I have recently asked those who attend our church to give input regarding topics they would like to see addressed in sermons. I am doing this as I am in the process of preparing our Fall Sermon Series/programs.....
It strikes me that since a BLOG can address news as it breaks.........if there is anything you'd like addressed in this space, please feel free to add a comment...
FYI....I am currently looking more deeply into this phenomenon known as 'The Family' operating out of C Street in Washington......I want to explore this from the religious perspective......
PB
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
STILL SIMMERING BENEATH THE SURFACE
By now, most readers are quite familiar with the controversy surrounding President Obama's remarks concerning the arrest of the Harvard professor by a Cambridge police officer. It's not my purpose here to get into the specifics of the arrest nor to get into commentary on the President's remarks.......
Rather, I bring this topic up to comment on a sad reality: Race remains an issue in this nation despite the many tremendous positive gains that have been made. We ALL still have a lot to learn in terms of living out the ideal of equality and living with each other as children of God. Strong feelings remain and, in many cases, for many people, are just simmering beneath the surface of their lives. All it takes then is what we saw last week------one comment or one action- and then it all explodes!
Last year, the United Church of Christ embarked on a project to engage in 'sacred conversations' about race. The need for these conversations continues. The importance of trying to walk in the shoes of people whose background is different from our own is as crucial as it ever was.
There are those who argue that it's time to just put the issue to rest, that we have all been subjected to diversity awareness and multicultural education and it's time to move beyond all of that. I've got a different take!
I think this nation and its institutions even when fulfilling the letter of the law have not always embraced its spirit. I also think that a lot of what passes for diversity and multicultural awareness has been extremely weak educationally. In short, I think we have got a long way to go.....
The good news is that there are conversations going on out there....In my view, it is incumbent upon clergypeople and educators to draw upon this recent Cambridge experience to continue serious conversations about race and other related issues in this nation and in this world. In tough economic times, fear is never far away and when fear is handled improperly, bad things can happen.....
It's important that Christian leaders press forward with Jesus' vision of human reconciliation and understanding.......the kind of contribution that can make a difference in our all too divided nation...
PB
Rather, I bring this topic up to comment on a sad reality: Race remains an issue in this nation despite the many tremendous positive gains that have been made. We ALL still have a lot to learn in terms of living out the ideal of equality and living with each other as children of God. Strong feelings remain and, in many cases, for many people, are just simmering beneath the surface of their lives. All it takes then is what we saw last week------one comment or one action- and then it all explodes!
Last year, the United Church of Christ embarked on a project to engage in 'sacred conversations' about race. The need for these conversations continues. The importance of trying to walk in the shoes of people whose background is different from our own is as crucial as it ever was.
There are those who argue that it's time to just put the issue to rest, that we have all been subjected to diversity awareness and multicultural education and it's time to move beyond all of that. I've got a different take!
I think this nation and its institutions even when fulfilling the letter of the law have not always embraced its spirit. I also think that a lot of what passes for diversity and multicultural awareness has been extremely weak educationally. In short, I think we have got a long way to go.....
The good news is that there are conversations going on out there....In my view, it is incumbent upon clergypeople and educators to draw upon this recent Cambridge experience to continue serious conversations about race and other related issues in this nation and in this world. In tough economic times, fear is never far away and when fear is handled improperly, bad things can happen.....
It's important that Christian leaders press forward with Jesus' vision of human reconciliation and understanding.......the kind of contribution that can make a difference in our all too divided nation...
PB
A GREAT CONCERT
It was a spirited afternoon in Union yesterday as AMY GALLATIN AND STILLWATERS kicked off the town's 275th anniversary celebration. We thank Amy and band for joining us and sharing their music with us. It was really a wonderful day!
PB
PB
Friday, July 24, 2009
275th anniversary kicks off in Union, Connecticut
Sunday's concert featuring the performer AMY GALLATIN ( see www.unioncc.com for details..........hope you will come!!) marks the beginning of the celebration of Union's 275th anniversary. I'm very blessed to serve as Pastor of the only church in Connecticut's smallest town, a community with a magnificent history, a beautiful town with a rich heritage and tradition, a town of whom its residents are so rightly very, very proud!
Hope to see you Sunday......a ride out to Union is really worth it!
PB
Hope to see you Sunday......a ride out to Union is really worth it!
PB
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
ANOTHER FASCINATING BOOK!!!
A real 'must read' on the summer list is Pete Hamill's classic SNOW IN AUGUST. I am currently enjoying it very much. In it, the author tells a fascinating story while shedding light on American culture and the place of religion within it. Set in Brooklyn after WW II, SNOW IN AUGUST tells a great story of immigrant Jews and Catholics in American culture, all with the backdrop of the emergence of Jackie Robinson, Brooklyn second baseman, the first African American in the major leagues.
If you like history, the study of religion, the place of immigrants in American culture, baseball or just like a good story...try SNOW IN AUGUST
PB
If you like history, the study of religion, the place of immigrants in American culture, baseball or just like a good story...try SNOW IN AUGUST
PB
WALTER CRONKITE
Much has been said about famous CBS anchorman Walter Cronkite in these last few days. As one who grew up watching the CBS News and as someone who turned to it to watch the great historical events of my then young life unfold ( Vietnam, Watergate, the deaths of JFK, Bobby and Martin Luther King and, of course, the landing on the moon), the death of this great newsman strikes me as quite significant.
Yet of all the accolades Mr. Cronkite has justly received, the one that stood out to me came from Don Hewitt, former producer of 6o Minutes, who called Cronkite' America's minister, priest and rabbi.' Well, as a minister, that sure got my attention......and with good reason. At a time in our history when traditional organized religion was undergoing tremendous upheaval and a real shaking of its foundations, we human beings needed the kind of rudders which religious leaders are called to be. We needed people who could get us to examine the deeper questions, in the case of the news, those crucial matters of PUBLIC morality. It's clear that Walter Cronkite was truly that kind of rudder and, for that, those of my generation as well as those earlier and somewhat later, should quite rightly be grateful.
PB
Yet of all the accolades Mr. Cronkite has justly received, the one that stood out to me came from Don Hewitt, former producer of 6o Minutes, who called Cronkite' America's minister, priest and rabbi.' Well, as a minister, that sure got my attention......and with good reason. At a time in our history when traditional organized religion was undergoing tremendous upheaval and a real shaking of its foundations, we human beings needed the kind of rudders which religious leaders are called to be. We needed people who could get us to examine the deeper questions, in the case of the news, those crucial matters of PUBLIC morality. It's clear that Walter Cronkite was truly that kind of rudder and, for that, those of my generation as well as those earlier and somewhat later, should quite rightly be grateful.
PB
Saturday, July 11, 2009
SUMMER READING- James Carroll's PRACTICING CATHOLIC
Readers of this BLOG know I like to do recommended reading ( see archives for thorough list). A fascinating book with which I am currently working is James Carroll's PRACTICING CATHOLIC.
I highly recommend this book for current Catholics, former Catholics, 'fallen away' Catholics, those involved in relationships with Catholics and EVERYONE who wishes to come to a deeper understanding of Catholicism and religion in America. I expect this will become a required text in college/grad courses dealing with religion in our country and with Catholicism.
It is my belief that just as Protestantism had/has MANY GIFTS which have benefitted Catholics( love for the Bible, Biblical scholarship, singing in church, worship in one's own language) so too does Catholicism offer a multiplicity of gifts that can enrich Protestant religious experience.
Likewise, the mainstream theological traditions which formed Catholicism and those church communities that developed out of the Reformation provide necessary background and foundation for a mainstream Christianity in this 21st century, a Christianity that offers a viable alternative to the excesses and weak theology and Biblical knowledge one finds all too often within the so called 'religious right.'
If you are not Catholic and want to really take Catholicism seriously and learn more about your Catholic friends and neighbors, this is the book for you. If you are Catholic and want to read something that resonates with what may have happened within your own family, grab hold of this book...
PB
I highly recommend this book for current Catholics, former Catholics, 'fallen away' Catholics, those involved in relationships with Catholics and EVERYONE who wishes to come to a deeper understanding of Catholicism and religion in America. I expect this will become a required text in college/grad courses dealing with religion in our country and with Catholicism.
It is my belief that just as Protestantism had/has MANY GIFTS which have benefitted Catholics( love for the Bible, Biblical scholarship, singing in church, worship in one's own language) so too does Catholicism offer a multiplicity of gifts that can enrich Protestant religious experience.
Likewise, the mainstream theological traditions which formed Catholicism and those church communities that developed out of the Reformation provide necessary background and foundation for a mainstream Christianity in this 21st century, a Christianity that offers a viable alternative to the excesses and weak theology and Biblical knowledge one finds all too often within the so called 'religious right.'
If you are not Catholic and want to really take Catholicism seriously and learn more about your Catholic friends and neighbors, this is the book for you. If you are Catholic and want to read something that resonates with what may have happened within your own family, grab hold of this book...
PB
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
MICHAEL JACKSON
Today is the Memorial Service for Michael Jackson, an event televised by all of the major networks. The fact that this is happening is a fascinating phenomenon in and of itself. The reaction to his death, as is so often the case with that of so many 'stars' ( e.g. Elvis, John Lennon and various athletic and entertainment figures) raises all kinds of interesting questions. Here are but a few:
1. Why do so many attach such emotional investment to people whom we don't even know?
2. Why do so many hold such public figures in such high esteem?
3. Why such intensity of the emotion of GRIEF when our knowledge of the person comes from video, CD, television, the Internet and I Tunes? After all, we live in a world in which people are wracked with grief because of tragedies in their personal lives, a world which suffers death each day, in the form of WAR, POVERTY, and HUNGER....
In Michael Jackson's particular case, much of his life was far from laudatory. I hope we are not suggesting it's sensible or acceptable for middle aged men to live out a childish, Peter Pan like life!
Now, having said all of this, I want to say a few other things as well:
* Michael Jackson was an immensely talented singer and performer whose work had the power to touch peoples' souls. I first encountered MAN IN THE MIRROR when a Youth Group member brought the video to a retreat I was leading many, many years ago.....It was downright moving and inspirational....
* Michael Jackson stands in line of a great tradition of music in the African American community. One cannot easily discount his working class roots in the economically challenged city of Gary, Indiana. If anything, this fact has been woefully underplayed in the press.
* Finally, Michael Jackson was a troubled soul who yearned for peace, love and joy in his life. Clearly a victim of abuse in his childhood, he sought inner happiness and desired the same for others. It is sad that this quest took the turns that it did, turns which eventually led to the silencing of a great voice at all too young an age.
May Michael Jackson alas find peace in the loving arms of His Creator. May we who witness this media blitz maintain perspective and keep our own focus fixed not on those things glitzly and transitory, but keep ourselves fixed upon GOD!
Augustine's words, true for Michael Jackson, are true for us as well:
' Our hearts are restless, O God, and they will not rest until they rest in Thee'
May His soul and the souls of all the departed, through the mercy of God, REST IN PEACE.
AMEN+
1. Why do so many attach such emotional investment to people whom we don't even know?
2. Why do so many hold such public figures in such high esteem?
3. Why such intensity of the emotion of GRIEF when our knowledge of the person comes from video, CD, television, the Internet and I Tunes? After all, we live in a world in which people are wracked with grief because of tragedies in their personal lives, a world which suffers death each day, in the form of WAR, POVERTY, and HUNGER....
In Michael Jackson's particular case, much of his life was far from laudatory. I hope we are not suggesting it's sensible or acceptable for middle aged men to live out a childish, Peter Pan like life!
Now, having said all of this, I want to say a few other things as well:
* Michael Jackson was an immensely talented singer and performer whose work had the power to touch peoples' souls. I first encountered MAN IN THE MIRROR when a Youth Group member brought the video to a retreat I was leading many, many years ago.....It was downright moving and inspirational....
* Michael Jackson stands in line of a great tradition of music in the African American community. One cannot easily discount his working class roots in the economically challenged city of Gary, Indiana. If anything, this fact has been woefully underplayed in the press.
* Finally, Michael Jackson was a troubled soul who yearned for peace, love and joy in his life. Clearly a victim of abuse in his childhood, he sought inner happiness and desired the same for others. It is sad that this quest took the turns that it did, turns which eventually led to the silencing of a great voice at all too young an age.
May Michael Jackson alas find peace in the loving arms of His Creator. May we who witness this media blitz maintain perspective and keep our own focus fixed not on those things glitzly and transitory, but keep ourselves fixed upon GOD!
Augustine's words, true for Michael Jackson, are true for us as well:
' Our hearts are restless, O God, and they will not rest until they rest in Thee'
May His soul and the souls of all the departed, through the mercy of God, REST IN PEACE.
AMEN+
Monday, July 6, 2009
A GREAT TIME TO COME TO CHURCH.....
While I'd certainly support going to church anytime, I'd like to encourage summer church attendance. There is something about the relaxed pace that makes it very special. In addition, it is a great time to visit a church, explore, search or reconnect.
I'd also like to encourage families with children to consider summer worship......It is a great time to help children really familiarize themselves with intergenerational worship....
Hope to see you soon in church---
PB
I'd also like to encourage families with children to consider summer worship......It is a great time to help children really familiarize themselves with intergenerational worship....
Hope to see you soon in church---
PB
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)