as preached at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Houston, April 9, 2023 When I was in my early twenties, I used to take part in a lot of mass mobilizations. It was an era of giant puppets and papier-mâché. On the streets of Seattle, Chicago, or, say, Washington, DC, it was not uncommon to find massive figurines–sometimes requiring a whole team to transport and...
Widening Love’s Circle: Stewardship
The sermon celebrating the start of the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Houston's 2023-2024 stewardship campaign.
The Living tradition
A sermon reflecting on the proposed changes to Article II of the Bylaws of the Unitarian Universalist Association.
Ordinary/Extraordinary; an ordination sermon for J Sylvan
as preached February 26, 2023 at Bay Area Unitarian Universalist Church, Houston, Texas There is much in the ordinary life of a religious professional that more secular people find extraordinary. A friend recently reminded of this over dinner. A word about my friend, he is a well-known writer and war correspondent. Most of us would probably describe his life as extraordinary. He has reported from...
Widening Love’s Circle
as preached at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Houston, February 18, 2023 He drew a circle that shut me out–Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.But Love and I had the wit to win:We drew a circle that took him in! Those words might be familiar. They have long been popular in Unitarian Universalist circles. They come from the poet and lifelong Universalist Edwin Markham. Active in the...
A Trip to Big Bend
We went to Big Bend National Park over the winter holidays. Here's my account of the trip.
Our Covenant
A sermon considering the proposed covenant of the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Houston.
Books read in 2022
A list of the books I read in 2022.
Most Read Blog Posts of 2022
A review of 2022's most popular blog posts.
Christmas Eve 2022
as preached at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Houston, December 24, 2022 Joy to the world! Can you feel it? Bright lights against the unanticipated cold. Festive songs, flickering candles, cider, cookies, stories of miracles and poems that attend to “[t]he starry form of love”… Christmas and the winter holidays are here. Joy to the world! Christmas and the winter holidays are a...