Sermons Archive

This Sunday I will continue my stubborn (and perhaps quixotic) crusade to focus on joy in this season of political despair and dread. Joy is the antidote to toxic despair. Joy doesn’t require us to close our eyes to what is happening in the world - it enables us to endure and prevail more effectively. Joy is needed in these times. I will talk about the practical steps we can take to access more joy in our lives. I will also try to distinguish joy from other emotions that it might get confused with, such as elation. To access joy is, in its own way, an act of rebellion and resistance against everything and anyone who would seek to undermine our society based on values we hold dear.

1 0

My sermon this Sunday follows the theme of the month for our Soul Matters groups, which is “The Practice of Joy.” It may seem counter to the spirit of our times to speak about joy. Our current political and social context does not inspire joy but rather the opposite. However, at any given moment, many things around us have the potential to inspire joy. What is needed, perhaps, is the intention to notice these things and allow them to nurture us. And don’t we need joy in our lives to sustain us in the difficult, and sometimes hard, challenges of life? I think that is what is meant by the practice of joy – joy requires our inclination, willingness, and perhaps persistence, to take in the joy of life wherever we may find it and as often as we may find it.

1 0

1 0

Chrissy shares a story by Rev Naomi King about the real reason dogs howl at the moon.

0 0

This Sunday I will continue my stubborn (and perhaps quixotic) crusade to focus on joy in this season of political despair and dread. Joy is the antidote to toxic despair. Joy doesn’t require us to close our eyes to what is happening in the world - it enables us to endure and prevail more effectively. Joy is needed in these times. I will talk about the practical steps we can take to access more joy in our lives. I will also try to distinguish joy from other emotions that it might get confused with, such as elation. To access joy is, in its own way, an act of rebellion and resistance against everything and anyone who would seek to undermine our society based on values we hold dear.

0 0

My sermon this Sunday follows the theme of the month for our Soul Matters groups, which is “The Practice of Joy.” It may seem counter to the spirit of our times to speak about joy. Our current political and social context does not inspire joy but rather the opposite. However, at any given moment, many things around us have the potential to inspire joy. What is needed, perhaps, is the intention to notice these things and allow them to nurture us. And don’t we need joy in our lives to sustain us in the difficult, and sometimes hard, challenges of life? I think that is what is meant by the practice of joy – joy requires our inclination, willingness, and perhaps persistence, to take in the joy of life wherever we may find it and as often as we may find it.

0 0