Stories for all Ages all include a visual graphic. Sermons do not have a visual graphic in their post.
Beauty surrounds us – and in noticing, we enter a sacred act of what I call prayer – connecting what we hold within to all of that which is beyond. We pray to pebbles, to dandelions, to the irises simply by pausing in appreciation, by offering an intentional moment of gratitude, by allowing a space for the love and the wonder and…
Love is inherent in each of us. This Sunday, we explore love, not as something we direct at or receive from one another, but as a state of being in the world. With pure love, our actions are guided, not with an expectation of anything in return, but simply to offer goodness and beauty to all that surrounds us. Instead of responding to others…
Together, we will pause and contemplate the most vulnerable of human emotions – love. Love opens us up to heartbreak and sorrow, just as it welcomes beauty and harmony. It is a call for affection and intimacy, just as it is a call for peace and justice. Yet, before we offer love, we need to cultivate the ability to love from within ourselves. This Sunday, we ask, how…
And yet, sometimes, listening to others can be a conduit to listening within. In fact, isn’t that a
big part of why we come to church on Sunday morning? Why would we sit for an hour through a
worship service listening to a sermon if we didn’t find some benefit in it? And I believe that there
can also be value in listening to other people. Come to think of it, the potential value of listening
to others shouldn’t come as a big surprise: interdependent web and all!
I think it comes down to what we are listening to:
● Universal truths versus petty criticisms.
● Personal stories versus external advice.
● A shared human experience versus an individual personality preference.
In the tale of the origins of Buddhism, the young Buddha discovered what he understood to be suffering inherent to life: sickness, old age, and death. The faith emerged as an acknowledgement of this imminent suffering and offers a way to heal. Buddhism is structured around the Four Noble Truths: One, we suffer; two, there is an origin to suffering; three, suffering…