals” the Jews observed every year. This one was the…
Amos 9.11-15 Acts 15.5-14,19-21 We Have to Start Meeting Like This Ascension I received a phone call a couple weeks ago from the Moderator of our Middlesex Association, The Rev Jeanette Cooper-Hicks of our Westbrook Church, asking me if I was willing to serve as the Parliamentarian of the Association. It is an informal office – there is actually no Parliamentarian provided for in the Association Bylaws. But somehow word got out that I know my way around Robert’s Rules of Order, tomorrow night is the Association’s Annual Meeting, and the selling of Silver Lake Conference Center is a part…
I Corinthians 2.14-3.3 Hebrews 5.11-14 At Home in the Church of St. Peter Pan Fifth Sunday of Easter On the night before she was to move out of the nursery into a room of her own, Wendy stubbornly refused to go. She liked sharing her comfortable little room with her brothers John and Michael, and the thought of leaving them, even if it just meant going a few doors down the hall, frightened her. Making the transition from nursery into her own room meant that Wendy was becoming a young lady, but she so relished her childhood that she wanted…