CategoryMinistry

These Things Figuratively

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The second source of Unitarian Universalism is the “words and deeds of prophetic women and men.” Throughout Black History month the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Houston is exploring this source with a series of services on the teachings of prophetic people from Africa or of African descent. In this sermon, I discuss the North African theologian Origen, who taught about universal...

Truth and Lies

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We are arguably living through the great age of propaganda. The rise of social media and its resulting social fractures and competing claims of truths led to a dynamic that played out in the recent presidential election and its aftermath.

How can we find the truth at such a time? And how can direct experience of awe and wonder help us to discover it?

COVID, the Environment and Justice

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On Sunday, January 10, 2021, I participated in a panel organized by the Interfaith Environmental Network of Houston. The other participants were Dr. Harish Chandra (Acharya, Arya Samaj Greater Houston), Rabbi Sarah Fort (Assistant Rabbi, Congregation Beth Yeshurun), Stephanie Thomas, PhD (Buddhist Chaplain), and Rev. Karen Tudor (Senior Associate Minister, Unity of Houston). Here are my remarks:...

A Prayer for Democracy

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Friends, you are no doubt horrified by the events unfolding in Washington, DC. What has happened today can only be described as an attempted coup. Constitutional democracy is under threat. Treasonous white supremacists, fascists, and neo-Confederates are trying to destroy the electoral order of the United States. It is a dangerous moment. In these dangerous times, I invite you into the spirit...

Sermon: Foundations

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Over the years, I have tried to follow the injunction, attributed to Karl Barth but probably apocryphal, to preach with “the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other.” Not being a Christian, I have never taken the injunction literally. Rather I have understood it to mean, root yourself in your tradition, ground yourself in the goodness of the Earth, and from that foundation offer up what...

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