Resurrection and the Earth
The sentence, “May we bring ourselves and our stories to church this morning and consider the blend a blessing,” appeared twice in our Palm Sunday service yesterday
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The Spiritual Practice of Getting Lost
Rev. Stocker ponders the value of leaving the beaten path.
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Violent Metaphors in Everyday Paralance
Violent Metaphors in Common Parlance As the anniversary of Sandy Hook draws near — and as I witness an ongoing rash of gun-related violence in our culture — I have been thinking about violent metaphors in everyday language. When I recently tried to collect some of them, I quickly found over 80 commonly used phrases,
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Heroes
Rev. Stocker asks, “Who are our heroes? And why? What do we tell our children?” In preparing this sermon, Rev. Stocker asked the congregation to tell her who their heroes are. Here she reports back on what she heard.
World Series Champs
World Series Champs My father was born in 1918, just a few months before the Boston Red Sox won the World Series. A tiny baby, he couldn’t appreciate that sweet victory, but he carried a deep love for the Red Sox for his entire life. Most of the time, he watched the games on television.
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Sumac Leaves
Sumac Leaves A few weeks ago I passed a stand of sumac bushes on my walk. Something about the way the sun struck the leaves maximized their brilliance. Deep reds offset by lustrous yellows and oranges filled me with awe. I stopped to take it all in, regretting I didn’t have my camera with me.
Autumn Reflection
Autumn Reflection Fall seems to be taking its own sweet time falling this year. I still have a yellow lily blooming in my yard long after the frosts should be well behind us. Still, I feel my body, heart, and mind settling in for the darker season. Some changes are already apparent. The hours of
Coming in, Coming Out
In honor of both Indigenous Peoples Day and National Coming Out Day, Rev. Stocker uses the story of the celebrated friendship of Owen the hippo and Mzee the tortoise to examine what it means to welcome all.
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Radical Hospitality – October 6, 2013
This year the Council has a new idea: to devote a period of time during the year to one “arm” of the Mission Statement. Our Mission Statement, as you may recall, is “to be a spiritual community, to welcome all, to nurture one another, to work for justice, and to care for the earth.”
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The Brink
In the buildup to a possible military strike against Syria, Rev. Stocker considers both the Just War theory and an emerging new theory: Just Peacemaking.