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...
A sermon on what is permanent and what is transient preached at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Houston.
as preached at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Houston, December 4, 2022 In the Jewish tradition there is a midrash, an interpretation, of the Torah, the sacred text, about twilight. It points to a spiritual practice that is essential for many Unitarian Universalists. The midrash has to do with what once happened at the waning of the light, that period of time when it is no longer day...
In my Easter sermon for 2022 I challenge us to go beyond the idea that there is such a singular thing as the truth.
as preached at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Houston, December 24, 2021 “For there exists a great realm and a boundlessness whose measure no angelic race has comprehended.” I start my annual Christmas homily with words you have probably never heard before. They come from a text that I suspect is equally unfamiliar, the second century Gospel of Judas. The words and the text are...
In this sermon, I encourage us to open ourselves to the beauty of the world and the miracles that surround us.
as preached at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Houston, August 15, 2021 It is good to be with you this morning. It is good to create this community together through word and song. I know this rose will open.I know my fear will burn away.I know my soul will unfurl its wings. I appreciate the confidence, the faith, that our hymn projects. It is a nice reflection of classical Unitarian...
In this homily I asks "how are we celebrating this strange holly day? What of our customs we have managed to retain amid the heartache and horror?"
Fire, like our connection to the divine, needs to be nurtured, needs to be maintained, if it is to continue. This is a helpful lesson to remember during these difficult days. For it prompts the question: In these times when it can feel like the fires of our spirits flag, what shall we do to maintain them?